{"id":1820,"date":"2025-06-12T16:50:01","date_gmt":"2025-06-12T16:50:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/boltonbirds.com\/?p=1820"},"modified":"2025-06-12T16:50:02","modified_gmt":"2025-06-12T16:50:02","slug":"how-to-hatch-pigeon-eggs-at-home-complete-beginners-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/boltonbirds.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/12\/how-to-hatch-pigeon-eggs-at-home-complete-beginners-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Hatch Pigeon Eggs at Home: Complete Beginner&#8217;s Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Pigeons are intelligent, gentle birds that are surprisingly easy to raise. Whether you&#8217;re starting a small loft or simply curious about the hatching process, this guide will help you successfully hatch pigeon eggs at home\u2014from start to finish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83d\udccb Supplies You&#8217;ll Need<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Before getting started, make sure you have:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Fertile pigeon eggs<\/strong> (available from Bolton Birds)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Small incubator<\/strong> with accurate temperature and humidity control<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Egg candler<\/strong> for checking development<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Brooder<\/strong> for warm post-hatch care<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83c\udf21\ufe0f Step 1: Set Up the Incubator<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Temperature:<\/strong> Keep at <strong>99.5\u00b0F (37.5\u00b0C)<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Humidity:<\/strong> Start with <strong>50\u201355%<\/strong> humidity, then raise to <strong>65%<\/strong> near hatching<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Turning:<\/strong> Turn the eggs <strong>3\u20135 times a day<\/strong> until day 15<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Use a soft pencil to mark each egg with an \u201cX\u201d and \u201cO\u201d to track turns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83d\udd26 Step 2: Monitor with Candling<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>By <strong>day 5\u20137<\/strong>, candle the eggs to look for:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Clear development of blood vessels<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Embryo movement<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Infertile or \u201cclear\u201d eggs (which should be removed)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83d\udc23 Step 3: Time to Hatch<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Pigeon eggs typically hatch after <strong>17\u201319 days<\/strong> of incubation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Near hatching:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Stop turning the eggs<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Increase humidity<\/strong> to 65\u201370%<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Keep the incubator closed and warm<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Chicks will start \u201cpipping\u201d (cracking the shell) and usually fully emerge within <strong>24 hours<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83c\udf7c Step 4: Caring for Baby Pigeons<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Once hatched:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Let them <strong>dry in the incubator<\/strong> before moving to the brooder<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Keep brooder at <strong>90\u201395\u00b0F<\/strong>, and lower gradually over weeks<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Feed with a <strong>special pigeon crop milk formula<\/strong> or hand-feeding formula<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Pigeon chicks need warmth and a stress-free environment to thrive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u2705 Quick Tips<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Avoid over-handling during incubation<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Wash hands before touching eggs or chicks<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Keep the incubator in a quiet, temperature-stable room<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Always source <strong>fertile pigeon eggs<\/strong> from reliable breeders like <strong>Bolton Birds<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pigeons are intelligent, gentle birds that are surprisingly easy to raise. Whether you&#8217;re starting a small loft or simply curious about the hatching process, this guide will help you successfully hatch pigeon eggs at home\u2014from start to finish. \ud83d\udccb Supplies You&#8217;ll Need Before getting started, make sure you have: \ud83c\udf21\ufe0f Step 1: Set Up the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1614,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_glsr_average":0,"_glsr_ranking":0,"_glsr_reviews":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1820","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/boltonbirds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/intro-1735602900.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/boltonbirds.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1820","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/boltonbirds.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/boltonbirds.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/boltonbirds.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/boltonbirds.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1820"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/boltonbirds.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1820\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1821,"href":"https:\/\/boltonbirds.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1820\/revisions\/1821"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/boltonbirds.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1614"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/boltonbirds.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/boltonbirds.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/boltonbirds.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}