# Found emaciated young pigeon, hand feeding, need advice.



## SwitchbladeStel (Jun 5, 2010)

Last night I was moving some boxes in the basement of our hardware store when I opened a room, flipped on the light, and came face to face with a very startled pigeon. He's small, about the size of a dove at this point, with pinion shoots still present around his beak, eyes, legs, and scattered through the rest of his plumage.

I slowly approached him and he made an effort to evade me, but he was obviously so weak he couldn't lift his wings off the ground, he just ran and drug them along. I snatched him up, and as soon as he was in my hand I could tell he was horrifically emaciated. Honestly, I've never felt a bird that emaciated and still alive. His breast bone is easily definable through his feathers, as are all of his neck vertibrae. I was really shocked and horrified, since I had no idea how long he'd been locked up down there. His parents were nesting in the attic three stories up, and I believe he fell down the freight elevator to the basement and didn't have enough strength or skill to fly all the way back up.

Now here's where things get a bit tricky. I took him home and prepared a cage for him, but was at a loss as to what to feed him, so my mother and I cracked open one of our fresh Guinne eggs and mixed one part yolk and one part warm water. The pigeon refused the syringe feeding at first, and actually struggled to the point he passed out in my hand. I was frightened he'd had a heart attack in his frail state, but he revived a few seconds later, alert, but obviously exhausted. Once I got a taste of the yolk mixture into his mouth he was in love, and very, very demanding. I've worked the feedings up to about 3 or 4 cc every 3 or 4 hours. I was worried the yolk would do more harm than good, but I thought it imperitive to get SOMETHING into his system, especially with all the stress he'd just gone through. So far, he's perking up nicely. I tried a simple crop milk recipe by grinding unsalted sunflower seeds into a pulp and then mixing them with water, but he hated it. He won't eat anything but egg yolk. He's been trying to eat millet seeds, but he's either too inexperienced or too weak to successfully feed himself.

Once he had a couple of good, fortifying meals in him, I noticed he started displaying wing twitches. At first I thought it was behavioral, but upon inspection, they continue, kind of like a muscle spasm, even when he's trying to fall asleep. Once he's asleep, they cease.

I'm left with a treasure trove of questions.

How bad is chicken or guinne yolk for him, or at this stage in his weakened state, is this actually a boon of calories, lipids, and probiotics for him?

Is the wing spasms stemming from a nuerological problem, or a nutritional one at this point? Or is it latent brain damage from taking a tumble from the attic? Or, is it just too soon to tell?

What is a simple crop milk replacement recipe, high in calories and proteins, and suitable for rehabilitation? I live in the country and don't have access to a lot of resources. Perhaps a yolk mixture is the best solution for the time being?

What I have noticed to my surprise, though, is that he is VERY intelligent. Probably the most intelligent pigeon I've ever come in contact with. After just a few feedings, he was able to hop out of his cage, walk across the floor, peck on the top of the container holding his yolk solution, look at me, and then peck again, obviously demanding to be fed. He bonded with me almost immediately, nuzzling my fingers, displaying a "feed me!" request, and he'll even hold still and dutifully allow me to groom him and pick the cobwebs out of his feathers. Is this normal? I've had plenty of experience with adult fantail pigeons, but none of them had even remotely the intelligence or personality this little guy has shown me already, and I considered he'd be more flighty because of his feral roots.

Any help would be greatly appriciated! By both me and the youngin'!


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

Sounds like the baby is doing the feed -me- wing twitching-thing.
There are a number of things you can feed him such as, exact hand rearing formula which can be purchased in a pet store, peas and corn defrosted or soaked puppy biscuits. If feeding the formula, you need to feed 15-20 ml's or cc's each time the crop empties...probably 3 times a day.
It would be good if you will post a picture so we can help you determine the age of the bird. Also...you might look around to see if by chance there is another one because there usually are 2.
This is the method I use.

