# 4 weeks old rescue only has 2 tail feathers. Is that normal?



## TundeVi (Jul 5, 2018)

Found a little pigeon a couple weeks ago. Later I found out a neighbor found him in the cellar and the idiot took the hatchling to the garden for no good reason.
He is doing great and we (me and bf) started doing a slow release yesterday. He recognises the other pigeons in the park and learns new behaviour from them. We hope that in a few weeks he will fly away with them.
My question is, he has a few bald spots under his wings, and he only has 2 tail feathers. He had 3, but one fell out a few days ago. Now he looks very incomplete. Is it normal for him to look like that at this age? I never raised pigeons before.
Thanks!


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## bootface (Jun 29, 2017)

That’s not normal. What have you been feeding him? It could be caused by a deficiency. Vitamin A is a common one. I wouldn’t release him until he’s fully feathered.


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## TundeVi (Jul 5, 2018)

We've been feeding him everything. At first only oatmeal, as he had to be fed by a piping bag. Now he eats oatmeal, corn, peas, at least 5 different seeds, papaya, quinoa, rice and organic baby food.
Otherwise he looks healthy and cheerful. Tidies his feathers and learns to fly. Any idea what else we could be feeding him?


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## bootface (Jun 29, 2017)

Oatmeal isn’t adequate for a growing baby. You could try to get him to eat flruits and veggies, but a bird vitamin would be best.


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## TundeVi (Jul 5, 2018)

I got him some very good fortified seed mix with all kinds of vitamins and added egg. From now on he will get that with peas and cooked quinoa.
We didn't know it wasn't normal as we never seen baby pigeon before. And who knows, maybe he lost his tail feathers in an accident while he was in the garden...
Any other advice is greatly appreciated! We will continue the soft release training. What would be a good age to let him go?


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

How old was he when you found him? When raised by humans, they don't have the survival skills that babies have when raised by their parents. The parents teach them where to find food, water, shelter etc.

They sometimes get human imprinted when raised from a very young age. He might not associate with other pigeons, and will prefer human company rather. If he is too tame, don't release him. We all want pigeons to be free and not kept in captivity, but rather a live in captivity, than starving out there or getting caught by a predator.


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## TundeVi (Jul 5, 2018)

We found him about a week ago, and then he was already fed by the neighbours visiting the garden for a few days.
We definitely can't keep him, the apartment is too small and the landlord doesn't allow animals. He doesn't even know the bird is here. We can get evicted if he finds out.
Despite all of this we are a hundred percent sure that he is going to be okay. We let him peck around with a flock of wild pigeons every day for a few hours, and he definitely recognizes that he is a pigeon and he is learning new behavior from them. They don't attack him and quite curious. He likes us for sure, but he is vary of other humans, vehicles, pushchairs and dogs. Also the park we take him to is very good for pigeons, and they are fed by tourists there and there are ponds for drinking. We also plan to visit him and the flock later, to make sure they get enough to eat in the winter.


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

Sounds good, do this for about another month till he is at least a bit older. I'm sure he will be fine then.


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## TundeVi (Jul 5, 2018)

Hey everyone who still might be reading!
Quick update on Sue the pigeon! He is much bigger now, my god how time flies. Now his new tail feathers are 70-80% out and his 'nose' is turning white. The feathers under the wings and belly are also growing in. It looks like he lost his tail feathers when he was very young, because it was like that when we found him.
In the end I got him a huge cage, but he hated it with a passion. We are still taking him to the park that is 5 minutes walk away, in the hope that soon he will be ready for release, but he might just decide to move out on his own. We had some adventures (we lost him once, and another time a dog almost caught him), but all is well that ends well.

We are trying to get him evicted now in a gentle way as he is getting territorial and grumpy in the evenings. We banished him to the balcony for the night, that was about 2 weeks ago. And finally 4 days ago I took him to the garden and left him there to see if he can come back. We live on the 4th floor. He flew in after 3 hours. Now that he knows where we live, he likes to fly out on his own. Today morning he didn't even want to come in, he was up on the roof (this house is 7 floors). There are no pigeons in this garden, but I saw a few in one of the opposite roofs, so maybe he makes some friends and moves out. If not, we will let him go in the park, and if he doesn't like it, I'm sure he will find a way back.

Anyone wants any photos? Where can I upload them?
I would like to say thanks again for all the advice. I found some very good fortified parakeet food for him in the end, and he eats other things as well. So far this is a success story, and I am very glad that we rescued him.


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## Friend John (Jun 10, 2018)

Yes, I'd like to see some pictures!

If you look below the area where you write your post, there is a box (second from the top) titled "Attach Files," where you need to click on "Manage Attachments." That will open another window where you can attach your photos. For some reason, attaching photos on this board makes them way too big, and the way to resolve it would be to upload your photos to an upload site and use URL of each photo (you'll see an option called "Upload File from a URL").

I have to say I'm curious about the layout of the area, as it relates to the garden and you being in the 4th floor, and how the bird managed to recognize where you are and come back.


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

Check the other thread "3 weeks old pigeon won't stop screaming", photo's are there.


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## TundeVi (Jul 5, 2018)

Hey! I'm going to post this at both questions, because the bestest thing happened today!
First there is a photo of the building in relation to the garden. I don't find it strange that Sue finds his way back to our balcony, after all pigeons used to live on cliffs where they had to find their own roosts/nests among all the similar looking rocks.
So today when I woke up, and the first thing was to go to the balcony and look for the bird, I found 4 of them preening and napping on the balcony under us! Here is Sue among the other birds, and another photo of him with a single bird in front of our door.
They flew away soon after of course, and Sue came in the house to peck for food on the kitchen floor, but I am really happy that he is making friends. Now we don't have to take him to the park anymore, which is good because he hated the 5 minute walk there and back.


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## TundeVi (Jul 5, 2018)

Oh my god I'm going to have to resize these.


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## TundeVi (Jul 5, 2018)

Is it better...?


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

So glad things are working out fine for your pigeon. She will eventually find a mate and start returning less for feedings. Or even bring the mate with her and build a nest on your balcony. Also good to hear the pigeons over there are doing well!


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