baby pigeon found in garden

[richpigeon]

i found a baby pigeon the other day, and have been feeding it food through a syringe but i do not know what to do with it, it is in the house and has been for nearly 2 days. not sure how old it is but its got fluffy feathers, it can walk but not fly
what should i do?

[Feefo]

Hello,

I am certain that we can help...Can you tell us where you are and what sort of pigeon it is?

How long is its tail? (That gives a rough idea of how close it is to fledging)

How much are you feeding it and how often?

A photo would help!

Cynthia

[richpigeon]

pigeons tail is about 4cm long
it is being fed dog-food with water around 2-3cm cubed 5times a day.
it seems to be reasonably happy however we dont really want it becoming over dependent.

location: wiltshire avebury



we believe the pigeon fell out of a tree 40-50ft but it does seem fine.

[Feefo]

Thank you. He looks healthy, and is still very young. When he is a bit older he will need to mix with other woodies before release, so that he goes off as part of a mini flock.

Sorry to show my ignorance, but what is 3 cm cubed in millilitres?

Try defrosting some frozen peas in warm water, while they are still warm slide his beak between your fingers, that should make him gape, and start popping the peas into his mouth, one at a time. Aim for 30, three times a day. With any luck he will start feeding himself. If he eats peas he will need extra water, so put some warm water in a container and dip his beak into it without covering the nostrils.

I don't know of a trustworthy sanctuary near you that will take woodpigeons, but I will start looking.

[richpigeon]

i think its food is about 30mm cubed... but i guess we could look after it for as long as needed until it is ready to go, thank you for the feeding tips . However how do we get it to 'socialize' with other wood pigeons

[Feefo]

I checked a conversion table and it said that 1 centimeter cubed is 1 millilitre, I don't think that he is getting enough food. It is very easy to underfeed them (and to over feed them). I would feed a woodie that size at 15ml of baby bird formula per meal, 3 times a day.

The only way that it can socialise with other juvenile woodies is if it goes to a sanctuary. I think there will be a lot of woodies of that age around now and many casualties of tree trimmings. But if you rescued him from your own garden it might be possible to release him there. I have Pm'd you.

Cynthia

[amyable]

Hi richpigeon,

I've just seen your post and as I have a little Woodie I'm currently rasing just looks like yours, wondered how you were getting on with it.

They are adorable and grow so fast. I'm useless at figures and calculations, still work in pounds and ounzes, so couldn't work out how much you were feeding yours.
It will be a good idea to introduce a more Woodie diet soon if it's to survive in the wild though, so try to give it some defrosted peas or sweetcorn to give it some taste of vegetation. Dog food is a good start but it will need to change to a normal diet as it fledges otherwise it won't know what to eat for itself.

I found another fledgling recently that had been hand reared but was very thin and in a poor state as it had been undernourished, so now it can't be released as it wouldn't survive which is a shame. I usually take any I raise to a local sanctuary where they have other youngsters and they can mix and be released in a group which gives them a better chance.
They don't find it easy in the wild if they've just been hand reared as they aren't aware of dangers I'm afraid. It's the parents that teach them how to forage for food, what to eat and how to look out for preditors and dangers, and that's the one thing we can't do for them.
The difficulty in socializing Woodies yourself is that they are particularly wary of humans and so you can't get anywhere near them with your baby for him to watch them and mingle with as you maybe can with feral pigeons, and if you just let it out on it's own it won't have a clue what to do, so for the sake of your youngster, don't just let it go.

I'll tell you another heart rending story that will help you see how difficult it is. I help out at a place that has injured birds come in. Last week they released a dove that had been hand reared by someone and not socialized. It was so sad to see it keep flying to the cage where it was last kept before release and clinging onto the outside. It doesn't have any other doves around and thinks that's where it gets it's food, so I don't know what will happen to it in the long run. Very sad.

I feel so bad today as my dog actually caught a fledgling and killed it in my garden as it was feeding, and that was a wild one. It wasn't quick enough to fly off like the parents. So that's why it's best for it to grow up with others once it can feed itself.

You've been great taking it in to help it so do let us know how your little one is doing and if I can be of any help please let me know.

all the best

Janet

[Mindy]

What a sad story about the dove. If a bird is human imprinted it shouldn't be set free. It all depends on how old the bird was when they found it. But usually if its hand raised alone without birds of its on kind its chances of survival is small if not zero if set free. They should have kept the dove as a pet, it would have made a great pet. Very sad at how the dove died. You wonder why they didn't recatch the dove when they saw it flying back to the cage where it lived. mindy

[John_D]

Janet

You decription of the treatment by that place of the dove sounds to me like reckless abandonment of animals. They need sorting out and a hard lesson!

John

[amyable]

Originally Posted by Mindy

What a sad story about the dove. If a bird is human imprinted it shouldn't be set free. It all depends on how old the bird was when they found it. But usually if its hand raised alone without birds of its on kind its chances of survival is small if not zero if set free. They should have kept the dove as a pet, it would have made a great pet. Very sad at how the dove died. You wonder why they didn't recatch the dove when they saw it flying back to the cage where it lived. mindy

Mindy I feeel so bad about the Woodie in my garden, I've had a few youngsters this week and have so enjoyed watching them coming with their parents I haven't spoken to my dog all evening, he knows he's in trouble. I wouldn't mind but neither of my dogs are bothered about chasing rabbits or anything. It's just the sound of flapping wings that set them off.
The Dove at the 'sanctuary' was sitting on top of a cage of another Collared Dove that was very sick, (I have that one at home now under treatment).
I made sure I put a large dish of seed up there for it and will keep an eye out for it and if I can catch it I will.

John this is exactly why I have to keep on going in, I dread it every time I go to be honest as I never know what I will find. Good news is they are retiring early next year and I will try and get the new wardens to give me more say in what happens. It's hard with these folks as they've been there for thirty years and nothing will change until they've gone. It's a waiting game but I'm hoping things will improve with new blood.

Janet