baby pigeon

[maltenbroxter]

we found a pigeon in my silo with a dead pigeon near it. We think that its mommy abandoned it. It wont sleep unless you put your hand on top. i feed him with spoons. He has green poop, is that bad?

[TAWhatley]

Originally Posted by maltenbroxter

we found a pigeon in my silo with a dead pigeon near it. We think that its mommy abandoned it. It wont sleep unless you put your hand on top. i feed him with spoons. He has green poop, is that bad?

Hi Maltenbroxter and welcome to Pigeon-Talk! Thank you for saving this baby pigeon.

The green poop may be a sign that s/he was starving, may be a sign of illness, or may just be a sign of something green that the parents fed.

Where are you located? We may have some members nearby in case you need any help.

What have you been feeding the baby, how much each feeding, and how often?

Any idea how old the baby is?

Sorry for all the questions, but the answers will allow us to help you better than not knowing these things.

Terry

[Pidgey]

You should review a few things. You can start with this one:

http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/showthread.php?t=11265

You can check here and look at pictures to get an idea of how old he is:

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

Pidgey

[maltenbroxter]

thanks, he seams like hes 2-3 weeks old. We feed him this stuff called brinta its like oatmeal. Its eams like we feed him alot. How much should we feed him? we live in london ontario canada. Thanks again!

[Pidgey]

Is he eating all the seeds he wants or are you having to force them down? The reason I ask is that if he's eating on his own, he can eat all he wants but he'll need water, too. Usually at that age, they're still being fed by their parents and they get all that in the correct proportion. So, typically, they don't know how to drink water at that age.

Pidgey

[maltenbroxter]

we have to force the seeds down so he eats. we give him water with a spoon and he usually drinks a lot.

[Pidgey]

Do you have a way to weigh the bird?

Pidgey

[maltenbroxter]

i weighed him on my weigher and it sais it doesnt even way a pound...
i just finished feeding him and i had to open his beak and put it in and he would swallow.

[maltenbroxter]

i just weighed him/her and he doesnt even weigh a pound.
i had to force the oatmel down his throat too

[maltenbroxter]

i made a mistake the pigeon looks like 11days old and he doesnt have feathers yet. the pigeon sometimes shakes. is that a sighn of sickness?

[Pidgey]

Well, I guess it depends on the shaking--sometimes they do little shakes as if they're trying to throw dust off and sometimes when you're feeding them or about to feed them they go kinda' crazy.

A pound would be pretty heavy, actually. You'd be more likely to see something from 100 to 150 grams at this point which would be less than a quarter of a pound to a third of a pound. Maybe even outside that range. The reason I was asking is because if you're feeding them formula, it's usually given as 10 to 15% of their weight per meal, about three times per day. If they're digesting that just fine and it's all moving through, you can give more. I wish I could tell you it was as easy as giving one level tablespoon of seed per meal but this guy's smaller than that, I think.

Pidgey

[maltenbroxter]

the pigeon weighs a quarter of a pound. he still has a little bit of green poop.

[maltenbroxter]

is the green poop maybe from the milk that i mix with the oatmeal?

[Pidgey]

4 ounces (quarter pound) = ~120 grams. Probably about right for the age.

Their poop is going to change color a little bit due to what they're eating but their bile is green so it often comes out some shade of green. If they're well-conditioned homing pigeons, it can almost be black it's so dark.

They can't digest milk so it'd be better not to give that to him.

Pidgey

[Lady Tarheel]

They will also shake if they're cold. It is really, really important to keep an unfeathered baby warm. Do you have it on a heating pad and in a small nest, like a margarine container?