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Shaner316 Loyal user St. Catharines, ON. Canada 213 Posts |
I just got a baby dove out of my sister-in-laws tree.(Mourning Dove) The father and one of the babies had been killed and the mom (i am assuming it's the mom) was really beat up as well. Not wanting them to get attacked again, I though I would try to save them.
She had clumps of feathers missing and lots of scratches on her. I tried to get the nest with the baby and the mother and unfortunately was not quite quick enough to grab her. I guess that's what happens when you already have the nest in one hand. Anyway, I put the nest on the ground, hoping the mom would come back. She never did. After hours of waiting, It was getting quite dark and cold so I brought the baby and the nest to my house. I had read in on of my dove books that doves make pretty good foster parents, so I placed it in my big cage with 3 of my birds, hoping that they will take care of it. I am going out first thing in the morning to get an eyedropper and some cat formula (I can't seem to remember where I heard that from) and hopefully get this guy through. If anyone has any advice it would be greatly appreciated. |
1906Alpha1906 Special user North Cacky Lack 516 Posts |
Hey Shaner316 - if I were you, I would take the dove to the Vet where they can properly treat the baby bird because mourning doves are different than your ringnecks. If, by chance, the mourning dove has some type of disease or illness which some wild birds do, it will easily spread to your doves, and you can possibly lose your doves to sickness. I learned this the hard way when I had an aviary outside and the wild mourning doves got all of my doves sick. As difficult as it may seem by leaving the wild birds alone, that probably may have been the right choice, but since you have already taken action (which I am sure we all would done), you may want to seperate that baby dove out. See, when you brought in the whole nest, you also brought in the wild doves feces (waste-poop), and that can destroy other birds if they pick at it like they do seeds, and ingest it. When birds get sick, they all get sick, so be very careful. Its also a possibility too that the baby could have mites or other little things on it that you don't know about. You may just want to make a trip to the vet or some animal shelter where they can take care of it, OR, get another small cage, and hand feed the bird yourself until its ready to be released. Hope this helps some!
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Shaner316 Loyal user St. Catharines, ON. Canada 213 Posts |
Good Idea. I have already seperated them and placed the baby in my spare cage. Hopefully everything goes well. I will keep you updated.
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JustinDavid Veteran user 370 Posts |
Hey Shaner - there are formulas you can buy at pet stores for hand rearing baby birds. It's a powder that you mix with water, and the directions are in the bag. What I suggest is go to a Petsmart, they are trained (I used to work there) to hand feed the birds that come in, and they have to be good at it in order to do it.
They are probably better than most vets, as most vets aren't avian. Time is precious with them - good luck. Jusitn |
paulapaul Regular user Nevada 173 Posts |
Hi, 316. My husband and I have raised hundreds of baby birds, dozens of species. There are some things that you can count on, no matter the type of bird. Here are a few notes:
For the baby’s safety and comfort, plus easy clean-up ... We kept babies in aquariums until they had the coordination to manage the bars of the cage floor and a perch. White paper (preferably not newspaper, not kleenex) is torn in slim strips, and goes on to the aquariums floor (minus any floor grill). A paper towel is set on top of the paper strips, covering them. Easy to just pick up the paper towel and replace with a clean one. When baby is big enough to graduate to a perch, keep the perch low, so they can get on & off in their little baby way, and so they don’t have too far to fall. Once they can stay on a perch pretty well, they can move to a cage. Just check to make sure that the floor grid isn’t too big for their claws. As for hand feeding, the formula made for baby birds can be served a little warm …and a pet shop can instruct you on using syringe, eyedropper or spoon. Spoon may be the safest, the least likely to accidentally fill the dove's lungs (but probably the messiest!). It's easy once you get the hang of it, just take your time - be careful. In addition, ask the associate at the pet store to help you put your fingers on the bird’s crop. Before leaving, make sure you are comfortable that you can find the crop on your own. (Crop: A pouch like enlargement of a bird's gullet in which food is partially digested or stored for regurgitation to nestlings. A few people will say “Craw” pronounced croh) . You’ll be checking its crop during its periods of hand feeding and weaning. Checking his/her crop is something you will do many times once it is an adult, too. If he must be transported, we like using a brown paper bag. If there are sudden stops or quick movements, the bag has a soft, pliable surface for the baby to go into. Even though we keep the bag on our laps, I still put big, crazy markings on the bag so no one will sit on it. (Using Magic Marker? Let it dry, so baby won’t get stoned.) Does he have any feathers yet? Or, does he look like a turtle, or, maybe the in-between, turtle covered with spikes?. If you plan on handling him, you can “groom” those spikes, breaking out his feathers. Just press easily on the brittle shell around the feather, and work it off gently. Just don’t get close to feather base at his body, if you can still see blood inside the feather. And do not touch any full blood feathers, in which you can see the blood fill the entire inside of the feather. If you intend to nurture and release, please call a bird society. There may be really specific things that should and should not be done, to make sure he is viable in the wild. You wouldn’t want to interfere with his chances of survival if he goes out on his own. Or, he might make a really good pet, assistant or both! Either way, a baby is soooooooooooo ugly, it’s cute, and you’ll enjoy the experience. Good luck! Cordially, Paula |
Shaner316 Loyal user St. Catharines, ON. Canada 213 Posts |
Ya he is ugly but cute. His feathers are mostly pin feathers, with a very small amount of actual feathers starting to form. He had his first feeding this morning. He was a bit nervous with me (rightfully so) but did end up eating a bit. Ill try feeding him in another few hours.
Thanks for all the help and advice, Shane |
paulapaul Regular user Nevada 173 Posts |
Yes! Pin feathers, that’s it! Ha.Ha. I had a baby once who backed up, all around his aquarium when he needed to poop. He would back, and back, and back, then move his little hind end side to side, then do his business. Just thinking about your naked baby bird with pins all over makes me rember that silly boy backing up. Ya made me laugh!
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Shaner316 Loyal user St. Catharines, ON. Canada 213 Posts |
I was able to catch the mother (or father, I'm not sure which) so the baby has one parent at least with him. Even though it is really beat up. Absolutely no tail feathers at all and the feathers in its chest have been pulled out in several spots. Hopefully he comes along ok too. He seems healthy and strong, despite how he looks.
One question though. Can one parent sufficiently feed the baby or should I continue with the hand feeding? |
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