Homemade food for baby doves

What Can I Feed Orphan Baby Wild Doves & Pigeons? – Ron Hines' Vetspace – 2nd Chance – The Animal Health Website

Ron Hines DVM PhD

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I love doves – their personality and their graceful beauty. Quite a few have come through my hands over the years. That has been primarily due to their poor nest building abilities. Once a few sticks have been carelessly crossed, doves and pigeons consider the job done.

Doves and pigeons are one of the few groups of birds that you are likely to encounter in the USA, Canada or Europe that require a very specialized diet. While other baby birds are simply present insects and perhaps some of their parent’s adult food by their parents, doves and pigeons (columbine birds) that are raising offspring transform their crop into a “milk” producing organ. Only flamingos, penguins and parrots do something similar. (read here)

Lest you take the word “milk” literally, cow or goat milk is NOT a suitable food for doves or pigeons because they both contain too much lactose sugar (milk sugar) that doves and pigeons cannot digest. This sugar ferments in their digestive tracts causing bloat, diarrhea and respiratory distress that eventually leads to their death.

The percentage constituents of dove milk are unknown. But pigeon milk, which is likely to be very similar, is about 70% water. Of the remaining solids in it, about 53-58% is protein and 34-35% is fat. Very little carbohydrates (including sugars) are present. The actual percentages of the contents of the milks of all species of animals never remains constant. It varies over time. Factors like the time of day, the diet consumed by the parents, the number of offspring being fed and the current age of the offspring all factor into its composition. Luckily, the infant animals of all species have been given the flexibility to deal with these variations. Of course, natural pigeon/dove milk also contains all the essential vitamins and trace minerals that the babies require. As the baby doves or pigeons mature, partially digested grains are regurgitated into this mix as well.

If you have occasion to raise orphan doves or pigeons, there are many recipes that have raised them quite successfully. For fat content, many recipes contain Nutrical® and/or olive or vegetable oils. For protein some contain peas, hemp powder, or vegan soy products. Varying amounts of one or another human or animal vitamin supplement as well as digestive enzymes are often thrown in the pot for good measure. A pinch of this, a smidgen of that – God bless Nature for being so flexible.

One commonly used recipe is called MAC Milk:

Many have found that commercial parrot-raising formulas like Exact® work quite well for doves. Others in Europe use the Psittacus Catalonia Wildiet® formula.

My Technique:

Every year I feed out baby doves and pigeons with a recipe I have prepared at home for many years. I chose the ingredients based on what I know about avian nutrition, on products that are are safe, economical and readily available to almost anyone on short notice. This formula has worked well for me and I hope it will work well for you too:

This oversize coffee cup of mine comfortably holds 1.5 measuring cups of coffee:

1) Pour 1.25 measuring cups of dry instant oatmeal into the empty cup.

2) To the oatmeal, add 1 cup of shaken Silk® unsweetened organic soy milk that has been microwaved for 30 seconds. Unsweetened, non-flavored Silk® milk adds protein and, as importantly, calcium.

3) Mix them together well with a spoon and microwave the mixture for 1 minute or as you would a cup of coffee.

4) Once the oatmeal and soy milk have cooled, add the contents of 2 large whole eggs and mix very well. Never microwave once the eggs have been added because the mixture will become lumpy and unusable.

As the birds reach maturity, reduced the number of eggs used to one per cup. Oatmeal is deficient in Vitamin D3. Egg yolk is a good sources of vitamin D3 and the egg whites are an additional source of balanced protein.

5) Mix well with a spoon until homogeneous.

6) Top off to a comfortable height with Silk® soy milk. Silk® soy milk has a short refrigerator shelf life. When I have only a few doves to feed, I freeze the soy milk in smaller pouches and thaw them as needed.

Let the finished mix sit in your refrigerator for an hour or so until it become smooth and creamy and all small lumps have dissolved. Add a bit more soy milk if it is still too thick or if the babies are very young or if you suspect that they are mildly dehydrated as many fall-from the nest youngsters are. (read here) During the first week, the formula should drip from a syringe. As they get older, you can feed the formula thicker.

Bring your formula to room temp before feeding.

After feeding, the cup goes on the upper shelf of your refrigerator until it is time to bring it to room temperature again for another feeding.

I prepare no more than I will use up over a 48-hour period.

