Females and males of pigeons have a good parental instinct, so human participation is usually not required when hatching. Parents feed their chicks perfectly and look after them. However, there are situations when newborn chicks are orphaned. What are the breeders to feed them, and what feeding rules to follow so that the chick does not die, we will understand further.
Why do chicks require special food?
Chicks, who from the first days of their lives remain with one parent, most often die from a lack of food on the 9th day. In the event of the loss of two parents at once, the entire brood dies on the first day. This is due to several reasons at once:
- In the first week of life, the chicks feed on maternal bird "milk" - a semi-liquid porridge. The curd secret in the female is produced by the glands of goiter. Pigeon "milk" is so nutritious that after 2 days the weight of the chick is doubled. It is unrealistic to make an identical “bird milk” on your own, so it is quite difficult for a chick to survive without parents.
- Pigeons are born helpless, blind, bald, and therefore completely dependent on their parents, and in their absence, on a person. Their head is disproportionately large in relation to the body, so they also can not stand on their paws. At the same time, their beak is huge and constantly open - the chicks are distinguished by excellent appetite and require a lot of food. However, the most powerful doves manage to survive, who can adapt to a new feed for them.
A person can come to the aid of babies in a timely manner and feed them, but even in this case, their mortality in the first week from birth is very high.
Diet for the first week
In order for the nestling to survive in the first week of its life without parents, it will be necessary to feed it with products that are similar in composition and calorie content to the pigeon “milk”. How is the very first "baby food" doves formed? It happens as follows:
- An eructated porridge, which consists of crushed grains, passes from the stomach of the female to goiter. There it is mixed with a secret - a milky liquid.
- Thick cereal from grains becomes liquid and digestible, that is, the action of pigeon "milk" is similar to the action of human saliva or any mammal.
- After 4 days, heavily softened grains the size of a hemp seed and a small amount of particles of sand already enter the parent's goiter. This is the natural "baby food" of the chicks.
It is impossible for a person to create the same food, so you have to look for the closest possible analogues. The best options for replacing it are:
- Chicken Yolk. Ideal food for a newborn chick, because it has a balanced concentration of nutrients. It is given in a heated form.
- Combined or starting composition for feeding chicks. The dry mixture must be steamed with boiling water and diluted to the desired consistency - a mushy mass. Giving it also in a warm form. This is an acceptable option, but nutritionally and caloric inferior to chicken yolk.
Some pigeon breeders use baby dry mixes to feed the chicks, but experts categorically forbid feeding them to the younger generation, since they do not suit them either in terms of substance or structure.
The yolk or divorced composition of the chicks should be fed at least 6 times a day, since their metabolic rate is very high. The difficulty lies in the fact that in the first week the chicks cannot eat on their own - in nature, the female belches food directly into the baby's beak. For a man, it is better to use disposable syringes of 10-20 cubic meters for feeding pigeons. cm or pipette, proceeding as follows:
- In the syringe (pipette) to collect food.
- Put a pacifier on the tip of the instrument.
- Insert the pacifier into the beak of the blueberry and gently squeeze out the necessary portion of food.
A person needs to pay special attention to putting the nipples into the beak. This is a rather complicated process, in which you can’t act forcefully, since you can easily injure the beak. What to do? You can take advantage of a little trick - before feeding a finger, touch the head of the chick several times. This will be enough for him to raise his beak and open it.
The fact is that this is a natural reaction of all pigeons: at first they are deprived of sight and hearing, so parents give them a signal about the readiness of feeding. They gently tap their heads on their heads with their beak, and the chicks open their beaks. A similar ritual can be performed by a person.
If you choose the right food and act carefully, newborn chicks will not die, but will be able to survive the first 18-20 hours. After that, they must be taught to eat on their own, otherwise they will not gain weight well and will lag behind in development. So that they can eat without human help, put on a rubber nipple on a syringe and make a cut at an angle of 45 °. The hole should be of such a size that the chick can stick its beak in and start eating on its own.
Diet for the second week
From the second week, mortality among chicks drops significantly. Pigeons open their eyes on the eighth day, they have better hearing, plumage appears. It is necessary to continue to feed them properly so that they gain mass faster and develop. In addition, from the second week, they begin to prepare the chicks for "adult" food.
Starting from 9-10 days, the female stops feeding babies a mushy mass from the stomach. Now in their diet softened grain from mother's goiter and a large amount of water. Gradually, parents spend less time swelling cereals in their goiter. Throughout this time, the activity of the glands does not stop, but gradually it decreases, so the amount of synthesized "milk" is reduced.
Artificial chicks are introduced cereals:
- barley;
- peas;
- millet;
- wheat
- vetch;
- millet.
The food is prepared in this way:
- Grind the grains in a coffee grinder to flour. The finer the grinding, the better.
- Steam the flour with boiling water and leave for 5-8 minutes.
- Add a small amount of honey to the grain mass to increase the immunity of the chick and mix.
- Enrich the feed with minerals, in particular calcium, for the active growth of the chick. To do this, add dry chopped shells, chalk or a small amount of red clay to the porridge. Buying chalk bars in stationery is not worth it - the amount of calcium in it is much less than in chalk sold in specialized pet stores.
The resulting composition you need to fill the syringe and feed the chick. The number of meals remains 6. It is necessary to feed the chicks until the goiter is full.
