Pigeon Chick has Hatched....(what do I do now?) Please Help

[Patchesnposies]

My DH went up on the roof to service our cooler and found two pigeon eggs, that he then brought down and stuck in my incubator with a bunch of Welsummer eggs I have in there.

One of them is pipped, zipped and almost hatched this afternoon. When he brought them in I was all for putting them under my Serama hen that has gone broody (for the first time) and he was so worried that she would abandoned them or kill the babies when they hatched that I felt sorry for him and let him put them into the bator.

Well one of the little things has hatched out and now I don't know what to do with him!

Someone brought us a nest full of sparrows last week that I have been hand feeding and are living in a 10 gallon fish tank, I used some cardboard to divide the tank and keep the sparrows and this baby separate.

Pigeon babies being born with their eyes closed and nearly naked is new to me....what do I do with this little one? I have him under a heat lamp, will he burn? Trying to keep the temp at 91 degrees.

Can I feed him the same food I feed the sparrows? (Bought it at Petsmart-Brand name is Exact) When will he be ready for that? Do I feed him with a syringe?

Please all of you pigeon raisers give me some advice or point me in the right direction so I can find it!

My blasted husband knew that no matter how blase' I acted about these two potential pigeons that once they hatched my maternal instincts would kick in and I'd take over.....

Here is the little guy:

Thanks!

 

[nzpouter]

check your baby bird food formula, some can be use on pigeons, some can't. They're hard to handraise at day old but easy after 1 week.

 

[greenfamilyfarms]

I don't know what crop milk contains, but you may want to try looking that up. They are fed crop milk until they are about a week old and then it changes to more like a mushy chick starter-like substance.

 

[Patchesnposies]

How soon do I have to start feeding it? It is no more than an hour old right now. Will I have to open his mouth or will he open it when he is hungry?

What is the hardest part about hand feeding a newly hatched chick?

I hate to be a noodge, but I need specifics! Can I accidentally kill this bird if I feed it wrong? (Like down into its lungs? How will I know?)

I will go and check the food I have and see if it is made for pigeons too.

 

[mschickychick]

I have never had to do this but here is hand feeding info in one of my Dove books:

Unlike other birds that open their mouths for feeding and wait for their parent to put something in it, the baby dove puts it's beak inside the parent's beak. For this reason, you can't hand-feed baby doves the way you might hand-feed a parrot. They don't like having food put into their mouths. There's an easy solution. Fill a rubber glove with baby formula, which you can buy at any pet shop and make according to the directions, snip a tiny hole in fingers, and stick the baby's beak through the hole.He will soon get the idea.

If you don't have hand-feeding formula on hand and you're in a pinch you can soak whole-wheat bread, cereal, baby cereal, and other similar items in soymilk (or even water), and follow the above directions.

Never feed a cold baby - this can cause crop stasis, which can lead to death. Babies should be warmed in a brooder or hospital cage before you feed them. Also, make absolutely sure that the hand-feeding formula isn't too hot. Feed very slowly and in small amounts so that you don't choke the baby. Fill the baby's crop - you'll see the sac at the base of it's neck fill up - but don't stuff it. The food can back up and the baby can die.

I also read in another book where they are usually fed within an hour of hatch.

Hope this helps. Best of luck.

correcting typo.

 

[Patchesnposies]

Thank you MsChickychick!

I am sending DH out for rubber gloves, right now! Does your book say anything about Crop Milk or have a recipe for it?

I do have bird hand feeding mix from the pet store...but I am not sure if they need to have a crop milk substitute for the first week.

Bless you for the rubber glove suggestion-I have been scared to death that I will send food down into its lungs!

 

[mschickychick]

This is all I saw on formula, paragraph 3:

If you don't have hand-feeding formula on hand and you're in a pinch you can soak whole-wheat bread, cereal, baby cereal, and other similar items in soymilk (or even water), and follow the above directions.

Let me look at my books again and see if I can find anything else. There's not much on hand feeding!

 

[mschickychick]

This was under feeding the parents:

All along you should have been providing the parents with nutritious food, including lots of protein foods like egg and mealworms. Once the eggs hatch, contiinue providing these foods along with soft, nutritious foods like bread soaked in soymilk and egg food. The parents create a protein-rich "pigeon milk" in their crops (the crop is the organ that holds the food before it goes to the gizzard - kind of akin to the stomach) and feed this to the babies for the first ten days or so, when they begin feeding regurgitated food. ...They usually fledge (leave the nest) at about 35 days.

Still looking.

 

[nzpouter]

crop milk is colostrum... if you ever/ know someone who hand raise cattle, you can ask for a little bit.

They feed straight away after they dried up, you feed them every 2-4 hours.

 

[mschickychick]

Making a hospital cage:
A hospital cage is essential for comforting an ill or injured bird. Your dove's regular cage ay contain other birds and might not be warm enough. A 10 gallon fish tank or medium-sized, plastic critter-keeper or carrier lined with paper towels makes a great hospital cage. Place a screen on top and a dark towel covering one-half to three=fourths of the cage's top and sides - do not cover the entire cage with the towel. Place a heating pad on medium heat under half the cage - your dove should have the option of moving away from the heat.

Place a rolled-up hand towel in one corner so that your bird can snuggle up to it if he wants to. Place the hospital cage in a quiet, safe place where your bird can recuperate undisturbed.

Still looking.