The most common cause of crop burn-throughs is feeding formulas that have been unevenly microwaved and contain hot spots. So, I always stir well after microwaving and after that, place a dab on my wrist to be sure the temperature is safe.

This mixture can be fed to baby doves and pigeons in many ways. I place it in a disposable pipette like the one above which is also seen in view in the topmost photo layouts. With this pipette, I place a bit of formula within the baby’s mouth with the bird allowed to swallow until its crop is moderately full. But never so overfilled and tight that it extends up the neck. If placing your finger against the bird’s neck causes regurgitation, you have given considerably too much at one feeding. Many smaller feeding, spaced throughout the day are always much safer than larger, infrequent feeding. Babies during their first week of life get fed four to five times. That is gradually reduced to three feeding and then to two. When the crop is empty and a little dent has formed at the collar, it is time to feed again. If the crop does not empty completely, you have not waited long enough or there is a health issue. After sundown, there is no need to feed.

Because I usually have a lot of mouths to feed and because baby birds can be messy, I often feed this formula to doves and pigeons using a 3ml disposable syringe and a catheter (tube feed). I cultivate contacts at local hospital supply departments and ask that intravenous catheter extension sets that have passed their FDA-mandated expiration date be set aside for me.

This is what they look like (you can enlarge all my images). You can see one laying next to the scissors in the third photo – before I have cut it to length and another already placed down the squab’s throat. Once your second finger feels the end of the catheter where the bird’s neck enters its body, slowly express the majority of the formula. As I slowly withdraw the catheter, I leave a teaser amount of formula near the rear of the bird’s mouth, so it gets some taste, pleasure and satisfaction out of the procedure. Over the 50+ years I have been tubing baby birds, I do not recall a single case where the tube entered the windpipe rather than the esophagus. Baby birds have a very strong reflex when they gape or feel food in their mouth that locks their larynx shut. So, a gently inserted tube going down wrong is quite unlikely. Nevertheless, watch an experienced aviculturist or wild bird rehabber tube feed before attempting to do so unassisted.

Temperature

Infant doves are very susceptible to digestive problems and slow crop emptying if they are kept at the wrong temperature. The white wing doves in the photo above are about two and a half days old. The larger one weighs 27.6 g the smaller one 25.0 g. At that age, their crop emptying time was best when they were maintained at 32 C (89.6 F) with a 100 watt incandescent bulb. At that temperature, these two dovlings took 75-80 breaths per minute. They began to pant and were hot to the touch when their surrounding temperature reached 37 C (98.6 F).

Those Were Some Of Your Dos What Are Some Of Your Don’ts?

Don’t put pressure on the full or partially full crop or the bird might regurgitate and inhale formula.

Don’t attempt to pass a catheter or pipette unless the bird’s head is in a star gazing position and the neck extended.

Don’t ever attempt to force a catheter or pipette downward that does not pass effortlessly.

Don’t ever attempt to feed a bird that is not bright and alert. They need subcutaneously administered fluids and glucose. You can read about that here.

Don’t neglect good sanitation. If it would not pass a health inspector’s muster in a restaurant setting, it’s not a fit in a bird kitchen either.

Don’t develop the habit of always feeding the dove or pigeon from the same side. That predisposes birds to developing scissor beak – a situation where the upper and lower beaks are misaligned. You can enlarge this photo of a hand-fed nightjar that developed this problem:

South Texas summers are quite hot and many of these infants are brought to me from far away. Most are dehydrated. After windy storms that blow them out of their nests and drench them, many are chilled despite the hot weather. Neither dehydrated babies nor chilled babies absorb nutrients well. In those babies, the natural wave like motion (peristalsis) that propels food down their digestive systems function poorly or not at all. Tube feeding babies suffering that condition actually speeds their demise because the formula just putrefies and ferments in their crop. As I already mentioned, markedly dehydrated babies need subcutaneous and intramuscular fluids. (read here) Mildly dehydrated babies need their first few feedings to be no more than warmed lactated ringers solution (LRS). They also need supplemental warmth if they are chilled. All wild creatures are masters at concealing stress, weakness and illness – until the very end. If the circumstances favor dehydration or chilling, just assume they are so, even if it is not outwardly apparent.

