Domestic one week old pigeon, gaping, getting thin. HELP!

[ChrisCat65]

Hi:

I have a one week old baby Old German Owl pigeon. The parents (my birds) had laid only one egg and abandoned it, so I took it and raised it in an incubator I made out of a 10 gallon aquarium. The egg hatched a week ago, on Super Bowl Sunday (and was named Pat). At first, he was doing well. I fed him every 3 hours with Kaytee Hand Feed Baby bird formula. I also used Bene-Bac per instructions. Now he is on 3-4X a day feeding, but recently he began to "gape" ... his beak opens and closes rhythmically when he is awake. I tried giving him a bit of infant apple sauce with his formula in the event of crop slow down, as his crop doesn't seem to be emptying as quickly, but IS emptying (usually takes about 7-8 hours to empty completely). I also tried a bit of Pedialyte per recommendation from someone. I upped the humidity in his incubator to 70% as he seems to do a bit better in higher humidity. Temp is about 98 degrees. He seems to be losing weight as well... I can feel his ribs. He's hanging in there so far, but what do I do??

Thanks
Chris

[Pigeonpal2002]

Hi Chris,

I only have one suggestion, turn down the temperature in the incubator. That is much too warm for a week old pigeon. Around 80 is fine. He's not even far off from being able to self regulate his own body temp. After about 12 days, he won't even need to be in the incubator. Mary (moderator) didn't even use an incubator when she hand reared my chicks.

Just remembered as well....keep the kaytee formula a bit thinner than it recommends in the instructions. It thickens somewhat in the crop so this could be what is happening with the slower crop. As long as the crop is moving, this is good still.

Keep us updated,

[ChrisCat65]

He shivers if the temp drops below 95 degrees. And I don't know if the crop is moving as it should be. It empties between feedings, but the baby is still losing weight. He was so plump a few days ago, now he is bones. Something is dreadfully wrong and I don't know what. I fed him a mix of Pedialyte with infant applesauce, some water and his formula, warmed. I had to force feed him until his crop was full, then I put him back in his incubator and he fell asleep. I'm leaving him be for now. I have a call in to an exotic animal vet, but won't hear from her till tomorrow afternoon. I hope he makes it! I can see I won't be getting much sleep tonight!

Chris

[TAWhatley]

Hi Chris,

I'm so sorry your little one is not doing well. I'd definitely take Brad's advice about making very thin formula and also would not fill the crop as much as you normally would. 7-8 hours for the crop to empty is way too long for a youngster of 7 days of age. Though the temp in the high 90's sounds too much to me also, I know that you are the one right there and the one seeing what is happening.

Please let us know what the vet recommends .. I will be interested to know what s/he thinks about this.

Has the baby been growing at a normal rate or quite slowly compared to others of its age? If the growth rate is very slow, paratyphoid could be the culprit.

Definitely see that the baby does not become dehydrated. If you have to, stop feeding completely for right now and only give fluids until you can talk to the vet.

Please do keep us posted, and best of luck with this little one.

Terry

[KIPPY]

This link has some info., hope it helps.

http://www.cagenbird.com/crop_prob.htm

[TAWhatley]

That was a very good find, Kim! Thank you!

Terry

[Birdmom4ever]

I don't want to discourage you, but it's difficult to raise babies from the egg. Terry suggested salmonellosis/paratyphoid and I'm afraid that's what it sounds like to me. It's possible the chick was infected while the egg was being formed, even if the parents appear healthy. Those are the symptoms, that the chick goes light and gasps, often peeping piteously. We had a bout a few years ago and it was awful. The chicks wasted away after a few days, sometimes as long as a week. They didn't grow well even though their parents were feeding them, or trying to. They became skin and bones, stopped developing and looked like they were gasping for air.

Hopefully the vet will have some suggestions, though treating a chick that young is tricky. Best of luck.