If you can’t figure out what to by at the pet food store, ask a staff member for help. You can also call a local wild bird rescue, who can help you or take the bird off your hands if it’s a wild breed.

For Kaytee formula, use the following ratio: Days 1-2: Mix 1 part formula with 5 parts water. Days 2-5: Add 1 part formula to 2-3 parts water. Days 5 until the bird is weaned: Mix 1 part formula with 1 1/3-2 parts water. For Nutribird A21, use these ratios: Days 1-2: Mix 1 part formula with 6 parts water. Days 2-3: Add 1 part formula to 5 parts water. Days 3-4: Mix 1 part formula with 4 parts water. Days 4-5: Add 1 part formula to 3 parts water. Days 5 until the bird is weaned: Use 1 part formula to 2-2. 5 parts water.

Another option is puppy biscuits, but you must soak them in warm water until they are soft and fluffy. Many babies should be able to eat these as is, but if the bird is very young, you may need to blend them with warm water.

Dilute vitamin E by mixing a drop from a 400 IU capsule with 10 drops of corn oil. Mix it together well. Make a new batch every few days. The amount of vitamin B you need is so small, you can’t even measure it on a gram scale. Just do a very small pinch, no bigger than a sesame seed. Add digestive enzymes in the first 3 days after hatching. You need 1/8 teaspoon of digestive enzymes for the whole recipe, but you must add it to the food 30 minutes before feeding, just to what you’re going to feed at that time. So if you use 1/5 of the food recipe, add 1/5 of the digestive enzymes you’ve measured out. Beginning in the second week, you can gradually mix in other seeds and foods intended for pigeons.

A baby pigeon is unable to digest when it’s too cold. In fact, it needs to be kept warm at all times during its first 2 weeks; typically during this period, babies are brooded by their parents.

The baby will drink out of the hole, as pigeons drink out of their parents’ mouths, which is called rooting. Wipe up spillage on the bird with a cotton ear swab that you dipped in warm water.

If you gently press on the crop, it will feel like a water bottle when it’s 3/4 full. If the bird regurgitates any food when you press on it, then you’ve fed it too much.

Check on the bird every 2-3 hours during the day when it is very young. If the crop is empty, feed it. You don’t need to feed the bird at night.

The bird will likely get restless when it’s hungry.

This process may not work for newborns, but it will work for most baby pigeons.

It’s best to have someone show you how to do this technique first before you try it yourself. Use flexible, medical-grade plastic tubing. You can buy some at medical supply stores or pharmacies. You can use catheter tubing, for instance.

You can also mix food and form it into balls. For instance, you can soak a soup mix of lentils, dried peas, and barley in water until soft, then form it into balls to feed to the bird.