Once only small tufts of down remain on the head, I begin to place dishes of water and seed grains in the bird’s enclosures. A small rock (or marbles) placed in the water dishes (as seen in the second photo) help keep the birds from turning the water containers over when they perch on them. Since I give them no gravel to line their gizzards (gizzard gravel) at this age, I grind the grain mixture before I offer it to them. You can see the grinder I use in the photo above.

Be sure they are accepting mixed grains before you release them. A quality seed mix suggested for wild songbirds is fine. I add about a quarter amount of game bird (or turkey) starter crumbles to the mix. When whole seeds and grains are offered, I mix a bit of fine stone grit in with their food. The Hartz Gravel’n Grit™ is much too fine and goes right through them. So using well-washed masonry pea gravel from a building supply or river, I first remove the finer sand with a kitchen sieve. Then I remove the larger stones with a kitchen colander (with ~3/16″ holes). Then I wash and re-wash what is left and let it dry. Ground poultry oyster shell sifted in the same way works just as well and provides the birds an additional source of calcium. There is an inset image top right in the 4th photo at the top of this page of the proper size grit for a pigeon. The bird in that photo is already beginning to peck at whole grain.

My wife and I sometimes delay our release of doves beyond what my State allows. We don’t release late summer babies close to the Texas dove hunting season. Others that stay longer are birds that face medical issues and need care. In both cases, I find it wise to supplement a grain-based/seed diet with a small amount of ground dog chow prepared with the meat grinder as seen in the photo.

Why Do You Use A Human Oatmeal-Based Diet?

Of all the cereal grains, whole rolled oats are among the most nutritious. It is considerably more so than corn or wheat. Instant baby oatmeal also blends readily with warm water. And because oats are practically gluten-free, the formula is not as sticky as one based on wheat would be. The brand of instant oatmeal that I purchase is pre-fortified with vitamins and calcium that the all infants including doves and pigeons need. Because this product is marketed for children, liability issues dictate that the ingredients be of top quality. Products intended for human consumption are considerably more rigorously monitored for quality than diets intended for animals. For example, the FDA and USDA spend 24 times as much money regulating human versus animal food. Name brand producers like Gerber have the wherewithal to do in depth analyses of their products -batch by batch. That is something that small niche pet food manufacturers generally do not have.

You will see two brands of baby oatmeal cereal in the second photo at the top. At one time I purchased Parent’s Choice™ because I noticed that it was all whole grain oat flour whereas the Gerber’s was only partially whole grain oat flour. I suppose because of that, the protein content of the Parent’s Choice was listed as significantly higher. But I cannot say that I noticed any difference in how the doves grew up eating one versus the other.

Why Do You Add Raw Eggs To Your Diet?

1) Egg increase the formula’s fat/energy as well as its protein content

2) Raw egg albumin (the egg white) also makes my mix very “syringable”. Lumpy diets are hard to force through a standard syringe. The lecithin and albumin in eggs is also an excellent lubricant – so I do not need to use products like KY jelly on the syringe catheter when I am using one. I don’t feed soaked dog or cat chow to doves or pigeons. But when I soak and blend dry kibble to feed or tube other types of wildlife, I have to ream out the tip of the syringe with an 1/8” drill bit held in a vice-grip™ in order to get the slurry to pass through the tip freely.

3) Like natural pigeon milk, raw eggs contain important vitamins and antioxidants.

4) One of the most important thing that raw eggs contribute and that is lost in heating and cooking are protective antibodies. Most of these egg antibodies are called IgY antibodies. They are found primarily in the egg’s yolk. Although the chick was meant to absorb these antibodies from its yolk before hatching they remain protective in the intestine even when furnished after hatching. These antibodies are not only effective in controlling intestinal bacteria, they are also though to control the growth of C. albicans, the cause of avian thrush or candidiasis. Powdered egg will not do. Its antibodies were lost in processing.

Once the pigeon or dove hatches, these antibodies – which are also present in the parent’s natural crop milk are still important. But after birth the antibodies are thought to only have the ability to act locally within the squabs intestinal tract. Their molecules are too large to pass through the squab’s intestinal lining intact. Their presence there is still quite beneficial. It is not only the egg yolk that contains protective qualities – the whites do too (lysozymes).

Well, isn’t there a danger in feeding raw eggs?

