# wood pigeon eating too much



## tough nut

Wednesday just gone was windy, I heard something fall from a tree, thought it was an apple, a friend pointed to the floor, there was a chick upside down and bloody with a dent on it underside, cut wing and blood from its mouth. My thought was try to put it out of its misery than leave it to die slowly, but I cant do that sort of thing, we left it. 10 minutes later, I thought, well maybe I can make it comfortable until it dies, I went back and wrapped in tissue and put in an old pan in a shed. Before going home, I checked on it and the tough nut was still alive I had to put on my bike and cycle home with it. As we passed the site where it was found, there now its sibbling had fell and was dead
At home I made it comfortable and placed under a light to give warmth while I checked the net on what to do, thinking all the while it would be dead in the morning. I found a site where it meantioned porridge so when it had warmed up, (it was so cold when it came home), I gave it some, warmed in a bag, squeezed to the corner with the corner snipped off . To my suprise it ate a little. I always thought when animals are in a bad way they tend to stop eating. anyway I went to bed.
In the morning I came into the living room to hear quiet tweeting, it was calling for food!!! So I nipped out to the chemist to buy a babys feeding syringe and put a finger off a rubber glove on it, it took some.
Its been a couple of days eating porridge, so today I bought some CeDe to feed it with, I added some readybreak to thicken slightly more.
























it seems to be doing well, isnt there growth rate amazing, its quills are growing fast and small feathers appearing, it's almost like you can see them growing

now I've been reading that 25-30ml feeds 4 times a day?

this pigeon screams for food and I've been giving 100mls today every 4 hours. I fed it 3 hours ago and already its calling to me to feed it. Its making sounds like I'm starving it to death
Whats going on???????????


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## tough nut

see's my hand and goes mad for food. Its constantly squeeking for food


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## John_D

Hi

Well done taking baby in.

When to feed is when the crop is empty. Baby pigeons and woodies will squeak when they see anyone they perceive to be 'parent' regardless of whether they are hungry. We had two baby pigeons, but rather older than this one, who squeaked and twitched their little wings whenever they saw us.

*THIS PAGE *is about caring for a baby pigeon (wood or otherwise) from day one, mentioning the crop, but I'd say your original feeding schedule would be about right.


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## tough nut

View attachment 20856

View attachment 20857

ooops....................

I found the reason why he always seemed hungry

the syringe is 2.5ml

I been giving tough nut 10-12.5 ml of food today
no wonder he was calling out
I got him 2 days ago, yesterday I fed him until he didn't want anymore.
I wondered then how much they need, not wanting to overfeed, so I looked it up online, I think it suggested 20-25ml. So luckily its only been today that its had 10-12.5ml feeds.
hence why I joined this forum because of the constant crying for food. Now its settle down to its lively dreaming and preening


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## Dobato

Glad you figured out you were really under feeding this poor little guy . Here is a link to some information on feeding babies below, the baby bottle link by Msfreebird might be a good way to go for you:

http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/f6/rescued-feral-help-please-48513.html#post522672

This little guy should be getting 7-12mL a feeding, so over a day he may get 20-40mL of food at this age. The 25-30mL of food your read about is for a feeding, all at once, for an older pigeon about 14 days and older (perhaps a Wood Pigeon would take somewhat less).

Have a look at the babies in the link below, and look at their crop area (the food storage pouch at the base of the neck/top of the chest area) to see how full they are. Now you should not stuff this little guy this full, only a parent should do this, but you are looking to feed him enough at each feeding to fill this pouch 1/2-3/4 full, wait until it empties and feed again. When you make the food it should have a good water content, so it flows easily, don't make the food too thick or it will cause problems for him (but not too thin, so it has poor calorie and nutritional content).

http://www.mumtazticloft.com/BabyPigeons.asp

The food must be around 102-104 degrees and he should be keep warm, at about 93-95 degrees ambient temperature.

Good luck,

Karyn


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## amyable

Glad you sorted out the amounts, I think he might have popped if it had been 100mls!!!!

As John said, they will squeak constantly so don't be fooled!

great to see he's looking healthy after all he's been through.

keep us posted as to how he's doing,

Janet


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## November-X-Scourge

I hope all goes well with the cutie and he grows up to be a healthy pigeon. Thanks for saving him/her!


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## tough nut

i will keep you posted, thanks for your help.
tough nut was definitely happier with 20'ish ml feed
really you could tell he? was satiated.
I'm still not sure what a 1/2 full crop looks like, but sure, 100ml would have turned him into a balloon.
I'm hoping to hand him over to freshfields animal rescue next weekend, as having a wood pigeon in a city flat really isn't a good idea, and they have the knowledge incase anything goes wrong.
he is definitely creating an attachment, I think its a bit reciprocal.
but I know he/it would be better with other wild wood pigeons no matter what that brings


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## Dobato

Here you go, not stuffed to the gills, but nicely full.

http://www.speedpigeon.com/banding_racing_pigeon.htm

Karyn


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## tough nut

did this attachment come through before?


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## tough nut

waiting very impatiently!!!!!


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## amyable

Those are great shots, he's gorgeous.

I think that's great idea if you have a good sanctuary for him to go to. He'll stand a much better chance of learning how to survive in the wild if he's amongst others when released.
The longer you have him the more attached you'll both become and it will be very hard to part with him.

Good luck

Janet


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## tough nut

okay, still on the subject of food/diet

I moved from the syringe feeding (was too small, always forgot how many syringes I'd given) to the bottle feeding method (so much easier)

I'm feeding ToughNut with CeDe premium egg food.
It has hemp and niger and perilla seeds in it.

Question: Is it okay that this bird is taking some seeds in its feed?
How old would you say this bird is?








~I know that racing/ferel/rock doves eat grit so they can mash seed in there crop, do wood pigeons?

This pigeon is very demanding for attention, it sleeps well in its box, but settles better after its sat in the palm of my hand for 10 minutes, am I being too soft?

I have been feeding it about 15ml a feed, every 4-5 hours with an 8-9 hour break overnight, but it doesn't seem enough for this bird, and today after 15ml, it really wouldn't settle and carried on squeeking.
So I fed it until its crop seemed half/three quarter full, then it stopped squeeking, I don't know how much food that was but roughly 20-25ml.
Have I got a monster feeder? Are wood pigeons bigger in merseyside?
I will wait untill the crop is reasonably empty before feeding again.

Has anyone noticed, when they sleep, they do alot of head bobbing, like pecking for seeds? or just peck out to thin air, some wing flapping and even once it hissed and lashed out while asleep! Are they dreaming?

Its poo's are tan brown, with plenty of clear liquid too, I cant remember seeing any white chalky substance, do they sound normal.
This is its fifth day with me, I havent measured its weight today, but last 2 times I did, it went from 108grams to 128grams, and its feathers are forming nicely, very bright eyed, leg strength developing quickly, balance is improving daily, It really is getting strong.
thanks for reading,
mike


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