# Handling Babies



## Amber (Nov 17, 2002)

I just wanted to tell you guys thankyou again for helping me with my 'emergency' situation. Hardships and obstacles are always a blessing in disguise. This was a great example, because I would have probably never found this site if this hadnt happened. Now I have found a place to take concerns and find answers, where befor i was just left in the dark and tried to figure it out on my own. So now that i feel like i can move on...







....I have some questions about handling Babies. I never said before, but I care for and breed White Belgium Pigeons. They perform in a show in town where I to am a performer, which allows me to keep a very close eye on them. But I have never been sure of when I can actually handle the babies. Im afraid of the old adage that the parents wont come back, so i always use gloves when tagging them, but other than that, i leave them alone. I really dont like that I feel that i have to do this because, of course they are always so scared of me because of lack of interaction. Ive heard soo many different things, and i have just decided better safe than sorry. When do you think is a good time to handle? how often? will the parents come back?........Also, the girl who was taking care of the show pigeons before me, got Histoplasmosis...the doctor said that is was from being exposed to and inhaling the spores of it, which is naturally shed in the pigeon feces. What if anything do you know about that? Thanks again for all your help!
Amber


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## sirpigeon (Jan 25, 2002)

You can handle the babies of domestic pigeons without worry.Even if you remove the parents from the nest,they'll go back.Pigeons are excellent parents.If you remove a baby from the nest while a parent is setting on it,be careful to shield the baby from the parent,because the parent may wing slap at you to "defend" the babies.


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## Hyeflyer (Nov 13, 2002)

First off dont be afraid to hab
ndle the babies. The more you handle them the more they will imprint on you.By the time they should be waned from their parents they should have little fear of you.About the Histoplasmosis it is a naturally mould spore that lives in the soil and all natural composted organic matter.You can get histo from turning over the soil to plant a flower bed.


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## smallbird (Dec 12, 2002)

Dear Amber,
reading your entry, you might be the right person that can help us with our quest.
We have been wondering why it is that we have never seen baby pigeons. Not in real life, not in a picture. Wondering about how baby pigeons look like has occupied our mind for some time now. Could you send us or direct us to pictures of baby pigeons? 
Thanks in advance,
two smallbirds


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Hello and Welcome to pigeons.com!

I'm not sure just how little of a baby pigeon you are interested in seeing but you can click on the link to Baby Sara on the home page here and see a series of photos taken day by day to chronicle Sara growing up.

I also have some baby pics at 

http://www.rims.net/pics.htm 


Once on this page, click on ARLENE, ITSY1214, PIGEONS, and SQUEAKR to see some baby pigeons (and the last one is of ringneck dove babies).


Terry Whatley


[This message has been edited by TAWhatley (edited December 12, 2002).]


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## natrlhorse (Sep 21, 2002)

I have a few pictures of babies on my page. The little yellow ones are just a couple of days old and being fed by their fathers. There one with the blue bar fantail and one with the almond, both very good parents. There are also a couple of pictures of the babies as "squeakers" just about to be weaned off mom and dad. http://24.205.237.122:808/luckybk/pigeons/pigeons.html 

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Tori
Fantails, Komorner Tumblers and Hungarian Giant House Pigeons


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## smallbird (Dec 12, 2002)

hello Terry and Tori
thank you very much for directing us to these pictures. We were amazed by how little and helpless these babies are.
What is the best way to look after them? And to what extent do their parents look after them? What do they eat? 
the smallbirds


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Hi Smallbird,

As with most species of birds, the rearing of babies is best left to the parents. Pigeon parents produce something called crop milk. It is not actually milk so please don't get the idea that it is OK to feed mammal milk to baby pigeons .. it isn't good for them. Pigeon parents are quite devoted and both the mother and father share in the duties of feeding and rearing their young.

Obviously, if you find an orphaned baby pigeon, you must take it in and care for it or locate a local wildlife rehabilitator, humane group, or veterinarian to care for it. 

Baby birds of all types must be kept very warm .. around 90+ degrees or more depending on their size and feathering or lack thereof. They cannot be allowed to become wet or chilled.

Pigeons are primarily seed eating birds so the baby bird formulas that are available for hookbills are OK for baby pigeons. You would not feed such a diet to any bird that is not a seed eater .. some birds are insectivores, some are fruit eaters, and some are omnivores. These baby birds would need an entirely different type of diet.

Even baby pigeons in the first 5-7 days will benefit from added protein in the baby bird formula. This can be provided by adding strained human baby food such as chicken.

