# Smarty pants feral pigeon



## kamz (Jan 23, 2010)

Hey guys, 

like many people here I have just signed up following rescuing a feral pigeon youngster. In my case the pigeon is recuperating quite well, and has been declared disease free by a vet. He is now approximately 30 days old, and still without a few of his feathers in various places (apparently due to a nutritional/stress/exposure issue before we had him) he now has lots of pins for new feathers. He is eating a good diet of pigeon mix, and grit/trace mineral mix. 

However, as you may be thinking, surely things cannot be going so perfectly! There are two questions I would like to ask. 

1. He is not able to eat large grain on his own yet. Should he be able to at 30 days? He can only eat smaller grain and I still have to hand feed him the larger stuff (drop it in his mouth). 

2. Should I keep him in a coop in the back yard (with a view to training him to fly and return home, or have him as an indoor pet? I am leaning towards indoor pet, because he seems to have imprinted on me? (if possible). He is a blue checkered feral pigeon, i think what is known as a rock pigeon? I have been told that he is not a 'homing' pigeon by the vet I saw, who suggested however he could be taught over time visually to identify his coop and return home. However the idea of potentially losing him, and him losing me scares the hell out of me as I am so attached to the little guy. 

I have also managed (you are not going to believe it) to train him to poo on newspaper before he flies away from the coffee table to me. He is able to do this on command, the little smarty pants! this took him two days to learn. However he appears far smaller than a normal pigeon to me. This, combined with his ridiculous levels of affection towards all people suggest he could be at risk if i let him fly free outside? If I was to keep him inside, i would let him out in the lounge room for flying sessions (if i can persuade my boyfriend to let me keep him inside!). 

I suppose, in summary, as I am intending on keeping him as a solitary pigeon, would it be safest and in his best interests to be an indoor or outdoor bird? This is a pressing issue as we really want to build a cage ASAP that is suited to a pigeon. 

Thanks guys, I really appreciate your effort in reading this long post! 

Cheers 

Kamz


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## Crab_Shrapnel (Jan 17, 2010)

Awww, I'd keep him inside


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Welcome, Kamz! Thank you so much for raising this youngster! I vote for inside with time out of the cage if you are able to do it. It sounds like the little one has thoroughly bonded with you.

Terry


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## kamz (Jan 23, 2010)

thanx for the advice guys. i think that inside would be better - i think even after only about 2 weeks of having him i would be devastated if anything happened to him. 

does he need vitamin d supplements as well as his special grit - i think my partner has been persuaded by the poo on command thing to let me keep him inside. 

also, is it bad to trim his flight feathers if i intend on keeping him as an indoor bird - just in case he got out?


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## Pawbla (Jan 6, 2009)

Potty trained pijjie! Please tell me how you did it, haha.

Vitamin D supplements, I think they are necessary if he does not get enough direct sunlight. Direct sunlight meaning not through a window.

Trimming his feathers would be trimming his only chance to survive if he escapes and finds a dog, cat, car, or any kind of danger. Normally members recommend to avoid this.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

An indoor house pet would be a good idea, as if flown alone, he has more chance of being caught by a hawk. And he really isn't predator smart. He knows nothing of those things. Piggeons live in flocks because there are more eyes to watch for predators. A lone bird just isn't as safe. Yes, he would need vitamin D, or one of those full spectrum lights that you can buy. They should be changed every few months, as their strength weakens. Vitamins are good anyway.
The best thing would be if you could let him live inside, and built him an outdoor aviary that he could exercise in during the warm weather, and get fresh air and sunshine. He'd have the best of both worlds, and would probably enjoy his time outside. Don't know where you live, so don't know what kind of weather you get. Pigeons make wonderful pets, and he and you sound as though you are bonded. Let us know what you decide, and welcome to Pigeon Talk.


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## Mindy (Apr 2, 2009)

I vote for inside. I agree he isn't predator smart and when there is only one pigeon flying around outside he has a good chance of getting caught by a hawk. And that would be awful. Since it sounds like he is human imprinted he wouldn't survive on his own outside. He wouldn't know where to find food and if he got scared and flew away it would most likely be a death sentence for him. They also make pigeon diapers if your potty training doesn't work. I think you'll be able to talk to your boyfriend, doesn't he know the saying, a happy wife is a happy life. min


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## c.hert (Jan 15, 2010)

I like the philosophy of every one of you --inside bird it is---Now Mindy --Pigeon Diapers--I am just not ready for this--maybe too old for that piece of information. c.hert


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## kamz (Jan 23, 2010)

Hey guys, thanks for all your good ideas and tips. 

