Rescued baby Pigeon from Crow

[Girl]

Hi,I rescued a baby pigeon from a crow attack last week Friday, the crow was on top of the baby pigeon and pulling its feathers out! I think it may have fallen out of its nest and thats how the crow got to it.
I took it to the local animal hospital and was informed that if I handed it to them, it would be pts because pigeons are considered vermin in Melbourne,Australia. I have taken care of it since. Comparing against Sarah's pics, I would estimate it at 2 1/2 - 3 weeks old.
I feed it 1 syringe full 3 times a day because it never seems hungry and always struggles when I try to feed it. After I let it wonder around and put it back into the box, thats the only time it ever chirps unhappily.
Its poo turned green Wed this week and I am alittle worried. It was only 3 days ago, Monday that I took it to the vet and was told that it looked very healthy.
Q1.Comparing it to other pigeon stories, it looks alittle slow in eating on its own and always has to be syringe fed. Is this normal at 2 1/2 - 3 weeks?
Q2. It's Friday tomorrow, should I wait till the end of this week to determine whether the green poo is serious? Is it possible that it could clear on its own? The baby pigeon is quite lively and seems happy and not acting sick.
Q3. I recently changed its feeding formula to Avione Hand Rearing Formula, could this have affected the colour of its poo?
Q4. How much should I be feeding it per day?

I appreciate any advice. Thanks.

[Reti]

Thank you so much for rescuing this baby.

Changes in diet can affect the droppings, and formulas can make the dropping pretty liquid.

How many cc's/ml does the syringe have?
How thick is the formula you are feeding him?
At his age you can make the formula a bit thicker and he could eat 20-30cc's at a time, even more.
Also, even he is a bit young yet to feef on his own, you could put out some seeds for him, small seeds are best, he could start pecking on them.

Reti

[cyro51]

Hello,

You might want to try the syringe and balloon method of feeding described in this thread. That is much more satisfying for the baby and rewarding for the feeder. You can introduce small seeds as part of the mixture to wean.

http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/showthread.php?t=8070&referrerid=560

Cynthia

[Girl]

Reti, in answer to your question,
The syringe is only 6cc's. The thickness of the formula is more like yoghurt with a squirt of plain water at the end. 20-30 ccs! Sounds like I am under feeding him. Its hard to feed a baby bird which never chirps for food, he is more interested in exploring or hopping onto my lap. I actually feel bad for force feeding him.
Q1. What sort of small seeds can I feed him? I have a stick full of small canary seeds I think, but he doesn't show any interest in it. Any other suggestions as to what small seeds that I can easily purchase at a local pet shop?
Q2. How often in a day should I feed him 20-30 cc's? I leave for the gym and work at 6.15am and don't get back till 6.30pm. I normally feed it at 6am, 7pm & 11pm.
Q2. He always shakes his head after being feed, is this normal?
Q3. I fed it boiled peas & corn last night, I even chopped it in half! Is this okie?

Cynthia, thanks for the syringe and ballon method, I will try it on the weekend. Hopefully it will be more appealing to the little one. Will keep you updated. I will post some pics of it soon. It is a mixture of black and white which I thought was unusal in Melb. Most of the pigeons here are either blueish grey, all black, all white (rare) or a brown (very rare). Can pigeons be any colour and is black and white very common?

[TAWhatley]

Q1. What sort of small seeds can I feed him? I have a stick full of small canary seeds I think, but he doesn't show any interest in it. Any other suggestions as to what small seeds that I can easily purchase at a local pet shop?

Canary, finch, or parakeet.

Q2. How often in a day should I feed him 20-30 cc's? I leave for the gym and work at 6.15am and don't get back till 6.30pm. I normally feed it at 6am, 7pm & 11pm.

Though it's a long time between 6AM and 6:30PM, the bird should do OK on three feedings per day .. but you need to be getting the 20-30 cc's in each time. I'd definitely try for 30 cc's in the AM.

Q2. He always shakes his head after being feed, is this normal?

Not really normal but not really abnormal either. Be very careful that you aren't getting any formula into the respiratory system.

Q3. I fed it boiled peas & corn last night, I even chopped it in half! Is this okie?

Yep!

