Found a baby pigeon. Need Help!!

[babybudgy]

I found a baby pigeon on my deck last night. She was all wet and there was no nest or adult pigeon around so we thought the cats brought her up( They do that with snakes and rabbits). Anyway she was squeking loudly and her left wing was spread out and I could see that it was bent(adding to my theory that the cats brought her). Now I have her in a box filled with blankets on the heater and i dont know what to feed her and every time i go near her she tries to bite me. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Feather]

I am not usually the one that answers emergency posts, but I see that you have sent out your distress call awhile ago and haven't recieved an answer yet. First of all, describe how the little bird looks so that I can get an idea of how old he is. As far as keeping him warm, you are doing the right thing.

Feather

[TAWhatley]

Hi Babybudgy and welcome to Pigeon-Talk. Thank you for assisting this needy young bird! Please have a look here: http://www.speedpigeon.com/baby_racing_pigeon.htm and see if you can give us an estimate of the age of the bird.

It sounds like you have cats, so take 12-15 pieces of dry cat food and soak it in water until it starts to become soft and puffy. Places pieces of the soaked cat food in the back of the mouth of the pigeon and allow it to swallow. Without knowing how old the bird is, I can't guess how much to tell you to feed, so keep feeding until you can feel and see the crop expand .. or until the bird refuses to take any more .. the crop is a pouch at the base of the neck that will expand as it fills with food. You don't want it to become over full .. just kind of puffy and marshmallowy to the feel.

Actually, the bird is probably not trying to bite you .. it's trying to get you to feed it ..

Please keep us posted.

Terry

[pdpbison]

Hi bb,


Baby Pigeons do not bite...they ask to be fed.


Their manner of asking to be fed, is to nuzzle with their soft Beak, hopeing someone will feed them.

If you soak small bits of previously dry cat food, so they are soft and moist with water, you can feed her these tiny bites by gently opening her Beak just enough, and putting them in there for her to swallow.

For now, a teaspoon worth of these would be fine, even if not all at once, but over an hour or two...and see how the poops are going also.

Please post some images if you can?

Keep her warm...


Phil
Las Vegas

[Pidgey]

Well, a baby pigeon that's scared of you may jerk its beak your way when you get near, trying to scare you off. They're harmless, though.

Initially, he's not going to think much of your efforts to feed him so you may have to do it the hard way of securing the bird by wrapping him in a towel and prying his beak open with your fingernails for every bite that you're going to feed him. He can easily swallow something the size of a kernel of field corn so don't bother making the bits too small. Just push them in one at a time and let him swallow each one before putting another one in. That usually means that you get to pry his beak open several times for those first few feedings until he finally figures out that YOU are his new mommy and daddy. When that happens, he'll be a lot more cooperative.

Pidgey

[babybudgy]

I looked at that link and she looks 11-13 days old.

[Trees Gray]

Thank you for rescuing this baby.

You need to go to our resources section in the daily forum and look for methods to feeding babies that young. You can buy a formula like Exact to feed baby birds, or Harrisons.

Have you fed the baby anything yet?

[babybudgy]

Weve tried to feed her bread and worms(whole and mashed up) and bird seed but she wouldnt accept anything

[Reti]

Pigeons are seed eaters, so please don't give him any worms.
Pet stores carrie baby bird formula - Kaytee exact, at least some of them do.
He needs water and food even if it seems like he doesn't want any.
You've got great advice here, please follow it.

Reti

[pdpbison]

Hi bb,


If there is any possibility you can hand this little one over to someone with experience, or someone who has Pigeons who are raising Babys of about her age, then please consider to do so a.s.a.p.

There is a lot more to all this than a few hasty paragraphs, or anyone's patience to read and understand them, can manage to explain, let alone what to do with the Bird as it is growing up.

'Just' somehow managing to feed them, is at most, one abstract part of a much larger whole...let alone feeding them properly, nutrituously and in the right amounts and balancing hydration and monitoring poops and on and on.

So, if there is anyone in your area whom you can find, please see if you can find them, for the Bird to have the best possible future and ultimate release to it's own Life.

If you interest is in the wellfare and health and future of this little Bird, please see what you can do on this...


Best wishes,

Phil
Las Vegas

[babybudgy]

I am looking into finding her a better place to stay but am not having much luck yet. I tried the cat food and water thing and she ate it. Now for some reason when im not in the room she starts squeaking and when i come in she tips her head back and closes her eyes... why is this and is it good or bad?

[maryjane]

Originally Posted by babybudgy

I am looking into finding her a better place to stay but am not having much luck yet. I tried the cat food and water thing and she ate it. Now for some reason when im not in the room she starts squeaking and when i come in she tips her head back and closes her eyes... why is this and is it good or bad?

She is just making hungry-baby sounds. The tipping head back/closing eyes is often what they do when they're about to be fed. She has decided you are her new parent now so when she sees you she will want to be fed. Check to see how full her crop is (the area under her beak/upper chest, should be squishy with the food she ate recently and puffed out a bit if it's full). When you leave the room she may be squeaking to bring you back. They are quite demanding little birds when they're babies. It's great that she's eating, keep offering it to her and see if she'll eat more.

[Feather]

Good Luck with this little baby. Please keep us posted on the out come.

Feather