# Urgent help on feeding 2 young pigeons...



## aholmes

Hello all,

I've "adopted" 2 young pigeons and am a little unsure what to do next. I foung them yesterday (31/7/08) they are currently living in a rather posh photocopier paper box! please could you give me some advice on the following questions

1) Are these birds old enough to drink for them selves or at least be offered an open continer of water so they can lern, if not how do i water them and how much?

2) Feeding - I've been looking about on here and am keen to try the "baggie" method of feeding these birds but am unsure how to introduce the food to the beak, for instance do i just put the "baggie" up against the beak and squeeze food and hope it gets the hang or do I need to open the beak or something.

3) how much food, how often and what to feed, there is a good chance I have no idea where to look for somewhere selling stuff like this so suggestions please!!!

If needed I can get syringes and stuff but from what I've picked up so far these guys are a little old for syringe/tube feeding, please correct me if wrong.

Pictures attached my hand measures about 8" from middle finger tip to palm to help you with scale.

I am quite willing to look after these 2 but just need a little starter advise

thanks in advance

Adam


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## Skyeking

Hello and Welcome to Pigeon Talk,

Thank you for taking care of these precious babies.

Yes they are a little too young to know how to drink.

Please make sure they have a warm bed and are out of any air drafts also. 

You need to hydrate them as soon as possible, fill a dropper of water and dribble it just inside the bottom beak at the edge, this way they will swallow it and won't choke.

You can hand feed them some thawed and drained frozen corn or peas for now. You will have to intially open their beaks and place a pea or corn behind tongue and allow them to swallow.

You can feed them with the baggy method or use an empty baby bottle nipple, and attached it to a syringe, and squeeze out formula thru the hole into the nipple for them, they will eat it out of the open side of the nipple. Make sure the formula is warm and follow directions as to mixing it carefully.

They need to be fed every three or four hours, but each time you feed them their crops need to be completely empty.

What happened to the parents? Also, where are you located, we might be able to find some help for you?


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## gentoo

Hi, I'm new here as well so can't give you much adivce. I'll post some links which I've found useful. 

http://www.urbanwildlifesociety.org/WLR/BabyPij&DuvFeedg.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3GPWhHeG4s&feature=related 
This site has a list of photos of baby pigeons so you tell their age.
http://www.speedpigeon.com/baby_racing_pigeon.htm


Sarah


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## aholmes

Thank you both for your reply, I found the birds on a hadge next to a fir tree, they were spotted by some visitors to our brewery. I left them about 15hrs to see if they were being looked after by their parent, but I guess not as there didn't seem to be any visits from other pigeons.

Some children found them and may have picked them up, would this of put the mother off them?

I've been feeding them (by tube) about 15ml of water, peas and barley (malted) all blended into a soup like consistancy, every 5-6 hours or so (but not at night when I left them alone, was this OK?

I'm in the UK, specifically a town called Skegness.

looking at the post above and scanning the pictures in the link provided I'd judge the guys to be 12-14 days old.


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## Skyeking

I'm going to get our UK members to check the thread for more advice, as baby bird formula would be ideal, such as Kaytee, but if it isn't available perhaps they can suggest a substitute.

A soup like consistency is fine, maybe a bit thicker, make sure their crops are empty before feeding again. Mother birds are not put off by anyone touching their babies, but moving them will keep them from coming to feed them. At this age they don't need to eat thru the night.


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## maryjane

Welcome, and thank you for saving these young pigeons. The plastic bag feeding method works very well for ill or older birds. I've found this method:

http://picasaweb.google.com/awrats3333/BabyFeeding

After trying several different methods, I like this one the absolute best. The babies actually put their beak into the parent's beak and swallow food, so this way mimics that well enough for them to pick it up right away. It's also a fast way of feeding, and easy on you and the babies. You can mix a 1/4 tsp plain yogurt in with their baby food when you make it. Be sure to discard any unused formula after feeding, as it does not keep. When you mix it, let it sit for a few minutes as it will thicken, then add a bit more water. Mixture should be like melted ice cream, or thin pancake batter. 

Feed until the crop (the area on the chest under the beak) is full but not stuffed hard, similar to an inflated balloon. Feed again only when the crop has gone flat. You can offer water to them using this same method in between feedings. A new feather duster or stuffed animal is something they may enjoy snuggling under. Good luck, and please feel free to ask any questions or share any concerns you may have.


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## Feefo

Hello,

Those are wood pigeons (see the white feathers at the very edge of the wings? If you stretch the wing out gently you will see that is the distinctive white band. For the time being you can feed them Ready Brek, made up with water to a creamy consistency, you can add a little Farley's Rusks. Another really good food is Chick Crumbs, left to soak in hot (not boiling) water for half and hour, liquidised and sieved. As the grow older you can dispense with te sieving but make sure than they are well soaked.