Terry

[Girl]

Here are the pics of my baby pigeon. Sorrie, its alittle dark coz it was taken at night. I will take better ones on the weekend.

[Reti]

Oh, what a cutie!

Terry answered your questions.

The balloon method will definetly cut back ont the feeding time. Please try it.

Please, let us know how the baby is coming along.

Reti

[Girl]

Anyone?
On the 3rd of March in my previous message, I wrote that I started feeding it corn and peas. I was trying to teach it to eat by itself. Step by step, I first fed corn straight into its beak, then let it eat the corn out of my hand, then put the corn onto the ground.
Since the baby pigeon has discovered corn it has taken a tremedous liking to corn. So much so that its like an addiction. I don't know whether its part of the pigeon growing up process, it never use to chirp but it now chirps like crazy and always trys to peck at my hands, looking for corn. Even when I direct it to the ground where the corn is, it still prefers to hop onto my lap and peck at my hands. Every time I walk pass the box (in which I house the baby pigeon), it will start chirping like crazy and standing up with its neck craning to look out of the box. This all happens even after its has been fed and its crop is big.

Q1.Is a baby pigeon like a pet dog in that it lavishes for attention?
Q2.Is it normal for a baby pigeon to get addicted to a particular kind of food? I now started to mix the corn with small seeds and baby pigeon powder formula so it gets the proper nutrition and hopefully reduces its addiction to corn.
Q3.Is it normal/bad/good for a pigeon to be standing up tall like a puppy on its hind legs begging for food?
Q4.How should I discourage/discipline my baby pigeon to stop pecking at my hands? It's beak use to be soft but its growing harder and I'm afraid that it's pecks are going to hurt eventually.

Its only been a week but the change in my baby pigeon is huge since I first got it and I am alittle worried that my baby pigeon is picking up unpigeon like habits, what should I do?

Any advise is welcome.

[TAWhatley]

My responses are just my opinions and my experience and should not necessarily be considered words from the "How To Raise A Baby Pigeon Bible" ..

Q1.Is a baby pigeon like a pet dog in that it lavishes for attention?

Yes, in some respects. Once a baby pigeon figures out that you are the source of food, love, and comfort, they become almost insatiable on all counts. If you intend to keep the pigeon as a pet, this is fine, but if you are wanting to release it when grown, then you need to try to make it as self sufficient as you can and as quickly as you can.

Q2.Is it normal for a baby pigeon to get addicted to a particular kind of food? I now started to mix the corn with small seeds and baby pigeon powder formula so it gets the proper nutrition and hopefully reduces its addiction to corn.

Also pretty normal and time to exercise a little "tough" love and make baby eat everything on it's "plate".

Q3.Is it normal/bad/good for a pigeon to be standing up tall like a puppy on its hind legs begging for food?

Again, it sounds like you have a perfectly normal and healthy pigeon that is being raised by a human.

Q4.How should I discourage/discipline my baby pigeon to stop pecking at my hands? It's beak use to be soft but its growing harder and I'm afraid that it's pecks are going to hurt eventually.

Well, I'm going to cop out on this question .. the pecking will never get particularly hurtful, but it can be annoying. My 18 year old Traveler will latch onto my hand like a ferocious dog .. he does little harm, but it sure makes him feel like he is "cock of the walk". Actually, many members work long and hard to get their pet pigeons to play "Spider Creatures" with them .. fighting the "evil" human hands.

Its only been a week but the change in my baby pigeon is huge since I first got it and I am alittle worried that my baby pigeon is picking up unpigeon like habits, what should I do?

It all boils down to whether you are keeping the pigeon as a pet or wanting to release it. If you are wanting a pet, then I'd say you've got one well on the way .. if you want to release the bird, then you have to stop "babying" the bird and start to withdraw your attention and help the bird learn all it will need to know in order to survive on it's own. That's awfully difficult to do with a single hand raised baby pigeon .. they really need others of their own kind to be with in order to develop a flock mentality and also hopefully be able to learn from older and more streetwise birds.

Terry

[Girl]

Cynthia, Reti, Terry,

I tried the syringe and ballon method. No luck! Baby Pigeon was not interested. I steered it's beck towards the slit in the ballon but Baby did not seem to comprehend what it was meant to do. Baby kept on chirping non stop and struggling. It was getting really messy and I had to abandon the idea. I am also trying to wean it but with not much luck. The only thing it will eat is corn and a few canary seeds. I have tried mung bean sprouts, grated carrots, peas as per one of the threads in this website. I have tried practising tough love but with not much progress. Any other suggestions is welcome.


