# Couple has 3 babies, one neglected, plz advice?



## Ncole (Jul 3, 2020)

Hi, I often have pigeons nesting on my balcony. I love observing them, feed them a little, but keep them semi-wild.

This time I noticed a new nest on my very tiny balcony (I just cleaned up the mess from the nest before). One egg was in the nest, and one just next to the nest. I put that egg in the nest next to the other, assuming it accidentally rolled out. but the next day there was a third egg. So I'm not sure if that second egg was theirs or some other hen put it there, but they were taking care of it anyway.

18 days later, two chicks hatched. The third egg had some little cracks, but nothing happened in the next 24 hours, so I assumed it died. Then I had to leave for two days. And when I came home, to my surprise, the third chick had hatched. It was very tiny, like a newborn. I'm not sure if it hatched two days after the others, or just one day but didn't get fed.

I noticed mom and dad pigeon both have a favorite baby and they ignore the little one. I really hope they'll all live, so I took the bigger ones from the nest for some hours till they fed the little one some crop milk. I also gave him some nutribird a21, since they aren't feeding him enough.

Now they're a week old. The big ones are growing pretty well. Mom's favorite is doing pretty good as he still gets a lot of crop milk from her. I think dad's favorite has some stomach cramps sometimes, because dad is feeding him seeds since day 3? Is that normal? But the little one is far behind. I feed him nutribird twice a day, I dont think he gets much food from his parents. But they were keeping him warm at least.

Now the chicks got bigger, mom can't sit on all three. So there's no place for him anymore. The other two are three times his sizes, so he gets pushed away. It's not freezing (at night above 10c) but the little guy is cold and shivering, I'm not sure if he'll make it through the night when no one sits on him.

Tonight I keep him inside in a little cardboard box. I just turned off the heating pad and he seems fine with room temperature.

Any ideas about what to do now? I don't want a pet pigeon. I just want to support him a little so he can survive on his own when he gets bigger. I hope in a few weeks he'll be part of the flock


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

Are the parents still sitting on them during the day or not? Maybe you must just continue with what you are doing now. Bring him inside at night on a heatpad so that he is nice and warm. Leave him outside during the day, but keep on feeding him. Have you seen the parents feed him at all?

When they are about 3 weeks old, try and encourage the smaller one to start eating seeds. Offer him small seeds. If he is able to eat seeds before the other does, at least he will have that advantage. The older 2 will probably fledge before he does and start following the parents around. If they don't come back to the smaller one, you will just need to keep on putting down seed for him. He will probably stick around and when he starts flying will come back for feeding.


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## Ncole (Jul 3, 2020)

Hi, thanks so much for your advice! I kept on feeding the little one (I named her Mini), since the parents refused to feed her at all!! The day after this post she got really ill. Shivering, cold, heavy breathing with a weird sound.. didn't think she'd make it through that night, I even kissed her goodbye but she lives!

I put her back on the balcony with her family every day, even though they're neglecting her, because it's important she imprints on pigeons. But one day I had to leave for a night (36hours or so) to visit my family.

I hoped during my absence Mini would start begging more and bond with her family. But the opposite happened. When I came home, she looked like a little statue in mental shock, and when another bird encountered her, she'd slap or peck it. Especially her mom, looked like she hated her mom. She never ever begged with her parents anymore, acted like she never seem them before. But she still trusted me. So I took care of her, with a lot of love and patience.

I tried to resocialize her with her bird family every day, but they didn't even seem to recognize each other.

So now (two weeks later) her two siblings flew away, mom left (I think for a new nest) and father doesn't know her anymore. So it's up to me now.

She doesn't want to eat the formula anymore, but she eats corn, peas and seeds. I just started introducing her to another flock at the other side of my apartment. She's a bit scared of those pigeons, but doesn't react as crazy scared/aggressive as she did to her old family.

I spent an hour every day teaching her to peck and eat. She was a slow learner (or I'm a bad teacher)but she learned. I was so proud today she finally managed to eat all by herself.

But what now? How do her release into 'the wild'? She knows where to find the food and water in my room.. but she doesn't follow other pigeons. When I walk in my apartment, she follows me around sometimes, she likes to sit underneath my seat/bed. How do I know if she imprinted on pigeons or me? How is she gonna learn survival skills now? Any tips or ideas? 

Here's a pic of us sunbathing together 🙂


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

Can't you just keep her? Chances of her surviving out there is very slim. Otherwise you can do a soft release from your balcony. She will need to spend time in a cage outside on your balcony to get used to the area. A large parrotcage will do fine, but bring her inside at night. Do this for 2 weeks and then when you think she is ready, you can just open up and let her come out by herself.

She might stick around, return for food and a safe sleeping spot at night. She is still very young. So she will have the best of both worlds. But there's always a chance she might not return.


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## Ncole (Jul 3, 2020)

I can keep her for now, but this apartment complex will be demolished in two years. Gonna try to make her join a flock.


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

If there is a park close by with a flock of pigeons, you can take her there every day in a cage for her to get used to the other pigeons. And for them to get used to her. I hope the flock gets fed regularly. She must get a bit older before releasing, otherwise will just get chased away from the food source.


