Saved a baby

[Ondina]

Right, so me and mom were on our way home when I spotted a jay attacking a baby WWD. (White winged dove) So, being the animal lover I am, I jumped out of the car, and shooed the jay away. I easily caught the dove, and brought it home. We checked it over and the only thing that I could find wrong is that it hadn't learned to fly. The tail feathers hadn't all grown in yet. (I have 5 birds already and can tell when one is young, the tail feathers take a little longer to grow for some reason.) I had already known that we have lots and lots of WWD in the areas, so releasing the dove will NOT be a problem.
What can I do to teach it to fly?
Is there any special dietary needs? (Wikipedia wasn't very helpful. (Grain eating bird doesn't help me.) Does Millet work? Sunflower seeds? We are giving it small bread pieces, and a cockatiel seed mixture, but I know that birds have different needs. How do I give it calcium? Should I smash up an egg shell piece?)

Please help, I'd like to release the bird as soon as it can be independent. It has it's juvenile feathers, no blue ring around the eye, and a brownish red coloring on the feet, and of course a little crescent of white on the wings.

We put the Dove in the same cage as our small Mamma bird's cage. She's a female zerba finch, and seems to have taken nicely to the dove, preening it and just hanging around the new dove.
Is there anything that could potentially hurt either of them? I understand that the dove might have bugs on it that might hurt Mamma bird. Anything I can do? A bath?

I've saved and released a common pigeon before, but is it the same?

Thank you so much

[Trees Gray]

Hello and thank you for rescuing this dove.Make sure to keep baby warm, hdrate and then feed.

Please isolate the baby from your other bird, it sounds like a wonderful relationship, but it could be a disastor. That is the first rule of rehabbing, just in case there is some kind of health issue, you don't want your finch to get it.

If it just needs to finish growing so the baby just requires time and food. You can purchase a special dove mix, or wild bird mix you can purchase at Wal Mart. If you have a vacant room or screened porch for the youngster to practice flying that would be good. Also, allow to bathe so its feathers will become weather resistant. If the baby is not eating on its own a baby bird formula will do.

Others will be along with more info.