It is nearly 2 & 1/2 weeks since I found Baby Pigeon and he seems to have stopped growing. I thought Baby was approx. 2 - 2 & 1/2 weeks when I found it so by now, it should be 5 weeks old! From Sarah's pics, it took about 5 weeks for her pigeon to grow with full feathers and fly, my Baby Pigeon has grown some more feathers and has grown alittle bigger but thats all. Baby's fav pastime is trying to get out of the box and has torn some feathers as a result.

Should I go back to hand feeding it? Maybe this is the reason why it has stopped growing? What easy fast foods can I give it besides corn - I get up really early in the morning and don't get back till late? Or should I continue with the tough love and hope that Baby would know better and eat when its hungry?

Btw, what is splay legs? How do I know if my pigeon has splay legs?

In answer to Terry's post, I would have preferred to release it back into the wild but if that is not wise, I would first try and find someone who keeps other pigeons and give it to them but the last scenario is to keep it myself. Its not because I don't want it but I always believe that its better for it to be with others of its own. Does anyone know anyone in Melbourne, Australia who keeps pigeons?

Any advice is welcome! Thanks.

[Pigeonpal2002]

Hi There,

Can you post a current picture of the youngster so we can see what he looks like now? Sorry to hear you had no luck with the balloon method of feeding. Can you locate a supply store in your area that sells pigeon mix? At this age, it is best to introduce the bird to as many types of food as possible. This way it will learn how to pick up and swallow the different seeds as well. Weaning hand reared birds can be difficult and will require a lot of patience in some cases. If you can get a good pigeon seed mix, then I would suggest trying to show the bird by digging in the bowl with your fingers. He should show interest in this and should learn by imitation and experimenting. You might have to do this very often to get results. My young hand reared pigeons were very stubborn to wean. At first they ate only the tiny canary seeds as well and corn and peas. Good luck and keep trying.

As for the splayed legs, this is a condition where the young bird has not had sufficient grip under his body to hold the legs in a proper position. One or both legs can be affected. As the bird grows, and without proper traction underneath, the bones will grow incorrectly and the legs will be deformed.

[Reti]

At five weeks, the bird should be eating by himself.
I would suggest you leave out for him a good pigeon mix and he will learn to peck on it and eventually eat it when hungry.
Justmake sure he is eating.

Also, you can add some vitamins into the water,pet stores do sell vitamins for birds. It is important for him to get vit A and D for proper bone and feather growth. Vitamin E is also necessary.
Vit A and e you can give only twice a week, too much can be toxic.
Calcium is a must, if he is not eating any grit, add some calcium into his water, he needs it for proper bone growth.
Also he will need some natural sunlight or at least a few hours a day under an UV lamp.

Reti

[pdpbison]

Hi Girl,

The next time you spend time with the little one, have some Seeds in a little shallow jar lid or something in front of him, and 'peck' at the Seeds with your finger tip...and also make gentle happy sounds or approveing tones of encouragement.

Likely he will begin 'eating' with you...and may sqeak or pump his shoulders while doing so, very much like they do when being fed.

[Girl]

Thank you Brad, Reti and Pdpbison for the advice.

