# Taming a baby



## PigeonMadness (Apr 21, 2009)

Sooo... I've been wanting to tame my babies but I just have not found enough information to take up the task. I've read somewhere that you can start handfeeding them at 10 days old. I thought about it and could not figure how to go about it. i know that right around this age, the parents are starting to feed them with more seeds and less crop milk? so would it be okay to switch from an entirely from whatever the parents are feeding to absolute seeds with water and grit? also at this age, do they babies still need to be sat on by the parents? I've noticed they dont sit on the babies that often now anyway. Lastly i was wondering if i could keep them away from their parent's warmth without a heater as long as there are no cold drafts coming in? thank you. any help would be appreciated.


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## sreeshs (Aug 16, 2009)

Separating the baby from its parent is not advised at this time. The handfeeding comes into picture only if its an orphan, carrying a disease which needs isolation or not fed by the parents.

There is no gaurantee that the baby will be tame to you even if you hand feed it. 

Leave it with the parents and let them feed them, the pigeon milk is the most nutritious food nature has made available for pigeons so don't deprive them of that. In due course of time your pigeons will be tame to you, for that you need one simple step: Feeding them on time with a call


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

ditto on what sreesh posted. you can handle the babies more as the parent birds leave them alone more and more, when weaned keep handling them and they should get use to you. let them perch on your shoulder and talk to them, feed them treats from your hand or start with a small croc of treats you give them every time you go see them and hold and do a few little scratches around the neck. be quiet and calm.


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## cotdt (Apr 26, 2010)

you can handle and play with the baby at around Day5 when they open their eyes. the baby will imprint on you. i think that's enough. i had to handfeed mine because the parents died. the babies are now grown and are extremely needy, following me around everywhere and begging to eat out of my hand even though there's food right in the loft.

rubbing the chest with my finger means to fly off, but the birds immediately fly back to me unless i run away really fast before they get the chance.


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## PigeonMadness (Apr 21, 2009)

thank you guys. It's just seeing how tamed the pigeons are who have been hand-raised from a very young age turn out fine also. So i was wondering if i could also but I understand it would deprive them from crop milk. I'll give the suggestions a try. Thanks guys.


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## cotdt (Apr 26, 2010)

the crop milk is only for the first week, and it's not that big a deal in practice. other species of birds don't even produce crop milk.


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## sreeshs (Aug 16, 2009)

cotdt said:


> the crop milk is only for the first week, and it's not that big a deal in practice. *other species of birds don't even produce crop milk*.


Thats one thing which makes pigeons stand apart from other birds 

The quantity of crop milk fed to the pigeon is reduced after about 7 - 10 days but not stopped. Youngsters raised on pigeon milk shows better resistance to diseases and ailments compared to those raised on crop milk substitues. It is said that the growth rate factor gets compensated in time but atleat in the early months, its the squabs on pigeon milk that grow faster.

Also when the parents start sitting on the next round of eggs by day 15 - 18 from the hatch, the young pigeons again get small amount of pigeon milk when they are about one month old.

Can't beat nature that easily


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## cotdt (Apr 26, 2010)

sreeshs said:


> Thats one thing which makes pigeons stand apart from other birds
> 
> The quantity of crop milk fed to the pigeon is reduced after about 7 - 10 days but not stopped. Youngsters raised on pigeon milk shows better resistance to diseases and ailments compared to those raised on crop milk substitues. It is said that the growth rate factor gets compensated in time but atleat in the early months, its the squabs on pigeon milk that grow faster.
> 
> ...


I understand the "nature knows best" mentality, however I have experience raising baby birds (pigeons, ducklings, finches) from the very egg and my experience has been different. That's 15 baby birds total, none of them ever got diseased or died. In fact the pigeons right now are larger than what their parents used to be (though the parents lived in the wild so they probably ate a lot less).

Personally, when I was a baby I was not fed breastmilk but cheap food in China. In contrast, my brother was fed breastmilk by mom, so he got the natural nutrients and antibiotics. Yet today I'm the bigger and healthier one, with better grades in school and considered the "good son" by the parents. So the research says one thing, but personal experience says breastmilk/crop milk is no big deal.


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## Nictorious Ali (Jul 1, 2010)

I think pigeons in general are very trusting animals. Age does play a factor but if your right their handleing them as their parents tend to them I think you will get the same results. I never handfed mine but they would follow me around. I hope thst helps


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## cotdt (Apr 26, 2010)

Yeah Nictorious Ali makes a good point, you don't have to handfeed, just handle them when they are young and get the same results in terms of tameness.


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## PigeonMadness (Apr 21, 2009)

How would i do that? "handling them" at a young age? I had babies who i would pick up, pet, talk to, and even hand feed them sometimes and they weren't that tamed. But I'll try it on this next batch to see how it goes. I'm excited though. THanks guys. All this information really helps. I also agree with cotdt. Isn't it possible that for instance Kaytee's baby food mix for baby birds actually contain more nutrients and minerals necessary for a pigeon than just crop milk?


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## cotdt (Apr 26, 2010)

reaperofhim said:


> How would i do that? "handling them" at a young age? I had babies who i would pick up, pet, talk to, and even hand feed them sometimes and they weren't that tamed. But I'll try it on this next batch to see how it goes. I'm excited though. THanks guys. All this information really helps. I also agree with cotdt. Isn't it possible that for instance Kaytee's baby food mix for baby birds actually contain more nutrients and minerals necessary for a pigeon than just crop milk?


If that's the case, then you let the parents feed until Day5 (that's when they open their eyes and imprint upon you), when you steal their babies and handfeed them yourself. Say their name when you feed them, as that is their call.

At any time they can be returned to the parents who will feed them. Even if the parents haven't seen the baby for weeks and they look completely different, they will still recognize them somehow. Once the babies can eat on their own, you can hold seeds on your hand for them to peck. By Day 30 they will fly to you and beg for food.


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

reaperofhim said:


> How would i do that? "handling them" at a young age? I had babies who i would pick up, pet, talk to, and even hand feed them sometimes and they weren't that tamed. But I'll try it on this next batch to see how it goes. I'm excited though. THanks guys. All this information really helps. I also agree with cotdt. Isn't it possible that for instance Kaytee's baby food mix for baby birds actually contain more nutrients and minerals necessary for a pigeon than just crop milk?


look you need to realize pigeons are all different, some tame up, which I really think they see the handler as a partner or mate, that is what pigeons do and live for, that is why they "seem" tame, they are not huggie close birds in their nature, you just need to try to get them used to you and some may be tamer than others.. if they pick a human to pair with then you may get what you want.. but usually they can care less about humans, unless they are giving the feed they need. so if you reallly want a tame cuddly pet, go with a cat or dog. hookbills can be more interactive with people, perhaps you can rescue one from a pet shop somewhere and interact with him/her every day, which is what those type birds need if they can not be in a aviary with a flock of their own kind.


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## Ange17 (Jul 3, 2011)

Interesting thread, my doves have 5 day old babies, hopefully I will get them tame


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