Baby Wood Pigeon?????

Hi, can anybody please help me with some information.
My mum found what I believe is a baby wood pigeon on the road in South Australia, and as she was going out to dinner..... I became the lucky recipient. It is light grey and has white and black wavy marks on its wings and a crest of black. I have no idea what to feed it, but made a mix of mashed banana and weetbix/vitabrits with water and put in a syringe. It has eaten a few times, and will drink if I stroke the syringe on the beak. I need to know what is the correct diet, as I would like to give it the best chance. It is in a sealed cat cage and has towels to snuggle up in, and a little box cut out over the top to keep it snug, with water and seed, and a towel over the top in a cool dark room. It pecks at my hand as if it wants some seed, but has not eaten any.
Help me please??
Recipes and ideas will be greatly appreciated.
Chelisa

[John_D]

Hi

This may be a 'crested pigeon' (see http://www.ozanimals.com/Bird/Creste.../lophotes.html for adult pic).

Can you geta pic, or describe by comparison with the above picture how well grown it seems?

Baby pigeons of most any kind, at least the seed eaters, can be fed a formula - what you gave it sounds OK for now - like Kaytee hand rearing formula for baby birds. It does kinda depend on how 'baby' it is.

Another thing is, you may be advised to find a licensed rehabber, as this is a wild bird of native species - tho I don't know what your laws are in Oz on wildlife. We do have a few members out there, hopefully someone will recall exactly who the are.

Best if we establish what you have and approx age before anything else, maybe.

John

[Chelisa]

Hi,
Thanks for your reply. Size wise it can sit in the palm of my hand. It is fully feathered, and after looking at the photos of the crested pigeon, I am almost sure that is what it is.
I read that it is a good idea to keep it on a heat pack, but it got too warm and started panting, so I will stick with the towels wrapped up in the shape of a nest.
How often should I feed it? How much and what?
Chelisa

[Chelisa]

Photo should now be attached. It is probably around 12cm long and 4 to 5cm wide.

[Feefo]

Hi Chelisa,

From this site: (Fauna rescue of South Australia Inc) http://www.faunarescue.org.au/granivores.html

Pigeons and Doves
Adult birds are seedeaters and eat a variety of seeds and grains.
Baby doves and pigeons insert their beaks into the parent bird’s throat to suck their food; they do not gape for food. Feed them enough to fill their crop then wait 2-3 hrs for their crop to empty before feeding again. Once feeding is established they will show by restless behaviour when they need to be fed.

Make sure the baby is warm before feeding or it will not be able to digest its food. Very small babies can be tube fed with a fine plastic tubing attached to the end of a syringe but do not attempt this until you have been shown by a coordinator or experienced member. The food and tubing are warmed and slipped gently down the bird’s throat [right hand side of bird] and slowly released.
A good basic mix:

Soaked Pedigree Puppy Kibble halved dipped into:

200mls warm water

2 tsp apple sauce

1 tsp egg biscuit

2 tsp rice cereal or enough to thicken it to a runny custard consistency.

Self Feeding Doves & Pigeons can be fed on small parrot seed, soaked pedigree puppy kibble and soaked soup mix.

When the baby is larger and feathered it can be fed by gently holding the beak open and hand feeding pellets of granivore mix, soaked soup mix [dried peas, barley, lentils soaked in hot water until softened], soaked Puppy biscuits [based on rice with added vitamins and minerals] and a little scrambled egg. Often the baby will open its beak voluntarily if you use the V between your fingers or your finger and thumb to gently squeeze and push down on the sides of the beak.

As the bird gets bigger and its tail grows, you can begin to add soaked seeds to the diet. These birds take a long time before they feed themselves. Continue to supplementary feed, even when the bird appears to be picking up the seeds, as it sometimes take a while before it can actually pick up


Cynthia

[gforceight]

From my personal experience i would recommend going to a pet store and buying the baby formula for birds(its looks like sand, but u mix it with water) along with a syringe(and avoid puppy food). In the end the bird formula would cost less than a bag of puppy food anyway. You don't have to listen to me but take it under consideration if u care abotu the bird.

[altgirl35]

oh he's so cute! i have to agree with finding some hand rearing formula for baby parrots, it will be the most balanced diet for her, i think the puppy formula would be okay if she was very tiny and in need of crop milk, but she's bigger, not to step on your toes cyro!!you probably have many more years of experience.
i also tube but it's not the only way a baby can be fed, i just do it because it's fast, neat and i usually have lots of babies in the house. plus i'm trying to raise them to be wild so i don't want them to imprint which is tough if you have a single bird. i don't mind having friendly litlle pigeons hanging around, i'm more afraid of them landing on the wrong person and getting hurt.
don't we have a sticky with feeding techniques??

[altgirl35]

http://picasaweb.google.com/awrats3333/BabyFeeding#

[Chelisa]

Hi,
Thankyou so much for your message. I have attempted what you have told me to do. Have mixed mashed apple, banana vita brits water and looking to add soaked crushed bird seed. It seems to be drinking, and then falls asleep with its beak in the tube. Very cute. Not sure how much is enough, it may take time for the baby to get used to feeding this way, as it just sort of sips and then stops to sleep. Have sent a photo, please tell me if this is what you mean...
Thanks again,
Chelisa

[Chelisa]

010320092269.jpg

010320092268.jpg
Here are a couple of photos of my first tube feeding attempt.

[altgirl35]

i would try to really get that little beak in more, not sure why he's falling asleep, lol, oh my he's so cute.
you can feel his little crop it should feel like a marshmallow when he's nice n full, then don't feed him anymore till it feels empty, you may want to start putting a little bit of seed in his cage. when he's hungry start playing with it and peck at it with your fingers.

[Chelisa]

I have got some bird seed in the cage which I have soaked in hot water. I put some on my hand and he pecks at it and I play with it and throw it around my hand. The little one doesn't like his beak too far in it, he likes to just sip at this stage and not skull. Practice makes perfect. So hard not to get attached to animals...., and they always seem to find me!!
Thanks again. Would like to stay in touch as it progresses. Any signs to look out for?
Thanks,
Chelisa

[Chelisa]

Oh, and usually how often do you feed it, ie how long will it take for the crop to go down?

[TAWhatley]

Hi Chelisa,

I'm coming in late here .. BUT .. even though your "baby" is pretty good sized and feathered, I'm not at all sure it is ready to eat on it's own. Have you seen it actually ingest seeds or just pick at them? You really, really do need to keep feeding this little one until it totally learns to eat on its own.

I'm guessing this is a type of dove and not a pigeon .. so .. about 7-8 cc per feeding ?? You have to judge by how full the crop is .. your want the size and firmess of a marshmallow for a pigeon and about the size of an almond and a half for a dove.

The crop will emtpy in about 3 hours.

Terry

[Chelisa]

Hi, Thanks for your message. I don't know, but people that have seen it, think it might be a top knot, crested pigeon. Do doves have a crest as well? I will definately keep feeded it a formula type mix, at least until it hopefully grows old enough to not want it anymore.

Thanks,
Chelisa