Momma pigeon appears injured, ignoring young.

[Kwikkordead]

The nest that is in the upper corner of my shop doorway has two healthy looking young birds in it. I have watched the parents attentively feed them for two weeks now and all has been going well.
This morning I show up to do some chores and Momma pigeon has all the apperance of an injured leg. She walks with a limp. What is most bothersome is the fact that she is completly ignoring her two young chicks. They are clamoring to be fed and she is doing nothing, just sitting there or picking at the grout between the bricks. Worse yet, I have noticed in the past that she is very skittish of my presence, she flies off at the slightest provocation. I tried shaking the door next to her and she just looked at me nervously. I think she's been hit by something and cannot care for her young anymore.
I need some ideas.
I cannot just take her babies and raise them at home, they are too young to eat seeds yet and I am leaving town in two weeks. She also has a mate, if I took the three now and put them in my cage at home, Poppa would not know where they went. I would be more than willing to bring the whole family home and provide a place for them, pigeons mate for life and I don't want to break that up.

[Trees Gray]

I'm so sorry for the trouble this family is having.

Thank you for your care and concern for this family.

I would indeed try to catch the mom and get her stabilized and take a close look at her. It might be hard to get her, due to the fact that she may not trust you anymore due to circumstances that you do not know about.

Is there someone who can help you catch her?

It would be best if you could wait and see if the father will feed the youngsters for now, because I don't know how he would respond to being caught, and being upset might not feed the youngsters anyway, unless he is calm around you and isn't scared of you. Then the thought of catching them all might be a possiblity, at least until the youngsters are fledging.

If he doesn't show up to feed them, then they will need to be nourished. You can feed them at this age, a seed mix, or soaked & drained puppy chow, cut in small pieces. It is a lot of work, but they soon will learn to eat. You have to open the beak and put a small piece of puppy chow or soaked and drained seed behind the tongue. They would need about a tablespoon each, 4 times a day.

Also, is there any place to leave seed and water for the father, or youngsters where it won't be disturbed? If he does come to feed them it would be nice if he can get food nearby, because it will be difficult enough for him raising them on his own.

[Kwikkordead]

Thanks for the quick answer TreesGray. They are wild ferals that chose to build a nest in the ceiling area of the entry for my shop. So there is no way that they trust me. Poppa is the calm bird. Momma is very nervous of humans. I haven't seen Poppa come in yet today. I haven't been here long though. Mom's just sitting there next to the nest hunkered down like she wants to sleep and it's 9:36 am right now. She should be gone in search of food.
For now I will take your advice and let them be. It's the beginning of Labor day weekend right now and I am not going anywhere so it's perfect timing for me to do something for them.
I will rig up a tray on the gas pipe that runs past the nest area so they have easy access to seed. Maybe that will help.
I'll let you all know how it goes.

[Trees Gray]

Thank you for your help.

Please get the mother, and begin the process of stabilizing her.

I'm going to locate the thread for you.

[Trees Gray]

Originally Posted by Trees Gray

Thank you for your help.

Please get the mother, and begin the process of stabilizing her.

I'm going to locate the thread for you.

Here it is:

http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/showthread.php?t=8822

[Kwikkordead]

Originally Posted by Trees Gray

Thank you for your help.

Please get the mother, and begin the process of stabilizing her.

I'm going to locate the thread for you.

Should I get the babies too? Or leave them for a day and see if Dad comes back?

[Kwikkordead]

Hmmm, mom can still fly, I don't think I can catch her. One good bit of news is that I was putting the ladder up and Dad flew in to feed the kids and was scared off by my activity right next to th nest. He's sitting on the power line across the street. I beat a hasty retreat. I'll put the ladder away for now.

[Kwikkordead]

[Trees Gray]

You have your hands full!

They are absolutely adorable, the one I can see, he looks like he has a full crop. Is that possible?

I would leave the babies to the father, and try to get mom when you can. I'm sure that will cause her undo stress, but it sounds like she does need help.

[Kwikkordead]

Originally Posted by Trees Gray

You have your hands full!

They are absolutely adorable, the one I can see, he looks like he has a full crop. Is that possible?

I would leave the babies to the father, and try to get mom when you can. I'm sure that will cause her undo stress, but it sounds like she does need help.

I arrived at the shop very shortly after I made the first post. I am guessing now that Mom was resting from her injury after feeding the young ones.
She flew pretty strongly across the street and up to the top of the neighboring building when I put the ladder up, so there is no way that I can catch her. I'll have to let her make it on her own. I'll check back later on today to make sure things are on the mend.
And Dad did show up while I was there.

[Trees Gray]

Thank you for the update.

I'm sure mom needs her rest right now, and I'm sure you will keep a close eye on her. Does she put any weight on the leg?

If you can just keep the seed and water out for them, that will lighten her load, for now.

[Kwikkordead]

Originally Posted by Trees Gray

Thank you for the update.

I'm sure mom needs her rest right now, and I'm sure you will keep a close eye on her. Does she put any weight on the leg?

If you can just keep the seed and water out for them, that will lighten her load, for now.

She kind of half steps. It doesn't appear to have any broken bones. Just looks painful to use her leg.
I'll get that seed tray up.

[Kwikkordead]

Well, I never had the time to get that seed tray up sorry to say. My wife and i were out for an evening stroll Saturday night and we happened upon a stray domesticated cat that had lost it's way and was starving to death and full of fleas. It was so skinny that it was laying in the middle of the road where the sun was shining for the warmth. I gathered it up in a box with some cat food which it was eating like it was it's last meal on earth. Gulp, gulp, gulp. I took it to the vet, had it treated for the fleas with Frontline and checked for deseases. It turned out to be a healthy cat with a prolonged case of neglect. I opened the garage door the next day and it ran off, so now I don't know where it is at all.
Anyway...... Momma pigeon is back to normal and Poppa is still around too. The babies are venturing out of the nest, onto the ledge and fledging nicely, so I think all is well with them. The have a healthy fear of humans so they'll survive ok on thier own. I'll post a new picture of the young ones here in a few minutes.

[Kwikkordead]

So how the heck do some of you post a link to the picture?????
Here's the latest picture of the little guys over my shop door.

[Trees Gray]

I'm glad to hear momma pigeon is doing fine. I was quite concerned at first. Thank you for watching over them.

What a great picture! The two are a striking contrast to each other in coloring. They are really cute!

Thanks for the update and the picture.