Yes, but the risk is small. One out of 10 – 20,000 commercially produced eggs in the United States tests positive for salmonella. That risk can, perhaps be reduced even further by buying free-range chicken eggs. (read here)

Pasteurized, whole egg are perhaps another option. But I do not know if IgY antibodies survive the pasteurization processes used. If that processed did not take the egg contents to over 60 degrees C (140 F) for ten minutes, these antibodies should have survived intact. (read here) I am still waiting to hear back from Davidson they never answered my email.

What About The Lack of vitamin A In Eggs and Oats?

It is true that you will not find any vitamin A listed on oat cereal labels and a single large egg has only about one tenth a human’s suggested daily vitamin A intake. But both egg yolk and oatmeal are rich in carotenoids that avian bodies have the ability to convert into active vitamin A (retinol). (read here) A source of either vitamin A or carotenoids are very important in maintaining a strong defense against infections and maintaining healthy skin and feathers.

Although some egg producers darken their egg yolks with artificial feed additives, more often darker orange/yellow yolks are a sign of higher carotenoid content. When given the opportunity, pick eggs with the deepest orange yolks. It is always safer to provide carotenoids than it is to supplement with vitamin A from things like cod liver oil or bird vitamin tonics. That is because too much vitamin A is toxic. (read here)

What Are Feather Stress Bars?

During the period that a bird’s feather is forming under its skin, the follicle that is producing the feather relies on a steady stream of protein building blocks obtained from the bird’s blood stream (the amino acids needed to build feathers including β-keratin). If that steady flow of amino acids are interrupted – by a lack of appropriate food, a disinclination to eat or starvation – the feather will no longer develop normally because the bird can no longer produce the keratin proteins required to form the feather. When those nutrients again reach the proper level in its blood stream, feather development returns to normal. So, a careful examination of a bird’s feathers gives you a look back into its past. In this particular dove in the two photos above, I or one of my volunteers apparently missed a scheduled feeding while the feather I am pointing to was developing. That resulted in the narrow white line – like a scissor cut – present to the right of my finger. Each incident of low blood amino acids causes a discrete line. You can see that the integrity and strength of of the feather shaft was compromised at that point. With time, that feather will break at both points. You can view a more idealized image of stress bars here and read a bit more about the problem and feathers in general here.

Is There Enough Calcium In The Diet You Use?

Some wildlife rehabilitators and aviculturists associate deformed legs and feet (such as in this deformed white Turkish dove) with insufficient calcium in the diet during their growth period. I have never seen bone or joint problems or flexible bones in pigeons, doves or parrots fed this formula, so I believe that its calcium content is adequate. 8 grams of oatmeal contains about 4 mg of calcium and a 100 gm chicken pullet requires about 130 mg of calcium per day. The soy milk I use is also calcium-fortified.

When twisted or bowed foot or leg problems occur, it is more likely that they were caused by too smooth or too flat a cage floor. When a baby bird stands on a floor that is basically flat, its toenails will begin to curve sideways and exert a small twisting force to the toes. With time, like a tree branch, the toes will twist to accommodate that force. Eventually, the pad of the foot will not rest flat against the floor either. Those sort of problems can be prevented by furnishing the infant with a slightly indented twig mat similar to the mat that forms the coarse floor of a dove’s natural nest. I use a shallow plastic dessert bowl to maintain my artificial nest’s shape. Paper towels or Kleenex™ will not do. They slip and slide. As the bird grows, twigs should always be available that exceed the diameter of the bird’s clenched toes. You can read more about the problem, spraddle leg here.

Why Do Your Wild Doves Have White On Their Wings?

I live in the tropical Rio Grande Valley of Texas. Although some mourning doves are brought to me, more often they are tropical white-winged doves or tiny Inca doves.

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How to make baby mourning dove food? – Bond with your bird

Babies are very delicate, be it of humans, birds or animals, so we need to take proper care of them and feed them good quality and nutritious food to grow healthy. So, if you have a baby mourning dove at home or found the abandoned baby dove, here are some of the food recipes you can make at home.

You can make baby mourning dove food using high protein and vitamin rich foods like finch birdseed, oatmeal, suet pellets as the major component. Also keep the food warm by heating at temperature of 105 degrees Fahrenheit. Baby mourning doves love to eat warm food and birdseed that is digestible.

