Expert: Chrys Meatyard - 5/30/2007

Question
So when i was mowing my lawn a baby dove and a big long black snake fell about 21 feet off of a tree. The snake ran away and the baby dove was left on the ground. I picked up the baby dove and took it into my house. My mom and i put it into a bow with a towel and gave it a mushed up worm at first it seemed to eat it. So we tried it again later but it refused to eat it . BY the way we found him around 2 days ago. We searched the Internet looking for help on how to take care of it but its a lot harder than it seemed. We think we are going to try giving it some wild bird seed and see if it will eat it. Its seems so defenceless, we're trying our best. So if theres anything you could tell us on how to take care of it that would be great. Thanks for your time.
Katie

Answer
Hi, Katie.

It's GREAT you are trying to save this baby dove.  Did you look to see if parents of the baby dove were around or if there was a nest you could put the baby back into?  I really need you to describe to me what this baby looks like...I need to try to judge how old the baby is.  Baby doves/pigeons can start eating grain at about 14 days old...I've seen it happen this early quite a few times.  At 14 days old, the baby should be walking around on his own and have most feathers, perhaps some fuzz still showing, but not much.  If the baby is about this size, put some dove/pigeon seed/grain down and see what the bird does.  It may take some time for the bird to start pecking at it.  If this bird is too young, you will have to handfeed it with a handfeeding syringe and baby parrot handfeeding formula until it can eat on its own.  Please get back to me on size.  Sending a photo would even be better.

Chrys