help wanted feeding 1 week old baby pigeon

[FlyingHigh]

Yay! thankyou ever so much!
I'm really happy that i know so much more about this Egg ready stage.
I'm going to go buy a baby bottle now, and take off the suckle part and then cut off everything but the end nipple bit.

And also my Egg has aleady got a air cell and is quiet large, and the baby nearly takes up the whole egg. So this must mean that its got another 3-4 days to go!

Also the veins are already thin, and the baby moves around, very cute! :P
I must say, i'm very glad i have a Pigeon-Talk account because its very helpful that people around the world have the decency to spend that time to write and tell you what to do.

I'm only 13, and this is my first Incubation. My last one however did have an egg but sadly for me...it had no baby in it..so for about 4 days i was incubating and empty egg that only had Yoke in it. So that was very sad for me. Still i'm glad i know this one has a real baby in it and that i know now to use a baby sukle nipple thing. I was thinking i should call it "Flic" isn't it a cute name!? even if its a girl i'll still call it Flic.

But thats enough from me ps: I'll send a photo of my little baby once hes hatched or a couple of days after hes hatched just so you all know how he/she's doing. Thankyou!

Come with me..
Take the hint..
Spread your wings..
Just flap them hard..
And fly away..
And be free, free as a bird should be..

[Vasp]

Yay! Sounds like fun. I wish I was in your place right now. Just so you know, you're going to have to feed the baby every 2 hours for the first while, but probably not over the night unless the baby is very hungry or weak. I figured, the best thing to do is to give them a big meal right before bed, and make sure they're warm...They can manage very well.

I'm actually 15. My first pigeons were born about three months after I turned 14. Raising them properly has nothing to do with age...It really all has to do with how much you commit yourself. My babies grew well, were always chubby, grew in feathers very well, grew faster than most, and were always boisterous and fluffy. They were always warm.

I used a 10 gallon aquarium with a reptile heat lamp clamped on the side of it... Then I used a thermometer...One that has a cord from the actual temperature gauge that can go wherever you want... It's best to use when you want the temperature reading from a specific place, because heat rises and varies a lot. I put the little cord down with the babies in a tuberware container, lined with toilet paper. They were always decently warm and the heat lamp had consistent heat.

Though I'm young, I consider myself quite knowledgeable in the area of incubation & hand raising. One of my huge dreams is to hatch and hand raise a baby parrot--either a cockatoo or a macaw would be amazing! No one wants to offer me such an amazing experience, and so...I just can't. I would be completely and utterly dedicated to raising a baby parrot, just as I was to my pigeons. I am obsessively clean and orderly when it comes to raising the babies... From stirring formula until it's at the perfect temperature, to feeding tiny, delicate babies slowly, to making sure everything is sanitary so they don't get sick from bacterial growth in the formula.

I really reccommend any baby bird formula. So far I've used Kaytee, but I've heard Hagen Tropicana (or something along those lines) is very good, too. Hand feeding formula is basically rated, and varies, by a few things... How well it holds its temperature, how well it holds its form (not thickening up as much in the crop, for instance), the nutrients, and obviously its cost. Hand feeding formula is pricey by rule... 30 dollars for a large bag of Kaytee... But I reccommend buying a big bag, because it's always worth having around. It can be good for up to a year after you buy it or so... Very good to have on hand.

After a week or so, it's wise to start adding in seeds, ground up peas, even dried fruits. Phil can tell you about the mixture he feeds his babies. I believe in this being great, but I also strongly hold by Kaytee because of the success I've had with it. I also hold by slowly feeding them more... My babies were CHOMPERS and ate a LOT! But they were so boisterous, so full of energy, and from what I've seen, they were a lot bigger faster than other hand raised babies. I just think they do well with more food.

