Q&A Hand - Feeding Baby Doves Here you will find: Descriptions and instructions on chick care and the tools need, Methods of care and hand feeding, Formulas to purchase and to make yourself and Contacts for other information, advise and further help. "Tonight when our family got home my husband noticed that our doves' two eggs were both broken open and laying in the bottom of the cage. After careful examination of the cage we found the two babies also lying in the bottom. Unfortunately one died but the other was still (struggling) alive. We have since (creatively) created an incubator for the night and have been attempting to feed the baby dove warm water that was mixed with mashed up dove food. We have absolutely NO idea what we're doing and don't want to lose this baby dove if we don't have to. Could you please take a few moments to share your wisdom so that we can save our "baby?" "Has anyone hand raised squabs from the time they've hatched? I have a baby here that has lost it's parents. I've heard that it's possible to hand raise them on pablum(?) but that it's very tricky
and you have to get the milk into a certain part or side of the beak or you could kill the baby.. Can anyone tell me how to raise this baby? How much food, how often, and how to feed it? Any advise
would really be appreciated, I hate to see it starve."
Note: Chill is very, very dangerous for young chicks. They must be kept warm, 85 degrees F. at least. If you find a chilled chick, warm it immediately and before trying to reintroduce back to the parents or feeding it.
A) You will have to keep chicks warm all the time. In the winter I have a ledge over top of a baseboard heater where I sometimes set a small box or shoe box with a baby bird. You also have to put a nest pad or some material in the bottom so that the baby does not get splayed legs (very, very important). You can use a small carrier fixed as a hospital cage with sides blocked to keep the heat in and a light bulb or heat lamp over the top. Of course, a brooder box is the thing to have if you have one. If you just use a regular heat source you will also need to put a cloth towel right on top of the baby. They must be kept very warm, (85 degrees F. minimum) or they will die from the cold even if it is not cold to you. After all, they are use to having the mother bird set on top of them with their body heat. You will have to feed about four times a day and then decrease to maybe two times as they get older.
Hi, (this is looong sorry!)
As I posted before I have hand raised many squabs but I see from the answers to you from others here, you may have an idea on what to do. There is one thing that you should know if you (or anyone) breeds birds. Have a baby "emergency kit" ready on hand and ready to use.In it you'll need:
A brooder: Easy to make from the medium or large sized molded Plastic "Kritter Keepers" available at almost any pet store. You'll need two. One 15 watt submersable fish tank heater. Fill one Keeper about a
third to 1/2 of the way with luke warm water. Put the heater on the bottom, set the other Keeper on top, so it sits in the water. Plug the heater in, a little red light will come on telling you it is working. Even if it is on the highest setting its not going to melt the plastic. For a really warm brooder place a light towl on top and wrap
one around the sides. From time to time touch the side to see if it is warm. Put about an inch of Pine shavings on the bottom. Towels get dirty too fast and you'll be washing them all the time. DO NOT use Cedar shavings. Change often. Now you have warm nest for your squabs (or whatever). Place the plastic lid on top. It is "vented" for air. Store away the other top. This home made "water brooder" should cost around $50.00 total. If it
saves lives its worth the expense. I have two $800.00 digitally controled brooders but I only trust the water brooders for very young birds. Been using them for years.
Also, in the kit you'll need Handfeeding Formula. I use Exact, nothing else, nothing added. I PREFER the Macaw formula over the regular Formula. Now the only tool I use to feed baby pigeons is a O-Ring syringe. 1cc for very young, larger ones for older birds. Its not rocket science, anyone can handfeed once you do it a couple of times. You'll get a routine. My husband and I both feed differently. I feed fast, he goes slower. Just make sure you fill the "bag" and not so much as to start going up the throat. You'll see what I mean. Baby Pigeons will wean faster than any other bird that I know. I've had them weaned off of formula before their pinfeahers have all opened. When they are pretty much feathered I move them to a cage and present water, by sticking their head in it-Once is usually enough- and regular Pigeon Food in a bowl. I have a "tutor" sometimes with them- usually a dove or a docile adult pigeon to show them how to pick seed. If I go to feed and their crop is full of little round things I don't feed them. Done. They may beg, but they usually beg as they are eating. Some babys are very, very fast, others take a bit more time. I have handfed at least a thousand birds of all kinds, pigeons are pretty darn easy. Don't make it hard on yourself. Good luck.