Before making baby food ensure that you have enough information about the food items that the bird can eat.

Different ways to make baby mourning dove food

Here are some of the ways of making mourning dove food at home.

1.

Oatmeal and Soy milk

Pour 1.25 cups of dry instant oatmeal into the empty cup.
Next, add 1 cup of unsweetened organic Soy milk in the cup. You have to microwave it for 30 seconds. This milk will add protein and calcium to the dove’s diet.
Mix both the ingredients with the spoon and then microwave it for 1 minute or as per your preference.
Remove the mixture from the microwave and let it cool down. Once it has cooled, add 2 large eggs and mix well. Note: You should never microwave the mixture after adding the eggs, as it can make the mixture lumpy and unusable.
Mix the mixture well with the spoon until homogeneous.
Refrigerate the mixture for an hour until it becomes smooth and creamy and all lumps are dissolved. If you think that the mixture is too thick, you can add more soy milk.
Later remove it and let it settle down to room temperature before feeding the dove.

2.

MAC milk

Take 71 grams (1 jar) of strained chicken baby food, 1 hard-boiled egg yolk, 1 tablespoon of low-fat yogurt, 1/4 teaspoon of corn oil, 247.6 mg calcium carbonate, 2 drops of cod liver oil, 1 drop of diluted vitamin E, a small pinch of vitamin B (size of a sesame seed)) and 25 mg of Vitamins C to a blender. Mix all the ingredients thoroughly.

Note:

Dilute vitamin E with a drop from 400 IU capsule and 10 drops of corn oil. Mix all these well.

Add 1/8 teaspoon of digestive enzymes in the whole recipe, but you need to add it to the recipe 30 mins before feeding the baby dove. Digestive enzymes need to be added to the recipe in the first 3 days after hatching.

At the beginning of the second week, you can add a mixture of other seeds and foods intended for doves or pigeons.

3. How to make suet pellets food for baby mourning doves

Check out below video on how to make baby mourning dove food out of suet pellets which are rich source of protein and vitamins.

What food do the doves eat?

As doves are omnivores, there are various foods they prefer to eat.

Seeds
Wheat
Rice
Corn
Barley
Oats
Sorghum
Grasses, including Panicum and Echinochloa
Weeds, including knotweed and ragweed
Berries
Fruits like dates, figs and plums
Flowers and buds
Pollen
Nectar
Leaves of trees like willows, poplars and elms
Acorns
Insects like ants, beetles and grasshoppers
Insect Larvae and Pupae
Snails
Worms
Bone from owl pellets and animal faeces
Discarded human food

How to feed the baby dove?

Baby doves also need to be fed with care as we take care while feeding a human baby. Continue reading to know how to feed the baby dove appropriately.

1.

Warm the baby dove

Keep the baby dove in a box near the 40-watt lamp in the initial week of birth. You can also make use of a pet-safe heating pad or a hot water bottle wrapped in a towel. The reason to keep them warm is that these babies are brooded by their parents in this period.

2.

Make a feeding syringe

You can use the normal syringe without the needle as a feeding syringe to pull up the food. You have to take the plunger out and use the vet wrap to cover the wide end. You can use the rubber dam to secure the wrap and hold it in place. Now poke a hole in the vet wrap so that the bird can fit its beak into it. Make use of the cotton ear swab to clean the food spillage on the bird.

3.

Let the birds feed enough to fill its crop.

The crop is the pouch over the bird’s breastbone and is used to keep the food that needs to be digested. Aim to fill the crop atleast 3/4. If you gently press the crop, it feels like a water bottle when its 3/4 full. After some time, gently press the crop, and if the bird brings the swallowed food to the mouth, you have fed it too much.

4.

Feed the baby 4 times a day

In the beginning, feed the baby 4 times a day as they have a larger pouch. Only feed once their crop is fully empty. Keep a check on the baby bird every 3 hours and if you feel that the crop is empty, feed the bird. It is advised not to feed the bird at night.

5.

Reduce the feeding times

You can gradually reduce the feeding to 3 times a day as the baby grows. For a few days, the baby bird will become restless when hungry.

Note: As an alternative option, you can also use the 3-millilitre disposable pipette with tubing to feed the baby dove.

What precautions need to be taken while feeding the mourning baby dove?