You can hand feed defrosted corn and peas. Run some hot water over them until they are defrosted and slightly warmed. Put the bird on your lap and hold it next to your body. If it helps, you can wrap a towel around it or put it in the sleeve of a tee shirt, with the head out the wrist. That confines them without hurting them and makes it easier to handle. Gently open the beak and pop the piece of corn and peas at the back of the mouth and over the throat. 
You will need to feed 40-50 per feeding and every time the crop empties until you know the baby is eating on his own. 
This is a wonderful method for teaching babies to eat because they feel the whole food in their mouth and it’s soft and easy to pick up and hang on to. The next step… seeds. 
The crop is located right below the throat and with food it fills up like a little balloon. The peas and corn make it lumpy and squishy


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## Jaye (Mar 13, 2008)

Actually Stel- the egg yolks were a pretty darn brilliant idea ! I would second Charis - go with *kaytee exact *bird handfeedng formula -or if you wanna nix the syringe then just do the veggies - it's usually quite easy. Just be alert that one doesn't get any lodged in front of the windpipe (the bird will usually shae her\his head trying to dislodge the morsel when this happens) But usually if you just place the pea or corn kernel towards the back of the mouth - they swallow automatically


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## cotdt (Apr 26, 2010)

why the yolks only? yesterday i fed my baby pigeons scrambled pigeon eggs, and they loved it.


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## SwitchbladeStel (Jun 5, 2010)

Ugh! Well, sorry this is so crazy late, but I wanted to thank everyone for their suggestions and help and give a very happy update!

The pigeon soon graduated from egg yolks and water, to scrambled eggs. He (I'm assuming it's a he!) put on a crazy amount of weight and great muscle tone! He's housed in a large dog kennel, about 3' X 4' so he has lots of space to stretch his wings.

He kept refusing to eat any seeds, just picking them up and spitting them out. He also became very demanding that I *personally* hand feed him, or else he would climb up to my shoulder and scream in my ear. That flew for about a week, and I started mixing tiny bits of whole wheat bread into his scrambled eggs to change the texture to something a little more solid. At first he refused, but quickly found it was easier to eat when more firm. He kept trying to force me to baby him, and I flat out refused because I knew darn well he could feed himself.

Finally, I mixed his scrambled eggs into a plate of universal bird food so it became more of a hassle to spit the seeds out then just swallow them, and now, he's eating seeds all by himself. His favorite past time now is going completely nuts on millet sprays. (even in the middle of the night, while I'm TRYING to sleep)

We got him some perches, and had to kind of teach him how to go up and down. Eventually he got the concept, and the only mishap we really had is when he fell asleep on one, and then fell off and face planted in the bottom of the cage in the middle of the night. It scared the dickens out of me and woke me out of a dead sleep. When I didn't hear him moving around I had horrible visions of him laying there with a broken neck, but when I turned on the light to check on him he was fine, just a little stunned.

I can honestly say I'm very surprised at how intelligent and personable he is for being wild. I tried to have as little contact with him as possible in hopes I could release him or feed him up enough to return him to his parents in the attic. But he refused to stay away. He'd curl up in my lap, sleep on my shoulder, climb in the middle of the book I was trying to read and peck my fingers until I scratched his head. He simply refused to NOT be loved and adored. 

What saddens me though is his wing spasm never cleared up, and now sometimes even presents in his sleep. He can fly, and at first I thought it was just muscle atrophy and inexperience that kept him crashing into things, but now I have to sadly admit that it must be his wing spasm. I came to this conclusion when I tried to leave my bedroom (its his sanctuary away from the family's cats) and he didn't want me to leave so he tried to fly across the room and land on my shoulder and ended up ramming straight into my face. After 3 weeks of flying practice, one would think his aim would get even just the tiniest bit better, since he spends 80% of his time out of his cage, but I've seen no improvement in accuracy, only distance. Height is also sketchy. Sometimes he'll try to fly to the top of my bookshelf, get halfway up, falter, and then crash onto one of the lower shelves.

So, against my will but to the glee of my little pigeon friend, it appears I have a new addition to my family. My mother named him Birdlo.

I have NO idea what I'm doing. My favorite family owned pet store is going out of business, so I'm taking advantage of their 75% off sale and bought a bunch of parakeet toys for Birdlo. I'm not sure yet if he likes them or if they terrify them. They also had honey infused millet, but I have no idea if honey is safe for pigeons.

