just rescued a baby pigeon...help

[garybdy]

hi everyone, yesterday i rescued a baby pigeon from a fallen nest (my neighbour cut the tree down) it can walk and is opening its wings and has feathers. im feeding it every 3-4 hours with mixed human baby food and mushy dog food with a syringe and its seams to be doing well? i keep it in a box wrapped in a flease blanket and padded with sponges. what am i doing wrong? and what should i be doing?

[melissa102787]

I just rescued two babies too! Mine seem younger though. They don't walk yet and still have yellow down. How did you come up with baby food and dog food? most pet shops carry baby bird formula ( like people formula) and it is pretty cheap. You may be able to start feeding it solid food since it is fully feathered. Do you know how old it is? Do you have pics?

[Skyeking]

Thank you for rescuing this bird.

Where are you located, are you sure this is a pigeon, or is it a wood pigeon or dove?

Can you post a picture?

You can feed the baby frozen thawed and drained, corn or peas one a time, about 10 to 15 four times a day, allow the crop to completely empty before feeding again.

You can also feed it baby bird formula, follow instructions carefully.

[Feefo]

Thank you for saving it.

Was there just one in the nest? Pigeons usually raise two at a time.

Can you tell us where you are? There might be a sanctuary near you.

Do you know what sort of pigeon it is?

What sort of human baby food are you feeding it?

This is a website that I am building, it has a section on rescuing a baby pigeon...it is aimed at UK members, but should help you determine how old it is, how much to feed it and how often.

http://pigeonrescueuk.webs.com/

[garybdy]

hi i am feeding the pigeon aptimel baby milk and mushed up dog buscuits, he cant seem to grasp picking things up yet? should i start giving him more solid food? i feed him through a baby bottle with the nipple sliced in half... he loves it! does he need to be kept warm all the time as he keeps on wanting to sit on the top of the box

[garybdy]

i am calling from south wales in the uk

[Feefo]

I would drop the milk from the mix.

It would help to know what he is...I assume a wood pigeon as he was in a tree?

It won't need to be kept warm if it is 10 days old or older...can you provide a photo? Or follow the link on the webiste that I posted about to give an estimation of his age?

This is a link to photos of wood baby wood pigeons at different stages of development:

http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/307673749CDqjnv

We have robdove in Wales, maybe you could contact him?


http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/member.php?u=18658

Cynthia

[garybdy]

I have looked on the development of wood pigeon site above and he looks exactly the same as the 10 day old with a little more feathers round his neck, so i would roughly guess that he was prob 12 - 14 days old.

Thank you for your help and i will def drop the milk from the food and give him just the soaked biscuits until i get bird food tomorrow, is there anything else i should feed him now i know roughly his age?

[Feefo]

What you could try to get is some canary rearing food, or some chick crumbs. The chick crumbs need to be soaked in hot (not boiling) water for half an hour, if you are feeding the mixture with a syringe you will have to liquidise and sieve a couple of times.

You can start reducing the feeding now, feed three times a day, he will need about 15 mls a feed...feed until the crop feels like a 3/4 full hot water bottle. The crop should empty between feeds.

Did you follow the link I gave you? THat has photos of different methods of feeding.

Cynthia

[TAWhatley]

On the assumption that this is a baby Wood Pigeon and not a feral, I am moving the thread to the Wood Pigeons And Others Forum. It can be moved elsewhere if need be.

Good luck with the little one!

Terry