Here is the current progress on my Baby Pigeon.
Pictures
I finally got round to getting some recent photos. As you can see, the first pics were taken on the 05/03/05. I assume it was approx. 2 & 1/2 weeks old?
The second lot were taken on the 28/03/05, which is 3 1/2 weeks after the first pics. From Sarah's pics on this website, it should be fully developed but as you can see, it has grown only in size and its wing feathers has grown longer. It is starting to shed its baby feathers but very slowly.
Behaviour Progress
I wouldn't know where along the scale it is but I believe it is fairly normal. It hops onto my lap, arms, walked up onto my shoulder and head, it has used a tea towel that was partially drapped over the box to escape once, it has attempted to fly out of the box and was successful. I bought a cage after the recent escape attempt with two perching horizontal sticks in the middle at different heights. It enjoys walking up the cage to get from one wooden horizontal stick to another and will hop out of the cage whenever I open the door. It regularly preens/pulls at its old feathers and new feathers.
Food Progress
Pigeon mix was hard to find so I bought it wild bird mix which contains - barley, wheat, red sorghum, shell grit, panorama millet, white french millet, black or grey sunflower sees and japense millet. It only eats the red sorghum and nothing else. In additon to thawed chopped corn. When I watch it eat, it can't seem to pick up and swallow the bigger seeds. When I finally found the pigeon/dove mix, I didn't bother buying it coz I know baby pigeon wouldn't be able to pick up the unpopped corn or dried peas. The poo is sometimes very wet and sometimes dry. It is mostly brown with some white in it. It is sometimes in little brown separated bits but it is sometimes long and continuous threadlike.
When I read the "Specific health care and treatment advice can be found at Chevita Gmbh", there are so many possible diseases and reasons why a pigeon is not "normal"! Should I take it to a vet for a faecal sample test or am I worrying too much about Baby Pigeon and its slow growth and fussy eating?

Thanks for listening and any advice is welcome!

[Girl]

More Pics - please see the name of the file for the date it was taken.

[Girl]

More pics with Baby Pigeon.

[pdpbison]

Hi Girl,


Just a couple thinking-out-louds...

There is no harm if at the stage of developement yours is at, if you still were to feed them and feed them often with moderate size feedings ( three or four times-a-day). Also, off and on to have a little spread of Seeds which you can peck at with your finger tip and they will likely eat those with you even as you said they were doing kind-of anyway.

If you are not already doing so, please consider to add some extra things in with the Seeds and Grit, such as some pro-biotics, some powdered Alphalpha or other 'Super Greens', a little powdered Brewer's Yeast, a little Olive or Cod Liver Oil, and or some powdered Nutritive product of some kind. The little bit of OIls will help the powdered things stick to the Seeds, but of course, all of this is easier in some ways, as far as getting good, abundant nutrition into them, if we feed them lightly 'soupy' mixes we make and warm for them.

There is no reason to do any 'tough love' with Baby Birds...they just need what they need. They all will wean effortlessly and gracefully when they have gotten what they need during the time they need it. If this was my Bird, I would not wean them yet - especially if having concerns about their slow developement so far - but I would certainlyencourage them to eat on their own (as a 'Social' comfort also with me pecking with them for a minute or two many times through the day) while I continued making sure they were nicely me-fed several times a-day.

I would also be the only source of Water as such. And when they needed a drink, I would bring them some. As they become more effecient eaters on their own, I would naturally taper off the size and frequency of their me-feeds. But not disontinue them completely untill they have been integrated into a flock and know how to graze all day with the wild Birds.

Me being the Water 'bringer' allows also a way for me to call them, and or for them to call me. This can be very important later if you do need to call them and have them come. Or, for those occasions when their early introductions to a Flock are on-going, for them to have some reason to come back to you untill the next outing.


But especially, anytime we have one who has not grown at a normal pace, it is best to provide plenty of nutrition for them to grow on, to catch-up with, and worry about weaning when they are developed enough, later.

This is certaily a very pretty little Bird !

And is looking very bright and happy and adorable...

Oh, also - anotyher thought...

Make sure it is getting enough Grit - I myself like to provide the Crushed Oyster Shell kind.The seed-and-grit mix you refered to buying may not have what is in fact 'enough' Grit in it for some Birds, or for this Bird as an individual at this time. If the poops are kind of fiber-coarse, then more Grit is called for. Poops should be smooth paste, the 'White' is their pee, and the 'dark' is their poo, and should be nicely damp-firm and not gooy or sticky or runny.

'Snake' shaped poos or broken-in-length not coiled rope-shaped ones signify something is not right with their digestion, which may be Worms or some mild infection or illness. Likewise, when they constantly drink extra Water and are pooping out Water. This means they are trying to flush their systems of something...

I have had some doing that and whatever it is that is bothering them, it has been stubborn. My Microscope has not arrived yet so for now I have a lot more to learn about it. I am trying some new-to-me meds and am not sure yet quite how to use them...

Good work Girl..!

Kiss the little one on the top of the head for all of us...

I really enjoyed the pics...

Wat a cutie...!


