Hi. New to doves with one about to hatch

[casportpony]

So I went out and mum was feeding him and not doing too bad a job this time. She held his beak in her mouth and pumped for a little while. Proud dad was sitting next to her and giving her a little preen of encouragement now and then . I went and mixed up some breakfast and got everything ready and when I got back they had swapped sides and dad was feeding it. Then he tucked it back under him so I took it out for its weighing.

So this is day 4 or 5. Its the 23rd here now. I saw the egg unhatched on the 17th and the baby for the first time on the 19th but it could have hatched the 18th and I didn't see. It's eyes were just starting to open yesterday and did open a little bit today when I was feeding him and he peeped for the first time today when I started feeding it.

His weight after a feed by both parents was 18g


I didn't think the crop looked as full as the photos I've been looking at online so I decided to top him up.


its final fully fed weight was 21g. Hope I didn't give too much?


No idea what he weighed before the parents fed him to work out what percent he ended up getting?

Going to go down and get a syringe to make a better feeder when the shops open because it's a bit too messy what I'm doing at the moment.

Those are great pictures! From what I can see in the pictures, his crop looks pretty full, but not too full.

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

I though this was pretty handy:


http://www.pigeonrescue.co.uk/howmuchtofeed.htm

 

[casportpony]

FWIW, @caesargirl and I raised same aged squabs at the same time. Her's grew faster and feathered out much quicker than mine did. Caesargirl is really quite good at raising these little ones.

to caesargirl!

-Kathy

 

[caesargirl]

FWIW, @caesargirl
 and I raised same aged squabs at the same time. Her's grew faster and feathered out much quicker than mine did. Caesargirl is really quite good at raising these little ones.  to caesargirl!

-Kathy

Thanks K. After all I've read and researched, I know I got lucky! How is cross beak?

 

[casportpony]

Quote: I think it's a little more than luck, and I'd bet money that you'd get the same results if you did it again. Cross beak is still quite small and can eat okay if I keep it's beak trimmed.

-Kathy

 

[appps]

12:30pm and checked again and the crop was empty so don't think they have fed it again, or not much so I gave it a feed.

I made a little syringe feeder like yours @caesargirl and that was a lot easier!

I'm thinking another feed around 6:30pm? Or should it be more often?

Just as well Dad doesn't hurt when he pecks, he is not amused at me helping lol

 

[appps]

I ended up checking again at 4:30pm and there didn't seem to be much in there that I could tell so I gave it another feed. I figured it's missed quite a few and the extra liquids can't hurt, it could be a little dehydrated too.

It did drink it but much more slowly. It seemed a little less lively this time.

Dad was just as peeved off, I even got wing flapping with the pecking this time lol

Edited to add I checked again at 7:30pm and again it had an empty crop. I'm really starting to wonder how the little fellow lasted as long as it did on the tiny bit mum and dad are feeding it. I guess the first couple of days it was going on yolk reserves. Hopefully as it gets its strength back it will start nagging them more to feed it.

 

[appps]

Can I ask how thick your mix is at this age? I read somewhere skim milk consistency but the lady gave it to me said cream consistency. I've been erring towards the thinner side as figured the extra water can't hurt either but wondering if I should be starting to thicken it up a bit more now?

Edited to add just rereading the soup consistency. Like canned tomato soup?

 

[caesargirl]

Compromise, consistency of a can of tomato soup and a can of milk cooked on the stove top! I also noticed that if it was too cool, they didn't want it. Also, I'd mix it and let it sit for 30 seconds, stir and go from there. It thickens in that 30 seconds and I'd judge how much more water to add.

 

[appps]

Thank you!