# Lost in the woods here



## starsigned (Apr 16, 2016)

My sister chased a raven off this young pigeon and brought it to me. It's still got some yellow fuzz on its head, but quite a bit of feathers elsewhere and is almost the same size as the adult feral pigeons. It doesn't fly. It doesn't peck/scratch for food. It doesn't clean itself very often. It cries incessantly, nuzzles my hand, and vigorously claps its wings at me. All I have to feed it with is chick feed, oats, nuts/seeds, nut/seed flours, etc. I've been making a porridge of these things and guiding its beak to the bowl. It eats the porridge--though it gets distracted easily--and mellows out for a little while (still cheeps and such occasionally, but I guess that's to be expected). Its excitability increases if it sees or hears me. I've been feeding it when I wake up and when I get home from work.

I have a very large/wide tub which is filled half with towels and half with dry leaves, twigs, sand, small rocks, and wild seeds I found. I set the tub out uncovered in the sun by the garden while I'm out there. I don't know how beneficial this is, but I figure it doesn't hurt to try. It doesn't seem terribly adventurous at present. When it's bed time I stretch larger towels over the top of its...house, which seems to calm it down. It sleeps through the night with no problems. If I'm not home its house is under the kitchen table partially covered.

I can't post a picture at the moment and my resources are extremely limited. I just want to know if there's anything else I can do to help this pigeon develop properly. I have zero experience with raising birds.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

You need to feed him more often. Can you feed him again before you go to bed?
You may not be giving enough at each feeding. How much are you giving him. You can feed frozen peas which have been defrosted and warmed under warm running water. Give maybe 30 to 40 at each feeding. And just be sure that his crop has emptied before feeding him again. Dip his beak into a small crock of water, but not over his nostrils. Eventually he will learn to drink on his own.

If you need to feed peas to a pigeon, hold the bird on your lap and against your body. This gives you more control. Reach from behind his head with one hand and grasp his beak on either side. Now use your free hand to open the beak, and put a pea in, then push it to the back of his throat and over his tongue. Let him close his beak and swallow. Then do another. It gets easier with practice, and the bird also gets more used to it, and won't fight as much. If you can't handle the bird, then use the sleeve cut off a t-shirt, slip it over his head and onto his body, with his head sticking out. This will stop him from being able to fight you so much. Just don't make it tight around his crop area. It helps if you have him facing your right side if you are right handed.


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

Would bring the birds house indoors as he is vulnerable to any predators. Thank you for helping him!


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

cwebster said:


> Would bring the birds house indoors as he is vulnerable to any predators. Thank you for helping him!


He _is_ indoors. Only out in the sun when the poster is with him.


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