Handfeeding squabs

[Viergacht]

I noticed someone locally on craigslist is selling pigeon squabs that are still young enough to need hand feeding (they're still fuzzy). I feel bad for them - I have some experience raising baby animals and I kind of want to get one to try and save it, but I know this would be encouraging the seller to keep doing it. Would I be setting myself up for heartbreak, do you think?

 

[Northwest_Wannabe]

Why do you feel bad for them? :O are they being sold as feeder/food squabs?

Squabs are hard to hand raise, not impossible but VERY different from poultry

 

[Misfits Farm 92]

I noticed someone locally on craigslist is selling pigeon squabs that are still young enough to need hand feeding (they're still fuzzy). I feel bad for them - I have some experience raising baby animals and I kind of want to get one to try and save it, but I know this would be encouraging the seller to keep doing it. Would I be setting myself up for heartbreak, do you think?

Fuzzy as in how fuzzy? Do they have fuzz sticking through their adult feathers? Do they have pin feathers, fuzz, and some adult feathers? Are they covered in pin feathers and fuzz? Are they only covered in fuzz?

 

[Misfits Farm 92]

Here are some pigeon growth charts.

 

[Viergacht]

They look between 7 and 10 days old.

 

[Viergacht]

Here's the picture from the ad, that's probably more helpful!

 

[Viergacht]

Why do you feel bad for them? :O are they being sold as feeder/food squabs?

Squabs are hard to hand raise, not impossible but VERY different from poultry

I feel bad that they've been taken away from their parents so young, and that they might be taken by someone who isn't able to care for them properly. I've ended up with several kittens and puppies over the years that people got too young, with the best intentions, but then couldn't handle getting up every two hours at night to feed them and so on.

 

[Northwest_Wannabe]

I feel bad that they've been taken away from their parents so young, and that they might be taken by someone who isn't able to care for them properly. I've ended up with several kittens and puppies over the years that people got too young, with the best intentions, but then couldn't handle getting up every two hours at night to feed them and so on.

That is a bit young and they would probably need to be hand fed, but honestly for probably less than a week or two? Theres plenty of youtube videos if you want to give it a shot but its different than puppies and kittens, very different from baby chicks (we fostered a wide variety of animals) Pigeons will usually 'wean' their squabs around 4-6 weeks, those guys look like they're older than 7-10 days I'd personally say over 15 days. You could email the guy on craigslist and just ask him, ask how old they are, how well they're eating, is he hand feeding them? and why he's hand feeding them? The #1 reason I've had to hand raise birds is due to bad parents abandoning them (those pairs are NOT allowed to raise anything again haha)

 

[Viergacht]

That's good to know! I've raised various songbirds (we used to live in a neighborhood with a lot of stray cats) and they're so fragile.

 

[biophiliac]

Here's the picture from the ad, that's probably more helpful!

This little guy would definitely need hand feeding. Lots of vids on YT to show how.