Phil

[TAWhatley]

What a beautiful little one .. going to be quite a handsome bird when grown. Thanks for the great pics!

Terry

[Pigeonpal2002]

Hi Girl,

Thanks for the update and bevy of pictures. The pigeon looks good, a little bit underdeveloped in some areas but nonetheless, good. The crop looks mighty full as well in some of those pictures. Just keep offering as many types of seeds as possible to stimulate interest in pecking. It seems that younger birds start off with the smaller seeds at first, mine did anyways. As for the poops, you are right...it's hard to know for sure what is going on. If you could take a sample in to be tested, that would be great. That might rule out a number of things.



Thanks again for the update,

[Girl]

Thank you for the Advice, Baby thanks everyone for the compliments.

U]Quick Update on Baby[/U]

Food Progress
I feed Baby 3 times a day. I bought a bag of grit, I don't know what type of grit it is, doesn't say, its grey in colour. The 2nd feeding time which is around dinner time is when I put out grit. After work is the only time I have time to sit there and watch Baby and make sure it eats its grit. If I put out the other food i.e corn/seeds, baby would ignore the grit and eat the corn/seeds straightaway.
I also bought some powdered vitamins which I mix with Baby's water. This is made available to Baby everyday as I leave for gym and work at 6.15am and don't get back till 6.30pm. I don't want to leave Baby without water all day. So Phil, I think your idea of being the water giver is a great idea but I'm not sure I could do that.
I have started hand feeding Baby again but only at the 2nd feeding - dinner time. I still feed Baby corn in the 1st feeding morning and corn/seeds in the 3rd feeding evening.
I have scheduled a faecal test to be done next week, its the only time I can go into work late. Will tell you the results next week!

Development Progress
Baby is finally starting to grow feathers under its wings and on its chest. The head and part of the back as you could see in the earlier pics are still the old/baby feathers.

Questions
Q1. When does a Pigeon stop chirping - when it is a full grown adult pigeon? When will that occur - 3 months old? 4 months old? The feral pigeon in the city don't make any noise at all.
Q2. Does anyone let your pigeon walk around in the house? I left Baby stretch its wings during feeding time. This will take place in the Kitchen or Bathroom. Its hard to stop Baby walking into the Lounge -carpeted area as I live in a studio apartment. Baby poos everywhere - any tips on what gets Pigeon poo best off the carpet/couch/chairs? The white bit of the poo is the hardest and stains!
Q3. How do you discipline your pigeon from jumping onto your head? Baby was so excited by the food that Baby first jumped onto my leg then hands then shoulder then head! Ouch!
Q4. Any other tips on training/disciplining Pigeons is welcome!

[zoo keeper]

My goodness, that is just a beautiful Pigeon. What type of pigeon is it?

[pdpbison]

Hi Girl,


They are a handful...!


Just be glad it is not a Duck...(I have a young Duck at the moment, for five days now, and I am a wreck...Ducks are Precocial Birds and wish to follow their parent or guardian everywhere at all times...almost never sleep appearently, wake at dawn when they do sleep, as well as other endearing qualities which are ill suited for my Wood and Metalworking Shop and tiny home-apartment...so count your blessings!)

As Altratial Birds, (those which need prolonged care and feeding after hatching) Pigeons tend to remain in, on or close to whatever they construe to be their Nest. If on a small table top, which may be covered in a towell with a small box on it's side for them to find some shelter-moods or privacy in, with a little rumpled towell in it, my experience has been that they will tend to stay there untill they can start flying to something else close by, and, if that is where one feeds them, they will of course return to it when you are going to feed them...or when they wish to self-feed on the Seeds one places there for them.

They will tend to climb on one's arms and so on or onto one's head sometimes at a certain phase of their developement. This does not tend to last more then a week or so. And as far as one's head goes, climbing there is best good naturedly discouraged, or at least put them onto something else gently. They have very sharp little claws of course! As you know, and in theory, sundry bacteria on those sharp little claws can be introduced into one's scalp as their little claws perforate it. This does not happen on one's hands or arms, since our skin there is so much more resistant to their Claws perforating it with their tiny sharp tips.

Most of my reasoning for me being the source of Water, is that I am here almost all the time, or close enough, and this is a way for me to feel I can call them routinely when the time comes, if I need to do so or not. It will be for their own good, later when they are learning to assimilate into the Wild Flock.