At the age of approximately two to three weeks, baby pigeons can start eating soaked bird seed. By the third to fourth week, they should be eating seed and drinking on their own.

If you looked at Baby Sara's pictures, you can see what a little amount of time it takes to go from a helpless little eyes closed baby to a fully feathered and beautiful young bird.

You seem to be interested in baby pigeons .. why don't you fill us in as to how this came to be.

Terry Whatley


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## smallbird (Dec 12, 2002)

Hello Terry
well, somehow the topic pigeons entered conversation and the question popped up whether anybody had seen a baby pigeon before. A question to which most people remained silent. That's when curiosity started to grow. So we searched to net and ended up at this site. Looking at the pictures you directed us to more questions arose. How for example are they kept that warm (90°)? Is one parent always present? And when are they ready to leave the nest? Do pigeons have a family life?
There will be more questions coming your way ! Thanks for your replies.
Smallbirds


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Hello
It's always nice to find someone interested in learning about these wonderful birds and it's fun being able to actually answer their questions!! LOL
Once the hen lays her eggs, both parents take turns sitting on the nest. It's never left alone for more than a minute. Once the eggs hatch, they do the same. Both parents take turns and one of them is ALWAYS on the nest up until the babies are about 2 weeks old or so. At that time you MIGHT catch them off the nest but they aren't far away. At about 27 days old or so, the parents will usually kick the babies out of the nest, because when these youngsters are around two weeks old, Mom will lay two more eggs and by the time the first ones are 27 days old the second set of eggs is about ready to hatch and the parents know instinstinctivly that there's going to be new babies to take care of. We raise racing pigeons and usually when our youngsters are 25 days old we remove them from the parents because at that age they are capable of feeding and drinking. As far as a "family", no. Once the babies are grown they just become another bird. Fathers will mate with daughters, Mothers with sons, Sisters and Brothers...etc....
Hope this answered some of your questions.


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## smallbird (Dec 12, 2002)

Hello
but this would mean that pigeons lay new eggs every month ! And is the strength of the
race not influenced by mating between the same blood? Are pigeons social animals? would for example a "neighbour" watch babies from other birds?
smallbirds


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

yes, it's true that the hen lays quite often, but pigeons have a certain time of year that they breed. Once the days start getting shorter and the weather colder their libido drops off. Now, I don't know about feral pigeons, but would assume that they are like the racers we raise. You can put two adult pigeons together and they will mate eventually, for the most part. I don't know that "relatives" mate together in the wild but would assume they do. Again, in the wild I don't know how it's done. When we raise babies, up until they start feathering out and you can see their colors, babies can be switched from one nest to another without much of a problem. Once you can tell what color they are going to be, well, so can the parents and I'm told they won't take new babies as easily. We actually have never tried it. We only switch eggs. I do watch the babies to make sure they stay in their nest box because a lot of times another cock bird will "scalp" a baby that is not his. Meaning he will peck it until it's a bloody mess or dead, but there is always the exception and some fanciers put their babies in the floor and say that all the cock birds will feed all the babies. I'm sure that's so but have never been brave enough to try it. I would have a fit if I ever found a "scalped" baby in my loft.


> Originally posted by smallbird:
> *Hello
> but this would mean that pigeons lay new eggs every month ! And is the strength of the
> race not influenced by mating between the same blood? Are pigeons social animals? would for example a "neighbour" watch babies from other birds?
> smallbirds*


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## natrlhorse (Sep 21, 2002)

I just wanted to emphasize Terry's point that it is important to keep the babies warm. Even though it is not breeding season I had two pairs lay fairly recently and their offspring did not survive in this weather. I also had two squeakers who were not doing very well and have been staying in the house to keep warm. These two were trying to follow their parents around the loft to be fed and fell out of their nestbox. One of the pair was scalped by my Hungarian House Pigeon cock (he is most obnoxious). I have my automatic waterer up on cement blocks and babies that fall from the nestbox can safely hide themselves in the holes. They are happy now and doing well. One is going to a new home tomorrow and the other is back with mom and dad outside. The little one who got scalped was developing slower than his sibling, I think he was pushed out of the way at feeding time. I've got some Exact Baby Bird Feed in the mail from Foys so hopefully we will not lose any more squabs. One that froze was a fantail and that had me pretty upset. 

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Tori
Fantails, Komorner Tumblers and Hungarian Giant House Pigeons


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## smallbird (Dec 12, 2002)

a happy new year to all of you
more questions in the new year
thanks a lot for all the pigeon info
the smallbirds


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