# 3 weeks old - won't eat



## YakkSoho (Jun 22, 2005)

I found an abandoned/lost pigeon with a lame foot. He is about 3 weeks old. He is not afraid of me and seems to be comfortable in the cage I keep him in at night. I let him play in the yard. His tail seems very short, too short for him to fly. He has all of his adult feathers, and looks like an adult except that he is a little bit smaller. My concern is that he doesn't seem to be eating. I have given him organic rice-apple baby food and parakeet feed and wholemeal bread. I have tried to feed him manually (putting it in his beak) but he won't open much and not a lot seems to end up in his throat.

What can I do, or am I feeding him the wrong things at this stage in his life? Does he still need to be fed mush through a tube, or will he eat on his own? Thank you for any help.


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## Pigeonpal2002 (Jul 27, 2002)

Hi Yakksoho, 

Did you recently find this young pigeon? Did you look at the speedypigeon site to approximate the bird's age ? 

http://www.speedpigeon.com/baby_racing_pigeon.htm

At 3 weeks of age, this bird is probably not quite ready to be eating on it's own yet. If you just found the pigeon then you've still got some time to work with but he's probably going to need you to feed him. You can either use a human baby cereal such as pea or chicken and try the "baggy" method to feed him. This is located in the *Pigeon Daily * forum and then under RESOURCES. You will find a thread called "*Various methods to Feed young pigeons*". Or you can purchase a store bought baby bird formula such as Kaytee, Hagens or another.

You can also try to offer him seeds and scatter them around on the floor near him or just in a dish in his cage. Any wild bird seed is fine for now but if you can get a dove seed mix or a commerical pigeon mix, this would be better. 

How does the pigeon seem other than his bum leg...healthy, alert, full breasted, active etc? How are his poops; watery, green, scant?

If you could try to post a picture, this would be beneficial to us as well.


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## pdpbison (Mar 15, 2005)

Hi yakksoho,


Brad covered it !

Let us know?

If you live somewhere still at all 'chilly', make sure the Bird is able to be warm when it wants or at night. An electric Heating Pad with a towell on it, set on low maybe, so the Bird can be on it or off of it as it pleases.

Phil
Las Vegas


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## Curious helper (Dec 17, 2020)

Pigeonpal2002 said:


> Hi Yakksoho,
> 
> Did you recently find this young pigeon? Did you look at the speedypigeon site to approximate the bird's age ?
> 
> ...


HI Brad, you sound like a Prof in this area. I am writing you a question about a chick in my balcony. Please read the below story... 
Hello everyone, 
I have a wild pigeon/rock dove chick (26 days old). It has develop feathers, but is very weak. I have sent a camera on top of its nest which is actually placed behind the AC exhaust fan. Following are the problems it facing - 
1. In the beginning both parents were feeding the chick, but since a week the mother has stopped feeding. However, only the father feeds it once or twice a day. The mother totally ignores the chick. 
2. Just yesterday, the mother gave one egg and is busy hatching it. 
3. Today, I saw a very very interesting footage, I saw the father came and started feeding the chick, but the mother intervened and literally stopped the father feeding the chick. When the father didn't stop feeding, the mother started hitting the chick with its beak. This happened on numerous occasions. 
4. The bottom line is that the chick is very weak for a 27 day old. 
5. The chick has not started eating grains or food on its own as its still in the nest and depends on father who visits the nest 2 to 4 times a day, only to be stopped by his partner from feeding the chick. 
6. I took out the chick while the parents were away in order to check its condition. I found her legs very weak as it cant stand properly on slippery floor. It cant even stand properly on a rough floor. On of her leg is a little twisted. 
7. The chick is very sensitive and scared and not at all ready to eat food with the help of humans. It tried feeding it with pigeon chick formula with the help of an injection, but its not ready to eat at all. During the process, it got scared and wet with the formula, so i had to clean it and keep it back in the nest. 
8. It might die due to cold during night, so i carefully remove it from the nest at night and keep it on a cloth in the corner of my bed room. I keep it back in the nest early at around 6 AM in the morning before the parents visit the nest. 
9. The chicks is also coughing at night.....looks sick. 
The point is that it looks very very weak despite having feathers, and its not being fed properly by the father and the mother totally ignores the chick. The chicks crop is usually empty. Its not full breasted and looks dull all the time. 
WHAT SHOULD I DO????


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

Please bring him inside. You can cover a hotwaterbottle with a soft blanket to keep him warm.

Can you check inside the beak and the back of the throat for yellowish growths? That is one symptom of canker which is quite common amongst youngsters. Can easily be treated with metronidazole. Hydrate him by dipping the tip of the beak in a small bowl of water, but not over the nostrils. If the throat is clear, you can handfeed defrosted green peas. Just pop one at a time deep inside the beak over the tongue and let him swallow. Start with 10 peas, and when that gets digested you can feed more.

Please keep us updated. A photo will also help.


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