BABY PIGEON_NEED HELP WEANING

[clumsylemon]

Hi, first off thanks so much for all the useful care instructions you have on this site! I found my baby pigeon(Nixon) about a month ago when he was 2 days old and have been raising him very well. He's almost fully feathered and the vet says he'll be ready to fly in 3 weeks! He is still on baby bird formula( i've been increasing the thickness and consistency) and leaving seeds for him( he'll peck but he can't get them down his throat). I guess my question is how do i wean him successfully? He's starting to refuse the formula(turning his beak away) but he can't eat seeds yet and won't drink from a water dish. I'm a little concerned because as of late he's been pooping up a storm so i'm not sure if this is normal...

please help! thanks!xo.laura

[cyro51]

I had to wean a baby woodpigeon and it was hard!

I opted for leaving it without food all day long, then if its crop was still empty at night time I would feed it. That worked.

If you have been feeding it formula it probably already gets as much water as it needs...leave it hungry during the day but dip its beak in water so that it can drink if it wants.

Some pigeons are difficult to wean, but they all get there in the end!

Could you clarify exactly what "pooping up a storm" means in this case? We need details of frequency, consistency and color!


Cynthia

[clumsylemon]

thanks! i've been spacing out his feedings gradually but even if his crop is empy, he still is fidgety, which the vet says is normal. and pooping up a storm involves pooping lots of lil normal pigeon poop piles, but lots of them, previously he's sort of save it up and make a few big piles, but it seems he's now content to just leave little dollops all over wherever he happens to be....just wondering if this was normal or maybe a medical or nervous problem? other than these issues though, he's a happy guy. i'm going to keep him because he has developed a tendency to follow me around, which is sweet and not feral enough...
xo.laura

[Trees Gray]

Hello Laura,

Sounds perfectly normal to me. Lots of little piles of dollops. That's what I'm seeing too.

I'm still hand feeding, once a day, my little 4 week old babies, and find they have become dependent on me. So they are left to eat and drink during the day by themselves I keep an eye on them), and at night I still make sure they get a big meal.

I'm glad you are going to keep him as he defenitely has bonded to you.

Follow Cynthia's excellent advice and he will soon be eating on his own. Make sure that he is drinking on his own, before you leave him by himself for any period of time

Treesa

[clumsylemon]

if i let him stay hungry is that healthy? i worry because he is not as plump as he used to be when he would let me feed him more often. i bought some cockatiel weaning food pellets but he still has not gotten the trick of swallowing them, he just pecks and holds them in his beak. as far as i can tell he has not eaten any of the seeds or pellets i've given him, nor does he drink water by himself. i'm really concerned that he's not getting enough food, so i'm wondering how many days do i let him try to feed himself before just resuming a semi-regular formula feeding? please advise!~ i'm sure you understand how worrying and stressful baby pigeons can be....
xolaura

[dano7]

The suggestion to delay first feeding until afternoon will not hurt him (some racers feed only once a day). This will encourage him to try and, as with humans, motivation will pay off. I would dip his beak in water once in a while until you see him drink, and feed him hugely by hand sometime in the afternoon and more in the evening until he has had all he can comfortably take.

It's not really problem unless it continues for two more weeks - he is at that stage when he is pissed off when you handle him in feeding but he just vibrates the seeds but doesn't swallow. It might be the swallowing of solid food that is not understood so try hand feeding him a few seeds carefully and he will get the idea. You might have to wrap him gently in a towel to avoid a war when you do this. have fun. He will probably fly within 10 days.

[Trees Gray]

It is helpful to have other babies around who are curiously picking at seed, as each one of mine are. They are learning from each other.

I wish you could borrow one of my babies.

Do you know anyone with young pigeons who he can share a meal with?

I'm sure eventually time and patience will pay off.

Treesa

[clumsylemon]

nope. no other baby pigeons around that i know of.....i've started spoon feeding him a few small seeds and tried leaning in and drinking water...it's all very difficult! i'll post my results, i just hope he's not starving...
xo.laura

[dano7]

The weening will come sooner or later. The essential thing is to get at least 100 - 120 cc's of food into this youngster each day. If it is too difficult for any reason you can tube feed it directly to the crop as a last resort. For this you need a tube attached to a plastic syringe, you need to make sure the tube is very tight or screwed onto the syringe, you need to make the food smooth and not lumpy so it doesn't clog up, and you need to gently put the tube past the wind pipe before squeezing. It's easy to get used to and very fast and efficient.

Just start by wrapping the youngster gently in a towel so just his head is peeking out, grab the upper mandible (beak) with a thumb and finger, open the mandibles, ease the tube in past the wind pipe and ease it in.

[Trees Gray]

Dano has the right idea about wrapping him up in a towel, I did that with these 4 youngsters.

Open the mandibles, as Dano said, but you can ease a small spoon (a baby spoon) of small dry seeds down his throat. Just drop the seeds down, like a dump truck, no need to put the spoon inside the beak. Be careful not to get any near the breathing hole!
He is older and will do well. My babies did terrific. Then gently offer him water as said earlier.

He should be eating seeds, and this is one way to get them down. At this age he sould get a total of a tablespoon at each sitting. It's messy and sometimes the seeds fly everywhere, but it gets easier and before you know it you don't have to do it anymore.

Treesa

[ernie]

When I weaned Gaby, I noticed it was easier for her to pick up and swallow the seeds, if I had soaked them in water for a while. Seems to make them more stickier to grip and hold onto, while trying to swallow them. I offered her both, soaked and un-soaked seeds. She figured out how to get the soaked ones down, within a day, it took about 4 days before she got the hang of how to eat the unsoaked ones.