Another food that woodies have been raised successfully on is soaked egg food.

A disposal icing sugar bag makes a good "baggie".

As mentioned earlier in this thread they can be hand fed thawed peans and thawed sweet corn. They prefer the peas.

This is a recipe for older wood pigeons to be fed on that was developed by Karen (I think!) of London Wildcare:

Woodie recipe

wild bird seed
frozen peas
finely chopped apple
finely chopped peanuts
finely chopped fat balls
finely shredded greens
wholemeal bread crumbs

If you are going to release them don't handle them too much, they will be better off if they distrust humans.



Cynthia


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## aholmes

thanks for all the help.

I've been resding on about "grit" on here, what is it and do I need some? I son't want to miss anything I should be doing.

cheers

Adam


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## Lovebirds

aholmes said:


> thanks for all the help.
> 
> I've been resding on about "grit" on here, what is it and do I need some? I son't want to miss anything I should be doing.
> 
> cheers
> 
> Adam


You don't need any grit right now. That comes when they are much older and eating seeds. Then, you don't actually feed it to them. They learn what it is on their own and will consume what they need.


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## aholmes

I need a little more help here if possible?

The birds are doing well but advise seems tobe to feed every 3-4 hours which is no problem, but...

advice also seems to be don't feed if there is still food in the crop, this is a problem as it's taking these guys a while to use the feed up probably 7 hours what do i do?

A) Feed more often regardless
B) Feed less volume but more often (feeding about 20ml per feed at the mo)
C) other suggestions

they seem hungry even though their crops are say 1/4 - 1/2 full, always gaping beaks and squeeks, am I doing something wrong?

thanks

Adam


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## Feefo

I am feeding mine three times a day, their sizes and ages vary but they are getting between 30 and 40 ml per feed.

Can you weigh yours so I can tell which of mine is the same size? If you don't have scales then a rear view photo will help, that shows the tail decelopment.

Obviously you shouldn't feed if their crops have not emptied at all, but as long as they empty completely overnight they should be OK.

I have bought a bottle of Potent Brew from the birdcare company , it is a pro-biotic but excellent for slow crop or sour crop , one ml syringe of it usually sorts the problem out.

Cynthia

Cynthia


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## aholmes

Cynthia,

they weigh 181g and 163g I've attached photos of their tails also (you should be able to see which is which from the file names, if not the heaviest one is the bird in the photo with my foot in!)

many thanks

Adam


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## Feefo

Sorry for the silence, I lost track.

By this time the babies should be starting to feed themselves. I like to top them up last thing at night with some formula just in case they have not had enough or in case they have not had enough to drink to soften the seds.

BTW there are some sanctuaries in Lincolnshire that look hopeful for rehabilitation and release. Always check that pigeons will be safe and tat the sanctuary is not nest door to a farm that indulges in shooting woodies.

Cynthia


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## aholmes

Right, not a problem.

How do I transition from feeding with a syringe with the bottom cut off to getting them to feed themselves? Advice would be appreciated.

Many thanks

Adam


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## lwerden

Hi Adam,

Thanks so much for helping these 2 babies.

Transitioning from hand feeding/the weaning process takes patience.The weaning process will take a little bit of time. It is not an automatic process but more of a gradual process of introducing seed and cutting back on the hand feeding a little bit at a time.

I was originally hand feeding my bird every four to five hours. During each of the feedings at about 3 weeks of age, I would but a few seeds directly into his beak and he would swallow. Then I put a some seeds in a small dish and pecked at it with my fingers and placed his beak into the dish. Little by little he got the hang of it. I cut back the hand feeding to just morning and night as he was eating seeds on his own during the day. I then cut back to only 1 handfeeding a day ultil one day on his own he refused the formula. Getting him to drink on his own is a similar process, just try dipping his beak into a samll dish of water. Go carefully with this, you don't want to put the beak in below the nostrils. The water has to be deep enough for him suck the water in as piegons drink with their beaks like you would be using a straw.

Unfortunately this process takes time and patience..... Just hang in there.

Regards,
Louise


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## Feefo

Hi Adam,

Mine learnt pretty quickly, as soon as they became curious to leave the shelter I had given them I put down flat dishes of very small seed. They are curious and will peck at it and imitate each other. I started to feed them a bit later in the day, so that they were hungry and interested in sampling the seed. I leave water available, but as I mentioned before I like to top them up with formula at bed time, just to ensure that they have enough.

The two larger ones learnt to fly up to the perch and to feed themselves yesterday. Once they get the hang of it they learn very quickly. I am just off to feed the smaller ones their formula.

I don't like to spend too much time weaning wood pigeons, they become malimprinted too quickly and will become unreleasable. Besides which, given the opportunity they are quick learners.

Cynthia


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