# struggling to wean baby pigeon



## Phoenix24

Is anyone on here familiar with hand-rearing pigeons?

I have had this baby now since it was approx a week old, and is now approx just over 6 weeks old, and I can't seem to get it to wean.

It began pecking at seed about 10 days ago, but despite efforts to get it interested, and despite popping seeds and warm peas down its throat, the most it will do is pick up and chuck around seed, and maybe swallow the odd very small bit.

I've dropped hand feeding right down to once a day, to just in the evening to get it through the night. I know it is capable of drinking, and I know it knows where the water is because it had terrific fun bathing in there at the weekend, but swallowing its own food? Nope. 

If I put food in its beak it just spits it out (I have to pop food right into the back of its mouth to get it to swallow).

Please, please someone out there tell me it won't go on like this forever - I have no intention of keeping it (it's a wild woodpigeon) but I obviously don't want it to starve to death in the mean time - and I can't release it until it is self feeding!

*Despair* It's keeping me up at night the stress of the darn thing!!!


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## Lurcherlad

I suggest you contact a Wildlife hospital. They will be able to give you some advice. 

You can find one on google


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## poohdog

I raised a wood pigeon as a lad over fifty years ago...Can't remember exactly but it started feeding itself at the age of yours.It would help if you could find someone with pigeons or doves that it could stay with for a while so that it could copy the adults.
A dish of soaked/sprouted seed might gain it's interest or some softer food mix.Have you tried smaller seeds like a finch mix with millet?


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## Phoenix24

I have tried allsorts Poohdog. I contacted a pigeon rehabilitator and they gave me the same advice I have read on the web. Warm peas (corn for other species), tapping the food etc, seeds ranging from millet, canary seed, chicken grain/corn, wild bird, shelled and unshelled sunflower, pigeon mix (with larger grains and dried peas). It picks food up for sure, but I have only ever seen it swallow the small red grains you see in wild bird mix. Its like it can't be bothered/is too stupid (sorry, my irritation is showing through) to try swallowing anything larger.

I have an adult in as well that is recovering from having half its feathers ripped out. Problem is that one is shy so I never see it eating, and i'm not sure that is eating much either.

They're both in a pen outside (so the adult can have peace) and wild pigeons are in the garden all day long feeding - i'm tempted to put a dish outside the cage to get the wild birds to eat there and really get the baby bird jealous. 

I have raised older babies before, and had no trouble getting them off formula and onto seed. And in a rescue centre I trained in in the USA I never heard of the pigeons not gobbling down seed as soon as they were given it. 

I know I need to be patient, but goodness me this one is really pushing me to my limits. 

Anyone pass me a chill pill? LOL.


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## Phoenix24

Well a small update. It's been self feeding since my last post, but there are still issues with eating seed. I have seen it swallow sunflower hearts, but only a very few. All other seeds it picks up, mouths it for a bit, then drops it without swallowing. I'm concerned that it might not be picking up any grit, too.

What it will swallow, reasonably well, are the warm peas (if they aren't too big, or I squashed them) and is very keen on clover leaf (if I pull the stalks off) and other bits of vegetation I pick from the lawn.

Going to move the pen onto the lawn and try it 'free grazing', but i'm sure that what its eating isn't enough, its not gained any weight at all since I withdrew formula.

The adult bird is now eating away quite happily, thank goodness. I keep hoping the young bird will watch it and copy it. I even have a table of seed outside the pen so all the wild birds come down. Baby bird isn't begging any more, so i think the issue is that its simply incapable of connecting food in the tip of its beak to a nice full tummy, or else really is unwilling to swallow seed?


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## Berit Blackie

I have exactly the same problem; identical age + spitting all other seeds out, apart from the tiniest ones. Please can you tell me if you found a solution to the self feeding? Many thanks. 
Berit


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