Feeding a fallen feral pigeon

With the weather getting warmer and the arrival of spring Orphan Room will soon be full of nestlings all requiring and demanding specialist care. Walking into orphan room today I noticed an incubator had been set up and inside were two feral pigeon nestlings squeaking at me expectantly. 

Unfortunately they had fallen from their nest outside a supermarket in Chester, possibly a bit too keen to start exploring. In this case they could not be returned to the nest and would have been vulnerable to predation if left alone so they were brought in to us. Normally they would get pigeon milk which is regurgitated food from their mother- they don’t complain about eating their greens!

Not yet old enough to eat solids on their own we need to crop tube them which is syringe a specialised formula directly into their crop. At the moment they are fed 4 times a day but as they grow this will be reduced to three times then twice daily at larger quantities. The orphans will be tube fed until they start pecking and eating seed on their own.  Each time before tube feeding their crop is checked to see if they have digested the mixture from the previous feed or have started eating so they are not given too much.

                                        

Once they are ready they will be released at a suitable site with plenty of food resources and shelter to give them a good start and a better chance of survival.   

                                                   

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