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## Ncole (Jul 3, 2020)

There's a flock of pigeons coming by twice a day. Those pigeons land on the window frames and balconies, looking for food. If I throw some seeds on my balcony, they stay for a while. I already exposed Mini to them from the other side of my window. I even opened the balcony door. Then Mini stands in the door opening, guarding it. She watches them closely, but doesn't join them foragering. She pecks or slaps birds that come really close. Sometime one slaps her back, but they don't attack her or something. Just an equal 'fight' and one one of the two backs up. To me this looks like normal bird territorial behavior? So I still got hope that one day, she'll feel comfortable with her new flock mates.

I don't think I'm gonna do the cage-thing. That feels too unnatural to me. I know there's a risk Mini will fly off and get lost, but that risk is always there when I open a door or window. Not gonna force her to go outside. Just exposing het to the flock daily, and see what happens.


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

Sounds good, she is viewing your place as her territory. Just keep on doing what you are for now. When she reaches maturity, (about 4 to 5 months) the urge will be there to find a mate and she will probably leave.


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## Ncole (Jul 3, 2020)

Hi, thanks so much for your answers. I read a lot about soft release, but not quite sure how to do this here. I live in a flat in a city where feeding birds is prohibited. I think my neighbors see me as the crazy bird lady already 🙂 . But when I'm gonna sit with a cage in the park, they'd just call the cops on me for sure.

I did some indoor training with Mini. made her some parcours with climbing, balance and flying. I also exposed her to other pigeons every day. She learns quite fast.

In the front of my apartment is a very tiny balcony (1m by 1.5m), where she's born. Lot of pigeons live on that side of the flat. at night 5 or 6 sleep on my balcony, and many more on other balconies and windows on the building. I think a bit too many, it's chaotic and they're pecking each other a lot to get the best spot. Mini didn't like to be around there. She always run away as fast as she can to go back inside.

At the back side of my apartment is a balcony with more space. A flock of birds comes by twice a day, and a couple and one youngster are around more often. She interacted with them a little. Pecked at them, observed them. She was shivering sometimes, but seemed to enjoy it. So I thought that would be the best place to release her eventually.

She choose differently! When the birds where gone, I placed here on the balcony at the front, to build up orientation. The pigeons came back early, but Mini didn't look scared this time. Her behavior totally changed. She suddenly acted like a pigeon. She behaved like she was one of them. Then there was a loud bang from something outside, and they flew away. Mini landed on another balcony. She explored the ground, but quickly flew to other levels of the building. And she managed to fly back in.

Now she is one of them. She doesn't want to sleep under my bed anymore. She sleeps in the window behind the curtain so she can see them all the time. She wants to be around the flock where she's born now.

In daytime, when I open the window, she goes outside, sit somewhere higher on the building. Mostly observing the pigeons and sometimes tries to interact with then. At dinner time she comes back to my window and I let her in to eat drink and sleep.

Tomorrow will be very hot and sunny. I will be gone for the whole day, and I can't leave her inside behind the window. It'll be too hot, and I'm not sure if she will seek a cooler place or just be stubborn and stay there. So I let her outside at daytime again, and let her in at dinner time.

I'm really happy to see she knows she's a pigeon! To her I'm just the food-providing member of the flock now, and that's okay. I'm still scared she won't return. I got pretty attached to her, but I know I'm not equipped to have her as a pet. And I'm sure that placing a net over my balcony will end in a disaster for some pigeons who live here.

So I give her a chance to feral life. With some help, and with some risks. It is what it is. .. 

What I had in mind when I rescued her was: I hope she'll just experience a flight, at least just once. She did. Now I hope she'll make it to find a mate. Maybe chances are slim, but she has a chance, and she's smart and strong <3


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## Ncole (Jul 3, 2020)

I think in a week she'll learn where the flock goes for water and food. Now she's really shy, but I'm sure she'll be an accepted member of the flock. I'm more concerned about her health. She barely got any crop milk. Will her immune system be good enough for the dirty pigeon life?


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## Ncole (Jul 3, 2020)

I also find it very interesting that I hand fed her since day two (she got crop milk only twice, because I temporarily removed the other ones, further they completely ignored her), and she acted scared/ aggressivley to her family.

I fed her, talked to her, cuddled her, she followed me around, saw me as her parent for weeks. She acted like an imprinted bird, but she wasn't. She was still able to make the transformation back to being a pigeon. Probably because she spent some nights in the nest and I exposed her to pigeons every day?!

So never give up on a pigeon because you think it's imprinted. Their behavior can change so much when they mature while seeing other birds.. Since day one, so many people told me she had no chance. Look at her now!


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

You are doing a great job with her. That's what we call a soft release, supporting them with food and a place to sleep until they adapt to the outside world. I've had 2 handraised pigeons that were human imprinted to me for abput two years, until I started getting more pigeons and they each got themselves a female. Then I raised one from four days old, exposed her to my aviary pigeons when she was three weeks old and she never became imprinted.

She will soon join the others. I know you will be sad, but that will be the best for her. Don't worry about her immunity, I'm sure she will be fine.


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