Found a baby pigeon - HELP!

[jak2002003]

If you start to feed some feral pigeons in your garden (and you keep your pigeon on his own in the run and coop) he will see the other pigeons and start to hang around with them.

As they are flock birds he will start to fly off with them and learn where to find more food and water.

When he is at an age he wants to get a mate he will probably then pair up with a wild bird and go live the wild life.. nesting with the other feral pigeons.

That's what happened to my 2 rescued squabs.

The gradually spent more and more time away from home with their new pigeon friends. Eventually coming back only ever few days... then not at all.

 

[veeb]

Thank you. It would be wonderful if that happened but I have never seen a feral pigeon within three miles of here (and I've lived her 32 years) There are plenty of Wood Pigeons and Ring Necked Doves - perhaps they are similar / different enough to be taking up the territory? Or am I too far into the country for them to have anywhere to roost safely? The railway bridge my pigeon fell from is three miles away - the home of the closest feral pigeons I've seen.

 

[SarahJane1987]

Pigeon is doing well, i am struggling to get him to eat anything other than peas and sweetcorn though, he's actually started to pick them up on his own so is a bit older than needing to be hand fed now, although I am still hand feeding him about 30 peas 4 times a day. He will eat sweetcorn too. I tried to get him to eat seeds but he spits them out and holds out for peas and I'm worried he's very thin! Also he still hasn't learned to drink and I keep having to drop water into its beak.
Very sadly I walked under the same bridge again today and found another one!! Even younger, this one has yellow down around its head and baldness all under its body and wings like its downs fallen out but feathers having grown in yet, all the big wing and tail feathers have grown, it's very small though, fits in the palm of my hand. I could see its patents far up on the ledge looking down and I really didn't know what to do, I felt so sad that I couldn't get it back up there, I thought I could try and throw it back up but it's so little I didn't want to hurt it. There was also a tiny tiny all yellow fluffy one beside it but it was dead they really need to breed on a different bridge!! Anyway now have 2! I have it in a box under my desk, I've trickled water into its beak and it opened it beak trying to eat my fingers so it's obviously hungry. I can't get it home for about 4 hours though, although I can nip out for some peas! What is a good food for them when they are a little bigger than formula stage but smaller than eating on their own? Or should I do the above video feeding with this new one? Also can I put them together?? New one is smaller, but I thought it would be better if they had bird company! I really hope no more fall off the bridge!!!

 

[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)).

 

[SarahJane1987]

Thank you for your advice.
I've got the little one home now.
When I put them next to each other it made me realise how much bigger and grown up the first one has gotten in such a short space of time! This evening the older one has eaten all on his own and hasn't been hand fed anything! I've also started letting him fly, he can fly across the room, sort of! But little one really is tiny next to him and big one pecked and attacked him
Little one has eaten really well just now, I gave him sunflower seeds, peas and sweetcorn as its all I have, I'll get up to pets at home in the morning for some better food. He's flapping his wings and chirping like crazy when the food comes near him, he was really really hungry! I put the food in a little bag with a hole in and he picked it up pretty quickly. His crop is super full now so I've settled him down for the night. He's not a tiny little baby, he's about 2 weeks old I would guess.
How on earth do I go about releasing the older one!? I live in a small apartment in the city with no garden and I have 2 cats so keeping them really isn't an option (I really wish I could though) Also my flatmate doesn't like them at all and I'm having to keep them in my room hidden from her as she would freak out about it! I'm actually in the UK - so will try and look around for pigeon people that might want them over here! Although is the wild better? I really don't know, older pigeon isn't too imprinted but I'm worried this little one will be, he's very trusting of me already and has taken to being hand reared much much faster than the first one did! He seems much less picky with food!

 

[SarahJane1987]

Also, do pigeons push their siblings out of the nest? I don't understand why they keep falling down! Is picking them up and taking them home the right thing to do? Will the parents not take care of them once they are on the ground?

 

[jak2002003]

Its good you got the second one.... the bigger one will teach it how to peck and eat seeds and food for itself quickly.

Its not normal for them to keep falling out the nest... perhaps the nests are on a narrow ledge and the parents have to make really small nests?

I think you should try to contact people on here on of PIgeon Talk website to re home your pigeons once they are bigger.

You are going to have a hard time releasing them.... because you don't have a garden or outside space.

If you just let them go in the city they will not know how to look after themselves, how to find food, or even what food is... they don't find many seeds in the city.. usually bread and chips!

You many be lucky enough to find a wildlife rescue that will take them.. but in my experience they, the RSPCA and the vest don't like pigeons.

Keep us posted on what happens.

 

[Abronsyth]

Pigeons will push each other out of the nest as they grow, especially if there are more than two babies, but chances are they're falling because of poor nest construction/etc. While the parents will often continue trying to raise babies once they've fallen (most pigeons have an incredible parenting instinct), a baby pigeon on the ground does not have a high chance of survival. Plus, they're domesticated so there's really no issue with raising them yourself.

If you can find someone who would want them as pets then that is definitely the best option since they're going to learn to love people a lot. There are pigeon lovers all over the world, so I am sure you wouldn't have much trouble finding someone nearby who could take the little ones in

Keep us updated, and good luck!

 

[SarahJane1987]

Thanks for all the advice.

New pigeon seems to be having some problems now I fed him this morning at about 7am (3 o clock in the afternoon here) and his crop is still full and doesnt seem to be emptying! he's going crazy shouting for food and trying to eat my fingers but i daren't give him anything because his crop is full! I gave him some apple sauce as I read that helps but he wouldn't take it, just shock his head and spat it out! This morning he had a mix of small seeds, chopped up sunflower seeds, mashed peas mixed with water and some egg yolk. Maybe it was too thick? But he managed to digest whole peas and sunflower seeds yesterday?? what do I do!? Its been 8 hours since last feed and his crop hasn't emptied at all!!!!

I put them back together today but little pigeon thinks the older pigeon is going to feed it and spends the whole time constantly begging and harassing the bigger bird. I feel like he's acting like he's really hungry but I cant feed him with his crop so full!! I keep dripping water into his mouth to try to keep him hydrated Im worried he will die now how long should it take to empty? Maybe i filled it too much. It should have gone down a little bit, but it hasn't seemed to.

 

[SarahJane1987]

This is the little one. Im really worried now, his crop still isn't empty!! if it isn't emptying does that mean he isn't getting fed?? does water go through the crop or straight into the tummy???