[carolecraig]

My daughter found a very young pigeon yesterday (no yellow feathers, but still being fed we think). Vet says it just needs to gain weight. We tried our usual rescue baby pigeon formula on it (budgie seeds, scrambled egg, some food yeast). We hand fed and it ate ravenously but this morning its croup was still quite full and it's not hungry. It is drinking (we hold a class up). The vet has no rescue formula. I've tried some almond milk and syringe on the base it was probably still getting pigeon milk. Any other suggestions?

 

[jenlikespigeons]

You can either go to the pet shop to get Formula (Parrot/parakeet hand rearing formula) or you can use, Baby cereal, greek yogurt, bird vitamins and bird calcium. I am also raising a young baby right now (1-2 days old), I asked for help and this is what I was recommended, hope this helps

If it doesn't Im sure an expert will come and give you advice soon.

 

[White Homers]

If he has no more baby down you can give him regular pigeon seed. Also give him some type of grit to help him digest.

 

[bootface]

Is he warm enough? How thin is he?

You can’t feed him more until the crop empties. Provide a source of heat and give him apple cider vinaigrette, but if the crop feels hard you should take him back to the vet. Almond milk does not resemble crop milk at all, and he’s probably old enough to be eating seeds. If he can’t digest them though, you’ll need to get some formula.

 

[Jay3]

All birds need to be warmed and rehydrated before being fed anything. A cold or dehydrated bird can't digest food.
If the crop isn't emptying, try giving some warmed baby applesauce mixed with a small amount of warm water. Don't give him anything else, and wait for the crop to empty. The applesauce usually helps. Keep him warm. He may be sick. Can you look way down his throat with a flashlight and see if you see anything down there? Also leave a small crock of water with him. Can you post pictures of him?

 

[carolecraig]

You can either go to the pet shop to get Formula (Parrot/parakeet hand rearing formula) or you can use, Baby cereal, greek yogurt, bird vitamins and bird calcium. I am also raising a young baby right now (1-2 days old), I asked for help and this is what I was recommended, hope this helps

If it doesn't Im sure an expert will come and give you advice soon.

Besides my vet I'm the only expert/pigeon rescuer in the area. I will see what the pet shop has and thank you so much for your help. Your suggestions are wonderful. Good luck with your baby.

 

[carolecraig]

All birds need to be warmed and rehydrated before being fed anything. A cold or dehydrated bird can't digest food.
If the crop isn't emptying, try giving some warmed baby applesauce mixed with a small amount of warm water. Don't give him anything else, and wait for the crop to empty. The applesauce usually helps. Keep him warm. He may be sick. Can you look way down his throat with a flashlight and see if you see anything down there? Also leave a small crock of water with him. Can you post pictures of him?

Thank you so much for the suggestion of applesauce. I'll make a little. The poohs looks okay and there are a lot of them, so something is getting through. He drinks on his own and we offer him water ever two hours, so I think he's hydrated. Also, he's on a hot water bottle with a soft toy (he seems to like the soft toy. The vet checked for canker and didn't find any. (I have a very bad canker rescue at the moment, but she seems to be recovering and yes I am keeping them and everything to do with them very separate). The baby has water and seeds in the carrier.

 

[carolecraig]

Is he warm enough? How thin is he?

You can’t feed him more until the crop empties. Provide a source of heat and give him apple cider vinaigrette, but if the crop feels hard you should take him back to the vet. Almond milk does not resemble crop milk at all, and he’s probably old enough to be eating seeds. If he can’t digest them though, you’ll need to get some formula.

Thank. I decided to try almond milk because someone suggested that for a rescue I have with very bad canker(she is kept in another room from the baby with no utensils etc in common). I am planning to take him back to the vet tomorrow for a check when I take the canker sufferer back in for more help.
Thank you again.

 

[carolecraig]

If he has no more baby down you can give him regular pigeon seed. Also give him some type of grit to help him digest.

Thank you , he has a dish of seeds but isn't eating. Because he is so thin the vet suggested hand feeding. We do mix grit in with hand food.

 

[Jay3]

You can hand feed frozen peas which have been defrosted and warmed under warm water.
If you need to feed peas to a pigeon, hold the bird on your lap and against your body. This gives you more control. Reach from behind his head with one hand and grasp his beak on either side. Now use your free hand to open the beak, and put a pea in, then push it to the back of his throat and over his tongue. Let him close his beak and swallow. Then do another. It gets easier with practice, and the bird also gets more used to it, and won't fight as much. If you can't handle the bird, then use the sleeve cut off a t-shirt, slip it over his head and onto his body, with his head sticking out. This will stop him from being able to fight you so much. Just don't make it tight around his crop area. It helps if you have him facing your right side if you are right handed.

 

[carolecraig]

Thank you for the advice and the excellent description of hand feeding. I've actually done a lot of it. My question is would peas be better than a mixed grain diet with something (in my case usually chicken eggs, scrambled to bind it). I frequently add a little cod liver oil and food yeast to that. When I first started rescuing, I did use peas, but I changed.

Thank you for taking the time and I'll be very curious to know what you think.

 

[Jay3]

You haven't posted a picture of the bird. If old enough then he will be going to seed soon. Often the peas are quicker for him to learn to pick up by himself, which is what you want, as he should be weaning soon. They are easy to pick up. From there you go to seed.

 

[carolecraig]

Thank you. No, I haven't put in a picture because I can't seem to transfer things off my phone. He was trying to pick up seed when my daughter found him. She picked him up because he appeared to have a wing injury and the vet said he was too thin to judge. He is trying to pick them up in his cage now. I will be moving him to a bigger area (a dog carrier) today with more space and I'll had peas to what I put out for him. Thank you so much for the reply.

 

[Jay3]

He may not see the peas as food if you haven't been hand feeding them to him. If he is just learning to pick up seed, and isn't getting enough, then you may need to hand feed him with the peas at the end of the day, to make sure he is getting enough.