# Should I leave the baby to be fed by Gayser(who is not his father!!)



## BHenderson (Sep 8, 2011)

I rescued a baby pigeon today and brought it home, it was very hungry and I fed it as soon as I got it home. Something unusual has happened. Gayser, the adult male pigeon that is paired with Gerty, has started to feed this new baby that is not his. He and Gerty are raising a single squab of there own that is almost the same age as the one I rescued and this may be why he has started to feed the new chick. He has even defended the new chick from other pigeons. 

I am not sure what to do now, should I stop feeding the new chick and allow Gayser to feed his own chick and the new chick? Or should I also feed the new chick a bit? Gerty has not as yet shown any interest in the new chick, but if Gayser continues to feed the new chick maybe Gerty will start to do the same?

I have never see a pigeon feed a baby that is not their own before, and I am unsure what to do. If anyone has experience of this I would greatly appreciate your input. Should I put the new chick in the box with Gaysers other chick? Or will Gerty attack the new chick. The chick has come back to me begging for food, but I do not know if I should feed it? Maybe it is better for the chick to be fed by Gayser and I should stay out of it?

Please anyone who feels they can advise, please respond asap as I am unsure what to do?


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

Iam not sure why you would put a strange bird in with your others because of the chance of passing on illness if the young one could be carring something. But too late now, so I would let him feed him and his other one together as they would if both were theirs. The cock pretty much takes over at three weeks of age anyway.


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## BHenderson (Sep 8, 2011)

It seems that Gayser has stopped feeding the little'n now, and she still seems hungry. Its the first time Gayser has fed the squab so maybe he did not have enough in his crop to feed her fully. I think I should feed her tonight and let Gayser take over completely tomorrow. If all looks well I will put the baby in the box with the other baby so he can feed them both. I will have to watch closely to be sure he does not change his mind and starts scalping the squab.

I often take the healthy looking squabs home after the rescues and the more serious cases are taken to someone who has better facilities to treat them. We do not have the facilities to keep all the babies separate, so basically we only separate those that are obviously ill. I know this leaves us open to potentially infecting other birds, but in practice this has never happened. If we had proper facilities and help from vets etc then we would love to do things properly, but basically pigeons are not treated by anyone but us and we have to do everything out of our meager funds.


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

BHenderson said:


> It seems that Gayser has stopped feeding the little'n now, and she still seems hungry. Its the first time Gayser has fed the squab so maybe he did not have enough in his crop to feed her fully. I think I should feed her tonight and let Gayser take over completely tomorrow. If all looks well I will put the baby in the box with the other baby so he can feed them both. I will have to watch closely to be sure he does not change his mind and starts scalping the squab.
> 
> I often take the healthy looking squabs home after the rescues and the more serious cases are taken to someone who has better facilities to treat them. We do not have the facilities to keep all the babies separate, so basically we only separate those that are obviously ill. I know this leaves us open to potentially infecting other birds, but in practice this has never happened. If we had proper facilities and help from vets etc then we would love to do things properly, but basically pigeons are not treated by anyone but us and we have to do everything out of our meager funds.


wow, if you can not provide basic quanatine then that is pretty bad. I would donate a seperate crate or cage if you had a seperate room to put it in, that would be all you need.


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## BHenderson (Sep 8, 2011)

Its the numbers that make it difficult, I can isolate one or even two with a bit of swapping around, but yesterday I brought home 3 babies and today another 2. This does not include the ones sent to my friend who do actually look ill. The situation will improve in time, but I prefer to give precedence to medicine and Kaytee with the little money I have. Its also a very busy time of year, I'm sure we will get more equipment together when things are less busy. Thanks for the offer anyway, you a bit far away to trasport a cage lol.


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## BHenderson (Sep 8, 2011)

Just to continue with the baby by the way, Gayser has continued to protect and feed the new baby without any intervention by me. When I got back today he was still feeding the new baby and his own baby. I am amazed! Pigeons are wonderful!!!!


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