# Seeking Advise for Fostering Baby Pigeons/Doves?



## Lola-Diamond (Jun 17, 2014)

Disclaimer: I went off on a bit of a tangent, and also realized, I couldn't post direct image links, so, here is a link to the gallery, and, an outline of my questions concerns if you don't feel like reading the entirety

http://imgur.com/a/jtPPg#0

*Request for Advise Help*

How much sun time should they get daily?
Should I start warm bathing? (how long, and how often?)
Is blow drying after bathing okay (some people seem against it / for it - I considered at a distance and on low would be okay, but maybe a fan?)
Would spritzing warm water be a better idea?
How much quiet/alone time do they need? 
Is there any other vitamins or supplements I should be aware of other than the Kaytee? 
Not entirely too worried, but is anyone familiar with their breed? (figured I could find more info if I knew what they were as far as caregiving)



Hello! Monday Morning I was walking outside, heading to my apartment dumpster to deposit trash. While walking along the curb edge of my apartment building into the back of parking lot I hear two little chirping heads, These tiny little babies are squeaking away! 

I was immediately concerned because they were on the ground, huddled up against a wire fence, grass on the other side of them. I looked around for about 20 minutes, searching the grounds of grass, on my apartment building side, and in the thick lot over other side of fence. I saw no nests, and I waited, I didnt go far, but I ducked away, pacing hoping they would be alright and their parents would come back.

I called animal and wild life resources and they told me they had no room,was all packed. Honestly at first I thought they were geese! They told me to release them with a similar size geese family.. so, i lined a box with a towel, and collected them, they seemed to have no mind to this and were pretty cold, and appreciating my attention. so i took them to try and find a little geese family. you can imagine my surprise once I noticed the difference in the geese compared to these baby pigeons/doves 

Suffice to say, Strawberry and Dandelion are now living with me, They have their own little house that is kept warm with a heating pad, and are eating regularly, digesting and pooping! Hooray! I am so blessed to have these little loves in my life.

I am posting pictures. I just have a few questions of advise to request as far as how often should I leave them to rest, how much should I handle them? How much quiet time. 

As of now its hard to measure the amount of CC's (I am using the recommended baby bird formula from Kaytee) but after two days of sloppy bag feeding, I came up with my own idea I thought also might be helpful to other foster parents!

Frosting Piping Bag + Cut off Medicine Bottle, + Rubber-bands and plastic/rubber sheet (cut the palm square off a glove)

Ill Post the directions to piping bag feeder after the family pics!


Monday:





Wednesday:
Aprox. 8 grams each, Strawberry looks a bit bigger, and more filled in on the chest with feathers


--- After some clean up, I put them back in their little nest to rest. So Taking pictures after was not optional, as I do know they need warmth and rest after eating. 

How much sun should they get? Should I try the warm birdy baths yet? Is that even needed? Any help and advise would be appreciated. I love to be with them, but I dont want to aggravate their well being because I want to keep them coddled! So my usual routine is to wake up with them in the morning, check their crops, check they are processing by regular poops. I stop feeding them once their crops are full and I notice their lil back bubbles starting to fill, then after about an hour of their rest Ill check in an see how they are digesting by softly palpitating their crop, its been great so far, it usually takes them 4-6 hours before they are digested and ready to eat again. This happens about 3-4 times a day before night sleeps. I keep a towel as a foundation, heating pad on low under towel in one corner of their little home, fresh water on opposite side cleaned regularly and every time I check them shallow dish, entire nest area is lined with paper-towel over the linen towel so I can change it easily once a day instead of going through a mess of towels (took me only days to figure out i was running out of towels too fast!)


Thanks for taking time to read this! Below Ill post my pictures of piping bag feeder  

Take a medicine pill bottle, cut it in half (i used a serrated kitchen knife to do this), use the end that the cap screws on, to be the portion you keep. the ridge that holds the cap in place will make a good lock for the piping bag.


Here you can see that ridge im talking about, that usually holds the lid in place, it makes a little bubble within the plastic piping bag so it holds in place and wont just fall out.


After that I had to find some way to make sure it was safe for feeding so filed the rough edges of medicine bottle, open end out, then rinsed everything once again, slapped on a piece of vinyl I cut from a palm of nursing gloves, and wrapped a band around the entire project from nozzle up to pipping cuff for extra safety. The X' clipping on the rubber suggested with the 20ml tube feeding didnt work well with the plastic I had, so, I adjusted by making a tiny little hold, the vinyl is soft enough that it stretches with out much effort and it worked awesome for feeding and I didnt have little birdies covered in food. They are very fickle for cleaning.

Thanks all for letting me share!

Here's a nut shell outline of my questions/concerns in case you get bored and dont want to read my entire tangent 

*Request for Advise Help*

How much sun time should they get daily?
Should I start warm bathing? (how long, and how often?)
Is blow drying after bathing okay (some people seem against it / for it - I considered at a distance and on low would be okay, but maybe a fan?)
Would spritzing warm water be a better idea?
How much quiet/alone time do they need? 
Is there any other vitamins or supplements I should be aware of other than the Kaytee? 
Not entirely too worried, but is anyone familiar with their breed? (figured I could find more info if I knew what they were as far as caregiving)


Today was their first day weighing, They look very healthy to me, and upon first examination there is no wounds/injuries, and they are digesting well/pooping well! And getting more feathers/getting bigger, should I concern myself with an avian vet yet or is everything okay?

I have no actual idea how old these guys are, they look between 10-14 days old according to sight research. 

Thanks for all your help and advise, be blessed!


----------



## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

they don't need sun right now, when they are weaned and can fly up then they will like to see some sun. 

I don't bath babies, but damp towel to clean up is fine. they will bath when weaned and matured more on their own if a pan of water is provided and splash your hand in it to get them interested. 

no blow drying is needed.. they like to sit in the sun after a bath. 

spritzing can be done to house pets that don't bath in a pan. but when grown. 

kaytee is enough and you can slowly move to a pigeon grain diet if all is being digested well in a week or two. when weaned then a suppliment in the water a few times a week is nice to do .

I can't tell they are a breed of pigeon, they are probably a mix of feral pigeons that are from allot of different breeds. 

I would say they are about 13 days old. they have a few more weeks to be weaned to eat on their own which can be slow at first..at about 40 days of age they should be eating on their own.


----------



## Lola-Diamond (Jun 17, 2014)

thanks so much! i guesstimated they were around that age. i appreciate your support!


----------

