# baby dove rock pigeon 14 to 21 days old



## Heartbeathotel (Aug 8, 2020)

We found a squab 7 days ago and have been hand feeding it. We found it on a busy main street surround by people, we thought it best we take it as its seemed unlikely the parents would return for it given the business of the area. 

I have been relentlessly reading all i can and found this site to be helpful and thought I would post some questions i have.

We belive that its between 14 and 21 days old. 

Today it eat a few seeds by itself and also guzzled down water by itself( we believe its a female and so i will refer to it as her from now on but I understand we can't be sure)

Generally speaking she seems fine, her poos are a toothpaste consistency which is dark green with white.

Today her poos are the same but since she filled her crop with water there is more water coming out, I believe that is fine and in fact we think we wasn't providing enough water previously and she may have been dehydrated, for the past two days she seemed to be sleeping a lot during the day which can be a sign of dehydration I read. 

Please correct any of my assumptions but my questions are:

Given she displayed the ability to eat and drink by herself can she now be left with water and a seed mix at all times in her cage? I am worried she will eat and drink herself to death if left with a constant supply. 

The crop has also been slow to empty for the last couple of days. 

Could dehydration cause a slow crop? 

Will water she has drank now help pass whats in the crop? 

Overall she seems fine. She is preening herself a lot today which I hope is a good sign. 

She isn't very chirpy though but at the same she is with us like all the time either sitting on us or next to us. So I guess with a full crop and her people with her she hasn't any need to chirp? 

As of writing this she has also just done the biggest poo yet!! Which I hope again is a good sign if she was having difficulty passing before. 

She does a fair amount of yawning( if that is what it is) I read that its because she is moving something in the crop and as she yawned a few times after the water today I hope that this is also a good sign. 

I appreciate any advice and time spent helping me here, thanks a bunch 😘


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## Heartbeathotel (Aug 8, 2020)

Also since the post she has now done another three poos, so she seems to be passing at a fast rate, is this good? We feel like it is a good sign if she was blocked up before the water is certainly helping to move stuff through.


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

I responded to your PM. As I said, you can put acv in the drinking water to help with digestion. They do poop a lot, that is always a good sign. As I said, you can check for canker. Drinking too much water is a symptom and that will result in watery droppings. Let us know how she is doing.


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## Heartbeathotel (Aug 8, 2020)

Hey, I have no idea why I am struggling with this site so much!hahah 

I wanted to upload a video but seems you can't. 

I uploaded it to YouTube. 

https://youtu.be/ddv_V4vn9hI

Short video of her. 

She has been eating seeds today and had a little bit of water. Her crop still feels its got stuff in it so planning on feeding again around 10pm (its currently 16:21) and she last eat at 10am, but leaving seeds for her and water all day.

She seems in good spirits 

She is also chirping more today. 

Does she look good in the video? Does she indeed look around 2 and a half weeks old? 

How full would you guys say her crop is? 

Thanks


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

She is looking good and looks like 2 1/2 weeks old, as you've said. Crop also looks full enough, not overfilled. You can also post a photo of her droppings.


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## Heartbeathotel (Aug 8, 2020)

Thats good to hear. The one on the paper is about 2 hours old and the one on the towel I think is pretty fresh. I've slightly zoomed in as well.


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

Droppings look fine!


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## Heartbeathotel (Aug 8, 2020)

Thank you so much for your assistance! Its taken off a weigh from our shoulders. Do you have any suggestions on the best and most beneficial food we can give her. We want her to thrive/spoile her as much as possible. 🙂


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

She is still small, you can give her a doveseed mixture for now and when older a pigeon seed mixture. She will also benefit from vitamins and probiotics in the drinking water. If you are going to keep her indoors, she will need regular calcium with added Vit D3. In nature, birds get the D3 from sunlight. This will help prevent her getting eggbound when older and when she start laying eggs. You will also need grit in a seperate bowl. Helps with digestion of seeds and also has minerals they need. Then also apple cider vinegar 2 or 3 times a week in the drinking water. All these will keep her healthy.


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

Found this on a Facebook site.


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## Heartbeathotel (Aug 8, 2020)

Amazing thank you!


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## JillGat (Apr 27, 2020)

Heartbeathotel said:


> Amazing thank you!


\
How is your pij? Looks exactly like mine, which is about 2.5 weeks old, too. Would love to see what she looks like now!


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## Heartbeathotel (Aug 8, 2020)

Hi here is a video of her a couple of weeks back. The only difference in appearance now is that she has some of the fluorescent colours coming through around her neck. 

https://youtu.be/iUstbmWbF9M

She certainly a pecking machine now 🙂


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