# mother killed,will dad take care of the babies



## Guest (May 7, 2009)

hello, one of my birds was killed and happened to be a mother of 2, one week old babies the father is still there,but will he take care of two if the mother does not return,she was out and he was with the kids,any help would be greatly appreciated.thank you


----------



## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

onestop2050 said:


> hello, one of my birds was killed and happened to be a mother of 2, one week old babies the father is still there,but will he take care of two if the mother does not return,she was out and he was with the kids,any help would be greatly appreciated.thank you


Letting birds out that have eggs or babies is a bad idea, as you have learned. He may or may not raise them. It's really hard for one parent to raise babies alone. You may need to help him, or maybe raise them yourself. Do you keep a dish or food, and water in the nestbox so that he doesn't have to leave to eat and drink? How many birds do you have?


----------



## maryjane (Jul 15, 2006)

You may need to help by hand feeding them sometimes. Have you ever done that before?


----------



## Homer87 (Nov 2, 2008)

Use foster parents, if he doesn't take care..


----------



## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Homer87 said:


> Use foster parents, if he doesn't take care..


That is if he has birds that will foster. Not all will.


----------



## onestop2050 (May 7, 2009)

i have 1 bird with one baby under her if i put one more under her will she take care of him,what about hand feeding them,they just opened their eyes,what would i feed them,i checked their crop today 5/7/09 and they were pretty full,and what about if i put a baby under a mama that already has 2 will she take care of a third one,thanks alot out there


----------



## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

onestop2050 said:


> i have 1 bird with one baby under her if i put one more under her will she take care of him,what about hand feeding them,they just opened their eyes,what would i feed them,i checked their crop today 5/7/09 and they were pretty full,and what about if i put a baby under a mama that already has 2 will she take care of a third one,thanks alot out there


She may foster it. She may not. Depends on the bird. And as for putting a 3rd baby under a pair, two is really enough for them to feed. Anymore, and they are not really getting what they each need to grow strong.You could hand feed with a bird formula. Exact bird formula is good. They sell it at most pet shops, or a comparable one to it. You can feed with a syringe or eye dropper. There are videos that show you how. If it comes to that, you could watch the different videos. It's not really that hard. Maybe you could just supplement the feedings that the Dad is making. And also, you could try to get it started on seed at a few weeks old. There are lots of people here that can help you with all of that. It's very do-able. Let us know how it's going. Are you keeping feed, grit, and water near to the parent bird?


----------



## MaryOfExeter (Sep 30, 2007)

I've had the same situation before. Each time I usually put the parent and nest bowl/babies in a separate cage with plenty of food and water all the time. Of course some of the more fidgety pigeons may not like being moved and spend more time focusing on getting out than feeding babies. Which is why it's better when they've got some feathers and can chase the parents. If all else fails, you'll have to hand feed them at least some of the time.


----------



## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Putting him in the cage may sound like a good idea. But raising babies is already stressful. Now the Dad is raising them alone. More stress. If you cage him up with the babies, that could cause more stress. Stress raises the incidence of canker. It could cause him to pass it to the youngsters. 
I was treating the flock for something else, when Sammy's babies hatched. My fault. I thought I had switched out the eggs. You can imagine how surprised I was when one of what I thought were wooden eggs hatched. I had to close them up in the nest box with the babies, as they were not being treated with the rest of the flock, and only let them out at night, after the feed and water were taken away. They were very stressed over this, and I believe this may have had a lot to do with the fact that canker was passed on to the babies. One, anyway, not sure of the other, but had to treat both of them plus the parents. The one baby almost died. Thank God she is okay now. But I really believe that all the added stress raised the trichomonad level in the parents, and contributed to the canker. This Dad will be stressed enough without a mate to help him. Stressing him further wouldn't be helpful. Think I'd wait and see how he does with them. Watch them, and check their crops. Keep feed and water close to him. And if he tires of raising them alone, then you may have to step in and hand raise the little ones. Good luck.


----------



## onestop2050 (May 7, 2009)

hello,i really appreciate your replys,i found out petsmart carries exact baby bird food and i will be getting some tonight,i dont mind feeding them or helping dad out,how much should i feed them and how many times a day,i checked on them earlier 5/8/09 and their crops were pretty full,actually they had more food in them than the babies with both parents,i have food and water in his little house,i will keep u posted,thank you


----------



## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

onestop2050 said:


> hello,i really appreciate your replys,i found out petsmart carries exact baby bird food and i will be getting some tonight,i dont mind feeding them or helping dad out,how much should i feed them and how many times a day,i checked on them earlier 5/8/09 and their crops were pretty full,actually they had more food in them than the babies with both parents,i have food and water in his little house,i will keep u posted,thank you


You've gotten quite a few opinions and they are different in some ways. Pigeon racers routinely separate parents sometimes and give the hen one baby to raise and leave one with the cock to raise. I don't personally do this, but I know that it is done in some lofts. Usually the babies are two weeks old though, rather than one week old.
IMO, I'd leave things just the way they are. If the Exact is readily available for you to run buy it if needed, then I would just wait and see how things transpire. It sounds like to me that Dad is doing an excellent job for now. IF you see at any time that he has become stressed or looses interest in the babies, THEN you can take over. In another week, if things had gone normally, Mom would have most likely laid eggs again and Dad would have the brunt of the responsibility for these little ones anyway. 
I don't foresee a problem with him raising them as long as he has enough food water and is left in the enviroment that he knows and is used to.
That's just my two cents worth, for what it's worth.


----------



## onestop2050 (May 7, 2009)

the babies r doing great, i have been feeding them 1 time in the afternoon between 5-10 ml of kaytee exact,their crop feels pretty full when they r done,but i leave some room for the dad wich is doing a pretty good job,thanks for the help guys and gals


----------



## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

I'm so glad it's going well. Thanks for the update.


----------

