baby pigeon

Question
Hi. Thank you for your time. I have a three week old baby pigeon that I have hand raised from day one. When should I start to wean it? I'm thinking 4 weeks and what is the easiest way to do this? Thank you. Beth

Answer
Hi Beth

It's always so fun raising baby pigeons, isn't it? You feed it, clean up after it, and your a lot like it's parent. But it's kinda hard when you have to let them go, unless you keep it, of course.

Anyways, back to your question. Whenever I hand feed pigeons I usually wait until the third week to do anything. To start the weaning process I offer some seeds in where the baby pigeon is kept. Just scatter them around the floor and your bird will start to peck around and at them. At every feeding push a couple of seeds down the pigeons throat so he gets the idea of what he has to do. This won't hurt him at all. Also, before you offer the formula, hold a handful of seeds in front of the bird so he pecks at them before his crop is full and he isn't interested in it anymore. Offer less frequent feedings with less formula and more seeds over a period of about two weeks. You should see him pecking at and eating the seeds in his cage all throughout the day. Don't just stop feeding formula because the bird still needs the nutrients until he can almost fly. When you are 100% sure that he is eating seed all the time and filling his crop up with it then you can stop the formula feeding. But watch him very carefully the next few days because switching from formula/seed to just seed can be traumatic to some hand-raised birds and it can be a stressful time for them. Always feel his crop to make sure he's eating and if he seems lathargic or his crop is empty then offer formula/seed feedings again. Not to scare you though, as most pigeons are fine throughout the whole weaning process. Oh, I forgot to mention that as soon as you start offering seeds, MAKE SURE THERE IS FRESH WATER IN THE CAGE AT ALL TIMES!!! Seeds can lodge in the dry throat and can choke them.

Well, I hoped this helped a bit, and I hope your pigeon weans fine, which I'm sure he will. I've hand raised hundreds of birds and only two that I can think of died while in my care (one from crop impaction(giving too much food) and one for some unknown reason). Anyways, good luck, and I hope all goes well!