While feeding the mourning baby dove, ensure that you don’t:

Apply pressure on the full or partially filled crop as this may bring the swallowed food up to the mouth
Try to pass the catheter or pipette till the bird’s head is in the star gazing position with the extended neck.
Attempt to feed the baby dove if he is not bright and alert.
Neglect or avoid good sanitation

Dove Feeder

Doves are usually ground-feeding birds, and so they would prefer to eat from the flat surface where they can comfortably sit and enjoy their food.

Here are some of the things that are easily available in your home and you can use as a dove feeder n your balcony if you don’t want to invest in a feeder:

Water/food serving tray
Empty bottles
Milk container
Lego
Craft sticks
Soup ladle
Cake pan

Conclusion

Baby birds need extra care while feeding to get all the essential nutrients and have good health. I hope this article has helped you make a healthy baby dove food and added extra knowledge of how to feed appropriately.

What do pigeons eat and what is the best way to feed birds on the street and at home

Pigeon is a specific bird. She is not tamed. If you still decide to keep it at home, take care of the minimum necessary care. First of all, find out what pigeons eat.

Contents

Diet of street birds
What to feed pets
Feeding pigeons: video

Diet of street birds

Many types of food that people are used to feeding pigeons in the square are not really. Most street dwellers die due to pathologies of the gastrointestinal tract. The average lifespan of birds on pasture is 2-5 years. Nature measured the bird at a maximum of about 20 years. Pigeon natural diet:

greens;
seeds;
insects.

The peculiarity of the species is to settle in the city. Pigeons eat what is more accessible: food waste from garbage containers or food poured by humans. Birds are unpretentious. It is almost impossible to find greens with a full range of vitamins and minerals in the city. There is an opinion that it is better not to feed the pigeons yourself. Otherwise, follow the recommendations:

Bread and other flour products slowly kill pigeons. Crumbs or large pieces suppress appetite without bringing energy value. They negatively affect the internal organs of pigeons.
Salt and complex fats from roasted seeds are also harmful to birds.
Choose natural grains for feeding. On sale there are cheap varieties of cereals. Ideally, pigeons are given special food from a pet store, which contains all the trace elements the bird needs.
Avoid spoiled, moldy, or expired food.

Attention! Black bread is especially dangerous for birds. It causes fermentation in the stomach. The risk of intestinal volvulus increases. Chips, coconut flakes, salty crackers-snacks are categorically harmful.

Chicks on the street should not be touched at all, let alone fed. Parents themselves will give food (milk). They will be wary of the appearance of a person. Adults may even leave the nest with their offspring if they feel your presence.

What to feed pets

Domestic thoroughbred pigeons feed on a different principle. With such breeding, the basis of their diet is grain:

40% of the daily norm - barley;
10% - millet;
other grains - corn, sunflower, wheat, legumes.

The share of barley is sometimes changed to pearl barley.

Pigeons eat little: per day - 20-30 g (light breeds) or 30-50 g (large varieties). 70-80% is the share of cereals. In warm weather, fresh vitamin mixtures from chopped nettle, lettuce, sorrel, alfalfa, spinach, and cabbage are added to the feed.

Other useful mineral supplements - crushed eggshells, shells, red brick crumbs, charcoal.

Nutritional standards are adjusted depending on the activity of pigeons. If the dovecote is open, the birds are constantly flying, then they need more food. For the same reason, portions are reduced in winter.

Birds still need a moderate amount of salt. It is served in dissolved form - 20 g / l. Pets will drink as much as they need. Just make sure you have free access to water.

Birds require improved nutrition during lay, moult or breeding season. Give the birds healthy and tasty food: peas, lentils, vetch, oatmeal (groats), shelled oats. Monitor the feeders and constantly update their contents. Grass for feeding collect on clean, tested lawns or grow in a pot.

Pigeons are fed three times a day in summer. Birds that fly freely are given small portions of food as supplementary food. In the cold season, natural pastures are inaccessible to them. Feathers are transferred to 2-time enhanced nutrition. Consider replacing vitamins from fresh grass for a second, evening feeding.

Keeping such pets is not considered difficult. Take care of the food that pigeons eat to prolong their life in any conditions.

