Help! We have a baby pigeon?

Question

Help one of the cats has turned up with a squab. It cant be very old as it has no feathers on it yet just a yellow down. We have looked around and cant find a nest anywhere that isnt allready occupied with a pigeon. What can it be fed on at this early stage? And how do we feed it? Any SENSIBLE answers would be appreciated.

Answer 1

I recommend that you feed your Pigeon on Bread and milk and Egg in a sloppy Constancey.  If the baby opens its mouth to feed drop small pea sized amount in to the back of its mouth and it should swallow keep at it until it stops asking for food.

Answer 2

eat worms and then regurguatate them and feed them to your bird animal

the bird will be used to that behavour

Answer 3

If the Poor might is that young, I Think it's chances of survival are slim.

Having said that, Where there,s a will there,s a way.

You must feed soft food,as the mother would regurciate at this stage.

Try canned Sweetcorn.

Listen out for the mother bird, who may be frantically searching for her young.

But in honesty if the cat has had it ,it's probably in shock. Be prepared.

Answer 4

Basic Pigeon Care

This article is not intended to be a complete thesis on the care of pigeons in all circumstances or times.  It is merely designed as something to answer a beginner's basic questions to keeping pigeons alive and healthy. There are many pathways to the same end, but, all have similar building blocks.  I have purposely not added lots of pics and links to this article to make it more printer friendly for you.

ALL pigeons, regardless of breed, have certain needs.  These include food, water, and shelter.  The type of shelter would depend on your local environmental conditions.  Someone who lives in Alaska or northern Canada is going to need a different loft (coop) arrangement than is someone who lives in Hawaii or southern California. Someone who breeds Runts (Romans), which are the largest of all domestic pigeons, weighing in at up to 3 lbs (1.5 kg) will need more space per bird and larger nest boxes than will a breeder, who is raising Figuritas, which weigh about 6 oz. (160 g.).  If you have a heavily muffed (feather-footed) breed, you will need different perching arrangements than you would if you raised a clean-legged breed.

Let's start with food first.  Pigeons are grain eaters.   They swallow seeds whole, store them in their crops, and crush them in their gizzards with small stones, which they have also swallowed.  The choice of grains that you feed your birds will depend on your location.  In Asian countries, fanciers feed rice as a good part of the diet. In western countries, fanciers usually use wheat and milo to form the bulk of the ration.  The birds don't care.  They just need a mixed grain ration with a basic 12-15% protein.  During breeding season, this protein percentage can safely be increased to 18-20% so that the young will grow well and feather quickly.  Most areas have feed suppliers that have spent many years perfecting various mixes for pigeons and it is advisable to avail yourself of their expertise and buy from them rather than trying to mix your own ration, especially at the beginning of your pigeon breeding.  There are also some excellent pigeon pellets on the market.  These pellets are made with grain as well as with fish or other animal meals.  These additional ingredients provide necessary B vitamins to the birds. However, until the birds get used to the pellets, which are not shaped anything like a natural food, they may not eat them very well. Once they learn to handle them, however, they have no problems swallowing them. Birds fed on pellets do tend sometimes to have looser and, sometimes, smellier droppings. Various pellet formulations produce various results. I can state that youngsters reared on at least a partial pellet diet seem to grow faster and feather better than those on a straight grain diet. This may be because of the protein differences.

If you are feeding your birds on mixed grain mixes, you must also provide pigeon grit for them. This grit is a mixture of oyster shell, minerals, salts, stones and charcoal which they used to process their food.  Most manufacturers of pellets suggest that you do not feed grit with pellets since everything is included.

Water: Pigeons MUST have water every day and it must be fresh . Pigeons drink immediately after eating and then usually take a second drink, at least, about a half hour to an hour after the first.  During hot, dry spells, they drink more than during cold, wet ones -- as do we.  They will drink much more water when pellet fed than they will drink when grain fed.  When they are feeding young, they drink often since they will then go to the young and pump them full of feed and water.  Water should be supplied in such a way that the birds can not foul it with their droppings.  There are literally dozens of different watering devices available on the market. If you only have a few birds, the best ones are probably the gravity fed fountains which hold about a gallon (3.6 L).  You simply fill the fountain and invert it into his holder, which has holes cut into it in such a way that the pigeon can drink.  If you have young birds or birds new to your loft and your arrangements, you may have to dip the bird's beak into the water once or twice until it knows where to find it.  Pigeons drink by sucking up the water, not by dipping their beaks and lifting their heads to let the water run down their throat like chickens do.  Water should be changed every day!  If it gets dirty, change it as soon as you see it to be so.  Dirty water is one of the leading causes of disease.