Today pidgee and I have spent the day relaxing - i brought him in from his temporary home (a large budgie aviary) and had him out on the coffee table all day in the lounge room. He is sitting down on me now, having a snuggle. 

teaching toilet training is an ongoing process - the way I got things started was by repeating 'poo poo' (wish now I had chosen a different word) when he does his business. then i started saying it to get him to poo. he mostly gets it right - today was the first time I have gotten pooped on in a week. still need a drop sheet under his table in the lounge as he still backs up and poops of the edge. 

should i be concerned that he will only eat tiny seeds at his age? he is probably 32 days old now, I hand feed him the big stuff. I have tried imitating pecking at the food with my finger, and holding it in my hand for him, and in between my index and thumb finger. He refuses to eat anything by himself except the small red seeds he gets in his pigeon mix, and occasional bits of soluble grit. today I have even compromised and put canary food out - i just really want to get him eating on his own! 

is it time to tuff it out and not feed him for a couple of days? 

jay3 thank you for your advice re vitamin d supps. I have found some that are supplied by the australian pigeon company (the vet i took pidgee to was dr colin walker, who is a qualified avian vet) I'll have to see if pidgee will actually eat the supplements. If he wont eat the specially formulated pigeon ones, i guess i will try ones i can add to his water. 

i am still umming and ahhing about getting his wings trimmed. I used to have budgies, however my boyfriend was careless on two occasions - resulting in two lost (and not found) budgies, who probably suffered a horrible death. my boyfriend knows if it happened ever again, then that is it - no boyfriend  

i think giving my boyfriends repeated carelessness, pidgee may be safer with his wings trimmed - also he shows minimal interest in flying, except to fly to the couch and then climb on me


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## naturegirl (Nov 7, 2005)

That is totally sweet. I would keep him and keep him as an inside bird. Yes you can potty train them as I did with my Pesto who is also a Blue check and a feral when I found her 15 years ago. She loves everyone and loves to cuddle. She can't fly anymore because I think she has a bit of Arthritis in her wings and or shoulders but she still flaps her wings and plays on the floor and has a good old time. My Ex told me at the time when I found Pesto to go ahead and keep her" You'll never keep her alive" Well she is 15 years old now and super attached and super sweet and my Baby. Keep her and Congratulations on poo training her as not alot of people think it can happen. Good Luck


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## Dobato (Jul 3, 2008)

> should i be concerned that he will only eat tiny seeds at his age? he is probably 32 days old now


Kamz, I would not be too concerned about this, once in a while you get one that is a little slow. I have one that is 6 months old right now that would not eat any of the larger seeds, such as safflower or buckwheat (or anything else large for that matter) until he was over 3 months old, now he is eating everything in the mix just fine. Make sure you are using a dish that can allow at least an inch of seeds in it, as this way they can put their whole beak into the seeds, sometimes eating larger ones.

I did do some large seed/split pea pops once in a while when he got to be 2 months old, where you gently pry open their mouth and place a large seed/split pea in, so he would get the feel of having something larger in his mouth and swallowing it. If you do this there is a balancing point where you don't want to put it too far back toward the throat, where they just swallow and don't get the feel of the seed in their mouth and too far forward where they just mouth the seed for a second and drop it. I would give him a little more time as long as he doing well on the smaller seeds. I am sure they eventually get it, but this seemed to help my guy out.

Karyn


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## Pawbla (Jan 6, 2009)

That seems to be a good method. Like a dog... Are they as intelligent as dogs? Lol!


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Most young pigeons like defrosted peas and corn. Try popping those into his mouth toward the back. He should swallow them. Usually after you do this a few times, they will start picking them up on their own. These are easier for them to pick up then the large pigeon seeds and peas, as they are soft. Once they get used to these, they will usually not have too much trouble with the pigeon mix. The babies I fed these to usually pick up the different seeds sooner. Keep in mind though that each pigeon has their preference of seeds and tends to pick out their favorites. Of course their favorite does change from time to time. LOL.


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## kamz (Jan 23, 2010)

thanks for the pointers about feeding guys. I'll be a bit more patient. I tried the defrosted peas and corn, but the vet seemed to think he should be grown up enough for the solid stuff - i think ill go back to the defrosted peas and corn and keep the pigeon mix available to him in between meals. hald finished building his permanent cage his cage should be 1.4 metres long wide by 915. 

for people who are looking to build a cage it is pretty easy to construct the main cage from galvanised storage shelving and ply. I'll put up some photos online when Im finished - its a pretty inexpensive way of making a large, durable, deconstructable cage


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## Pawbla (Jan 6, 2009)

I like the fact it's deconstructable. I'd love some pics! I'll wait for them


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Ya know, the vet may think he's ready, but how many pigeons does he have? I wouldn't worry about it. Eventually, he will be trying different things. He'll do it in his own time. I'll look forward to seeing the pics as well.


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