# Weaning (and maybe just some general advice!?)



## ann_of_loxley (Sep 29, 2013)

Hello - I am new here! ...and new to pigeon/dove rescue!...It happened by chance really. A friend of mine (a biologist) found a baby collared dove that had fallen from the nest. Normally she would leave such a baby bird but it was in a very unsafe location and the silly mother even built her nest on those spikes put on the side of buildings that are supposed to prevent them from doing such things in the first place! I have since learned a bit about collared doves...such that their nests are often 'weak' in the first place so babies falling out of them is a common occurance!...

The collared dove was about a week old when I got him (give or take a few days...probably more like give, I guessed youngest age I could to be on safe side! - though neither of us are experts in this area!) and so I would say he is about 40 days old at the moment!

Our neighbourhood is full of cats, I have three myself and so I have kept him very safe in my bedroom upstairs. I am not kitted out for caring for outside birds but I am full of compassion and do the best I can!... And so I have found a decent wildlife rescue centre nearish (its an hours drive away) to us that does help mend and release pigeons/doves (rather than just put them down!) that are happy to take him and help prepare him for release (they are kitted out for such stuff with aviaries, etc!)...I love him, but he is a wild bird and deserves a lovely collared dove life so this is the best for him. I am only a little concerned because whilst I do not interact with him during the day and only see him when I go in to feed him and I have tried to keep him as wild I can, he has taken up to flying over to me and relaxing on my arm to wake me up in the morning! ...I don't want him getting attached! (any advice on that would be great!...I don't want to frighten him and scare him but I also can not keep him in any other room as he is safest there and needs room to fly so I am not going to cage him up either!)

So my main question is weaning him!...How do I go about doing this? For the past week I have dropped to feeding him twice a day. (so from 33 days of age I have fed him in the morning and evening - I feed him with a latex covered syringe if you were wondering!..mimicing how he would have fed from his mother!). I weighed him at the begining (182g) and weighed him today (183g) ...which wiki says is about spot on for a collared dove (???!!!)...I wanted to make sure he wasn't losing weight during this process ikywim! I am thinking of dropping it down to one feed this week till eventually he is no longer being fed and eating 100% for himself.... is that reasonable for his age/size?!...is that how it is done? ...

Also, he is provided with a variety of seed and fresh veg and some fruit...but I have noticed he only eats the millet! Apparently birds really like millet...good stuff right?!...but he needs to not be a picky eater if he is going out in the wild. I offer him loads (peas, bananas, sunflower seeds, canary mix, finch mix, barley, oats, quinoa, dried chunked up corn, etc....all healthy things for him!)...and he chucks it all over the place and only eats the millet!... So how can I encourage him to eat a more well rounded diet?...I don't want him to starve! (he gained 1g in the past week...at least he didn't lose weight...is that resonable?) I have added a great mix of seed to his 'baby food' that he eats but that just all goes in so hes not picking it out like he does the food left out for him during the day!

And so thats us!...thanks for reading!  (sorry that was a big long!)


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

ann_of_loxley said:


> Hello - I am new here! ...and new to pigeon/dove rescue!...It happened by chance really. A friend of mine (a biologist) found a baby collared dove that had fallen from the nest. Normally she would leave such a baby bird but it was in a very unsafe location and the silly mother even built her nest on those spikes put on the side of buildings that are supposed to prevent them from doing such things in the first place! I have since learned a bit about collared doves...such that their nests are often 'weak' in the first place so babies falling out of them is a common occurance!...
> 
> The collared dove was about a week old when I got him (give or take a few days...probably more like give, I guessed youngest age I could to be on safe side! - though neither of us are experts in this area!) and so I would say he is about 40 days old at the moment!
> 
> ...


first, if he is eating millet he is weaned, so stop with the hand feeding. He is being a picky eater because he is being offerd too much, a dove diet from the pet store should be given,millet, sunflower, milo, wheat, and corn) only give enough that he will eat in a days time and don't add to it..add more only if it is almost gone. he will sling feed and look for favorites at first, but when he knows that is all he gets and has a chance to actually feel hunger he will eat more readily and not be as picky. He will have to have a soft release. birds being released have minimal handling and are taught to forage in an aviary enviorment and sometimes are released in a group if more are of age. personally If he is not a native and is not protected I would keep him as a pet they are semi-domestic in some regions.


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