hatching egg... help!!!!!!!

[cobyncory]

i'm incubating a pigeon egg. it' starting to have a very small hole starting. how much longer before it breaks out?????????????

[Pigeonpal2002]

hi CobynCory,

Hatching can take up to 24hrs from the first signs of the shell cracking. Normally it's not nearly this long.

[cobyncory]

the egg hatched before 6 am this morning. what do i feed him? is cream of wheat good for him??

[Reti]

Congratulations on your hatchling.
You can use a very thin formula from the pet store Kaytee Exact. Or, until you get this, you can use baby cereal from the grocery store.
Use preferably an eye dropper to feed the baby every two hours. At night you can feed less often.
As the baby grows you make the formula more consistent.
But for now, make sure it is not too thick, not too cold and not too hot.
I assume you are keeping the baby warm, on a heating pad and he is in a bowl like container lined with a washcloth or papertowels.

Please keep us updated on this little one.
Good luck

Reti

[cobyncory]

all i have to feed him right now is cream of wheat. is that ok?

[Reti]

It's ok, you can give him cream of wheat.
How is he doing is he eating?

Reti

[cobyncory]

he is doing great. he is moving around alot. he loves being petted. he is eating good. his crop is full. i have him on a heating pad covered with a blanket and a cloth baby diaper. he has pooped 2 times today. so far so good.

[cobyncory]

he is still doing good. he is so sweet. he is eating and pooping good. is there another way to feed him like his mom would? please let me know. thanks

[Reti]

I am so glad your little one is eating and doing great.
There is the baloon method you could try to feed him. You will find everything you need to know about it on our home page.

Reti

[Lin Hansen]

Hu Cobyncory,

Congratulations.....Reti is right...go to the forum "Pigeon Daily" and click on Resources to find the various feeding methods. Also there is a previous thread called "2 hatchlings" you can read which just about covers any question you might have concerning caring for babies. It is a very long thread, a few pages, but well worth the time it will take to read it:
http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/showthread.php?t=8070

Best wishes for continued success..
Linda

[cobyncory]

he acts like he is hungry all the time. he is doing great but im still worried about him not growing enough. is there something else i can do for him? i dont want anything to happen to him. he is my baby and i love him.

[pdpbison]

Hi cobyncory,


Look into some 'Roudybush" powder formula for infant Pigeons and Doves, you can find it on their home page, call them and order some.

Bear in mind, that very young Birds need a good deal of protean, and also a range of other nutritional ingredients. I have bought 'Baby Cerials, sometimes only to find later when reading the label that they contained no protean whatsoever.

A little bit of "fresh" from a new Bottle Olive Oil in their food is also good, or, Flax Seed Oil for that matter...they need certain non-animal fats and amino acids.

The powdered products of any brand do not tend to be as complete was we may wish as far as the actual nutritional needs of young or infant Birds.

In a couple weeks, you might consider to start grinding up some fresh wholesome Seeds and adding a little grit, begin mixing this into the food...so that by three weeks or so they may be eating mostly Seeds with some additional 'soup' of whatever else.

Adding a little powdered 'Super Greens' or the likes is nice also...

Good luck..!

Phil

[cobyncory]

thank you, everyone for all your help. i would be lost without you all. i was reading about feeding him baby chick starter soaked in water. is that good too? sorry to be so much trouble. i just dont want anything to happen to my baby pij.
thanks,
coby

[Pigeonpal2002]

Hi Cobncory,

What exactly are you feeding this baby at the moment? Creme of wheat isn't enough so I hope you have purchased or made some kind of better substitute. Very young baby pigeons receive probiotics and enzymes from their parents which are paramount for the chick to be able to digest food and grow properly.

[cobyncory]

well right now i am feeding him baby chick starter soaked in water and strained 3 times. he loves it. he just had his first bath and blowdry...lol. he had fun. he seems to be doing great. so far so good.
coby

[Pigeonpal2002]

Hi Cobncory,

Sorry, I'm not familiar with "chick starter". Is this something given for young chickens? Have you noticed the baby has grown considerably? I think you said the baby hatched on the 7th of April. By now, the baby should be double it's hatching size. A parent fed bird would be even bigger than that but handfed ones will develop slower.

[cobyncory]

it is what they feed baby chicks to make them grow up healthy and strong. i have 51 chicks that are almost 2 months old, so i have plenty of chick start and grow. its hard to tell but i think he is about double.

[TAWhatley]

The chick starter is a popular baby pigeon food. I don't do it because it's easy for me to get Kaytee, Lefebers, L&M or other baby bird food in the pet stores.

With ducklings, there is a =great= concern about using chicken food because much of it is medicated .. ducklings will gorge on food and can become very ill from overdosing on the meds contained in it. Unmedicated chicken food is probably a very good choice nutrionally, but if the food you have is medicated, I'd be a bit careful. There are some who feel the meds in the chick starter are actually good for the baby pigeons .. I have no experience with this and no real opinion other than to use caution based on what I know from ducklings.

Terry

[cobyncory]

the kind i get is not the medicated kind. its just the regular chick start and grow from purina. he really likes it. i've been using the ballon method. he likes it better that way and its easier. he's looking good and is pooping really good.
coby

[cobyncory]

he is eating very good. he just ate 10cc of his food and is now sleeping. in a couple hours it will be feeding time again. his crop is empting out very well. hopefully that is a good sign. :)
coby

[Reti]

If the crop is emptying before the next feeding, that is very good.
You are doing great.

Reti

[cobyncory]

thanks reti.
im so afraid that im going to do something wrong and he might die.
it would break my heart.
i love him so much.
coby

[cobyncory]

well, day 5 and all is well. he is eating like a pig.......lol. he is about to have 2 new nest mates. 2 more of my rescued eggs are starting to hatch. what did i get myself into??????????????? lol.

[cobyncory]

i'm sorry to say he didnt make it. i found him dead this morning. i dont know what i did wrong. he was doing so good.
i never thought i could love him so much. my heart is broken.
one of the other eggs hatched today. im afraid hes going to die on me too.

[Pigeonpal2002]

Hi Cobncory,

I'm sorry to hear that the little baby didn't make it:( It's not easy or simple to raise pigeons from hatching. The parents provide antibodies, probiotics and digestive enzymes to the young through feeding. If there are no antibodies, they can succomb to disease, if there is no probiotics, they can be over-run with bad bacteria and if there are no digestive enzymes, then they can't properly digest the food. Therefore they can literally starve to death even though you're feeding them. If you're going to try to raise these next babies, I STRONGLY Suggest you get a proper baby bird rearing formula such as Kaytee Exact, Lefebers or Roudy Bush. These have the necessary probiotics and digestive enzymes in the formulas. You stand a better chance with one of these than what you've been using. You can use the chick starter when they are a little older.

Sorry this has happened:(

[re lee]

Young birds over 5 days old will do great on chick starter. Befor that they need something else. If you do not have a formula. Boiled egg whites Was reasearched years ago to be as close to pigeon milk as you can get. Boil the egg seperate the yolk from the white. Put a little water in a bowl. woth the white use a frock to grind it into a milk.. Use this for the first 5 days. Then start adding a little other for a couple of days. Then on to the starter or what ever you will try.