Rescued 4 young pigoens

[melody65]

While visiting my brother yesterday he gave me 4 very young pigeons.He said originally there were 13 but they have been dying because there are no parent birds.
By looking at some pictures on here of day by day growth of a pigeon I estimate that the youngest looking one is about 25-28 days old.
They all look progressively older. With the oldest being fully fledged ,but still on the small side.
I read that they eat peas and various seeds.I made a formula of cooked dried peas and lima beans. #1 sucks it right up. His crop was completely empty before.
#2 doesn't touch it , but did drink a great amount of water. #'s 3 and 4 may be eating the wild bird seed , but don't even touch the formula. Also #4 (the oldest) is a little agressive,pecking at me when i offer food to the others.

Does anybody have any advice at all??

[Reti]

Thank you for taking those poor birdies in.

Parent's nutrition is very important especially the first days.
If your babies are 25-28 days old they could strart eating seeds by themselves.
They need to be hydrated first, so let them have water at all times and make sure they drink it.
Like human babies they have preferences in their eating habits.
You can give them wild bird seed or a pigeon mix and let them peck at it, they will probably start eating very soon.

You can offer them also some grit, it helps in their digestion.

Do you know what the babies were fed all this time?

Reti

[melody65]

According to my brother he left out wild bird seed and dried peas.
Is the peas soup formula ok for the one that is definitly not eating seeds ?

[Trees Gray]

Thank you for your interest in the welfare of these youngsters. Do you know the circumstances of their birth, and what happened to the parents? What do their poops look like?

Reti is right as they should be learning to eat by themselves. You can make up a mix yourself from the ingredients shown from this site. Pigeons need a variety of grains and seeds.

http://purgrain.com/ingredients.htm

Make sure you offer them a deep dish of pigeon seed, which is a mix most suitable for pigeons. The younger ones will watch the older ones eat the seed and learn to pick it up.

The few that aren't eating you should see if they are drinking by themselves. Gently tilt their head down into a bowl of fresh water just to the top of their beak, not covering the nostrils. They may or may not suck it up. If they do they will soon be ready to eat on their own.

You should hand feed the ones that aren't eating. About a tablespoon twice a day of good pigeon mix. You can wet some pigeon seed for them for ten minutes (drain) and then spoon it down, behind the tongue.

Besides pigeon grit these youngsters would do well with some probiotics since they have not had pigeon parents at one point in their lives/or have been stressed. You can purchase human probiotics in capsule or powder. Powder can be put on the seed with a just a drop of olive oil to get it to stick. 9shake it up in a bag) This product is available at health food stores. It will re-establish some gut bacteria that is esential for optimum health.


Treesa

[melody65]

Apparently several birds were nesting in the eaves of his garage. A tree took out his garage in a severe storm about a week ago. He said he gathered all the live babies and put them in a large box near the garage.
I think there was more than one nest.They definitly look different ages.
We live pretty far out in the sticks, I checked the few local stores and couldn't find pigeon food. I did find wild bird seed, and cracked corn. I thought I would mix those with dried peas and offer it to them.
Thanks for letting me know about deep dishes, I wouldn't have thought of that.They are really cute. #2 keeps climbing out of the box .I tell him to get back in the box and he does!

[melody65]

Oh I forgot about the poops. For the most part they are formed black and white poops. One of the birds has runny , watery poop.

[Trees Gray]

I'm, sorry to hear about the storm and the damage , and thankyou for rescuing the babies!

They have been thru a lot. Cracked corn is not good for pigeons, but popping corn is okay (unpopped) the wild bird seed will do for now, and yes the dry peas are fine. The poops should all be nice and solid, green and white. Sometimes youngsters will have messy poops, especially since they have been thru alot. It should get solid, just keep an eye out.

Smart little ones, listening to you..Do you keep them on a porch, or inside?

I used an old play pen for youngsters that I rehabbed once, I put it in a secured porch that cats and hawks couldn't get to. They learned to eat from each other and found comfort with each other and learned to fly and didn't want to be in the playpen anymore.

Treesa

[melody65]

OMG!! I just gave them the seed mix and they are going crazy for it. All but the smallest are eating it right up.
This incredible. As soon as I started mixing#4 craned his head to see. I held the dish out to him and he took some. I took the bowl back to finish mixing and he climbed out of the box and came to help.
This is fantastic!

[Reti]

Now, that is wonderful news.

Reti

[pdpbison]

Hi melody65,


Well, so far, so good!

Yes, at this age especially, if the see someone or eachother pecking Seeds, they will learn to do so very fast.

Cooked anything is not good for them, stay with only good quality Bird Seeds and or dried Peas and the likes.

Get them some good Grit also, such as crushed Oyster Shell.

You all should do fine..!

You can peck with them also, useing your crook'd index finger...

Have fun..!

Quite a handfull there...!


Phil
Las Vegas

[melody65]

I tossed the mix with cracked corn and made up some more with popcorn instead.
After they are released will these guys stay around the house here? Or go off somewhere? I don't plan on releasing them till they are flying well .I want them to be able to get away from predators.

[Trees Gray]

Most likely they will fly away depending on their age. The older ones still remember the wild, the younger ones may be a little more dependent on you.

Letting them fly and practice their flying skills is a big plus for their survival out in the wild.

Treesa

[pdpbison]

Start feeding the Wild Birds...

Then, these youngsters may join them in incidental forays of grazing...

Soon they will learn from them the modes of awareness and interest they will need for their Wild lives...

Phil
el ve

[melody65]

Great idea. I'll do that. The poops are green and white now but #1 is still runny.

[Reti]

Originally Posted by melody65

. The poops are green and white now but #1 is still runny.

Give him some probiotics and give it another day or two.
He might still be stressed and the change of diet can cause that. The probiotics might help.
If they are still runny in a couple of days we start worrying.
Watch him if he is eating and drinking and how much he is drinking.

Reti