# Proper diet for a pidge?



## birdofthegauntlet (Jul 10, 2012)

Hello! I have a two year-old Capuchine pigeon named Schubert that I hand-fed from a squab, and he is very picky. If it is not small, round, and hard, he won't eat it. This means no corn, no fruits/veggies, no bread, no sunflower seeds...

He has been living on a diet of cockatiel seed, the hemp seed from chicken scratch grain (won't eat the cracked corn), and Zupreem pellets. 

I've heard that pigeons need more protein in their diet, though. He is very healthy but his droppings are always pretty watery, I'm wondering if his current diet is causing this. So I'm curious, what is the best diet for a pigeon, what does it consist of, and how do I get him to eat it?

Thanks!


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## LisaNewTumbler (Jun 24, 2013)

birdofthegauntlet said:


> Hello! I have a two year-old Capuchine pigeon named Schubert that I hand-fed from a squab, and he is very picky. If it is not small, round, and hard, he won't eat it. This means no corn, no fruits/veggies, no bread, no sunflower seeds...
> 
> He has been living on a diet of cockatiel seed, the hemp seed from chicken scratch grain (won't eat the cracked corn), and Zupreem pellets.
> 
> ...


bread is not good for them anyway. Neither is sunflower - safflower is.

Cockateil seed is mainly millet and its prob too oily along with too many hemp seeds. That might be why his droppings are very watery. 

I had the same prob with sunflower seeds in my bird mix until someone told me they are way too oily for the birds to digest.

Hemp and millet are good, but not in large amounts.

I dont know what Zupreem pellets are or have in them. It should say on the packet. 

when I was mixing my own feed I bought buckwheat, peas, soy beans, lentils, barley, wheat, whole corn, hemp seed (which they hated and never ate), black millet, a little safflower and sometimes brown rice.

I found mine prefer the whole peas even though they are larger than split peas

they also will not eat cracked corn but will eat whole corn.

Buckwheat they love

they should be eating a lot of legumes - like peas, soy beans and lentils

the barley was in small amouts normally, boosted if the wheat was bad locally or they had oily droppings.
The rice was also suggested to me on this site to help releive oily droppings. It was not a regular part of their diet.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Too many peas will make a diet too high in protein. If you can buy a dove mix and add to it, that would be good. Split peas or whole peas, lentils, small amount of safflower. You could add some cracked corn and barley. Because he has been allowed to eat what he does for so long, it may be hard to get him to try the different things now. Try chopping up small pieces of unsalted peanuts and mixing them in. Just a small amount. They love peanuts, but have to try them first to know that. I have also mixed the round pigeon pellets in the feed and some of my birds like them. Experiment.


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## birdofthegauntlet (Jul 10, 2012)

Thanks... I'm going to go to my feed store to try to find some of the grains mentioned, as I've never seen any pre-made pigeon/dove mix for sale around here.

Here is Schubert, I was going to attach these pictures of him in my original post but for some reason they wouldn't attach.


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## LisaNewTumbler (Jun 24, 2013)

Great photos! I've never seen a jacobin in flight  

He kind of reminds me of count dracula with a black cape!!

If you don;t find dove mix. You can try wild bird mix. Not perfect but better than cockateil mix imo

Most of the things I mentioned you can also find in a people food store


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Yes, he's beautiful. I think most pet shops sell dove mix. You could try there. If you absolutely cannot find it, then I agree with Lisa that you can start with a wild mix and build on it. I think you could probably find it in a pet shop though. Be careful of hawks, as a bird out flying alone isn't safe.


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## whytwings (Feb 12, 2011)

I was going to suggest a wild bird mix too.

I love the name . By the way ....excellent photography !


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## Ross Howard (Nov 26, 2009)

Lisa it's a Capucian . Nice pics .I feed pigeon pellets . No refusals they all get the same .


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## birdofthegauntlet (Jul 10, 2012)

Well, the feed store didn't have any pigeon mix, but I found a blend for woodpeckers that had peanuts and legumes and peas, that will suffice until I can find some for pigeons. It's really high in protein by itself (20%) so I'm mixing it with some cockatiel food, wouldn't want to shock his system anyway.
I work at the local pet store and I know they don't carry pigeon food... ha ha

What percentages of protein, fat, fiber and whatnot are proper for pigeons?


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## birdofthegauntlet (Jul 10, 2012)

Well, he really likes the peanuts. Though he gets confused when trying to eat them. I watched him earlier today carrying one around in his mouth for a long time before he finally made the decision to swallow it!


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

birdofthegauntlet said:


> Well, the feed store didn't have any pigeon mix, but I found a blend for woodpeckers that had peanuts and legumes and peas, that will suffice until I can find some for pigeons. It's really high in protein by itself (20%) so I'm mixing it with some cockatiel food, wouldn't want to shock his system anyway.
> I work at the local pet store and I know they don't carry pigeon food... ha ha
> 
> What percentages of protein, fat, fiber and whatnot are proper for pigeons?


 A mix for woodpeckers won't be good for a pigeon. Also the peanut pieces will be too large for him. could cause a blockage or something.
And it isn't pigeon food. It is dove feed. Check another pet store. Many do carry it.


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## LisaNewTumbler (Jun 24, 2013)

Ross Howard said:


> Lisa it's a Capucian . Nice pics .I feed pigeon pellets . No refusals they all get the same .


oops! You're right my bad


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## birdofthegauntlet (Jul 10, 2012)

Jay3 said:


> A mix for woodpeckers won't be good for a pigeon. Also the peanut pieces will be too large for him. could cause a blockage or something.
> And it isn't pigeon food. It is dove feed. Check another pet store. Many do carry it.


The pieces aren't too large actually, and they're halved anyway. I don't know what I'm supposed to do until I get my hands on some pigeon/dove feed, let him starve?


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## LisaNewTumbler (Jun 24, 2013)

I had the % somewhere but cannot find them atm

I think max protein should be 18% the rest I don;t remember (though I should :/)

a mix with too many peanuts may be a bit much for him (whatever the size), its good to mix it with the food you have for the moment. But since that is also very rich in oils you still need something else I think to help stabilize his system.

Until you find a dove mix you can add barley, buckwheat and/or SOME brown rice. You can find these easily form a supermarket or health food store.
Dove/pigeon mix does not exist in my country in normal pet stores only in pigeon stores - who then pretty much sell nothing but pigeon stuff. Until you find these stores it can be quite frustrating......and even then they only ever sell 25kg sacks so while I had just 2 pigeons there was no way I was going to buy a 25kg sack. Now between 5 pigeons I'm 2 months into my first sack and not even 1/4 through.

With one pigeon I would buy the ind seeds and mix it myself if you cannot find dove mix.

What about the pellets you were giving him? What does the packet say about food content?

Hopefully you'll soon see a change in his droppings 

If they are too large for him to eat you can try crush them in the bag. They legumes and peas should be hard enough that they won't also break too much.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

birdofthegauntlet said:


> The pieces aren't too large actually, and they're halved anyway. I don't know what I'm supposed to do until I get my hands on some pigeon/dove feed, let him starve?


A woodpecker mix is high in protein and oils. That isn't good for him. I don't think he would starve before you find dove mix either. Use wild bird seed that isn't high in sunflower seed. The mixed stuff, and add to it. This isn't hard. And BTW, some of those half peanuts in a woodpecker mix can cause a blockage.

There are many pet stores in Missouri. Petco or Petsmart would probably have it too. Maybe WalMart.
What part of Missouri are you in?


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