# Feed transitioning? Little pigeon eats only safflower



## ohlivya (Apr 27, 2015)

Hello pigeon peeps! A little white homing pigeon I adopted last week (tentatively named Amelia until the gender test comes through) is cute as can be but unfortunately rejects ALL food other than safflower seeds. 

Her vet recommends a 4-day transition to pellets (Harrison’s) and says she could lose 20-40g during that time and that this is normal, but I am a bit concerned as she is still a bit slender (295g at last weigh-in). She's still quite young too - not a squeaker but a pidge child for sure. 

Any advice is appreciated here… I don’t want her to continue eating ONLY safflower ad infinitum, but I am worried about cutting her off bc she doesn’t eat anything else. Have you successfully transitioned a pigeon?


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

What are you feeding her now? Give her a dish of feed, and don't replace it, or refill it. Leave that the next day, so that she will have to eat the other seeds or be hungry. She should then start trying the other seeds if she is hungry enough. If you keep refilling, and adding more safflower, she will continue to keep picking it out. You need to force her to try the different seeds.
I mean, you could do the same with the pellets, but pigeons usually do prefer seed.


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

Our vet transitioned Phoebe from seeds to Zupreem pellets and we plan to transition our current birds from seeds and later pellets. Have read that grinding up the new food and sprinkling it on the old food, then mixing them after a few days, then only giving the new food works. But you have to make sure the food is offered only 10 minutes twice per day.


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

ohlivya said:


> Hello pigeon peeps! A little white homing pigeon I adopted last week (tentatively named Amelia until the gender test comes through) is cute as can be but unfortunately rejects ALL food other than safflower seeds.
> 
> Her vet recommends a 4-day transition to pellets (Harrison’s) and says she could lose 20-40g during that time and that this is normal, but I am a bit concerned as she is still a bit slender (295g at last weigh-in). She's still quite young too - not a squeaker but a pidge child for sure.
> 
> Any advice is appreciated here… I don’t want her to continue eating ONLY safflower ad infinitum, but I am worried about cutting her off bc she doesn’t eat anything else. Have you successfully transitioned a pigeon?


Get the Harrison's. Then add just a small amount to what she likes to eat now. Very gradually every two or three days add more Harrison's while add less safflowers or what ever she is on now. At some point there will be only Harrison's in the dish and he's eating it.
I still gave my doves a few safflowers seeds a few times a week after their main diet was transitioned to Harrison's, but I offered it only after seeing them eat the Harrison's well.


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## mikis343 (Nov 26, 2013)

Dont feed her for all day till the end of the day when she is very hungry then get a screen reptile tank lid of something to filter out the larger seeds and only give her the small seeds. This usually happens when there is an excess of food so they can become picky and begin to only eat their favorites much like humans can. Only give her a small amount of food at the same time each day. 30 grams of feed a day is the minimum. One of my pigeons developed a safflower addiction until I started restricting her feed


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Why restrict her feed when you can just leave the same seeds there until she eats them? And she should be getting more than just the smaller seeds. She needs to learn to eat different things. You don't need to hold her feed back, and you don't want to give her just small seeds, or then she will get to where she is eating only the smaller seeds. She is restricting herself, if she won't eat the other seeds when that is all that is left. When she gets hungry enough she will eat them.


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