# Mouth-to-mouth Pidgeon feeding?



## WhitePigeonPT (Jan 10, 2009)

Hello guys,

I'm just mouth-raising another little fan-tail, who got pecked by a chicken and was not doing to well with its mother, and after browsing the forum for a bit on baby-pidg issues, I'm amazed at how difficult this seems to be... 

So far I've raised five or six, on a varied diet of what was available at the time, mostly milk based, and adding stuff like corn or wheat grit, oats, budgerigar formula, blackbird pellets, sometimes bread, and I had pretty much gotten the impression you could feed them ravioli and cheese if there were nothing more appropriate. All of mine came out healthy and flying (no bone/wing problems), and no one ever died.

The technique I use to feed them was told to me by an old Portuguese farmer, but since then I've seen it mentioned on National Geographic or Discovery channel, so I was puzzled by not finding it here.

I suppose it is just to gross for the average human being. Anyway, it goes like this:

1)Cook runny formula of wanted consistency, with whatever ingredients you think won't kill the tiny one.

2) Let cool to okay temperature.

3) Fill YOUR mouth with the stuff

4) Insert pigeon beak in YOUR mouth

5) Pigeon does the rest (gobbles up the stuff incredibly fast)

6) After one minute you're done, pigeon burps happily, no damage to nerves, beak, or mental sanity, no tubes or syringes needed, fool proof and very efficient.


I do understand it may not be among the Top Ten most hygienic behaviors, and I'm not asking anyone to do it, but I just wanted to share some empiric knowledge before I die of birdflu.

If you'd like pics or a video, I can take some and try to put them in here.


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Um........I've always heard that the bacteria in our mouth CAN make them sick. If you've done it and it worked, then that's ok for you I guess.
For me personally........I couldn't get past putting all that stuff in MY mouth.......Yuck.......


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## wolfwood (Jan 26, 2009)

That's exactly what I did many years ago when my dog found two 1 or 2 day old Mourning Doves and I couldn't get my hands on a small enough syringe. Works wonderfully and puts the control with the little one!! There may, however, be an issue of passing human-stuff to the baby????


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## Feefo (Feb 8, 2002)

We carry the pasteurella multocida bacteria in our saliva, same as dogs and cats do. This can kill pigeons, so moth-to-mouth feeding is not a good idea.

http://qbbc.net/pdf/articles/Kiss.PDF

Cynthia


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## wolfwood (Jan 26, 2009)

I had a feeling this was the case ..... good to know!

Guess i was lucky with my doves, as was WhitePigeonPt with his little guys!


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## WhitePigeonPT (Jan 10, 2009)

Incredible! So THEY can get sick from our bacteria?? I always worried the other way round...


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## John_D (Jan 24, 2002)

WhitePigeonPT said:


> Incredible! So THEY can get sick from our bacteria?? I always worried the other way round...


That, too, is possible. If a pigeon was infected with Ornithosis (Psittacosis) but not yet displaying any obvious signs, then this could possibly result in a human getting infected, that being one of the very few illnesses pigeons can pass on. 

John


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## Maggie-NC (Jun 22, 2005)

LOL, this method is not for me and definitely not recommended because of the germs we could pass on to the baby but, you know, when I was a little girl, I remember seeing mothers chewing food and giving that to their human babies. Granted, I'm a 70 year old geezer now and have not seen this done for many years but it used to be the norm because it was the only way some babies got fed.

If a person is totally without a small bottle or syringe or anything like that to put formula in for a baby pigeon, wash your hands really good, curl a fist and put some formula in the fist, stick the baby up there and he will do the same thing he did from your mouth. You get pretty messy but it will get food in the baby.


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Lady Tarheel said:


> LOL, this method is not for me and definitely not recommended because of the germs we could pass on to the baby but, you know, when I was a little girl, I remember seeing mothers chewing food and giving that to their human babies. Granted, I'm a 70 year old geezer now and have not seen this done for many years but it used to be the norm because it was the only way some babies got fed.
> 
> If a person is totally without a small bottle or syringe or anything like that to put formula in for a baby pigeon, wash your hands really good, *curl a fist and put some formula in the fist, stick the baby up there *and he will do the same thing he did from your mouth. You get pretty messy but it will get food in the baby.


*Now, THAT I could do.........but actually put the food in MY mouth. I'm pretty sure I'd puke.......*


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## maryjane (Jul 15, 2006)

Indeed it does sound gross. . .which is not to say I wouldn't try it if I had to!!! When it comes down to it, most of us'll pretty much try anything to save something.  I must say my jaw dropped on reading "raviolis and cheese"; definitely not a good thing for pigeons, as they are really not meat eaters and especially for babies it couldn't be good. I'm glad all your babies have made it, maybe for the future you can pick up some bird formula and just stick with that just to be on the safe side.


