# Hello everybody and HELP!



## Roberto (Mar 29, 2008)

Hello everybody. My name is Roberto, i live in South Africa and am new to Pigeon-Talk. I have a passion for nature and wildlife in particular birds and do a fair amount of Avian photography as a hobby and am also involved in volunteer work for the African Black Oystercatcher conservation project. 

Having that said... I have a problem and am wonder if somebody can please advice me. Everytime i find a Pigeon/Dove and try to rear it, it eventually dies on me  and i can never seem to understand why. This week i found a juvenile Turtle Dove that fell out of it's nest from a Coral tree at my home so due to the cold evenings i brought the Dove indoors and started to take care of it, feeding and giving it liquids (water) but they never seem to survive and i just cannot figure out why  Is it because im rearing them incorrectly or is it perhaps stress related due to loosing it's dependents. Today i have found another Dove and kindly ask for any advice as how one would go about this. Thanks, Roberto.


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Probably need to start with what you are feeding, how you are feeding and the same with the water.


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## sabina (Mar 11, 2006)

Have you read this? This link has very useful info, maybe you can see if what you're doing is different than what's suggested...

Basic Steps to Saving the Life of a Pigeon or Dove
http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/showthread.php?t=11265

Good luck! 

Sabina

P.S. Like Renee said, it'd be helpful to know more about how exactly you're taking care of them...


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## Roberto (Mar 29, 2008)

Thanks for the quick response and for the link, you guys are great, Roberto.


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

Hi Roberto

Welcome to Pigeon Talk,

Please DO follow that link first and tell us what you are feeding them, after the time period of stabilizing, check the bird out. Check the bird for any symptoms of watery poop, yellow lesions inside or outside the beak, strange head movements. Does it look fluffed up all the time, barely moving??? It could be an illness too.


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## Roberto (Mar 29, 2008)

Hello TG, thank you for your concern and reply. 

I have always been feeding them with wild bird seed which i crush very finely and then mix it with water so as it's not too solid. I have heard though that one must not give juvenile Pigeons/Doves any water as they get enough moisture/liquid from the food stuffs the dependents feed them, could have heard wrong though.  The birds health to me seems fine, full of energy and has no signs of what you have mentioned, Roberto.


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## John_D (Jan 24, 2002)

Hi Roberto,

Doves and Pigeons eat seeds and grain dry, just as it comes, and drink water separately. Wild bird seed, with anything large like sunflower seed removed, should be fine for a young dove.

When they are babies, the parents feed them what is known as 'crop milk'. Not actually milk as we know it, but a substance produced from the crop of both parents. After a few days, they will regurgitate a mixture of this and partly digested seed from the crop. At this stage they get sufficient moisture from this food. Gradually, the more solid food will become more prominent, and the number of feeds reduced, until the young dove or pigeon is weaned off, is fledged, and learns from its parents and other adults to peck for 'real' food.

Turtle Doves fledge at around 20 days (much earlier than pigeons). We have never dealt with a Turtle Dove here (UK), but quite a few young Collared Doves, which are about the closest we have in size and speed of development. They can be quite nervous, and not always very easy to feed with a syringe or tube, but those we have had have usually been at an age where they learn quite quickly to peck at seed. Some times they need to have their beaks dipped into a small pot of water, below the nostrils, to encourage them to drink but they soon learn where the water is.

If they do have to be fed at first, Cynthia (Cyro51) will give them a baby bird hand rearing formula, or an energizing and nutritious mix called PolyAid, with a crop feeding tube. This works in smallish quantities at a time, as they can regurgitate if given anything like what we would give a pigeon, and could choke or aspirate the mixture. They can sometimes be tempted to eat the mix - with maybe some softened seeds in it - using a makeshift 'parent' like a wide cut-off syringe with a piece of balloon or fabric over the end, and a hole cut in it, to simulate the parent's mouth into which they can insert the beak.

John


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## Roberto (Mar 29, 2008)

Thank you for the information John, much appreciated. Something that will come in very handy in future, Roberto.


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