Pigeon feeding video

What to feed the pigeon - AGRARIAN

06/11/2019

ALL APK NEWS IN ONE TAPE - AGRONOVOSTI. RF

In order to keep these birds you need to know almost everything. Conditions of detention, nutrition, the nature of the birds themselves and their habits. In the event that a professional starts the pigeons, then there is nothing to worry about, he will take care of everything that is needed. In the case when a beginner takes up the matter, everything must be carefully studied, especially with regard to the food of pigeons, because thanks to it they grow, after which they multiply and can fully support offspring. If the diet is not chosen correctly, but the birds will be weak, they will develop all kinds of diseases, they may not breed at all, especially if they are thoroughbred pigeons. Treatment of birds is not an easy process, and not everything can be corrected if the harm has already been done, so it is important to know what and how to give to pigeons. In order to better understand what and how to give to birds, we will consider this aspect in more detail.

Feeding birds in the conditions of freedom

Birds that live on their own, on the street, can eat everything that gets in their way, but not everything is necessary and useful for them. Very often, pigeons that live near parks and squares are treated to flour products and roasted seeds. Often, people have no idea that this food is not only not loved by pigeons, but also harmful to them.

In order for birds to feel normal in nature, they must consume a wide variety of food, which includes both greens and solid food. Pigeons eat grass and tree leaves as green food. Solid food, these are the seeds of a wide variety of plants. In the conditions of a modern city, there is less and less food for pigeons, because the grass is not grown, but, on the contrary, it is cut, trees are actively cut throughout the city. Such transformations affect both the ecology and the birds, but no one pays much attention to this anyway.

In order to help city pigeons live more or less comfortably and get normal food, people should create feeders for them themselves, where there will be necessary and useful products for birds. Otherwise, eating only bread, pigeons live no more than five years, although they should live from fifteen to seventeen years. How birds live in freedom, what they eat, and what problems they experience, can be seen on special video reports that are filmed by people who are not indifferent to these birds.

Food for domestic pigeons

Breeding pigeons at home is marked by the fact that the owner must take full care of the bird, create comfortable living conditions for it, adhere to the daily routine, and feed it properly. If you keep pigeons at home, then they eat the same food as in the wild with the only difference that at home they bring it ready, clean and properly balanced. If you choose the wrong diet, the pigeon may develop various diseases, and you will have to spend time and money on its treatment. In view of this, if you are going to keep pigeons, you need to fully take care of them, as far as their food is concerned, in particular. The same cereals and grass as the basis of the diet, but each of the elements has its own proportions and characteristics. Pigeons do not eat much, most often they consume about twenty to thirty grams of food per day, provided that it is a light breed, heavy ones eat a little more, thirty to fifty grams.

Consider the diet of the domestic pigeon in more detail. The main element in the food of the bird will be barley, pigeons love this cereal most of all and willingly eat it. If necessary, barley can sometimes be given instead. Approximately ten percent of the diet is devoted to millet. Legumes are very useful for pigeons, the consumption of peas, lentils, vetch is necessary. You can diversify the food of a domestic pigeon with shelled oats or oatmeal. The favorite food of pigeons is wheat, they eat it with pleasure, about thirty percent of the diet is devoted to its consumption. In the event that it is difficult to find all the necessary elements for food, you can find a way out and buy food for parrots, which contains everything that will be suitable for pigeons.

Grass is considered very useful for pigeons, it must be freshly picked in order to retain all its beneficial properties. You can grow a special herb at home to be sure what exactly gets into the bird's food. This is especially important if the pigeons are thoroughbred, and their owner is breeding and selling them. After all, a healthy individual is a guarantee of healthy offspring, it is important. If it is not possible to grow grass at home, then you need to find areas where the environment is as clean as possible, not tracks and other things that greatly pollute the environment. It is important for domestic pigeons to give vitamins in order to replenish the reserves of those substances that the bird's body lacks. Most often, such kits are sold in pet stores and veterinary pharmacies.

It is important to observe not only the correct diet, but also the feeding regimen. The number of meals for pigeons depends on the season. In summer, pigeons eat three times a day, in winter - twice. In winter, the bird is fed in the morning, at about nine o'clock and in the evening, at about seven to eight o'clock. In the summer, and especially during the period of feeding the chicks, feeding begins in the early morning, at five o'clock, not later, the pigeons eat the second time in the afternoon, at about one in the afternoon, and the third, in the evening, at eight to nine o'clock in the evening.

