# My pigeon still not eating by himself



## karla (Jul 8, 2006)

Hi my friends  
My 1 month and 17 days still not eating by himself  
I try not to feed him for long hours and when I came to check on him, still empty crop. I see him trying to peck the seeds but all of them just go out of his peak , I don't know if he is playing or really trying to eat them  
I really don't mind at all to feed him, but I know he is really getting old now!
Please any advice ?


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

karla said:


> Hi my friends
> My 1 month and 17 days still not eating by himself
> I try not to feed him for long hours and when I came to check on him, still empty crop. I see him trying to peck the seeds but all of them just go out of his peak , I don't know if he is playing or really trying to eat them
> I really don't mind at all to feed him, but I know he is really getting old now!
> Please any advice ?



At that age either your bird has a problem that is causing him not to be able to pick up the seeds, and I don't know exactly what that would be, OR, you've got one spoiled bird on your hands and it's going to take some of that "tough love" to stop him from insisting that you feed him. How exactly do you feed him anyway? I can't imagine a bird at this age not eating on it's own.


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## Vasp (Jul 25, 2006)

You should only be hand feeding him once a day at night, and allowing him to spend most of his day around his food. You may want to use your hand as a tutor, and begin picking up the seed. He might think it's just something fun to pick at, and doesn't realize that it's food. If you are doing this, I have no idea why he isn't eating on his own. To encourage him to eat the food, you may want to sprinkle some of the dry hand feeding formula (or whatever you're feeding him now) on his adult food. He may then realize that it's food.


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## karla (Jul 8, 2006)

Thank for responding to my help  
Well,l I feed him a mix of variety seed like (small bird vitamin and minerals 
fortified ) (Dove and ground feeding bird food) ,and finch mix 
Still all the seed just dont go inside


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## karla (Jul 8, 2006)

Vasp said:


> You should only be hand feeding him once a day at night, and allowing him to spend most of his day around his food. You may want to use your hand as a tutor, and begin picking up the seed. He might think it's just something fun to pick at, and doesn't realize that it's food. If you are doing this, I have no idea why he isn't eating on his own. To encourage him to eat the food, you may want to sprinkle some of the dry hand feeding formula (or whatever you're feeding him now) on his adult food. He may then realize that it's food.



Thank you ! 
I will try that


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

You said you wait "many" hours and he hasn't eaten. How many is "many"? Here's what I would do if it was me.............Feed him good in the AM. Then put a measured amount of feed in his dish. 1 oz, 2 oz, doesn't matter. After 24 hours, measure the feed and see if any is missing. If there is none missing, wait another 12 hours. By this time, he will be getting hungry. If he's not eating because he's spoiled, he WILL eat if he gets hungry. If he's not eating because he has a problem, then this will tell you. It won't hurt him to go 24 hours without food. Not self feeding may not be a problem now, but what if something happened to you and he didn't have you to feed him? He needs to learn to eat on his own. Good luck.


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## Vasp (Jul 25, 2006)

Lovebirds said:


> You said you wait "many" hours and he hasn't eaten. How many is "many"? Here's what I would do if it was me.............Feed him good in the AM. Then put a measured amount of feed in his dish. 1 oz, 2 oz, doesn't matter. After 24 hours, measure the feed and see if any is missing. If there is none missing, wait another 12 hours. By this time, he will be getting hungry. If he's not eating because he's spoiled, he WILL eat if he gets hungry. If he's not eating because he has a problem, then this will tell you. It won't hurt him to go 24 hours without food. Not self feeding may not be a problem now, but what if something happened to you and he didn't have you to feed him? He needs to learn to eat on his own. Good luck.


Yeah, you can do that and either feed in the AM or PM. You just have to make sure he gets hungry while around his food and goes long enough without being fed to eat his own food. He probably knows that you will feed him if he doesn't eat his food, so all he does is play around with it boredly.


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## karla (Jul 8, 2006)

Maybe I have to wait more time before I go to him  
I feed him around 6 am and then around 4 pm 
I wil try only once a day 
Thanks


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

You should probably make sure he eats at night, or supplement him with a tablespoon of seed, before bed. he needs the nourishment so he can use it to meet the demands made of him during the day, and regain energy, laying down new cells, etc. If he knows how to drink by himself it is just a matter of time.

