# Baby pigeon refusing food?



## BHenderson (Sep 8, 2011)

I have a baby pigeon that I have been feeding with a crop tube for about 2 weeks. She is getting older and currently has all the new feathers coming through under her wings.
Recently she has started to pick at the seed in the bowl and has started to drink water from the water bowl. She is affectionate and comes to me for food, but she is refusing the crop tube. I have tried to roll up small pieces of Kaytee mix and put it in her beak, but she does not like this either. I am not sure what to do. Although she is eating some seed herself, she is not eating enough for a baby going through this major period of growth. Her crop is emptying ok and she does not appear to be unwell, in fact quite the opposite.

I am not sure if to force her to take the crop tube, something I am not keen to do. or to keep trying to get her to accept small balls of food into her beak? I could wait until she is so hungry that she will accept anything, but this strikes me as a bad idea given that pigeons sometimes stop eating altogether?


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

try to pop the seeds and grains in the back of the throat for her to swallow them until you feel she has had enough.. do this until she eats on her own well which should be about now. I would not tube her as that is really for small ones and sick birds. you can roll her in a towel like a burrito if she is resistant. but pecking at the croc of seeds with your fingers can get her interested in picking them up, like she would if she was watching her parent bird do it.. try to make it pleasant as possible.


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

How old is the bird exactly? They stop growing at about 4 weeks. If she is around 4 weeks of age, she has stopped growing and will require only a tablespoon of seed several times a day.

It is possible she is ready for a more grown up food, I have had babies refuse formula around 3 to 4 weeks of age. 

You can change to hand feeding defrosted (warmed and drained) peas, it is a nice easy way to feed before they go on the seed/legume diet. Meanwhile you can continue to allow her to pick up and eat seeds on her own. She won't need supplemental feedings once she picks up seeds fast and furious.


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## BHenderson (Sep 8, 2011)

As she needs to move towards feeding herself I am going to wrap her in a towel and feed her peas and sweetcorn and maybe a couple of balls of Kaytee mix for the vitamins, I rescued her when she was about half the size of a young adult and still had bald patches, but she had grown well and is just starting to get her adult feather. I guess that puts her at about 4-5 weeks?


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## BHenderson (Sep 8, 2011)

I don't know why I did not think just to use a towel like you do with a sick bird. Sometimes the obvious escapes you when you are trying to think of a solution. Thank you both for you helpful advice.


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

BHenderson said:


> As she needs to move towards feeding herself I am going to wrap her in a towel and feed her peas and sweetcorn and maybe a couple of balls of Kaytee mix for the vitamins, I rescued her when she was about half the size of a young adult and still had bald patches, but she had grown well and is just starting to get her adult feather. I guess that puts her at about 4-5 weeks?


*No worries then, she has stopped growing and her food intake is much less now.
Thank you for taking such good care of her.*


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## BHenderson (Sep 8, 2011)

She did not like being fed with a towel round her at all. She struggled but swallowed the peas and sweetcorn. It seems funny to me that she is not more eager to eat with all the changes her body is going through.
I may try and let her make her own way as much as possible. but she only seems to be picking at the seed at the moment. If I think she has not had enough towards the end of the day then I will feed her some extra. I think she likes me a little less now I have used a towel to restrict her lol.


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

yeah it is restrictive.. if she still nuzzled like when they are being fed the more natural way you may of been able to put your hand in loose fist and let her put her beak in the opening and with the other hand put the peas in and kind of push them in as she gulps.. sort of like how the parents do it naturally.


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## BHenderson (Sep 8, 2011)

I guess all this will give me more experience to deal with the next one. I hope to be able to stay involved with helping pigeons as I feel they get a raw deal from humans, especially in cities. I can make up for some of that by helping where I can,
Next time I will know to try and encourage the nuzzling and use some form of feeder instead of crop tube. It is all learning for the future.


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## BHenderson (Sep 8, 2011)

A quick bit of feedback. She has learnt to eat from the bowl with the others quite quickly. She would rather do this than have another crop feed, and seems to have adapted very quickly. She still likes to nuzzle between my fingers in the morning though, but she does this for comfort and does not seem disappointed that their is no food. Its nice for me as well lol


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

*Sounds good. Just keep track of her weight to make sure she is getting enough. *


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