2 hatchlings...

[Izzy]

Hello all and thank you for having such an awesome forum! I was thrilled to have found you via Google, wish I had found you a few days earlier, but better late than never!

I'm in St. Louis, Missouri and this past Tuesday afternoon, a friend of mine phoned to say he had found two little baby pigeons while he was redoing his roof. He didn't know what to do, so I told him to look around for a nest first. He said he didn't see one and I asked if there were any pigeons around, maybe one was the mom, but he said no. He didn't know what to do and knowing how much I loved all animals, he asked if he could bring them over.

I was a bit reluctant, because during this past Spring, I had tried to nurse several other types of little birds that had fallen from nests. They had all died during the night and it upset me a lot and I really didn't want to go through that again.

Anyhow, he brought them over and I saw that they were soooo very tiny. Just a bit of yellow down on them, these huge black circles, where the eyes are supposed to be and generally very pitiful looking. I immediately went online to see what I needed to do to help these birds out. I was glad that at least my friend knew they were pigeons, as I was totally clueless.

I found one site that told me to feed them watered down cat food. So, I go to the store and and buy dry cat food, along with a syringe and a couple of eye droppers. After seeing several picts of squabs, I realize these two little guys had to have hatched earlier that day, so I read that they need to be fed every two hours. I knew I was in for a very long night, but was determined to do all I could to help them out.

I fed them this mixture every 2 hours. At first it was quite difficult to get their beaks to open, as they squirmed and twisted their necks around. They are so very tiny, I had to be very careful not to squish them, but managed to get food into them. I put them in a little box with some paper towels and get out a red lamp that I used a few years ago when I was incubating chinese painted quail and brooding them. These two chicks felt like little ice cubes while I fed them, so I wanted to get them warmed up.

I had no clue how warm they should be, but I was guessing from my quail experience it should be around 90 degrees or so. I put a thermometer on top of the little box and adjusted the light until it was around that temp. I was thrilled to see they survived the first 24 hours! I hadn't expected that at all. I was also happy to see they were pooping, because I knew what was going in, was also coming out, which I thought was a good thingy, lol.

Yesterday, Wednesday, I found your site! I was so happy to see an area on how to take care of squabs. So, I went out and purchased baby cereal and made them a little nest from a cool whip container. I fed them this every 2 hours again, until about midnight last when I was just so completely exhausted that I crashed. I totally freaked out when I woke up at 6am! It had been six hours since they had last eaten and I was terrified when I walked over to their little box, I just knew they were going to be dead. But no, they were still hanging in there and I feed them again.

Today, I fed them about every 4 hours and I need to do one more feeding in one hour, then I'll go to bed again. It's getting a little easier to feed them now, as I'm getting the hang of it and I'm very optimistic about them living for 3 days now. My friend stopped by earlier today and told me they were bigger! I hadn't noticed because I look at them constantly.

Ok, I'm rambling like mad and I apologize that this is so very long, but I'm sleepy and want to see if anyone can give me any advice whatsoever. Is it ok that my hopes are up that they will survive? What is the ideal temperature for them to be at now? How long until they open their eyes? I'm getting attached to them but think maybe they are not ideal household pets and I should let them go free, is that true? If so, how do I not make them tame or can that be done? If they are to go free, at what age do I let them go?

As you can, I have loads of questions, so any advice or information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for reading all of this and I look forward to reading your replies and checking out the forum more completely.

Izzy

[Izzy]

It's just me again and I noticed there was a 'thumbs down' symbol next to my post. I could of sworn I hit the question mark icon, but doh, I must be sleepier than I realized. So, my apologies.

I just remembered one more question. By feeding the squabs this baby cereal mixed with warm water mixture, it's oatmeal cereal, btw, am I giving them the best start nutritionally? If not, can you please tell me what I should purchase to make sure they get off to a healthy start?

Thank you again,
Izzy

[Izzy]

I promise! I keep thinking of things right after I hit post, oy, I'm sorry to be such a nuisance, I hope you all don't think I'm a complete dork.

The first day I got the little babies, they were very still and didn't make a sound. On day two, one of them starting making a little chirping sound. Today, they both make that sound when I go get them to feed them. I hope this isn't the dumbest question in the world, but is this ok? After I feed them and put them back into their nest, they move around and peep/chirp a bit more, but by the time I get them back to the lamp, they doze off again and are quiet.

Oh geez, I forgot what my 2nd question was and I'm trying to remember because I said I wasn't going to post again. Ok, it's 5 minutes later and I remembered, woohoo! I read something on this site about the "crop" on the squabs. I looked very closely at them, but don't know exactly where that is. I don't see the food go in there when I feed them, but go very slowly and make sure the eye dropper is behind the tongue and far enough to where I'm hoping it won't go into the lungs. I guess it's going in the right place, since they are still here, but can someone explain what this 'crop' looks like and where exactly it is on/under the neck?

Ok, I'm going to feed them now and then I'm really going to bed. I seriously think I only have two brain cells working right now, thank you again for your patience.

Izzy

[Feefo]

Hi Izzy,

Late for work, so excuse my brevity!

I am e-mailing you the ideal feeding plan , please read the instructions carefully!

Baby pigeons should be kept at 80 degrees farenheit.

The nest should not be made of straw but should have depth and grip at the bottom for their feet.

Cynthia

[Pigeonpal2002]

Hi Izzy,

Good work on the baby pigeons. Pigeons chicks are very different from many birds in the fact that they are very hardy birds. Many baby birds are extremely fragile and succomb easily to improper diets or inadaquate temps. Baby pigeons are quite different and very resiliant creatures so you should have some luck with these ones surviving. Read what Cynthia left for instructions for them. If you have a heating pad, place this under their bowl on low for warmth and keep them in a small box to contain the heat. If you can go out to the pet store and get some Katee exact baby bird hand rearing formula this would be better than the cat chow. There are also others on the market that will suffice. The important thing to remember is to keep the mixture, (whatever it is) very thin and watery at this stage of their lives. You can thicken it later on as they get older. Pigeons make great pets and will quickly imprint on you and think you are mom, so it's up to you how you want to handle this. If you want them to be Wild again in the future, spend as little time with them as possible and when their eyes open, try to feed them without them seeing you. Sounds hard and it is, but if they see you then they see humans as friends. You could use a box with only a hole to feed them and peek through the top of it while your hands feed them through the hole. It's hard to explain. But in any case, if they end up being tame and they probably will, and you dont want to keep them, Someone on this site or someone they know will want them so releasing them if tame is NOT a good idea. You're doing a great job with them and continued wishes for success. Their eyes will open at about 5 days old and they can start being introduced to seeds at about 14-17 days old.


Best of luck,

Brad

[Pigeonpal2002]

Hi again Izzy,

The crop is just under the throat and as you feed them, you will see it expand like a balloon. The skin is very translucant and thin. Ideally you want the crop to be full but not "hard". After a feeding, just make sure that the crop area is mushy still and gel like. If you feed them too much, the crop can get impacted and then they have a hard time digesting the food. Don't worry too much and follow common sense rules and you should be fine. The "chirping" sounds are a good sign. This shows that the chicks are vibrant and energetic still. They will fall asleep after feedings and with warmth. Baby pigeons will sleep all the time accept when feeding. Feed them every two hours during the day and a couple of times over night.



Brad

[Feefo]

Bumping the subject up to top of list!

Cynthia

[elvis_911]

So, how old are they now ??? Can you start to see their colors?!

[Feefo]

Bumping up for Moleman