Found a baby pigeon - HELP!

[SarahJane1987]

Hello, I have just signed up on here hoping that somebody can give me some advice on how to feed a baby pigeon!

I found one today while I was walking down a very busy road. It had fallen out from underneath a motorway bridge, I tried to find a way to climb up to put it back on the ledge it seemed to have come off. (I walk under the bridge most days and see them up there all the time) but there was no way at all for me to get it back up there. I left it for a while and went and did the errands I had to do and thought if it was still there when I was walking back I would pick it up. Poor little thing was still sat there, huddled up against the wall with its eyes closed. I don't know it if was right to pick it up but I felt like I couldn't just leave it there. It was so close to the main road too and I didn't want it to get run over.
Ive hand reared a thrush, a hedgehog and a rat in the past so I have a bit of experience with it, but I have read that pigeons are a bit more complicated than the thrush was as they need a formula making?? I have a pets a home right by my house so I can see what they have there, but have no idea really what to get!!
I've only just picked it up and have put it in a cat basket with some hay and covered the basket over with a blanket and thought I would let it settle and calm down for an hour or so? Is this right? Is hay an ok bedding for a pigeon??

Its not a tiny little baby, I think it looks quite close to fledging, but still has yellow fluff covering its chest and head but has adult feathers over its wings and tail. Its small though, about half the size of an adult pigeon and still has that fat baby beak.

Any advice on what to do now!!!??? I read not to give it water, is this right? I don't want it to become dehydrated, although it may already be, I cant tell how long its been away from the nest for.

 

[jak2002003]

Thants good news.

You can stop giving him water. They only need the wet food... get all the water they need from that.

It won't hurt to have a pot or fresh water in the cage and as he grows he will learn to drink for himself (you can gently dip his beak in the water or wiggle your finger in the water to get his interest in it. They drink a lot of water when they are eating the dry seeds when they get weaned.

If you other one is eating and drinking on his own now you could pop the little one in with him at feeding time.. and he will learn how to eat by himself from the older one more quickly than we humans can teach them.

 

[jak2002003]

Well done rescuing this little guy. I used to work at a Pets at Home store lol.

You should find rearing this pigeon much easier than a thrush or song bird.

I hand rear a lot of pigeon squabs (people know I love birds and keep bringing me orphanded or injured ones).

The above posters video is a very good way to do it.

I use a similar lower tech method. Just using a small plastic bag with a small hole cut in the corner to push the squabs beak into the food inside.

I feed it a mash I make of chicken feed crumbs mixed with warm water. That's all I use. I make the paste quite thick.. like thick custard.... just runny.

I guess at your birds age and size about 4 feedings a day should be enough... one first thing in morning and one just before you go to bed... then the other 2 during the day.

Give enough food until the chick looses interest in feeding and its crop is full up like a balloon.

It will then sit about digesting this sack of food the next few hours. You will know when you need to feed again when the crop is empty and the chick is active and restless.

TIPS.

Food mixture should be warm. (cold mix will chill the birds crop and will give in digestive problems or slow crop)

Only feed when the crop is empty (adding new food on top of old is dangerous for bacteria to grow).

Keep a bowl or grit, seeds and water in the pen... and peck at it with your fingers each times before feeding the squab... this will encourage it to try to eat on its own. And they need grit to eat too when they eat solid dry seeds.

Add some apple sauce or ACV to the food paste if the bird has crop or digestive problems.

Clear the birds face with a damp cloth after feeding to remove any spilt food and keep it clean.


Good Luck and have fun!!!

 

[Abronsyth]

You should be able to keep them together, pigeons are extremely social and many breeders and rescuers I know will allow younger and older babies together, they help each other out emotionally and can keep one another warm. Hopefully the younger one is old enough to have gotten some crop milk, which will help the little one in the long run to be healthy and strong. Pigeons are one of the few species of birds that produce a milk-like substance that is highly nutrient dense, which they feed to their babies. That said, you'll want to pick up some baby bird feeding formula, like the Kaytee Exact hand-feeding formula, from a pet store and mix that up. Pigeon babies stick their head into their parents mouth, not the other way around, so you'll want to keep that in mind. I think someone posted a good video on how to work with this.

If you cannot find the formula, then get some baby chick starter, nonmedicated, and soak it in warm water so that you can turn it into a sort of pudding-like substance, and then give that to both of the babies. It isn't ideal, but it is a lot better than just giving them peas (though peas are very nutritious, they seem to be a bit addicting and should not be the soul source of nurtients). You'll want to get chicken or game bird mash/crumbles to feed them as they get older. As for water, make sure you have a dish that is wide and somewhat deep. Pigeons need to be able to fully stick their beak in the water to drink, since they use suction to drink and not gravity, like other birds.

Pigeons, thankfully, grow very rapidly and will be able to fly by 4 weeks old. However, they also imprint quite strongly and as you are raising them there may be concerns about releasing them, as unfortunately a lot of folks are quite mean to pigeons and will harm them if the pigeon does not know to fly away. If possible, I would check some local directories and see if there are any pigeon breeders in your area who might be willing to take in the birds, or if you'd even be willing to keep them. Pigeons that we have in the USA are all feral pigeons, descendants of escaped pets and racing birds. This means they're all domesticated, and as a result rescued squabs do quite well in captivity.

((Or, if you are possibly in the Upstate NY area, we are experienced in handrearing baby birds as well as caring for pigeons so we'd be happy to help, but I doubt you are, haha)).

 

[loftkeeper]

first dip its beak in water and see if its thirsty pigeons suck water like horses cows people if you have bird seeds you can feed them that might have to open beak and feed that way keep warm and away from cats dogs and others that may want to play with it good luck they aren't that hard

 

[SarahJane1987]

Thank you, I managed to get it to take some water, and also i thawed some peas and soaked them in warm water, then split them in half and its had about 7 peas in total. I thought that was probably enough for now and I should give it a break! I picked up some mixed crushed bird seed so will try it on that in a few hours.

 

[loftkeeper]

there crop should be fairly full filling try and see if you leave the seed in a bowl if it will pick at it and start eating on its own

 

[SarahJane1987]

I've managed to get it to eat some more peas just now. I soaked them in warm water so it gets a bit of moisture. I dripped water in the sides of its beak and it seemed to swallow it. From looking at pictures of squabs I'd say it is about 19/20 days old. I tried leaving seed in for it but it looked confused by it. I tried to put seeds in its mouth but because they are so small they ended up spilling everywhere. Then I put a piece of paper over a glass full of seed with a rubber band and cut a hole in it and put its beak in the hole to try and recreate the way the adults feed but it didn't like it and struggled out of it. It has had about 12-15 peas now in total since I picked it up, so that should keep it going for now. How much and how often does it need feeding?? It seems to have perked up a lot. When it first came home it had its eyes closed a lot and was resting its head on its chest and was quiet. Now its trying to scrabble up my t.shirt and sit on my shoulder and flapping its wings.

 

[loftkeeper]

I feed them laying pellets at this age by putting in the mouth how much until crop is full let the bird dip it s beak in water to drink they catch on fast twice a day feeding would be enough but if you can feed more that great the crop should empty between feedings

 

[SarahJane1987]

It ate quite a bit this morning, I gave it a mixture of peas and sunflower seeds. I have left a shallow bowl of water in the cage for it. I dipped its beak in it but it didn't drink any, but at least now it knows its there. I dripped some water into its beak this morning and saw it swallow a few times so its had some.