Housing : As I indicated above, housing is more a function of location than anything else.  However, there are some absolutes.  Whatever form you choose for housing your birds, it must be secure.  Cats, dogs, and aerial or nocturnal predators must be excluded.  Pigeons need as much air flow as possible through the loft -- NOT drafts -- but airflow.  The more airflow the healthier the birds - and the breeder.  The airflow will help to remove feather dust and it will keep the birds in much better shape.  Housing should not be crowded.   That means -- DON'T CRAM BIRDS INTO IT.  There is always an urge to keep just that "1" more pair.  A rough estimate is that each bird should have about 1 cubic yard of airspace, though this can be modified if you have much airflow through the loft.  I am not going to discuss whether the front should be open or closed.  However, at least, three sides should be closed and, if you have an open side, it should face away from any prevailing storm winds.  Pigeons can handle cold if they are fed extra corn (maize) or other fat in their ration, but they cannot tolerate wetness.  Wet loft interiors usually lead to coccidiossis, an intestinal bacterial infection, and other diseases.  Loft interiors should always be bone dry.

Perches should be designed with the particular breed of bird in mind.  Many homer or roller breeders use regular box perches, while many fancy pigeon breeders of such birds as the Trumpeters and Wing Pigeons, which have large, heavy muffs, use a round perch held away from the wall by an angled arm.  Other breeders use a "V" perch.  Basically, that's two pieces of wood put together with a rounded top for the bird's comfort and hung in the loft like an upside-down V.  PIGEONS DO NOT LIKE ROUND PERCHES.   They will sit on them if nothing else is available, but they prefer flat ones.  Their ancestors dwelt on cliff sides and were not tree perchers and nesters.  If you're not handy with tools, you can buy perches already made from many of the pigeon supply companies.

Nesting arrangements: Pigeons should have a cup-shaped area to nest in.  This helps to keep the eggs from rolling out under the parents and getting cold.  Most breeders provide the birds with either paper mache nesting bowls or wood, ceramic, or plastic ones.  There is one very important fact to remember if you use the ceramic or plastic and that is they don't breathe and they may chill babies that come into direct contact with them.  There are plastic bowls specially designed now with air vents in the bottom and you can also buy pads to add to the nest for the birds.  I have easy access to long needled pines so I use those pine needles and the birds love them.  They will use various materials to nest with, straw is not a particularly good choice since it may harbor bugs.  I, personally, hate sawdust (it gets into the babies eyes and causes problems) and wood shavings tend to blow everywhere.  They also don't provide enough traction for the babies and you sometimes get spraddle legged youngsters. If you are going to use shavings, I suggest you add a bottom layer of  grit or small gravel to the bowl (about an inch or two)  (2.5 - 5 cm) before adding the shavings.  Sand usually doesn't work too well and again you often wind up with spraddle legged youngsters.  

Pigeons usually go to nest again when the first round of youngsters is about 15-20 days old.  Your nesting arrangements should be designed to allow the parents enough room to have a second nest without their having to evict the first round. A classic design for roller sized birds is to have a box-like arrangement, for example, something 2 ft x 1.5 ft. x 1.5 ft. (0.61 m x 0. 5m x 0.5m)  with a partial divider in the middle.  This divider is attached to the back wall and comes about half way forward.  This allows you to put a nest bowl on each side of it and allows the parents to claim that one box,  A good thing to do right at the beginning is to make sure you have some way of closing each nestbox if it's presently unoccupied. This will prevent one male from taking control of every empty box and causing severe disruption if you have to add a new pair to the loft.

Pigeons usually lay two eggs, though young hens and old hens may lay only one.  The first egg is laid about 4 p.m. and the second is laid two days after the first. Both parents incubate the nest, the male sits during the day from about 10 a.m. till about 5 p.m. and the hen sits the rest of the time. Incubation takes just about 18 days from the laying of the second egg.  Depending on ambient temperature, however, this may vary by a day or so either way.  

