Crop questions

[dcreuter]

Where is the crop on a pigeon?

[Lovebirds]

I don't know why no one has answered you. It's very unusual. The babies sound like they are about 2 weeks old and it's amazing that they just appeared and you can't find a nest. Anyway, I'll tell you what I can and hopefully some one will be along to help even more. Either go to a pet store and pick up some Kaytee Exact Baby Handfeeding Formula or find some bird seed. The most important thing for these little ones is water. You can add a little Gatorade or Pedialyte for hydration. You will have to get a medicine dropper or syringe and squirt it in their mouth a little at a time. They will swallow it. Be very careful to not put to much at a time or you can drown them. If you use the Exact formula, you just mix it with water and do the same thing. A little at a time. If you feed seeds, just open their mouth and drop two or three in and let them swallow them. The crop is under their beak below the neck. As you feed them, you will feel it swell up and be able to see it better. I hope this will help you enough to at least get some water into the poor babies. Good luck. If you do a search on this site I think you can find some past posts that will explain things a lot better,

[dcreuter]

thanks for ur advice! it really helped!

[dcreuter]

they seem to enjoy their food. they are drinking well too.

[dano7]

Adding a bit to that good advice: make sure the youngsters are in a safe place that is plenty warm, which depends on your weather. You can use heating pads and/or light bulbs to keep them cozy but not hot. As they get bigger the formula can be mixed thicker. In the first two weeks (approximately) the feed mixture is watery, small volume, and administerd every couple of hours. After two weeks you should be working to a thicker mix of 40 CCs three times a day. You can add some mashed egg to the mix, or you can add a pigeon seed mix that has been blended in a coffee grinder, or some people use pupy chow soaked to the propper consistency. For sure get some Prime, an avian vitamin that covers a lot of bases. This goes in the water if they are drinking or in your feed mixture--you have to proportion it down to fit the volume of the feeding--it may be a drop or two once a day will do it. Soon there should be more advice. Later, we can cover things in more detail.



[This message has been edited by dano7 (edited March 13, 2004).]

[dcreuter]

Thanks!