I'm also looking into getting him a cage companion for when I'm at work or school. When I'm home he'll be let out, but I hate cooping him up all alone when I'm gone. I haven't had any luck finding any pigeon breeders or rescues around North Eastern Kansas. Another local petshop sells button quail which they said are communal birds, and I thought if I bought two, they could flock together while he's out, and when he's with them he has someone to interact with, but I don't really know how well that would work out. Plus, I'm not too jazzed on the idea of dropping $40 on a couple of button quail in case he hates them. I'm a poor, poor little college student, y'know.

Phew! So, there you have it. A very belated update, but he survived, and the little guy is quite the fighter. He won't take no for an answer, and thats probably the only reason he was still alive when I found him. Now, he just needs some toys and some buddies, or possibly if anyone is interested, a new friendly home with someone who's probably better equipped to take on his attitude! 

As always, suggestions are GREATLY appriciated on everything!

And again, thank you to everyone who showed interest and offered advice!


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## Jaye (Mar 13, 2008)

Hi. Good update. I have to say you really were sorta, um...

....winging it.....

...in your methodology. But you have good instincts.

A couple of comments:

1) Wing Spasms: has this presented itself consistently the entire time you have had your pal ? or is it seeming to get worse ? if the latter, he might have a virus which effects the neurological system so w can advise you as to how to deal with that (if one of the more common, he will come thru it, don't worry). Besides these 'spasms'...does he ever twist his neck into an odd position or tilt his head sideways so one eye is facing almost straight up and the other straight down to the floor ?

2) Cage: pigeons generally don't do perches that much. they can, of course, depending on their natural 'hood. The pigeons up in the park here are very adept at hanging out in trees....it's an odd site to me because being in the city, I had rarely seen them on anything but buildings or wires or such.

But generally for a cage, unlike parrots or finches or such, pigeons tend to be flatlanders. Don't overdo the perches...better to install a few plateaus or shelves at different levels, perhaps with some easy-access steps so he can get from one level to the next. The cage size is pretty good as long as he does get some 'outside of cage time' every day.....

Post some photos, too !


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## SwitchbladeStel (Jun 5, 2010)

Haha! PUNdamonium!

Well, I haven't noticed any verticle head turning, just the wing spasm, and only in the left wing. It has gotten worse, but only just barely, which makes me wonder if that's the extent of it, and before he was just too underfed for his body to exhert that kind of energy.

Actually, I found that once he got the hang of the perches, he loved them, even if they were a bit awkward. He spends a lot of time on them, but made a habit of sleeping in his nesting box after the face plant incident. I'll absolutely put some shelves in for him. His toenails are also getting pretty long (and sharp!) and I've seen sand paper-esque products for them to walk on, but for the time being, can I just knick the very tips off with some fingernail clippers to take the edge off the scratchiness?

I'd LOVE to post some photos, but it'll be a few weeks. I have one "before" photo of him when I first got him, and a short video of the wing spasm, but alas, I left my digital camera back home with my parents -- and my pigeon! He'll get to move in with my up north come August and my new apartment. If I make it home sooner for a visit though, I'll definetly give him his own photoshoot and share! 

I was trying to look up breeds and colorings, and whats weird is he's shaped like a run of the mill feral pigeon, but he's colored a lot like a light vented pigeon, but with some beautiful green irridescence coming into his plumage. He was also going through a molt when I left, so who knows, he might change colors a bit. It looked like the last of his "baby feathers" and some of his first "adult" feathers were dropping out. Nothing crazy like popping off in handfulls, just one or two every day. He was starting to look like a handsome adult instead of just a gangly juvenile though.

In any case, I'll post pictures to compair in a few weeks


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## Jaye (Mar 13, 2008)

Yeah, I should'a been banned for that last quip....

Clipping his toenails, just the very very tips, with clippers should be OK. You just wanna make sure you don't clip too much, because they do have a vein in their nail and you don't want 'em to start bleeding.

Ferals are coming in all sorts of colors these days.....figuring the more time goes by, the more domesticated or fancy escapees mix their genes into the Feral pool. I have seen some wacky feral colorations the past few years.....


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## cotdt (Apr 26, 2010)

Jaye said:


> Yeah, I should'a been banned for that last quip....
> 
> Clipping his toenails, just the very very tips, with clippers should be OK. You just wanna make sure you don't clip too much, because they do have a vein in their nail and you don't want 'em to start bleeding.


I clipped my birds' toenails one week ago, but they grow back so fast. Today my little birds mutilated my arm =(


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