Later, when they have been out with the Wild Birds all day or something, I can call them and they will have additional motivation to come back in. Usually their assimilation into the wild Flock takes about a week or so (once they are ready TO do so of course,) of them going out for various incresing durations to socialize with the Wild Pigeons, and comeing back in for food (if need be, and it usualy is since they are often too excited to eat much out there amid their fellows and all the new stimulous) and Water and rest.

Like other youngsters, their judgement at that time is influenced by enthusiasms and intimidation and excitements at first, so usually their day out is one in which little was eaten, and their first nights out they do not tend to get any sleep.

So, I can walk outside and call them and they are more likely to come back in to then spend a day recouperating untill their next, progressive outing unto being assimilated into Wild Bird Life.

Yours sounds as if it is graduating into eating on it's own, and the occasional hand-feeding is a nice comforting gesture for them also. They will peep or squeak untill they are confident in self-feeding, more or less, and confident in their maturity. They will tend to flap and shoulder pump and peep-squeak when self feeding for some time after becomeing competent self feeders and neophyte flyers.

Sometimes adult Birds who have been through some trauma, will for a short time revert back to a brief period of slight 'peeping' and slight shoulder pumping when wishing to eat or when being comforted.

Be very careful with adding Vitimines because it is very easy to add too much which will harm them instead of helping.

If feeding him/her conventional small Bird Seed of good quality, and good fresh (non 'tap') Water, and if they are pecking competently, just set them up with enough Seed and Water for the time you will be gone, and replenish when you return and their Nuitrition will be just fine.

If you wish to enhance their nutrition, you may add a little fresh Olive Oil to their Seeds and stirr untill the Seeds glisten slightly but are not sticking together. To this you may add some small amounts of powdered Greens one gets at Health Fod stores, a little Brewer's Yeast powder ( ditto) and some powdered Kay-tee or the likes ( powdered vitamine-mineral-protean powders for raising baby Birds of about any kind).

Sometimes youngsters can overeat with new enthusiasms and hurt themselves from their crops being stressed from being too full when the Seeds expand from hydration. So too much available Seed when they are alone is not as good as leaving an amount they can safely eat.
Have Grit next to their Seeds any time they have Seeds to peck at. Just make a little mound of it a half an inch tall, or pour some of it into one half of their Seed Bowl or saucer or what.

Their poos generally clean easily with plain Water or lightly Soapy Water. If they leave stains, then I do not know. Some of mine has left light stains on some thing also.

You and the little one have been having an adventure!

You both have my best wishes...

Young Birds released into wild Flocks can perish if they do not find time to accustom themselves progressively into their fellow's society. See if you can find a way to do this, (which can be impossible unless one has worked out with them those calls or signals which will get them to come back to you or to come back in) and or find someone who has a resident wild Flock where the perils may be as slight as possible from privation or preditors. Making sure you do not release them untill they can fly very well and with endurance. Mine maybe tend to be released a little earlier through stages of assimilation, than if I were to release them cold, without five or six partial days among their fellows. They will need to learn lots of things fronm their Wild fellows and that takes, initially especially, some time to occur. Otherwise they will just tend to sit on the nearest high place they can reach, and it might be a bad place for them which none of the other Birds sit at oweing to nocturnal Cats or whatever frequenting it.



Phil
Las Vegas

[Girl]

My goodness, that is just a beautiful Pigeon. What type of pigeon is it?

Hi zoo keeper....in answer to your question - I don't know. Could anyone tell me what kind of pigeon I have? - see old pics in this thread.

I am amazed how people can tell that their pigeon is a homer or a racing pigeon, is it because they bought it from a pet shop or breeder? I have seen pics of the show pigeons and they are alot easier to identify because of their unqiue appearances.
My pigeon has developed quite a bit since those old pics a few weeks ago. His head is now like pigeonpal2002's avator pic but his body isn't white, its a mix of white and black (more black then white). I will post some new pics soon.

[Girl]

QUOTE=Pigeonpal2002]As for the poops, you are right...it's hard to know for sure what is going on. If you could take a sample in to be tested, that would be great. That might rule out a number of things.

