# pigeon parent will not feed baby



## forooghandfahd (Jul 12, 2014)

A pigeon couple laid 2 eggs on the inside, wide ledge of my bathroom. I made them a nice nest, the eggs hatched, and now there are 2 babies and the parents taking turns sitting on the babies. 
problem is, one baby is not being fed. I am sure of it. I have sat and watched for hours and they only feed 1 pigeon. One baby is nearly 4 times the size of the one being neglected. I purchased kaytee formula, tried various methods, but the baby wont eat/drink. he is going to die. Yes, he tries to get them to feed him, he chirps, elongates his neck, tries to reach his parents beak, but they just feed and feed the other pigeon .I even removed the one being fed and sat there with him and they just step on the second one and act like he is just another twig in the nest. They do sit on him but that is because he is attached to his sibling. Why are they doing this?! Please help, it is day 6 and he looks so tiny, no bigger than the day he hatched, literally. I don't even know how he is alive. Why wont they feed him? How can I get them to feed him? What do I do to keep him alive?


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## AndreiS (Jul 28, 2013)

No matter parents's reason to behave like this, you won't determine them to start feeding the baby.

If you want the baby to survive, you have to feed him yourself.

Here is a page teachig you how to care an (orphan) baby pigeon. There are chapters about how to feed and others:
http://www.pigeonrescue.co.uk/caringforababypigeon.htm


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## CBL (May 13, 2014)

There is no way he would be alive at day 6 if they were not feeding him, he would have been dead by second day. Either hand feed him or pull the older chick for longer periods UNTIL they feed the little one. OR pull and hand feed the little one. Watch videos online on youtube of how to feed and try the hand feeding again. There are many ways and many videos, good luck, I hope you work it out. You can also hand feed the bird and use the parents as the incubators by putting it back into the nest after each feed, they may start to feed it better as it gets stronger and demands more food from them.


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## forooghandfahd (Jul 12, 2014)

*parents not feeding baby*



CBL said:


> There is no way he would be alive at day 6 if they were not feeding him, he would have been dead by second day. Either hand feed him or pull the older chick for longer periods UNTIL they feed the little one. OR pull and hand feed the little one. Watch videos online on youtube of how to feed and try the hand feeding again. There are many ways and many videos, good luck, I hope you work it out. You can also hand feed the bird and use the parents as the incubators by putting it back into the nest after each feed, they may start to feed it better as it gets stronger and demands more food from them.


Online it says that pigeons don't eat much the first day or 2 so he would not be dead. I think day 3 and 4 they fed him a very tiny amount. But it has dropped off. I cant figure out how to upload pictures but he looks like a 2 day old pigeon and he is 7 days while the other is 8 days old and looks like a robust 8 day pigeon. 
I watched countless videos on feeding baby pigeons because I found 2 babies before. Problem is, the baby is not interested. Today he stretched his neck a little and drank 5 swallows. I seriously doubt this is enough to sustain him. He refused after that and I really tried. I did remove the big baby but the parents went ballistic. The mom called for the dad and he flew in and lost his mind. So I put the big one back. Im afraid if I keep him away from them and leave the little guy, they parents will abandon ship altogether. 

This is really depressing. I don't understand why they don't care for the second baby. He is half the size of my palm and the other guy is from my wrist to almost the end of my fingers. There is a tremendous difference. 

He is so delicate and his skin is transparent almost. It is just sad and I am worried because I don't know how much is enough and he clearly is not getting enough to grow, he is the exact same size he always was


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## forooghandfahd (Jul 12, 2014)

thanks, but he is not interested. I tried every method before posting here. I don't know what to do


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

I raised day old babies with an eye dropper and KayTee, but you have to be very careful not to aspirate them. I put it in their beak way toward the back of the throat and past the back of the tongue, and they swallowed it. If you don't put it back past the back of the tongue, they can aspirate and die. 
How were you feeding him?


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## forooghandfahd (Jul 12, 2014)

I am not sure how to use this site, I don't know if I clicked the correct button. I am feeding him by taking a baby bottle, cutting off the nipple and spreading latex over the opening. I poke a hole and then let the baby put his beak in it. I tried a syringe. He just doesn't want to eat. I do get a little down the hatch, just takes a while to go slowly. I cant open his beak to put a dropper in. I tried opening it to use the syringe but no luck. I don't understand how he is even alive. He has not grown a cm. I put him on a heating pad, on low, with a towel in between. Bad idea. A lot of bad info here. He started overheating and his throat was pulsing. I took him off and it stopped. 
The sibling is well developed. Healthy. This little guy is in trouble. I cant let him die. I don't understand what is even happening to him .Why is he so small? Why is he not growing? I think the parents just didn't feed him in the critical days. Now what?


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

A heating pad on LOW isn't going to over heat him. Put it so that he can get off if he wants too though. 
As far as opening his beak, that is very easy if you hold him on your lap and against your body. Come from behind his head with one hand and clasp his beak. Use the other hand to open it. It's easy, just be gentle.
He is probably not growing because he isn't getting enough nutrition.


