# How does a baby pigeon learn to eat by itself?



## sugomez

Hello,

Two weeks ago we rescued a baby pigeon. My dad was told to take down a nest at his job and there was a baby in it so he brought the baby home. We did some research and fed him baby formula. The technique we used worked out wonderfully and he loves the food. However, he is now between 18-20 days old and for what I've read it is time for him/her to start learning to eat by itself. We just don't know how to go about this. 

He tries to peck when we give him seeds but doesn't know how to open his beak. I read somewhere that we should only feed him once a day and leave seeds around so that being hungry would force him to eat. Is this recommended? Today we tried grinding the seeds a little and putting them in his formula. That worked out well but we are still worried about him eating by himself.

Any suggestions? 

Thank you very much!


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## Hareloft

Youn can feed it whole seed open his beak and place some in he will swallow them. The parents feed the babys whole seed kinda the same way. leave some seed in the dish and he will learn to eat it.


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## Charis

This is the easiest way to wean a baby pigeon. They do need to be fed every time their crop empties, rather than one time a day. Here are some pre-written instructions.




You can hand feed defrosted peas. Run some hot water over them until they are defrosted and slightly warmed. Put the bird on your lap and hold it next to your body. If it helps because you are having a hard time handling the pigeon, you can wrap a towel around it or put it in the sleeve of a tee shirt, with the head out the wrist. This method confines the pigeon without hurting him and makes it easier to handle. Gently open the beak and pop a pea at the back of the mouth and over the throat. It gets easier and faster, with practice, for both you and the bird.
You will need to feed 30-50 per feeding [depending on the size of the pigeon] and every time the crop empties until you know the baby is eating on his own. After a couple of feedings, most squeakers get the hang of it, pick up the peas on their own and naturally transition into a seed diet.

In addition to the peas,one time a day, put a small pinch of powdered oyster shell, which you can buy at most pet stores, will supply the calcium the baby needs to support bone health.You sprinkle it on the peas.
__________
This is a wonderful method for teaching babies to eat because they feel the whole food in their mouth and it’s soft and easy to pick up and hang on to. 
The crop is located right below the throat and with food it fills up like a little balloon. The peas make the crop feel lumpy and squishy.


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## sugomez

Thank you very much for the advice. We've had a hard time opening its beak but practice should help us get better at it.


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## Kiko&Kalani

Ah that brings back memories of trying to help Kiko and Kalani learn to eat. If it helps any, here is what we experienced. Kalani was a natural and very ladylike, but Kiko... We tried opening thier beak and putting them in their mouth, Kalani was far to independent and interested in eating on her own so she was easy and Kiko was not a fan of hand feeding period so.. We followed the advise that Charis gave with the peas. They loved them but Kiko was more interested in making a mess and getting them all smushed over his whole head. He seemed to struggle with the concept of picking up the pea with his beak, so we put a few in one of those little white plastic cups (like the little medicine caps to measure out liquid meds). With this he was able to get the peas into his mouth. Once he mastered this, we went back to letting him peck them off the potty pad on the floor. 

Here are a few pics of them perfecting their new skill. I think you can guess which one is Kiko and which is Kalani!  When I first started feeding the peas, they would not eat anywhere near as many as 30 to 50 (more like 20 tops), so I kept feeding them formula also for that first week (they were around 21 days old when we started with the peas). We also put seed with the peas and once they started eating those and the peas we stopped the formula completely. How is your little fella doing with drinking water? I would love to see some pics of your piji  

Good luck


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## Skyeking

*I think you should start with feeding peas, (good introduction to solids) as his tongue needs to get used to having whole food on it and he needs to learn to work the muscle in the tongue for taking in and swallowing seeds.

Best to introduce seeds in a deep spill proof dish when HUNGRY because that is the motivater to get him to eat, you can generate an interest by moving your finger in the bowl.*


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## sugomez

Thank you very much for the advice about the peas. It worked out easier than we thought it would. We are still learning to feed them but he loves the peas and cooperates a lot. We were also able to feed him small seeds. 

One question, should we cook the peas a bit or keep them raw?

We are still struggling with giving him water. Any suggestions?

I would one to post a picture but haven't been able to figure out how to do that in this page.

Thank again!


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## Kiko&Kalani

Hey,
Do not cook the peas, just run hot water over them until they are room temperature (slightly warm is OK). I would not recommend using a microwave as there might be hot spots inside the peas. As for the water, others may have more techniques to offer. The main thing you need to know is that the bowl/water level needs to be at least 2 inches deep. I use a small ceramic cat food bowl. I clean the bowl and give fresh water every day. They use their beak like a straw, dipping it into the water up to their nostrils and sucking water in. With Kiko and Kalani I would stick their beak into the water several times after each feeding (but be careful not to submerge their notrils!). 

As for the pic here is a step-by-step:

1)Save a picture to your desktop (can be saved anywhere as long as you know where to retrieve it on your computer) 
2)Start a new thread and click on the paper clip(next to the smiley face) and choose manage attachments.
3)A small window will open (manage attachments) click on the browse button (there are two browse button, you want the first one)
4)Now this is just like attaching a doc into an email. Select desktop and open, then select the picture you want to post and open. Once you have the pic you want click upload button. This will add the pic you want to your pigeon talk post. Repeat same (browse, desktop, pic, upload).
5) Return to your post and submit your post as usually. 

Looking forward to your pics


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## Leon V

You can teach by dipping his/her head in the food make sure that he food is moisture like water, or you have an older pigeon to teach it by putting them in together make sure the older pigeon is hungry so he/she can teach the baby pigeon, that is how my baby pigeons learnt how to eat by itself/


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