Young pigeon found...injured foot.

[Moleman11]

My wife brought home a young pigeon yesterday from her place of buisness. She manages a gas station and a maintenance guy who was fixing lights knocked a bunch of nests out of there big exxon sign. The baby was flappin around the parking lot and a car went over him. His body and wings are fine but his foot looks hurt. He looks like he's about a month old. He has all his feathers but he still has yellow fuzzies sticking out of the top of his head. My wife saw the mother flying around him and feeding him but she had to take him out of the parking lot before he was hurt worse. By pictures i've seen he looks like he's between 28 and 33 days old. We got some baby bird food in powder for that you mix with water from the pet store that they feed there baby birds but we're having a hard time getting the food down his throat. Should he be getting seed?? His toes are pretty limp and I think they're broken. What should I do about that? Any help would be appreciated.

P.s. We've been keeping her in a large milk crate lined with newspaper and papertowels with a little bowl of water.

[Chain123]

Thx for caring for this baby pigeon. You are doing a good job. U can try seed but u mught have to tubfeed him.

Check out www.duckpolice.org. they have borken leg and wing + how to take care of baby pigeons

[Moleman11]

I have a syringe but not a tube...it's been difficult because I can't get the end of the syringe far enough down his throat and he spits most of it out.

[Vicki]

If the bird is already about a month old, it's not far from being able to be weaned. At least that's how things go with the homing pigeons. Yes, seed would probably be fine to offer him right now. Larger seed about the size of popcorn are easier for him to eat right now. If you have a feed store nearby, you might pick-up some pigeon feed. And keep water avaiable to him. Pigeons suck up water. They don't scoop it up and let it run down their throat like chickens or many wild birds. You might show him where the water is by dipping the tip of his beak into it.

As far as his foot, to be honest, I've found it better to let them get around as best they can. They heal amazingly well. I believe my homers were shot by hunters back on Labor Day. One of my birds came back 2 days late shot through the wing and an injured leg. His leg was completely limp. He is now walking on it and flying again.

I'm not up on the wild pigeons but if they're like homers, your bird might like a flat board to stand on. If you have room to place just a short length of a 2x4 in with him, he might like standing on it. That also allows him to stay out of his droppings.

If you plan on keeping him a while to nurse him back to health, a small rabbit cage might be more comfortable. You can set a couple of 2x4's underneath the cage which will allow the droppings to fall through. The hook-on type cup feeders work well for keeping his water and seed.

That's about all I can think of for now.

Vicki

[Moleman11]

My wife saw the mother pigeon feeding him while he was flapping around the parking lot...will he even be able to eat seed if he's used to his mother feeding him?? DO I have to soften the seed in water first and then tube feed it also??

[cyro51]

Hi Moleman,

Tube feeding can be risky and unpleasant for the baby. This is a safe and effective method of feeding an older squab:

Cut the whole of the tip off a 20ml syringe.

Mix up some Keytee Exact or other formula (or even chicken baby food) with some budgie seed or other small seed. It should form a runny paste.

Cut a piece out of a party balloon, a piece of vet wrap, or support bandage and tape it tightly over the end of the syring that you have cut the tip off.

Cut a cross in the balloon/bandage.

Guide the pigeon's beak to the hole made by the cross and dip it in. It should soon realise this is food and will start to suck it up. As it sucks depress the plunger of the syringe very gently so that it replaces the eaten food.

When the pigeon has finished, wash its face with a damp dishtowel.

The alternative is to bend the edges of a spoon to resemble the parents bill and encourage them to sip from that.

I have bumped uo two posts "Two hatchlings " in general discussions shows a photo of the "syringe and balloon" methid and "New Arrivals" by Diogenese in the Emergency Care section shows photos of the bent spoon method.

Cynthia

[Moleman11]

Well I just got back from petsmart where I bought a nice big rabbit like cage for him. We bought him some seed and he's eating it on his own. So hopefully no more force feeding. Thanx a lot for all your help.

[Vicki]

When the bird gets big enough to start trying to fly, you'll be glad you have him in the rabbit cage and not the milk crate. Just one more suggestion about the feed. Pigeons, like most birds who eat grain, need grit available to grind up the seed in their crop. The next time you're back at the store, pick up some coarse grit. Not the fine stuff like for parakeets. He'll instinctively know what this is. Just keep a little in a cup in his cage along with his food and water.

