Fed the peeper, need HELP!

[v2rot8]

Hello. Today at about 6 PM CST, my husband and I found a baby pigeon that had fallen out of its nest. On our back stoop, in the rafters, we have a pair of pigeons, and this is their second time around giving birth to babies.

I suppose that the nest was not big enough for the two babies, and one of them feel down onto the steps.

I found a cardboard box, and my husband and I lined it with clean newsprint and put out some moistened bread, oatmeal and water. He/she is probably between 15 to 21 days old. We shut the box just slightly to keep out any animals, but we have two cats, and can't keep him/her in the apartment. We are both hoping that he makes it through the night as he seems pretty healthy.

We're moving in a month and a half and can't really keep him. His parents are still in the rafters, and we are wondering if the parents will continue his education in the box. Any suggestions?

I'll send pix tomorrow, but he has most of his adult feathers with just a few yellow tufts on his head and breast.

[v2rot8]

Okay. We just moved him into the bathroom and shut the door. Neither of us would have been able to sleep through the night if he were outside.

[Pigeonpal2002]

Hi There,

Thank you for helping this little pigeon out and thank you for bringing him inside safe from predators.

Do you have any bird seed at all to give him? If you are right about his age, he may be a little too young to eat on his own. Please do not feed him moistened bread, there is nothing of nutrional value in it and he probably won't eat it anyway.

Does the pigeon have most of it's feathers and how long is the tail? Can it fly at all? Sorry for all the questions but it helps for us to understand the situation a little better.

If the bird seems ok and not injured from the fall, is there anyway you could place him back up to the rafters tomorrow? Given your circumstances of having cats and moving, it would be best if you get him back to his parents if possible.


Let us know

[v2rot8]

Yes, Brad, the little one has most of his feathers. The only place that it seems he doesn't have any is right around his head/neck.

Unfortunately, there is no way we can put him back in the rafters as they are too high to reach.

I did try to submerge his beak (taking care as to not submerge the nostrils) into a shallow dish of water and he didn't really seem interested. He has tried to "peck" at my hand a couple of times.

I'm hoping he'll be okay through the night.

[Pigeonpal2002]

Hi again,

Well, I don't really know what else to suggest at the moment. If the pigeon is as young as you say, he's probably going to need to be hand fed as he's too young to eat on his own quite yet.

I'm glad you've tried to get him to drink water, this is good and if he will drink, that will help him stay hydrated anyway.

Are you prepared to hand feed, do you have the time and desire? If not, perhaps you could tell us where you are located and maybe we will have someone nearby or could point you to a rehabber in your area.

[v2rot8]

We are in Chicago/North center area. I'm out of town quite a bit and with moving, I don't want the poor guy to not get adequate care. He's resting in the warm, dark bathroom in a big cardboard box, so he's (or she) is safe for the night.

[Pigeonpal2002]

Hi again,

He should be ok for the evening and hopefully we can find someone near to you that might be willing to take the pigeon. Ideally, it would be best if you could get him back up to the rafters but if you can't, we'll have to figure something else out.

Hopefully other members will be on to offer other suggestions but thank you for taking care of the pigeon for now

[phyll]

Brad,
You know better than I, but isn't it a possibilty that the parents "kicked" the poor baby out?
If so, & he is returned to the nest, it would be awful for him to suffer that fall again.
If that's a rare occurrence, maybe a neighbor has an extension ladder they would be willing to lend.
After returning the baby, I would place something soft underneath the nest ~ just in case.

Phyll

[Pigeonpal2002]

Hi Phyll,

I don't think that the parents would have kicked the baby out quite yet. If this person is correct about the age, and it's not flying yet, it should still be with the parents.

You are right though, about the safety of the rafters. If it can go back up there, then it should be seen to that it's safe or can be placed somewhere secure in the rafters.

[JGregg]

Hi v2ro8,

Thanks for bringing the little pigeon in. Could you please tell everyone where you are located? This way the baby may be able to be moved to a rehabber if if putting the baby pigeon back in the nest doesn't work.

[v2rot8]

Good morning. Well, baby peeps is doing just fine. He/she is sitting outside with me, in a flowerbox that I have secured so there will be no more of this falling nonsense.

I'm attaching pix, so hopefully you can get a better idea about the age. Also, "peeps" is sure pooping up a storm, and they look normal. He/she is just watching and squeaking at me. I tried encouraging some drinking, but no luck. All I have until we can get to Petsmart is some dry roasted sesame seeds, will that hurt him/her?

[v2rot8]

Well, I don't know why the files didn't attach.

[Reti]

That is a very pretty bird.
Please don't get him anything roasted, they have trouble digesting it. At WalMart you might find wild bird seed which is a more appropiate diet for him.

Reti

[v2rot8]

Anyone know of a rehabber in the Chicago-North area? The baby fell out of our flowerbox, and we found the male walking around on the balcony. Do you think he pushed it out?

Now we have to go rescue him from behind a door that's leaning agains the wall because he's chirping like crazy. This poor thing has fallen so many times that we are going to put him in a box for his safety. At first we thought that maybe the parents preferred him to be were we found him and feared that we were doing nothing more than interfering. Why are the parents being so thoughtless? Do you think the bird has some kind of illness/deformity?

[Trees Gray]

Hello and thank you for helping this youngster.

What a beautiful baby! He looks a little puffed up and it is best to keep him in a box, with warmth, no drafts.

Have the parents fed him? He needs to drink and eat now, if he hasn't. You can try feeding some thawed corn or peas, that have been drained of excess water, a tablespoon would be enough for a feeding, 4 times a day. Puppy chow that has been soaked and drained, and pulled into small pieces can also be used temporarily.

You can gently open the beak with thumb and forefinger, and put a pea or corn on the back of the tongue and allow the baby to swallow. Repeat until he has had about a tablespoon worth.

I'm going to try to contact another member here who is close to Chicago and see if they can help.

Maybe this site to resources will help:

http://www.pigeons.com/prd.htm