I took Sweet to a bird specialist last Tuesday and the only thing they found was ringworms in the poop. Sweet was given one dose of medicine. The vet didn't mention any second visits. Does anyone have any experience with treatment of worms - how many visits to the vet?


[QUOTE=Pigeonpal2002]The pigeon looks good, a little bit underdeveloped in some areas but nonetheless, good. The crop looks mighty full as well in some of those pictures.

The vet said the same thing, that Sweet looks pretty good and that its normal that he/she is alittle slow/thin because he/she didn't get his/her mother's crop milk.


QUOTE=Pigeonpal2002]Just keep offering as many types of seeds as possible to stimulate interest in pecking. It seems that younger birds start off with the smaller seeds at first, mine did anyways.

I am alittle worried because since the vet visit, Sweet has lost his/her appetitte for corn & peas. Sweet only eats the red sorghum seeds now. I had to feed him/her the corn & peas coz he/she isn't eating enough. Sweet has also lost his/her high chirping voice and is now a low croaking sound. This seems to be part of the growing up process. Is eating less food also part of the change to adult pigeonhood? How many times a day should I now feed Sweet and how much food should I be feeding Sweet?

Should I be bringing food to Sweet or should I leave food in the cage for Sweet? Which is a better practice?

Please help as Sweet is already very thin for a pigeon and I don't want Sweet to get any thinner.

Mich.

[Pigeonpal2002]

Hi Mich,

Thanks for the update on Sweets. I'm glad you got her to a vet for a fecal sample. You will need to find out from the vet what he/she used to treat for worms to find out if the treatments are done. Call them back to confirm what they used, and if no further treatments are necessary. Normally, the pigeon is treated 2-3 times every 2 weeks to get rid of all worms and any eggs ready to hatch.

How old is Sweets now? Seems like she should be well over a month old by this point. Young pigeons will experiment with different seeds when they are learning to eat. They will pick what is easiest for them and what they like best. I would suggest you keep a bowl of seeds in her cage at all times because she needs to start pecking at seeds and eating on her own. Is she showing any interest in this yet at all? If she is not getting enough from your hand feedings, hopefully this will stimulate her hunger and she will start eating from a provided bowl of seeds.

It can be hard weaning some pigeons, mine took over 3 months to successfully start eating a proper diet. At first all they ate were peas, corn or canary seeds-period! I had to incorporate the "tough love" strategy in the end because they just were not learning to eat, were being fussy or lazy. Sometimes, it gets worse before it gets better. Meaning, you may have to try the tough love approach and stop feeding the pigeon in order to make it peck on it's own. Make sure at least though if you try this, that it is eating something on it's own. Start with a day without feeding the bird, then two days etc. up to a maximum of 3 days. It really shouldn't take 3 days before total hunger sets in and the pigeon will eat seeds.

After you respond to this post, with more details about the age, and the pigeon's level of self sufficiency, then I or someone else will tell you the best course of action.

thanks again for the update,

[Girl]

Hi Mich,

Call them back to confirm what they used, and if no further treatments are necessary. Normally, the pigeon is treated 2-3 times every 2 weeks to get rid of all worms and any eggs ready to hatch. ,


I will do that tomorrow.


How old is Sweets now? ,

I have had Sweets for approx. 7 weeks now. Add her approx. age when I found her at abt 2 weeks. She should be altogether 9 weeks old.


I would suggest you keep a bowl of seeds in her cage at all times because she needs to start pecking at seeds and eating on her own. Is she showing any interest in this yet at all? If she is not getting enough from your hand feedings, hopefully this will stimulate her hunger and she will start eating from a provided bowl of seeds. ,

I give her a bowl of mix seeds everyday and she only shows interest in red sorghum seeds. All the other seeds are left untouched. She will eat by herself as long as there are red sorghum seeds.

Another concern I have is that her ring wing hangs down. Its not broken coz she can fly but she kind of drags the end of it on the floor when she walks. She is molting quite a bit - losing all her baby feathers I think. Is it normal to have a "lazy" wing?

By the way, I just thought I would mention it but I am quite proud of Sweet, on the weekend, I was teaching her to fly to me when we call her and she does! And they say pigeons are dumb! This came out in a newspaper recently on the top ten dumbest birds.

Thanks!