Newborn Pigeon Care

[Poultrylady2022]

Hey everyone,

I recently moved and had to relocate my birds. I had a pair sitting on eggs and I knew they wouldn’t take care of them after the move so I put the eggs in the incubator. Yesterday, one of them hatched. I’ve raised a baby before, but it was like a week old; I’ve never taken care of a newborn before. I know the general idea of what to do but my question is it flails its head all around and I’m wondering if that is normal newborn pigeon behavior or if there could possibly be something wrong with it. Thanks for any help!

 

[Qwerty3159]

That’s pretty common, they flail around a lot to induce feeding from the parent.

When they’re young their heads are quite large compared to their bodies and it’s not uncommon to see their heads bent in strange positions especially at rest. They grow out of it

 

[Poultrylady2022]

That’s pretty common, they flail around a lot to induce feeding from the parent.

When they’re young their heads are quite large compared to their bodies and it’s not uncommon to see their heads bent in strange positions especially at rest. They grow out of it

That makes me feel better! The other one I raised had better control of its head before I started taking care of it. This one kind of reminds me of the movie the exorcist…

 

[LamarshFish]

x2 on what Qwerty said on the head flailing. They do that when hungry. Totally normal.

I had to raise a newborn by hand last summer when it's mom didn't come home from loft flying the day it was born. I used Kaytee Exact and fed it through a syringe by gently prying its mouth open and gently depositing the formula into its throat until its crop felt full. It worked, the bird is still alive and thriving and is our favorite bird because it's attached to us and constantly begs for attention and to be held and played with. Best of luck. Keep us posted on the progress.

Obviously the other crucial item is keeping it warm.

 

[Poultrylady2022]

Yes the other one I raised was very attached to me too. It would go out during the day and come to the front door when it was ready to come in for the night. Unfortunately he wasn’t afraid of our dogs either and one day was on the ground next to one of them. The dog was tied and ran to chase something and caught the pigeon in its lead and it didn’t survive. I cried for days so I’m excited to have another one!

So far I’ve been keeping it in the incubator. The other one I raised by the time it was a week old didn’t want any heat aside from the towels I used for its nest. I was thinking a heating pad but I was afraid it would be too much.

Thanks for your response!

 

[Farmgirl283420]

Yes the other one I raised was very attached to me too. It would go out during the day and come to the front door when it was ready to come in for the night. Unfortunately he wasn’t afraid of our dogs either and one day was on the ground next to one of them. The dog was tied and ran to chase something and caught the pigeon in its lead and it didn’t survive. I cried for days so I’m excited to have another one!

So far I’ve been keeping it in the incubator. The other one I raised by the time it was a week old didn’t want any heat aside from the towels I used for its nest. I was thinking a heating pad but I was afraid it would be too much.

Thanks for your response!

Do you have any pictures? I would love to see a baby pigeon!

 

[Poultrylady2022]

Do you have any pictures? I would love to see a baby pigeon

here you go! He hatched out yesterday!

 

[Farmgirl283420]

here you go! He hatched out yesterday!

So tiny! What will he look like when he’s older? What do you feed him?

 

[Poultrylady2022]

So tiny! What will he look like when he’s older? What do you feed him?

I’m not sure. His dad is black and white and his mom is mainly white with some brown and iridescent colors in her. The other young one I raised was solid white so it’ll be interesting to see what this one turns out to be. He’s eating kaytee exact which is a powder that when water is added to it turns into a formula for baby birds. He’ll be on that until he’s ready for seeds!