new born pigeons and how to raise them?

Question
Hi Chrys
My husband has bought pigeons that drill down when they fly and you drop them.. I hope you know what i mean?
Anyway two of them had eggs and two hatched into tiny tiny little pigeons. Anyway that was only a few days ago and today Brett found one dead and one barely alive as the parents werent looking after them and not keeping them warm enough. The one which was barely alive was placed on top of the ducted heating and came good as soon as he warmed up. Now i have him in a towel in a shoe box with the heating on to keep him warm enough, i went down to the chemist and bought a medicine despenser so i can feed him and give him water.. Hes just so small and so young and now we have picked him up the parents will reject him so i want to raise him by hand and when he's old enough he can go back outside with the others.. Can you please please give me some tips or advice anything as i really dont want him to die!

Answer
Hi, Ema,

It is not true that you can't put a bird back with its parents once you've touched it.  This is a myth.  You can and should try to see if the parents will accept this baby back.  However, if its been a couple days since the baby has been away from its parents, they may not accept it because of this reason only...not because you've touched it.  The parents may not have cared for these babies because they know there is something wrong with them.  Birds know these things long before we know and they will neglect offspring that are ill, etc., because they know they won't live anyway.  This is Mother Nature.  

Now that you've taken this baby away from its parents, you need to handfeed it with baby parrot handfeeding formula and a handfeeding syringe.  The baby will need to be kept at about 98 degrees F constantly until it has some feathering to keep itself warm.  Visit my website for more information on handfeeding formula, making a brooder, etc.  Although my website is for parrots, the information on handfeeding, making a brooder, etc., applies to baby pigeons, too.  You'll need to handfeed this baby whenever its crop becomes empty.  Follow directions on the back of the handfeeding formula package for mixing the food.  www.angelfire.com/falcon/birdinfo/index.html

Come back with any additional questions.  I've raised many, many baby pigeons from hatching and you can certainly do it as long as the baby doesn't have internal medical problems you aren't aware of!

Chrys