If you need more help with nursing a wild pigeon, I think there is a Yahoo Group out there just for that purpose.

Good luck. It sounds like things are going better.

Vicki

[ZigZagMarquis]

Vicki... a question / comment about grit, I didn't think it was worth starting a new thread over.

This may sound kinda stupid, but I've noticed that my birds do basically one of three things with grit...

1) Ignore it totally... for several days.

2) Pick at it, but don't do much more then just scatter it around for me to sweep up later... as if they were thinking, "There isn't enough poop and feathers for him to come scrape and sweep up later, lets scatter some grit around too! Yeah!!"

3) They go at it with gusto! I watch and they're consuming gobs of it.

What up with that?? Or are pigeons just weird??


Oh, and I have a bit of charcoal mixed in with my grit too in thier pick-pots. I've heard thats good for them too to have on hand.

[Moleman11]

Is grit absolutely necessary? I don't give my parakeets grit. I heard from some people that its good for them and others that it's really bad for them. I've had my parakeets for almost 3 years now and they're doing fine without it. What are the consequences of not giving pigeons grit??

[Lin Hansen]

Hi Moleman,

I believe pigeons need the grit to aid in their digestion. Because they swallow seeds and such whole which go into their crop, the grit is needed to grind up those seeds and such.
I am sure others will be along to give you a much more educated and complete answer.

Linda

[cyro51]

I think that it is also the grit that supplies them with calcium and other minerals that they need.


Cynthia

[Vicki]

I debated even posting about the grit, but depending on how long it takes to get the young pigeon out on its own, I would hate to see it not have grit. I keep homing pigeons, and they love their grit and I do have to replace it because they do eat it. I don't keep my birds in the house, so when I clean the loft, it just gets swept up. Most pigeon keepers do agree that grit contains necessary minerals and calcium and is a necessary aid in their digestion. This bird could easily be flying within a couple more weeks. So not having grit for that amount of time may not matter. Have you given thought to when and how you're going to release him back to the wild? If you get so attached to him you decide to keep him, I'd for sure get some grit. There are several pigeon supply companies across the country with so many supplies available it'll make your head spin.

[Moleman11]

Well me and my wife do plan on keeping him. we've become very attached just in the 2 days we've had him! He can fly a little but not full flight. I guess it'll be best to get some grit for him then.
Another question...How much seed typically does a pigeon eat in a day?? And is it possible that he's old enough to know how to eat seed but not how to drink on his own? He'll eat the seed but I haven't really seen him taking any drinks. I've dunked his beak in the water to show him it's there but he doesn't show much interest in it. He is still young, maybe about a month old. Any thoughts you all have would be nice.

[Vicki]

As I said before, I don't know a lot about the wild pigeons, but it would seem to me that a pigeon is a pigeon, especially when the wild ones and the homers are so similar in size and shape. While the baby is still growing, anywhere from 1 - 2 ozs of seed per day is a general rule for the homers. Since flight training won't be part of his life, free feeding him may be fine. With the homers, once their training starts, the feed is usually around 1 oz per bird per day. If he's eating his seed and you've shown him his water, I think he'll probably be able to figure it out. If you really think he's not drinking, you can wrap him in a towel and hold his beak open and let a little water trickle down his throat with a drinking straw. Put the straw in a inch or so of water and then put your finger over the top until you get the end to his beak. You might do that a couple of time. I'm glad he's as old as he is. It makes your job a lot easier. Most homing pigeons are weaned about this age. I really think you don't have much to do before he'll be figuring it out on his own.

I've had homing pigeons for about 1 1/2 years now. I only know what I do with them. Someone may read this advice and think, "man, this lady is crazy and has no idea what she's talking about." If so, please jump right in. I'm still asking questions.

I hate to do this to you but my next thought would be medications for his health. Since he was raised as a wild pigeon, there's a good chance he could have internal parasites such as hair worms, round worms or coccidiosis. These are easily eliminated with appropriate medications available though the pigeon supply houses. If you get them from a vet, you'll pay a lot more for them, although a vet could check a stool sample just so you know what he has. Once they're cleared up and he hasn't been exposed to them again, it isn't as much of a concern. But if left unchecked, they can definitely affect his health.

Let me just say that the wild pigeons don't have the homing instinct of the homing pigeons, and if you ever let him out, he'll probably be gone.

Vicki