# Youngster leaving the nest



## colombireali (Mar 16, 2016)

Hello everyone!

I would like to understand how to be sure that a youngster has been abandoned. I feed pigeons on my roof, they are feral and live in the attic of the house where I live, and they come to eat in a flatten part of the roof.
This morning I saw there is a little one, cheeping and left alone. I think it's about 20 days old, but I can't see it well because it's hidden in part.
Now experience sadly tells me that if they leave the nest so young probably it's because they are not been fed anymore.. Why would he jump out of the roof?
What do you think?

Thanks


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

*At 20 days of age the parents will leave them by themselves, but they are usually nearby to keep an eye out and will come back to feed them.

Can you check and see if the baby is well fed (crop will be full after feeding, and keel/breast bone should not be sharp) and if the parents are coming back to feed it? 

If the baby is truly abandoned it will need to be rescued, because they are not quite ready to fledge on their own at 20 days and not yet weaned. *


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## colombireali (Mar 16, 2016)

Thank you for your answer.
Here are a couple of pics so maybe you can figure out better how old it is

http://prnt.sc/afy6u7
http://prnt.sc/afy799

It is hard to tell if parents are sticking around since on my roof there are pigeons pretty much all the time  Now it is crouched under the shingles you can see in the pictures. Later I will try and see if I can grab it and feel the crop and check out the breast bone.


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## Whytpigeon (Sep 14, 2015)

I would leave it be for the parents to feed it, if the crop is empty it just may be that it's feeding time. If it stop squeaking for food and is lethargic for a day or more then it may need to be fed.


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## colombireali (Mar 16, 2016)

http://prnt.sc/ag1qer
http://prnt.sc/ag1r73
http://prnt.sc/ag1rin
http://prnt.sc/ag1rry
http://prnt.sc/ag3krx

Today in the morning it was squeaking but the rest of the day until now, 6pm, it was crouched in the same place. I went to check out the crop and saw all that scabs it has.. I have no idea how it could get hurt.. maybe some sort of disease? However it's warm and pooped allright.. He seems also strong enough. 
I took it to take the pictures..now it's in a box.. should I just put it back where it was? I think it could be cold in the night..

edit.
As you can see also the tail is growing well..but it seems to me that a pigeon of its age should have more feathers especially on the back. But I'm not that expert.
Thanks again


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## colombireali (Mar 16, 2016)

So here it's an update. For tonight the baby slept in the box, today it was still very warm and I found some nice droppings.
I really don't know what to do because of those scabs he has.. So i'm trying to see if parents come and feed him.
For the moment I put him outside, there's a big terrace well protected from three sides with a parapet on the fourth side. (From there with a ladder I can climb myself on the roof you saw in the fist two photos.) Some of the pigeons are familiar with the terrace and land looking for food when it's not meal time.
I can check the situation from a window, behind a curtain. Right now he is squeaking and calling but no one feeds him, just a couple of them were curious and went for a quick look.
Do you think it's a good idea, while I figure out what's the matter with his skin?

Maybe the post should be moved to health care or something?
ps. sorry for my limited ability to express myself in english


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

From your photo's it looks as if he was attacked by other pigeons, and maybe that's why he left the nest.

If there was a lot of nice droppings this morning in the box, that means that he is getting fed. Maybe you can put some betadine on his wounds and put him back out on the terrace. His feathers will eventually grow back. If you have time, just keep an eye on this baby. His survival in the wild will just be so much easier if he's getting raised by his parents.

Check in the evenings where he sleeps and every morning go check his droppings. If they are brown, nice and firm, then you know all is ok. If however, they turn a green and creamy colour, then it's probably starvation droppings and you'll have to bring him inside and start feeding him yourself.


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

Here is a great link for feeding youngsters and more: 

http://www.pigeonrescue.co.uk/peasa...w.pigeonrescue.co.uk/caringforababypigeon.htm


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## colombireali (Mar 16, 2016)

Mom or dad came down on the terrace and fed the little one! Beautiful 

Reading the forum I found that rats can harm little pigeons..!? I didn't know it..why do they do that? do they try to eat them?
There are actually some rats that come to my wild restaurant too in the night..maybe it was them that hurt him..

So now i could put the baby back up where it was, on the flat roof, hoping that maybe he goes back inside the attic, but i wonder why he came out in the first place, it could have been thrown out by other pigeons as marina says.
Or i could let him down on the terrace, let parents feed him, and maybe in the night i could take him inside to protect from rats? I don't know if it could be a good solution for him..

To disinfect i have at home a normal hansaplast liquid disinfectant, bottle says it doesn't burn, based on benzalkonium chloride and chlorhexidine. Would it be the same? Otherwise i will get betadine.

Thank you, sorry for the many questions but i'm a little confused and i want to make the best for the little creature.


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

Glad the parents are feeding him. I think he would have been more injured (or dead) if he was attacked by rats.

You can use any antibacterial ointment (maybe it's not even necessary, the wound don't look that bad). bactroban, stuff like that. I've never heard off the spray you mentioned, don't know maybe someone else can help.


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

If there's no fear of him getting caught by predators like cats maybe, I would just leave him on the terrace.


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## Whytpigeon (Sep 14, 2015)

colombireali said:


> Mom or dad came down on the terrace and fed the little one! Beautiful
> 
> Reading the forum I found that rats can harm little pigeons..!? I didn't know it..why do they do that? do they try to eat them?
> There are actually some rats that come to my wild restaurant too in the night..maybe it was them that hurt him..
> ...