Features of the diet

Keeping pigeons A clear understanding that the diet has its own characteristics in view of different seasons, the age of the bird, its breed. At the heart of any of the diets there will always be grain, it will be right to feed the pigeon with wheat, barley, legumes, corn, give barley and seeds. The greens that bring vitamins to the pigeons should be cut and served to the pigeons, these are lettuce, cabbage, clover, nettle, alfalfa, sorrel, spinach. A very important ingredient will be common but fresh herb. In addition to vitamins, it is important to replenish the pigeon's body with minerals that the bird will receive by consuming shells, egg shells, crumbs from red bricks, and so on. It is important not to forget about salt, which is diluted in water, twenty grams per liter.

In itself, the amount of food that birds eat is not stable, how much you need to feed the bird depends on the season and on the type of activity of the pigeons. If the dovecote is not closed, and its inhabitants live, freely flying out and returning to it at any time, then they find the bulk of the food themselves, and people only give an additional small amount. This also applies to meat breeds, which fly less, but eat more. Each type has its own requirements. If the weather is cold outside and most of the time the pigeons sit in the house, then it is important for them to give good nutrition, taking into account all the features. There are also special periods during which the diet may undergo changes.

As for such a period as molting, it runs from mid-summer to mid-autumn. At this time, pigeons shed their feathers, and a new feather cover grows in them. This time is very important for birds, they need to be given maximum attention and given all the necessary substances so that the process of the appearance of new feathers takes place quickly and correctly. It is important to give the maximum amount of protein, which will help in the growth of the feather. An increase in the amount of protein food can cause the pigeon to increase sexual excitability. In order to avoid this, it is important to add oats and barley in larger proportions and completely eliminate wheat.

Pigeons will need rapeseed and cabbage. During the molting period, pigeons eat more, how much exactly they need to be fed to the pigeon breeder, but most often it is forty to fifty grams of food. Recommend using: twenty percent peas, the same percent oatmeal, ten percent millet, ten percent corn, and the same percent vetch with corn. The rest of the diet is devoted to vegetables and herbs.

The diet of young pigeons, which are just beginning to taste the food that adults eat, can be called special. Most of all, young animals like to eat wheat, and they eat legumes least of all. For the first portions of new food, it needs to be specially processed. Wheat is soaked in trivitamin or a few drops of fish oil. Such manipulations are best done for about two weeks, so that the body of young animals gets used to new products. When the birds begin to fly, the proportion of wheat gradually decreases, and peas and vetch are added instead. An important issue is how much to feed such birds due to their age. During the day, such doves eat about thirty to forty grams of food. It’s better to prepare a diet like this: thirty percent will take millet, twenty percent will go to wheat, ten percent will be given to corn, the same amount of vetch, five percent will remain for millet and the same amount for mineral supplements, in addition, ten percent is important to allocate for greens, and as much same goes for peas.

Another important period, where a special approach to the diet is needed, is breeding. When the egg-laying process is underway, it is very important to provide the bird with proper maintenance, which is realized in proper nutrition, so that her body has all the vitamins, minerals and trace elements that will allow the egg to form correctly and incubate it until the chicken appears. The quality of feeding has an impact on the incubation period of the egg. In addition to grains and legumes, it is important to give additional vitamins, and be sure to greens. The vitamins that pigeons need to provide during this period are A - which has a direct effect on the intensity of egg laying, if it is not enough, the female may stop laying altogether, if there is no vitamin B2, the embryo can simply freeze. The vitamin is found in sprouted grains. As for meat breeds, such a diet is also relevant for them, but may have minor deviations.

In addition to the above factors, it is important to consider the nutrition of those birds that are participants in the competition, because they need a lot of energy to cover long distances. To make up for losses, it is important to feed the bird with starch and sugar. The rate of corn should be increased, in addition, rice is also added to the general diet, because it contains starch. During the competition period, pigeons need to be given sugar. Before the bird flies, it is not fed, and upon arrival it can eat grains of rapeseed, colza and other crops in any quantity.

When pigeons begin their breeding season, the diet also undergoes some changes. Protein feed again becomes predominant, and the amount of food eaten per day increases to sixty grams. The feed should have high nutritional properties, in which there are many vitamins and minerals.