# Nun parents stopped feeding young - pls help



## warriec (Feb 2, 2007)

my nun pigeons have stopped feeding the 2 young now. hey are 2 weeks old but are rather small as nuns are poor parents. i took them out and started handing feeding them. i noticed one of the young having very weak thin legs. pls help


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## Feefo (Feb 8, 2002)

Try giving them a supplement of liquid calcium for the weak legs. It strengthens the bones and the muscles.

I use Gem which is specifically for birds and is recommended for hand rearing situations.

Cynthia


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Cynthia,

Do you think they can get that in Sri Lanka? Is there a simpler form of calcium that can be gotten and adapted for the purpose?

Pidgey


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

How about oyster shell ground up, or alfalfa tabs. Perhaps even egg shells ground up.


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## Feefo (Feb 8, 2002)

> Do you think they can get that in Sri Lanka?


Perhaps not the Gem product, although it can be bought online, but I imagine that liquid calcium or calcium syrup is available in most if not all countries of the world because it is simple and palatable and therefore given to children and to people that suffer from osteoporosis. 

Cynthia


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## warriec (Feb 2, 2007)

hi cynthia, 
yes the liquid calcium syrup is available in my country, will there be a risk of over dose. regarding the feed. we dont have formula so i've started to grind u the adult feed and mix wih water and feed. after a few hours i notice that the food in the crop is very hard but smaller than after the feeding. 

warrie


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Warrie,

Be careful about the crop becoming hard .. you don't want an impacted crop. If the crop feels hard to you then syringe some water to the bird and gently massage the crop to break up the hardness and allow the contents to pass through the digestive system.

Terry


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Actually, at two weeks old you don't need to grind it up into formula. Normally, pigeon parents produce the "pigeon milk" substance most heavily at the time that the chicks hatch. From that point on, they slowly stop producing the stuff over a 10 day period or so. Somewhere around a week old, the chicks are actually starting to get real seeds swallowed. I remember one time finding a week-old chick with some real field corn showing in its crop. I was scared to death that it was too big but no problem. By the time that they get to the two weeks old, they're mostly just getting softened seeds and water from their parents.

In a pinch, you can feed them dry dog food pellets for young dogs. Here, we call that "puppy chow" and it comes in pellets the size of dried peas. You can wet those briefly and then pop them in one at a time. Otherwise, depending on what seeds you've got, you can give them to them in various ways. You can make a syringe for them to eat out of and then teach them how and it can get pretty easy and natural. I'll find the link for that and put it in a follow-up post.

Pidgey


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

This thread shows several ways to feed young nestlings:

http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/showthread.php?t=9682

Pidgey


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## warriec (Feb 2, 2007)

both young died, i think it was more than a impacted crop. when i noticed that the crop was tight i immy fed water to loosen it up & yes it got loosened but only to fine out a few hours later its again tight. its like if there is a filter there only allowing water to pass. i also notice that the youngs stool looked different, yellowish and watery. i know i have some problems in my coop but i believe the yellow watery stool was the real cause of the problem but dont know what it is


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Was it the solids that were yellow or was it the urates? In normal pigeon poop, there are three possible groupings: solids from processed foods, urates and urine. Most of the time, the intestines have absorbed the water from the urine so that you only see the urates and solids. It's important which one was yellow.

Pidgey


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## warriec (Feb 2, 2007)

if i can recall right, it was slimy in texture. some parts in the slimy excretion were more yellow than the others. not solid i normal healthy pigeons


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

When a pigeon's not getting food through, there's usually a small dark green ball of bile and the white urates. If the dark green part isn't dark green then the pancreas is affected. If the white part isn't white, then the liver is affected. It doesn't narrow the list of suspected diseases a lot--it mostly points to the severity of the disease. I think you're stuck with trying to find a source for the medications we talked about earlier as well as the not raising any young for awhile until your adult birds get healthier.

Pidgey


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## warriec (Feb 2, 2007)

thank you all for your advise. i am very confused as another 2 young died. how can i privately e mail you the symtoms that my birds have to better diagnoase same. u can e mail me on [email protected]


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