Hi - I'm new to this forum having been recommended by Cynthia. She's been a huge help.

A baby wood pigeon fell out of the tree in the high winds on 25th August. He was only about 6 days old, but we thankfully found Cynthia's website which showed us what to do. He's now a gorgous little chap (or lady - how do you tell?) and sits on my shoulder.

We're going to keep him and hopefully find him some mates to pop in a large aviary in our garden as he's too tame to let go.

The thing is, I'm still bottle feeding him. Cynthia told me that hers were pecking at a very young age, but little Tweaty just picks it up and drops it again. I've tried pecking with my fingers and he seems to want to copy, and I've tried making him hungry so he's got to feed himself, but then I get worried he's too hungry and give in. At which time he goes mad at the bottle.

Please help!

Wendy
x

Wendy!!!

I think you should not be too worried about this yet. Some start earlier, some later. Perhaps you could try taking unshelled sunflower seeds between two fingernails and offer him to eat this way. I have done this with our little ones and realized when they fail to pick it up from your fingers they try to pick it up themselves from the floor. Give it a try and have patience. It will work over time...
Our Pina even picked the seeds from between my teeth!!!! :That\\\'s so f

Hi Wendy,

I am so glad you have joined us, I started a welcome thread for you here :

Welcome Little Fledgling

Wood pigeons learn a lot from other wood pigeons (as do ferals), you can often see them watching the adults pick up seed and swallow it. Once Tweaty has friends he will be able to observe them and learn.

What you could try is to slip Tweaty's beak between your fingers to encourage him to gape and pop warm defrosted peas into his mouth when it is open. Once he gets the taste for them, let him see you pick up each pea before he gapes, so that he associates you "pecking" with the food. If he doesn't like the peas, try it with something else that he likes.

Tweetywood was older than Tweaty whan he arrived and still needed a bit of weaning and readjustment (he had been eating porridge, spaghetti and bananas) but once he was in the aviary, surrounded by pecking birds , he learnt very quickly!

Thanks so much for your reply. He's just been having a go at picking bits out the bottom of his water bowl, then dropping them, looking at them thinking mmmmm.... is that food, and having another go at pecking them.

How do you tell if he's hungry or just picking (or pecking ha!)? I notice his crop always looks more rounded after he's had a bottle feed, and in the mornings you can see his sternum quite obviously when he's not eaten all night. Is there another way to tell - I don't want him suffering. Very nervous about all this at the moment - like a new mother!!


Wend
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Hi Cynthia - I was posting the same time as you! Thanks for that little tip. I have a freezer full of frozen peas, so will give him a go this afternoon. He's flying around our summer house at the moment - he was desperate to get out of his cage.

We must get sorted on that aviary - will ring the chap tonight as he's not got back to me yet.

Wend
x

PS. Thanks for my welcome - I feel honoured!

Hi Wendy,


When they are bottle fed, or fed by their parents, they get their food in one go, so the crop shows as full, but in the wild they forage so the crop t has food going through all the time and empties completely at night. The best way to tell if they are getting enough food is to weigh them at the same time every day.

When I am concerned about whether a pigeon is eating enough I give them a good top up when they go to bed as I can't bear to think they might be hungry during the night, when there is nothing that they can do about it.

Cynthia

Thanks Cynthia - that's a help.

What should he be eating now - I've still got him on chick crumbs, but with some wild bird food mixed in (it's got maize, corn, etc in it, but the bits aren't too large).

x

That recipe sounds fine!

Cynthia

Sorry for all the questions.

What a cutie!!!!!

We had the same issue with one of our ferals... It wasn't until Cindy mentioned that I should try a baby nipple and put the peas inside, DID we have success. It wasn't as frustrating for him. He could move the peas only so far and the he would gobble them all up a nd the nipple was soft and didn't scare him....he hated pecking at the hard dish....lol.... PICKY... picky After that he realized what that meant and slowly I added seed and then put the nipple in his cage... soon enough he was a champ at eating on his own.

Best of Luck and

Thanks - that's a great idea. All this help, it's wonderful!

Another question how do I insert an image?

I'm not getting any work done this afternoon

Hi - done my pics - hope that you can find them. There are only two.

Good luck.
Wend.