# I found a pigeon that is hard to feed with a syringe



## bugmenottt (Oct 14, 2017)

Hello,

I brought home a pigeon that had fallen from his nest in a building courtyard in Paris.
Judging by what I saw on the internet, the pigeon is about 22 days old.

I can't figure out if at this age I should use a syringe to feed him or if he's able to eat seeds on his own???

I tried but couldn't feed him with a syringe because he does everything possible to keep his beak closed and I didn't see him eating the wet seeds at his disposal but I don't know if it's because he doesn't know how to feed himself like that, or if he's too stressed to do it, or if he's just not hungry right now.

My question is: can he eat alone or do I have to find a way to open his beak???


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

He is too old to be syringe fed, too young to eat by himself. At that age you can forcefeed him defrosted green peas. Get a bag of frozen peas, defrost a few and do the following:

Put him on your lap (facing to the right if you are righthanded). Reach with your lefthand over his body and head and open the beak with those fingers. Have a pea ready in your righthand and put deep inside the beak over the tongue. If he spits it out, you are not putting the pea in deep enough. This will take time and he will fight you, but will become easier. Feed him 30 peas 3 times daily, total of about 90 peas.

Always leave a small bowl of peas with him, they quickly learn to eat the peas by themselves. Then you can start adding small seeds.

You can teach him to drink water by dipping the tip of the beak (not over the nostrils) into a small bowl of water. Peas contain a lot of moisture, so don't be alarmed if he does not drink the water straight away.


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## Colombina (Jan 22, 2017)

Hi, welcome to PT and thanks for helping him.

I always leave available a bowl filled with a large variety of seeds and dry legumes (small lentils, mung beans, etc) of different sizes and shapes. You can also add a mixture for canaries containing dehydrated fruits, pigeons love it and are attracted by colors. 
You can tap your finger between them - TAC TAC - like a bird who is pecking at seeds. It could stimulate him to start to peck at seeds.
In my experience, each bird starts to eat on his own at a different moment and in a different way. Just for example, the last young bird that we rescued started to eat by himself mung beans and whole dry peas from our hands, another one started to eat by herself little baby bird formula balls (from our hands and from a coffee saucer) then red dari. So, just give him time, in the meanwhile you need to hand feed him.

When I find a new bird I always check his mouth/throat with a flashlight (if you see something yellowish or whitish and/or notice a bad smell it means that there is something wrong) and check his body for injuries, etc.


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## bugmenottt (Oct 14, 2017)

Thank you for your recommendations my pigeon is doing well.

At first I had difficulties and I could only feed him 6 peas in four sessions.

But I just gave him 46!
He is no longer afraid of me and was hungry and I learned to open his beak and put a pea in it.

I didn't see him drink water, I put a cap filled with water near him and I put the tip of his beak in it but he didn't react.

For now, he doesn't know how to eat by himself, he tries, but what he puts at the end of his beak he drops.

I have a new question: should I give him 30 peas per meal and stop or as much as he wants?


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

Try to give at least 30 peas (sometimes they do need more) 3 times a day. If he seems hungry, you can give more. Always leave a small bowl of peas with him, he will learn to eat them within the next couple of days.


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## Colombina (Jan 22, 2017)

You could try to check his crop with your fingers (do it gently) during each meal: if you feel like a soft balloon/bag it means that he eats enough. It takes a little experience to understand it (I learned it from my vet) but you could give it a try... An important thing: the crop must be empty before feeding him again. You can understand if it is emptying also monitoring his poop. 

Don't worry, just give him time, with some practice he will learn to eat on his own 😊.


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## bugmenottt (Oct 14, 2017)

My pigeon is making progress and now he can eat a few peas on his own (with a low success rate but this is a big improvement).

So I move on to the next step: I noticed that *he has one (or more) insects on him*.
One day he waved his wings sharply and one of these insects fell within ten centimetres of him. I was able to crush the insect that was like *a little fly filled with a big drop of blood*.

But I noticed that he has at least one other one and that he scratches a lot.

*Is there a spray or something else to get rid of these bloodsuckers from my pigeon?*

And also at what age could I release him?


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## Colombina (Jan 22, 2017)

Glad to hear he is doing progress.

I noticed that flies are annoyed by sprays containing permethrin. 

You can spray it directly on him (under the wings, on his back, at the back of his neck), just be careful to his head/face (eyes, beak and nostrils). You can cover his face with a handkerchief or your hand. I suggest you to close the door of the room before spraying him. It will be easier to catch the fly if it leaves the bird. 
You could spray it even in his box/cage.

There are also powders containing permethrin.


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