[Darlene]Thanks for your great advice to the list on brooders, hand feeding, etc. I'll add one more point - when your doves are learning to eat on their own, put your fist next to them making a hook out of your index finger. Tap your index finger up & down in the seed. This acts as the same tutor as an adult dove being in with them pecking at seed. When I do this, my young ones start pecking at the seed almost immediately. Also, doves/pigeons usually drink right after eating so dip your youngs head in water at that time. [Ron]
Methods of Feeding: A) Just a suggestion but you might want to try mixing your hand feeding formula in a Dixie cup and poking a small hole about 1/3 of the way up. Then insert the babies beak into the hole to stimulate him to eat. You can also mix a little pedialyte in the formula in place of water if it is weak. I am a wildlife rehaber and all the area vets and rehabers bring me there orphaned mourning doves and rock pigeons because I am the only person in our area that has any luck. My success has been good with this method.
B) I've been involved with the care and feeding of doves long enough that I decided to see if there were any fellow Columbidophiles out there in Netland--voila! I have hand raised several little Columbidae with a method I discovered after watching the way normal infants feed from their parents--It's natural for the baby to stick its beak in the parent's mouth, and NOT the other way around! So one day, I had an idea--I snipped the little finger off a latex rubber surgical glove, and filled it with Roudybush Avian Infant Formula, so the wee one could get his or her little beak inside the surrogate parent and gulp the formula--worked like a charm for both pigeon and dove babies--they took to that rubber feed bag like college freshmen to beer kegs! Remember that instinctively, they are terrified to have something forced down THEIR throats--they put THEIR beaks in the PARENT'S throats!--And syringe feeding a tiny dove is risky--I know-- I have accidentally drowned one by missing the crop and hitting the larynx--it was a horrifying experience--That's why I was so determined to find a better way--So if you try this rubber feed bag method, I think you'll have the same results I did. As they get older, switch over to a mixture of Roudybush and Abba Green infant formula in a drinkable slurry, then fully to Abba Green--they should self-wean at about three and a half to four weeks--but they'll never forget you.
C) Mix small seed with a little water and pour it off. Put the slurry in a tiny container and hold it up to the bird and see if it will eat that way. If not, you carefully open the beak - hold it open with the two fingers of one hand, and put the damp seed in with your other two fingers and continue the process until you can feel seed in the crop. After that you will need to continuously keep offering it water -- It may not be drinking either. CAREFUL not to break the beak they are very soft at that age.
D) Hi, I just wanted to tell you about something I discovered when caring for abandoned ring neck babies. Since doves are one of the few birds that can "suck" up water, that is, they don't have to tip their heads back to get the water to flow down, I tried something different with my babies. I was having a hard time feeding them with an eye dropper or syringe. I made a "slurry" ( whole wheat bread mixed with warm water to make a kind of soup) and filled a shot glass with the mixture. Then I pushed the doves beak into the glass. One little guy actually shoved his whole head into the mixture and sucked up the slurry. They seem to get really excited about this. I have also held them with a soft rag and made a little hole to the shot glass, to give them the sensation of putting their heads down mom/dad's throat. They do real well with this also. Good Luck! [Linda]
E) As they get older, switch over to a mixture of Roudybush and Abba Green infant formula in a drinkable slurry, then fully to Abba Green--they should self-wean at about three and a half to four weeks--but they'll never forget you.
F) Seven to Ten Days Old Chick: If you don't have baby-bird formula - try force feeding it millet, and water - (with a syringe). I've done this with ringnecks around 10 days old when parents deserted them, it's incredibly easy to do! [David]
G)
Formulas Many people I have spoken to use Exact - Hand feeding formula and swear by it. If you cannot find Exact, here are some other methods:
Miscellaneous Formulas Used:
A) Here is an old one I used to use before Exact. This one you make up yourself. Blend these very, very well. [Whitedove]
1. One half cup kitten chow (soaked in 8 oz of hot water add 4 ml of avitron or avimen vitamins)
2. one half cup Prosobee or Isomil (at use concentration)
3. one half cup Hi Protein Baby cereal dry flakes.