Iam not sure what you are seeing but it could be pox lesions , they scab over. There is nothing you can do for it, but perhaps swab the lesions with iodine.


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## colombireali (Mar 16, 2016)

you mean chicken pox like human babies? 
if you want I can see if i can take better photos

i'm not sure about leaving him in the terrace during the night.. While i'm afraid it could cause him stress to have contact with me (even if tonight he let me take him in the box without trying to escape as much as yesterday), i'm also more worried about rats now that i read those things..maybe it's useless worrying but the problem is that he has chosen as his spot a piece of furniture exactly where rats go to get their food.. some neighbours also have a couple of cats but i never saw them on my roof i don't think they can get there.
tomorrow i will try to figure out a rearrangement for the terrace to create a safe place for him

thank you for precious help
cheers


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

Maybe you can build a small cage and gently chase him in there every night. Cover the one half with a blanket and put a brick in there for him to perch on. In the mornings just let him come out again. Then he will be safe at night and the parents can feed him during the day.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

I think bringing him in at night would be fine as long as you can get him back out early in morning. For any wounds, apply an antibiotic cream. If you must wash them, just wash with a warm saline solution. Boil a quart of water, and add a tablespoon of salt, mix and let cool to luke warm. Clean with this, then apply the antibiotic cream.


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## Whytpigeon (Sep 14, 2015)

colombireali said:


> you mean chicken pox like human babies?
> if you want I can see if i can take better photos
> 
> i'm not sure about leaving him in the terrace during the night.. While i'm afraid it could cause him stress to have contact with me (even if tonight he let me take him in the box without trying to escape as much as yesterday), i'm also more worried about rats now that i read those things..maybe it's useless worrying but the problem is that he has chosen as his spot a piece of furniture exactly where rats go to get their food.. some neighbours also have a couple of cats but i never saw them on my roof i don't think they can get there.
> ...


Yes avian pox. It is carried by mosquitos , esp in warmer climates.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

That doesn't look like pox. I would bring him in at night as he isn't safe out there, but get him back out so that his parents can feed him and raise him. That way he will remain part of a flock and will have better chance of survival then he would have if you hand raised him and then released. Would put antibiotic cream on those scabs, and would use a bird spray or powder for mites and lice on him.


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## Whytpigeon (Sep 14, 2015)

Oh, I just checked it out. Parasites... Mites is my guess. Hopefully they are not the kind that jumps species.


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## colombireali (Mar 16, 2016)

Oh I see, spraying was in my plans as you suggested. I have a spray from last year that I bought for another pigeon and don't think they expire, I will check it out. I didn't spray him yet because I was waiting for the scabs to dry up completely. Actually they look like old wounds healed right now, today I also noticed new feather sprouts! (I don't know the word but think that sprout gives the idea  ) He looks very good to me, it's so beautiful to see mom and dad come and feed him.
I'm also going to make him some softer spot to crouch on, for the day; after dark I take him inside in a quiet room of the house.
Now besides giving the pigeons food up on the flat roof I leave some extra on the terrace floor so some of them come down and he can be with the flock. I saw he's also learning how to peck by himself!

Look at that fat crop!
http://prnt.sc/aheiii
http://prnt.sc/aheis9

For now Thank you so much people!! 
I'm going to keep you updated

Love and fly high


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## colombireali (Mar 16, 2016)

Hello everyone!
The little guy is doing great. In the last days he has been learning to fly, always longer, yesterday he flew to the roof of the neighbours and came back!
Today for the first time he flew vertically to the top of my roof with the other pigeons! I guess the vertical fly takes more skill  He is not a master aviator yet, but he is learning fast, although he still is a baby and squeaks sometimes. I have been taking him inside for the night untill now, and today I thought it was no more necessary since he can fly and I thought he was going to sleep up in the roof with other pigeons..but I was wrong.. All the others went to sleep but he went to the same spot in my terrace, in a cavity of the furniture.. I would let him stay there but we still have the rat gang coming in the night 
I was thinking I could build him a pigeon house and hang it somewhere on the terrace wall.. I think as soon as he finds a partner (about 3-4 months, right?) he will go and make a nice nest somewhere, but in the meantime I could avoid taking him inside in the night.. For me it'd be no problem, but maybe not good for him. Obviously I want him to bond with the flock.

Any advice?
Thanks!


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

*Thank you for caring for these birds and this youngster.

It would be wise to keep this youngster away from the rat pack and any kind of intervention to keep that from happening should be okay.

Pigeons mature at about 6 months of age, with domestic they make better parents between 6 months to a year old. I am not sure at what age they find a mate in the wild, but they are always a part of the pecking order and have to sucumb to that when they join the group. Once he joins the flock he will learn his place, and his safety is being with them-they are safer in group/numbers. 

Thank you again for your care and concern over the youngster. *


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## colombireali (Mar 16, 2016)

Hello guys!
I never updated the thread so I just wanted to let you know that the little guy is now a ranked member of the flock 
I managed to build for him a secure house on my terrace, he slept there for two nights and then he finally went to sleep with the others.
He now comes with the flock to eat on the roof and for the moment I can still recognise him even if he has grown full size and he is growing a beatifull greenish neck 

Thank you so much for precious help and advices!
See you around, I'm going to open onother thread because sadly I saw a problem in a pigeon of the flock.


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