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## forooghandfahd (Jul 12, 2014)

hi, so she is now eating from the bottle. so glad. She is still very small but now looks about 3 days old. Im feeding her every 4 hours. She puts her beak in the hole and eats. I then wrap her to warm up and then take her back to whichever parent is in the nest so they can sit on her. I think they stopped feeding her completely. One time I didn't feed her until 7 hours later and she was extremely hungry and upset. They do sit on her though so I don't understand why they would sit on her, be concerned about her, but not feed her. Do you think she can still grow? Does she have organ and nervous system damage from lack of food and not growing when she is supposed to? She is itsy bitsy. The sibling is big, black feathers coming in, healthy.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

If she gets enough nutrition then she will grow. How much are you giving her?


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## forooghandfahd (Jul 12, 2014)

she doesn't want to eat much. Im feeding her every 4.5 hours and she gets half and ounce to 3/4 ounce down. I still don't know where the crop is. She is totally naked of fur or feather on her chest but the whole chest bulges out when she is done. She is slightly bigger. the mother is coming less and less. the father leaves for long periods. no one is siting on her. it is warm outside and she is inside but I leave the screen open part way so the parents can come and go. is she cold? she feels warm but I think she needs to be hot to grow, right? the sibling she really changing fast. how much are they supposed to eat?


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Go back and check out the link Andrei left you to read. There is a lot a info on feeding babies and how much. Can you post a pic of the babies?


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## forooghandfahd (Jul 12, 2014)

I read it and re-read it. It does not say how much to feed. it again talks about a crop that "hangs down", oh, that is so informative. I have no clue where the crop is. The baby will only get down half an ounce at each feeding and it takes time, she doesn't want anymore. She is growing some. She developed dark feathers on her wings and some on her chest. I have photos but it is beyond me how to post them. I tried. 
Im very frustrated that there is no good info out there about pigeons, I guess people don't care about them unless they are some inbred mess raised for getting the owner attention. These are wild from the outside pigeons. They too need to be cared for. 

I am continuing with the kaytee formula. The bigger one seems hungry to me, the parents are not around so much. She seems lonely. I picked him up and he burrowed his head into the crook of my elbow and sat there. Or he cries and when I pick him up he stops. He is bored and lonely. I really feel bad for him. The little one gets more interaction because I am feeding her. I was afraid to disturb the big one and then the parents don't come back a all. But I went ahead and held him because he was sad. 
I am feeling more hopeful that the little one will make it. She seems in much better spirits. Now if only I can get some sleep , I will be in better spirits too! But these are critical days for the struggling baby, she needs timely feedings.
thanks for all your help and writing back. They are both really cute. the big one is going to be white it seems with specks of dark and the baby more dark, gunmetal grey. Both very beautiful. When I put the baby close she pecks my beak with hers. She seems to like it so I let her do it.
anyways, I hope I can figure out how to post photos so you can see them!


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

I googled it, just as you could have. This link will show you where the crop is.
http://10000birds.com/what-is-a-birds-crop.htm


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## CBL (May 13, 2014)

Im glad you are watching out for them, you may have to feed them both at this point if the parents dont come back. Feed the larger one some thawed warmed froze peas. Also if the baby is a couple of weeks now you can also pop some peas into its mouth too. If you give me your email addy, in a pm I will demonstrate in a video with one of my birds for you to copy. It is VERY easy to feed pigeons of any age. Drop me a pm and give us an update thanks.


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## kiddy (Feb 5, 2015)

forooghandfahd said:


> I read it and re-read it. It does not say how much to feed. it again talks about a crop that "hangs down", oh, that is so informative. I have no clue where the crop is. The baby will only get down half an ounce at each feeding and it takes time, she doesn't want anymore. She is growing some. She developed dark feathers on her wings and some on her chest. I have photos but it is beyond me how to post them. I tried.
> Im very frustrated that there is no good info out there about pigeons, I guess people don't care about them unless they are some inbred mess raised for getting the owner attention. These are wild from the outside pigeons. They too need to be cared for.
> 
> I am continuing with the kaytee formula. The bigger one seems hungry to me, the parents are not around so much. She seems lonely. I picked him up and he burrowed his head into the crook of my elbow and sat there. Or he cries and when I pick him up he stops. He is bored and lonely. I really feel bad for him. The little one gets more interaction because I am feeding her. I was afraid to disturb the big one and then the parents don't ycome back a all. But I went ahead and held him because he was sad.
> ...



Well in this pic the protruding part below neck which is almost touching the ground is crop which is full in this pic which is more visible in babies having no feathers like in this pic. It will feel a bit tight to touch when it is full and soft and skinny when empty. So you can check when feeding your baby when it seems full you can stop feeding her and again when it gets empty you can feed her. Hope it will be easy to check and feed now so it can grow like bigger one. 
On the site link Andrei has pasted there is a video on how to feed peas/corn method, it is simple and you can apply this method for babies who are around 2 weeks old. For smaller bottle/syringe method is good enough as you are already doing. Thanks for such great care for these baby birds .


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

The parents should be coming around to feed the babies. I would let them do their job. Unless you have scared them away by taking the baby in and putting him back, then they probably haven't abandoned them. It is normal for them to go off and start another nest, and just come back to feed the little ones. Maybe you just haven't seen them. You don't want to bring them in and finish raising them if you don't have to, as they are much better off being raised by their parents. If you take them and hand raise them, then try to release them, they very well may not make it. They learn about how to survive from the parents and flock.
Lots of times it appears that they have been abandoned, when that isn't the case at all.


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