In the wild, babies are almost constantly full...So in captivity, I make sure to feed them larger meals... Topping off is something they do in the wild, too... When they're just newborns, it's best to wait until their crops are completely empty or almost completely empty before feeding them again... But when they're older, you can top them off throughout the day a bit, but still watch the crop. They start regulating their own temperature pretty early on, too... Anyone will tell you that cuddles are essential for the well-being of baby pigeons..They like to be held and to sleep in your hands. It adds to their happiness. Any baby needs this, but I'd say birds need it the most.

Anyway, I think you and I should definitely keep in touch. It always excites me so much to hear about new babies being hatched, born, raised... It's all so very exciting for a bird geek like me. I used to design incubators in my free time. But I ended up just buying one. I guess you sometimes can't beat a solid thermostat, large glass window and fan. Nope... I've had no trouble with my Turbofan hovabator.

I'm thinking of raising a little one this summer... It absolutely delights me. And one of these days, no matter what, I WILL find someone willing to let me hatch and raise a baby parrot. I bet they'd be surprised how dedicated I am to my birds.


PS: Did you know that baby birds can hear outside of their eggs a few days before they hatch, too? I play Beethoven for my babies, before the hatch, and during it. I also play it for them at different times of life...Hey, the Mozart Effect... I consider Beethoven to be superior to Mozart, extremely amazing composition, and therefore, it HAS to help them develop well, right?

Well, it's worth a shot anyway.

[pdpbison]

My two Desk-Nesting ones recently enjoyed their two Eggs to pip...and I got to see more than usually, and up close, the continuous sittings and intermittant attentions of the parents to their new Borns.


Anyway, the parents fed them almost constantly, but tiny 'tiny' meals...more or less from the first.


Now, I for one certainly do not want to be feeding any new Borns, nor do I have the mysterious formula for true Pigeon Milk to use even if I did.


But certainly any tiny Pigeon or Dove Baby who we find ourselves having to care for and feed, can be fed fourty or fifty times-a-day, with very small meals, from a very young age, and once older, can have much fewer meals, which are much larger in volume.


Logistically, one method of permitting many small meals for the very young, would be to make several day's formula and freeze it in one of those Ice Cube Trays which make very small Ice Cubes. A Plastic kind would be best.


Get a Crock Pot, and keep it filled with some inches of Water, set the Thermostat for a steady 100 degrees or so, and in it, keep a small cup into which one has the next or current batch of formula to be used...and every couple hours, begin a new fresh cup and new 'cubes'...


Too, "K-T" or any other powder formula product, should be kept well sealed with the Air exhausted, and in the Refridgerator or Freezer...and it should be smelled and tasted often.

If not refrigerated it will become rancid in a short time, and will not be wholesome for the Baby...and it will interfere with Vitamine and Mineral assimilations if it does become rancid.

You can instantly tell rancidity by taste, or, if you know what you are looking for flavor-wise, you can.


Lone Babys benifit from being in one's shirt against one's naked stomach, or in one's hand in 'Hand Nest', as much as possible, since there is no sibling ( and of course no sitting Parent) to provide the immediate tactile contact kind of warmth they find assuring.

For that matter, even pairs of Babys benifit form being in one's shirt or in one's hand as much as possible.


I have seen pro-tem 'ex' ferals who while in pre-release, find mates and build Nests and have Babys in here, be willing and interested surrogate parents to orphan others whom I may present to them.


This of course works very well, and would be especially needed or valuable for any Baby less than say six days old or so, so they may have the Pigeon Milk which otherwise we can not provide.

But I have seen them be willing surrogates to Babys who were well over 20 days of age, or even those who were imminent fledglings.




Phil
l v

[rockyroads]

thankyou evryone for your help, rocky made a full recovery. hes nearly ready to be released now, im going to release him near a group of wild pigeons. sorry i havnt replied for a while, my comps. been down thanks for your help!

[pdpbison]

Hi RockyRoads,



Unless you were way off in your age estimate, he would not be old enough for release yet...


Can you post some images?


And, how well is he eating and drinking by himself?

How well is he flying indoors?


Best wishes!


Phil
l v