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## della (Jan 29, 2009)

That's what I love about this site - always something new and unexpected! I can't say I intend to try it, but you never know when you might be desperate enough to save a little life that you'll try anything!


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## altgirl35 (Sep 5, 2008)

my amazon is always trying to get me to give her whatever i'm eating, she sees no problem with that but i do, i know i can make her sick by sharing food mixed with my saliva, i love that bratty bird more than anything, i won't take that chance


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## Feefo (Feb 8, 2002)

My sister fed a collared dove by chewing seed in her mouth first...the dove died, but I think what killed it was metabolic bone disease.

Cynthia


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## Magpie_Heart (Feb 26, 2009)

I'm really glad i read this thread, i may have to give extra food to an older baby soon.


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## james fillbrook (Jan 2, 2009)

ummm i think i may try it?


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## Becca199212 (May 10, 2007)

Someone posted a video of a young girl feeding one of her dads? pigeons that way, if I remember rightly he said they had raised many pigeons that way. This isn't the video- the girl made it look alot easier than the man in this video who makes it look pretty awkward and quite messy-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpZCBauyCmU

I always thought the formula smelt good, not good enough to put it in my mouth though.


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

This method of feeding from the mouth of a human to the mouth of a baby bird is very, very old school. My friend, Bart, mortified a member here by showing her how it was done. He does NOT feed babies that way and only gave the "demo" to show how it used to be done when he was a child in Europe (that would be about 60 years ago). This mouth to mouth method is highly questionable healthwise for both the baby bird and the human .. please don't do it.

Terry


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## WhitePigeonPT (Jan 10, 2009)

I don' think it can be all that dangerous for the birds (or more would die, and the method wouldn't have survived so long, right?)...

I would like to know, just as a compartative study,how many baby pigeons die or get killed because of inept hand-feeding (people just not geting enough food in)or incapacity while atemting to feed them through a tube inserted into the crop, which is a rather invasive procedure during which much can go wrong as well. That's the only reason I posted this, it might help someone somewhere.

I think this is a rather simple method, which can be a lifesaver for someone sitting in the middle of the countryside without syringes, tubes, experience or pigeon-rescue centres... I'm definitly keeping it up, the ones I'm raising would die anyway, so I'm giving them better odds, bacteria or no baceria.

I would only do it to healthy looking babies though, and preferrably the ones I know where they come from.

My present baby is growing HUGE, by the way, he's all feathery allready and is starting to flap his wings.


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## WhitePigeonPT (Jan 10, 2009)

The guy in the video is doing it in a very strange way...why is he opening the baby's beak? It will do everything itself, no need for that...


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## Pegasus (Feb 6, 2007)

WhitePigeonPT said:


> If you'd like pics or a video, I can take some and try to put them in here.


I'm still waiting for the pics or vids, you mentioned...


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## WhitePigeonPT (Jan 10, 2009)

Oh, okay, I was waiting for someone interested! I'll post it asap!


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

I was just picturing my husband walking in and see me feeding a squab with my mouth....the look on his face would be too funny. I think it ain't gonna happen., but it is interesting.


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## WhitePigeonPT (Jan 10, 2009)

The other day, while with some girlfriends, I managed to talk about my baby for 15 minutes without mentioning how I feed it, (outside of the Internet's anonymity it does embarrass me a bit, people will think I'm a complete weirdo) and then my hubby turns up and pipes: "HEY, have you told them HOW YOU FEED IT??"

I'll film the feeding procedure on Monday or Tuesday, when I'm with my brother, as my informatics skills do not suffice to get in in here...


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

I think putting the food in a baby bottle nipple would be better, if you can't get a syringe. Even an eye dropper, toward the back of the throat. But in your mouth? ICK! 
Besides, if there is a chance that it could make the bird sick, then why would anyone chance it? Just doesn't make sense. True, we would do almost anything to save a baby, but come on. There's always another way.


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## LUCKYT (Jan 17, 2009)

Renee, i am with you! (BARFF!) Levi has a picture of people doing it in the Middle East.
Caption reads "Primitive force feeding method from Suez" I think he was locality challenged but, it turned me off to it! LOL!


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## mr squeaks (Apr 14, 2005)

Just a quick comment...

The human mouth feeding has been mentioned as being a very old practice...

While we don't advise doing so due to possible bacteria contamination, maybe things were quite different MANY years ago...not so harmful? We DID eat differently...

Just a thought

I tried Phil's nipple method and it worked just fine!

Love and Hugs

Shi


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## Mike Ross (Apr 26, 2021)

WhitePigeonPT said:


> Hello guys,
> 
> I'm just mouth-raising another little fan-tail, who got pecked by a chicken and was not doing to well with its mother, and after browsing the forum for a bit on baby-pidg issues, I'm amazed at how difficult this seems to be...
> 
> ...


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