# When to move a Woodpigeon to solid food?



## BHenderson (Sep 8, 2011)

I have nursed a number of feral pigeon babies onto solid food, and in general they start eating seed themselves when they get to a certain age. I have had a number of wood pigeon babies but I have never had one stay with me long enough to move them onto solid food, they usually get moved to where there are a number of other woodies.
I have a baby woody that is going to be staying with me, and another adult woody due to arrive soon. The baby first arrived about 3 weeks ago in very bad shape. She had been hiding in a garden for several days before the owners did something about it, and she had obviously not been fed in a long time. She was very underweight and had coccidia and paratyphoid. Luckily she wanted to survive and has recovered lovely. She has fattened up and is over the paratyphoid after a 14 day course of Enfroflox. I think it is time to move this baby to solid food, but I am not sure. She has started to mix with the other pigeons, but I never see her eat. Whenever I pick her up to hand feed her, her crop feels empty. I am feeding her Sweetcorn and peas and sunflower kernels and some other seeds. Also I feed her rolled up balls of Kaytee mix. She does not want to eat this and fights me all the way. I don't know if I should continue to force feed her, or go back to crop feeding her Kaytee until she starts to eat seed by herself like the feral. If anyone has experience weening woodies onto solid food I would be grateful for some advice. Thank you,
Brian.


----------



## BHenderson (Sep 8, 2011)

It seems persistence may be the answer here. I have continued to feed the woody(who I have called "Woody" as she is my first long term woody!) the mix of solid foods mentioned above, and she is not fighting me so hard today and even settles into being fed after a bit. I have read that the mothers often continue to feed the baby for some time after they leave the nest, so in the absence of conflicting advice, I am going to continue the way I am.


----------