HANDLING PIGEONS One of the things that long time fanciers forget to tell new pigeon fanciers is HOW to handle the birds. There is an accepted way that works better than others, and it works to prevent the bird from accidentally escaping or being injured.

It's done this way: (I am going to describe everything for a right-handed person. If you're left handed, simply reverse.) 1. Take your right hand and turn it palm up. 2. Open the first and second fingers of your right hand like they were a pair of scissors. 3. Slide your right hand, palm up and with the first and second fingers open, under the bird its left side. Slide the birds legs between your open first and second finge

Answer 5

True fact is birds can't smell your touch. If you can put it back into the nest then by all means that's the right thing. But if you can't find the nest then read on....Then call wildlife in your area and see if it's protected by law. I don't know where your from but don't take a chance.

I researched and found this website for you. It will tell you how to care for the baby. However, if a cat has gotten it you must know that the saliva is deadly to the baby and will need antibiotic started as fast as you can. Check and see if the skin has been broken. Maybe a vet near you will give you the medicine call and find out.

Go to this website: http://www.duckpolice.org/BirdWeb/Pigeon...

I hope all works out well for you and the baby.

Answer 6

Safter you raise a pigeon by hand, you can not release it, unless their are other pigeons that will accept it into the group. And he should be fed seeds not worms. Pigeons are seed eaters. Call your local pet shops and see if they have a pigeon mix. if not then a mixture of wild bird seed. say about 1 lb add 1 cup of split peas. Like you buy at the grocery. and about 1/2 cup of rice. to the mix also get some grit parakeet will suffice for now.

make your mixture. If he can eat on his own,Great. But if you have to feed him then put some of the seed mix into water just to wet it. Then with 2 fingers grab some of the wet seed mix and open his mouth with your other hand and sort of stuff it in , a little at a time. He should catch on quickly to your feeding him.  He should be able to fly shortly, But I can't figure out why he has no tail.Also don't forget water to drink also. If he cannot drink then you can use an eye dropper to get some down his throat.

Answer 7

do u have enough time to take care of this baby bird?but plz do try ur best.anyway pigeons eat all sorts of grains,u can't give it anything that would'nt fit in its mouth!how small is it anyway?k assuming it still is yellow it can't be too big,remember that pigeons regurgitate the grains that they eat for their young,therefore u might have to wet them in water and some times mash them or better to grind its food in to powder(rice will be best) and then mix it in water and feed it using an ink filler or syringe(without needle ofcourse).hold his mouth open gently and slowly press the filler.do not push it to fast as it might go in to his lungs.during all this be very delicate with him...

Answer 8

A sensible and unsentimental answer is this: Pigeons are classified as pests, and the sensible thing to do with a pest is to destroy it humanely. In these times of high food prices and shortage, wood pigeons are eating vast quantities of grain and fruits from farmers and allotmenteers. Town pigeons cost you and me millions in cleaning up their polluting filth.

The stupid and sentimental answer would be: Try and nurse the poor little thing until it can fly. Feed it with grubs or mashed up insects mixed with fruits (vitamin C). Keep it warm and comfortable. If possible, coo to it to comfort and reassure it. Regularly stroke its rear end to stimulate it to defecate (that's what the mother birds do).

Grubs = immature stages of insect, and not worms. Obviously some people don't know English or biology or the countryside. Seems that they are opting for the stupid and sentimental answer.

Answer 9

Dalli obviously doesn't know anything about pigeons and Jim obviously didn't read your question. A bird that young will be very difficult to care for, but not impossible. Make sure you keep it warm, if it doesn't have any feathers yet it cannot regulate its own body temperature. Don't feed it worms, worms can carry parasites and pigeons don't eat worms anyway. At that age it won't be eating seeds yet, either. See if any of the pet stores in your area sell formula made for baby parrots--since parrots and pigeons both eat seeds it will work just as well. Also, don't let the bird come in contact with your spit, human saliva has bacteria that could kill it. This goes doubly for cat spit.

fuzzhead_smurf actually had an excellent answer to a similar question; you can read his answer at http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

Also, if there are any pigeon groups or clubs in your area, try contacting them for advice on how to raise a baby pigeon.