Zilla the Pigeon...*new questions & pics*

[SunAngel]

Would anyone happen to know how I can keep 2 baby Pigeons alive? What should I feed them until they are old enough to eat by themselves? Is it possible for me to hand raise them?

We went to the Poultry auction last night and I peeked into one of the boxes up for sale. Inside were these two really ugly little birds, one a bit bigger than the other (maybe a bit older). Whoever brought them in, didn't even have enough sense to put pine shavings in the box that was 3x too big for them. They were shakey and very cold. They don't have many feathers, but after looking up pics online I have figured out they are probably close to 2 weeks old. Nobody else bid on them, so I snagged them for 20 cents each. I figured if they were going to die anyways, at least they would do so warm and snuggly here.

I can't imagine how the people that brought them in expected them to live? They are still at the age they need fed by a mother bird.

Last night I mixed warm water with chick starter and force fed them a little of that. They snuggled together under the heat lamp and slept most of the night. The smaller one that was cold and near death is now warm and lots more active. Anymore time at the sale in that cold and it would have died.

 

[ButtonQuailBoy]

I can help...I hand raise cockatiels...I live in PA also...get back to meif you need help...I got a syringe and formula...

 

[SunAngel]

I have been feeding them chick starter in warm water, so far its kept them alive during the night and today. I bent a spoon into sort of a V shape and they seem to be getting a little bit into them. They are quite spastic though, so its hard to feed them. I have been trying to give them some every couple hours...hope this is adequate.

Do you think the pet store would have some sort of formula that they could have also? Don't know if the stuff for cockatiels would be ok for them as well?

 

[monarc23]

Don't pigeons need a special milk from their parents??? *pigeon puke "milk*
I'm pretty sure they need tube fed, and it needs to be a special mixture?


i answered my own questions found agood page on care forbaby pigeons please check it out:

http://duckpolice.org/BirdWeb/PigeonResourceWeb/babypigeoncare.html

 

[SunAngel]

Awesome, thanks so much for that link!! I didn't come across anything that well put in my searches.

It looks like I was doing things ok and often enough, but I need to pick up the formula from the pet store later!

Thanks again, wish me luck...looks like I am in for a bit of work!!

 

[monarc23]

Quote:
thank you by the way for rescuing the little babies, how dare the person that brought them to make $$ off of them steal them from their parents very sad! But atleast now you are giving them a chance!

Niki

 

[SunAngel]

Oh I have had a few choice thoughts about the person that sold them, for sure!

They sell pigeons there every week, lots of them. I can only figure the person wanted to sell off the parents and not be stuck with the babies, so tossed them in a box to sell. What I can't figure out is why they didn't just put the parents in the box with the babies and sell them as a family. They would have made more money. Unless they had too many to know which were the parents or maybe the mother died...hard to tell.

They seem to be very strong willed and healthy today. So the food must be helping. I need to get them a better cage set up and the formula and then I think they might have a fighting chance

 

[hypnofrogstevie]

I hope they make it. Poor little birds. There has been alot of people doing this lately. Not with birds though.

 

[monarc23]

Quote:
yeah can ya say kittens and puppies *makes me sick* I bought a maine coon kitten one time, brought her home and wondered why she wasnt eating (my first time buying a purebred kitten so I had no idea that she was too small for her supposeded age)....i called the breeder and found out that she had had them flown in from Florida, and that the breeder some how illegally shippd them at 3 weeks old, I got Maddie at 4 weeks old and she was in very bad condition...rushed to wal-mart and bottle fed the poor thing for 4 more weeks she was perfectly fine then.....but you'll be happy to know that breeder was shut down and fined dramatically.

 

[deerman]

Yes pigeon,doves , and parrots feed their young on crop milk, but just the first 7 days.

You can feed them the chick starter or a pigeon pellet, mixed with warm water. you will need to feed them untill they are about 4 weeks old.

Think you are doing fine so far.

They will make great pets after being hand fed.

Lots of breeder of parrots sell babies that need hand fed. Even at auctions, because hand fed birds make better pets.