In order for the chicks to get used to the person faster, they should be fed in the same clothes. In addition, loud and harsh sounds and pops should not be made, as the chicks should not experience anxiety and fear before feeding. You can talk to them in a quiet and even voice.
By the end of the second week, the chicks can be given a little grain whole grain as food.
Diet for the third week
With proper feeding, by the third week, pigeons become stronger and more active. Now they are fed on demand - they make quite loud squeaking sounds, so it is impossible to miss the time of the next meal.
Three-week-old chicks need to be entered in the menu:
- Finely chopped greens. It is a source of mineral and vital substances for a growing organism. Feed grass the chick as well as grain, that is, manually put it in an open beak.
- Whole grains. They must first be steamed - keep 5-10 minutes in hot water. If after steaming the grains increase significantly in size, they should be cut into two parts and fed to the chicks in half. When dry, grains can get stuck in the larynx of chicks. Put no more than 2-3 steamed grains in the beak. With full goiter, chick stop feeding. Expect that the baby in this period will eat on its own, is not worth it, so you have to manually open his beak and put food inside.
In the third week, the number of meals should be reduced to 4 times a day.
Drink only after eating. It should be warm. Water the nestling like this: pour water into a shallow plate and lower its beak into it, making sure that water does not get into the nasal openings. The first attempts will be unsuccessful, because he will not be able to immediately understand what they want from him, but do not give up. Soon, the pigeon will understand that there is water that he needs.
Feeding monthly pigeons
At a monthly chick, the diet is completely changing. The main menu consists of the following products:
- boiled chicken, chopped on a fine grater;
- boiled carrots, chopped on a fine grater;
- white bread soaked in water and rolled into small balls.
New food should still be put into the chick's beak manually. To maintain immunity, it is recommended to add fish oil to it, but not more than 2 times a day.
The following products should also be entered in the menu:
- various domestic vegetables and fruits, but you can’t mix different types, that is, you can give only one finely chopped fruit or vegetable to one feeding;
- millet porridge cooked in water without the addition of salt, oil and other ingredients, small lentils and field beans (such food must be present in the diet of short-billed pigeon breeds).
Raw millet is forbidden to give to chicks.
When the chick begins to learn to fly, its menu will also need to be adjusted by reducing the amount of wheat, but increasing the content of legumes - vetch and pea.
Particular attention should be paid to drinking. At this point, birds consume pure water in large quantities, so they should always have free access to it, otherwise its lack will adversely affect the digestion of the chicks. It is not necessary to boil water, since at high temperature not only pathogenic microorganisms die, but also beneficial ones. The drinker should be washed regularly, and the water should be changed.
By the end of the first month, the chick should fully learn to eat and drink independently. Only in this case can it be released into the common dovecote.
Feeding pigeons older than one month
As soon as the chicks are 1 month old, they are transferred completely to “adult” food, but they do it gradually, stretching the transition for a whole week. The diet is adjusted in this way:
- reduce the proportion of bread and eggs;
- increase the number of crops.
The most useful for them will be:
- ground peas;
- corn;
- wheat;
- sunflower seeds.
Salads of greens, chopped on a medium grater, should also be present in the daily diet. They are made from the following green cultures:
- sorrel;
- clover;
- dandelion;
- cabbage leaves and lettuce;
- spinach
- alfalfa.
Grated carrots, sprouts of sprouted grains of oats and barley can be added to them. The sprouted grain itself should not enter the body of the bird. Salads cannot be salted, but a drop of unrefined sunflower oil is allowed.
Vitamins and Minerals
For normal development and growth, pigeons need a sufficient amount of vitamins and minerals. Egg shells are well suited to replenish mineral reserves. To reduce the risk of rickets, bone meal, crushed chalk or shell rock can also be added to the feed.
Vitamins are best added to the water, starting from the 15th day from the birth of the chicks. They need the following vitamins:
- A (retinol);
- groups B - B1 (thiamine), B2 (riboflavin), B3 (nicotinic acid), B5 (pantothenic acid), B6 (pyridoxine), B9 (folic acid), B12 (cobalamin);
- D (calciferol);
- E (tocopherol).
However, it is worth observing the dosage of vitamins, since their excess will provoke hypovitaminosis, against which the development of the chicks can slow down, and the immune system can deteriorate.
To avoid overdose, it is better to purchase multivitamin supplements in pet stores. In them, all the necessary substances are already contained in the right concentration.
What can not be fed?
Fruits and vegetables are good for a growing nestling organism, but not all of them are allowed. So, the ban applies to such crops:
- potatoes;
- Tomatoes
- avocado;
- citrus;
- papaya
- mango.
It is also forbidden to give:
- salt and salted foods;
- milk and dairy products (cause dysbiosis - a condition associated with a violation of the intestinal microflora);
- fish, meat and meat products, since it is a very heavy food for chicks, which they cannot digest (their use can cause the death of pigeons);
- rye and rye bread, as they cause strong fermentation in the digestive tract, which leads to bloating and diarrhea;
- sunflower seeds in large quantities (their peel can get stuck in the goiter and injure it, as well as they negatively affect the liver).
Newborn pigeons are weak from birth and are subject to various adverse conditions. However, if you make an effort, you can feed and go out. To do this, you must strictly follow all the recommendations for feeding, conduct timely vaccinations and regularly clean the dovecote.