Help! Found Baby Pigeon

[ikopke]

Hi! I'm new here and I know this q's probably been posted a thousand times, but i'll post it anyway. The thing is tonight I was on my way home from dinner, and just as I was parking my car, I heard a thump and saw this thing move across the street and then drop. I got closer, and saw it was a baby pigeon...I picked it up, (she was probably scared to death because she didnīt even try to escape) and brought it in. I went back to see if I could find the nest from which it had fallen, (i climbed up the tree and everthing), but I couldn't find it. Anyway, i can't just put her back outside for some cat to dine her, but I have absolutely no idea on how to care for pigeons, less baby ones. This pigeon is only about 3-4 inches long, but has proper feathers and everything, (yet I think it sort of slants one of its wings). As for now, I've placed her in a cardboard box with newspaper and sort of mimicked a nest out of some clothes and she seems snuggly in there. I've placed some small bird seeds and water for her, but i don't know if she's old enough to feed by herself. Any advise on what to do, would be really really helpful, (especially since vets around here are not very pigeon-prone, and I suppose tomorrow when I take her down to the vet, he will probably tell me just to let it die naturally or something. Thanks - a lot!

Ingrid K.D.

[Feefo]

Hi Ingrid,

Thank you for picking up the baby!

It is difficult to guess what is available in Colombia but my guess is that they have something for baby chickens that could be ground into a paste which you can feed him. You have to open the beak gently and place the food inside. Feed until the crop is soft and mushy (not hard). Also dip his beak into water so that he drinks. Keep him shelterde from draughts in a warm safe place. These two links will give good clear instructions on caring for and feeding baby pigeons:
http://www.duckpolice.org/BirdWeb/Pi...igeoncare.html
http://members.aol.com/duiven/medical/feedbaby.htm

Cynthia

[maryco]

Hello and thanks for helping the little pijjie out

Below are some feeding instructions that might come in handy, you can check out baby Sara's pics on the home page to try to determine the baby's proper age.

Keep us posted, if you have any more questions just post them

Mary


When I feed the pigeon I put the bird on a table infront of me, the
bird's right wing should be facing me and his beak is facing to my
right. I take my left hand and put it on the bird from behind then
with my index finger and thumb I keep his beak open (My thumb is
towards me and my index finger is on the other side of the beak)
This is the standard post I use for people who are raising babies
with a syringe or eye dropper:

-----------------------------------------------------------


For a baby 1-13 days I usually feed baby bird formula (From a pet
shop) with a syringe or a eye dropper.
They are very tiny so you have to be very careful, open the mouth
gently with your left hand then with an eye dropper suck up some
soupy formula and feed the baby (be sure not to get anything in the
hole behind the tongue, That is the windpipe and the baby could
easily aspirate and die!)

Feed until the baby's crop looks full but not too much or else it
could come back up and he could aspirate.

For pigeons you don't have to wake up at night to feed them, I
usually just watch the pigeon and when his crop empties I give him
another feeding.

As they get older (about 13 days old) you can switch to either soaked
seeds or soaked puppy chow.
I soak wild bird seed for about 4-5 hours then soak it in warm water,
drain it and mix abit of baby bird formula with it, Now you can hand
feed it to the baby by holding his mouth open with your left hand and
scooping and putting it in his mouth with your right hand. He will
swallow it.

With the puppy chow you can soak some pieces in warm water, drain
then cut them up and put piece by piece in his mouth and again he
will swallow.

Feed until the crop feels squishy, with the seeds it will feel like a
beeny baby but it shouldn't feel hard otherwise he is over fed and
could aspirate.
At about 15-17 days you can introduce dry seeds, put them around the
baby and peck with your finger at them, he should get the idea

Hope that helps!

Mary

[ikopke]

Thank you guys so much for your advice. I'm sorry I hadn't posted anything, just been busy...

Getting baby food for pigeons wasn't hard, (after all, Colombia is the country with the greatest number of bird species...so you can get ahold of almost anything) but giving my pijjie the food was a mess at first...i thought i would break its neck...however, I'm happy to tell you its feeding on its own, not too much, but something is better tha nothing...and its actually getting to like me...(last night i heard it chirping, and once i picked it up and placed it in my hand it stopped...soooo cute...i think it was probably cold or something, but it slept the rest of the night peacefully in my hand )... anyhow, thanks again for your help...and another q'...how much are pigeons supposed to eat, and how do I know when it's supposed to fly...I really like my pigeon, and right now it has a whole room for itself at home, but i'm not really fond in keeping animals captive, yet i don't want to let mi pijjie go "before time" so that it may get killed or something...what should i do?

Thanks again,
Ingrid K.D.

[Feefo]

Hi Ingrid,

I am so glad that the baby is thriving! I come from Chile originally and I am not certain about where I would have found feed for baby birds there.

Pigeons don't usually leave the nest until they are 35 days old and then they continue to be fed by their parents.

Mary's post will have told you about how much to feed. 3 times a day until the crop is squishy just about covers it!

Cynthia

[TAWhatley]

Bumping up for Lovebirds ..

Terry