He should be good and hungry in the morning, and this would be the perfect time to see if hunger motivates him to eat.

I see one of my youngsters beg the parents for food even though he is capable of eating on his own, he would rather not, if dad will feed him. Once the dad stops feeding him altogether, he got real serious about eating on his own, and once he practiced enough, he actually did swallow every seed he picked up.


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## karla (Jul 8, 2006)

Trees Gray said:


> You should probably make sure he eats at night, or supplement him with a tablespoon of seed, before bed. he needs the nourishment so he can use it to meet the demands made of him during the day, and regain energy, laying down new cells, etc. If he knows how to drink by himself it is just a matter of time.
> 
> He should be good and hungry in the morning, and this would be the perfect time to see if hunger motivates him to eat.
> 
> I see one of my youngsters beg the parents for food even though he is capable of eating on his own, he would rather not, if dad will feed him. Once the dad stops feeding him altogether, he got real serious about eating on his own, and once he practiced enough, he actually did swallow every seed he picked up.



Ok I will  
I know he is just a spoil little pigeon , but it touch my heart to see him beg for food  
But he needs to learn  
Thank you


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## Pigeonpal2002 (Jul 27, 2002)

Hi Karla, 

It's frustrating when they take so long to learn. My hand raised babies didn't really start eating properly until they were nearly 3 months old!  They were also spoiled

Patience, persistance and some tough love are necessary to make them eat. If Miracle is pecking, he's interested, but not hungry enough to try harder. I know it's hard to watch them go hungry, but believe me, it's for the best in the long run.

Good luck


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## karla (Jul 8, 2006)

Hello Pigeonpal2002:

I started to think my pigeon had a problem or something , but now by reading your post.....
he is just a spoil bird  

Thanks for sharing


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## dovegirl (Apr 15, 2006)

My pigeon, Comet, started eating the very small millet seeds. I think it is called French Millet. It is very easy to swallow. 

Regards
Ellie


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## karla (Jul 8, 2006)

Thanks Ellie 
I will go to the pet store today to look for it  
Karla


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## Maggie-NC (Jun 22, 2005)

Karla, the small seeds are the best for young birds since they can pick them up more easily. As Renee suggested, you can check the amount of seed he eats by measuring them but what we do also is weigh our young ones at least once a day while we're trying to wean them. If they don't gain weight I have no problem with popping some Exact in them at bedtime because it's only a matter of time before he will pick it up on his own. It is much harder to wean a single bird than it is several of the same age.


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## alvin (May 10, 2006)

It's harder to do anything with a single bird. I sometimes think that Pijies have a group memory.
Take Doodles for instance. I am sure that it I had anopther bird who knew how to eat, it would force her to try. Maybe it's the competition instinct kicking in?
Ditto with bathing. She is getting to be a very smelly Pij.

Lovely, but she does hum like the Dickens So to speak. She'll eventually figure it out. But until then, I'll just have to put up with her.


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## karla (Jul 8, 2006)

Today is my first day I'll let him figure out how to eat by himself  
I fed her around 7 am and now is 1:54 . I see her trying but not going any seed inside jet all of then ,jump out of his beak  
ps:
I am feeding her small seeds por finch birds  
Karla


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## dovegirl (Apr 15, 2006)

Hello everyone.

My Comet is eating the small millets seeds, but he won't eat anything bigger.

How much should a weaning pigeon be eating? 

I read here that an adult pigeon should be eating 1 to 2 tablespoons of seeds a day. Is this the same for a weaning pigeon?

Regards
Ellie


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

Hi Ellie,

A weaning pigeon will eat just about as much as he can get in, on each try. It is not a worry, as long as he is still getting supplemental feedings. The supplemental feedings can get smaller as the youngster grasps and swallows more seed at a time.

A young pigeon who IS weaned and eating on its own should eat about a tablespoon of seed three or even four times a day, then down to three servings and then two tablespoons, when he/she is adult. The amount will vary depending on whether the bird is a pet, who has access to food all day, or homing/racing pigeon who actually is fed once or twice a day, depends on their trainer.


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