Hi
I have a baby pigeon he is about 11 days old, the parents have cared for it but they now seem to fly off to somewhere else and it is hours before they come back. At the moment it is only the dad that feeds him. They don't seem to go into the nest for long only to feed it now and then, they then fly off again. At the moment they don't seem to be keeping the chick warm, can some one tell me if this is common or not and what can be done to help the little chick?

Depends on exactly how much it is fed...do you want to feed it?

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It looks as though I will have to feed the chick, he is about 19 days old. The mum doesn't want to know the baby, the dad did feed the chick but he flew off yesterday and it has been hours since he has been back to feed the chick. Does anyone know how to feed him and what to give him? I just found that one of my other males have started to attack the chick.

Mix grated hard boiled egg with water and wholemeal bread or cake and roll into pellets...not too sloppy...sit the chick firmly on your lap and if it refuses to gape... gently squeeze the sides of it's beak between thumb and forefinger...insert pellet to back of throat.Not the ideal diet but I have raised many pigeon squabs on just this.

My first was called 'Scruffy' because his chest feathers were stiff with excess food

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Hi Poohdog. Many thanks for that, I'll start making it up now. Do the pellets need to be the size of a pea or smaller and when I place one in the chicks mouth would it automatically go down the right side of the birds mouth also how many times should the chick be fed and how many pellets do I give him?

Depends on size of bird...just try it out..feed as often as the bird is interested.No set rules ...you'll have to see how the bird reacts.Encourage the bird to take extra water by immersing the beak in a dish.It will catch on eventually.Pigeons and doves have the ability to suck...most birds have to raise their heads to swallow.

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Thanks Poohdog. We maneged to get 6-10 small pellets of mixture down the chick, I think he also had some water as well. Thank you again for your help, I will let you know how he goes.

When he's had enough you will feel the birds crop is full...good luck.If the bird is healthy it should make it.Vary the diet occasionally...a hand rearing formula should be available in any good pet store.The day the bird starts to peck at food on it's own you're home and dry.

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Thanks poohdog. I'm keeping up with feeding the chick and he is doing ok. Thank you very much for such a brilliant idea! Rounghly how old would the chick be when it starts being able to feed on his own?

3/4 weeks it will start to peck at anything in front of it...suggest hard boiled egg grated...it will pick that up and swallow by accident so get used to feeding...more likely than with seed as it has no adults to copy.

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