4. one half a teaspoon bene bacB) If you can't find the Excel or other more modern formulae, try Gerber's Meat Base Baby formula. I used it successfully in the 1950's to raise incubator hatchlings of both ringneck doves and pigeons. [...wjm]
C) I have hand raised many orphan baby birds. Exact is very good. I have several other methods I have used over the years. This one is a little tricky but you might want to try it if the baby does not eat on it's own, get a plastic eye dropper one with a smooth tapered end, insert it in babies beak down the right side avoiding the glottis the opening to the lungs, it is a small hole on the back of the babies tongue do not let any thing get in there! I have the feeding amounts for different ages of babies.
Newborn: 5 to 8ml, 3 to 4 hours apart, 5 feedings a day.
Nestling: 15 to 20ml, every 4 hours, 5 feedings a day.
Fledgling: 25 to 35ml, every 4 hours, 4 times a day.If you have a gram scale and can weigh the bird that would be good. Always check the crop to make sure you are not over feeding and make sure the food is gone from the last feeding. You do not want a hard crop (that is bad) it should feel soft like a marshmallow.
And always, always rehydrate your baby before you start any food for the first time and never feed a cold baby make sure it's core body temperature is up. I use pedilite, or infalite for human children. You can find it in any drug store. And always make sure the crop is almost empty before you give more food.
I place my babies in a berry basket from the grocery store I line it first with paper towels making sure there is no were for baby to wiggle out,than I put layers of tissues white only in the bottom and all along the sides until there is just a cup left in the center, for the baby to sit nice and snug, than I place a tissue on top. I put
them in a box with a heating pad set on low and a tea towel on the heating pad, so it does not get to hot I also put a thermometer in the basket with the baby. Keep them around 90 Degrees at first.I also have some other formulas and feeding ways, one is a dry formula, you form it into little balls like peas than you just pop them into there mouths, very easy you just have to let the baby have lots of water, I can give you more details on this if you want. And easy ways of opening the beak. [Good Luck, Whitedove]
Pigeon Balls:
Here is my formula for pigeon balls, the only problem with this is your fingers get cramped making all the little peas. Judge the size of your peas by the size of the mouth. Also give 1 droplet of avitron directly into the mouth per day. [Hope this helps, Whitedove]
1) 1 hardboiled egg yoke mashed
2) 1 Tablespoon baby cereal, flakes
3) 1 Tablespoon oatmeal
4) 1 Tablespoon cornmeal
5) 1 Tablespoon turkey starter
6) 1 Tablespoon PetamineForm into pea size balls to put into mouth feed three to four times a day. The pigeon should be offered alot of water, Put the beak in to a cup of water, keeping the nostrils dry and let them drink.
Feel the crop as you feed the bird do not over fill, you want a soft full crop not hard, if it gets hard you will have to rehydrate the bird.
This is also good when they are starting to pick on their own, you roll the balls around and they start going after them and eventually pick them up on their own.
To get the beak open put gentle pressure on the flanges, you want the baby to think it is eating from moms mouth, make a v with your fingers come from the top or once you get better at it you can come from the bottom once the baby catches on to this they will open as soon as you touch the flanges.
D) Try mixing a hard boiled egg, some carrot,and oatmeal or corn flakes or cornmeal in blender with a little water. I've done this with my babies when I ran out of formula and it worked just fine. Use syringe or teaspoon and make sure mixture is is nice and warm.
E)
Links and Other Contacts Click Here to go to a Great Formula by Chelle Plasse found on John Pire's International Dove Society Site
Click Here to go to John Pire's International Dove Society for further tips and helpful information.
Click Here to go to Charlie's Bird House. Helen has been a tremendous help to birds and people alike.