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My injured pigeon won't eat. What can I syringe feed and how much?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Bird | Unknown - Bird | Male | 0.55 lbs

I have a pigeon who has stopped eating due to injuries. I want to feed him manually using a syringe. Can I use Cerelac as a solution to feed my pigeon ? If yes, what should be the daily quantity ? The weight of my pigeon is 250 gms and age is 3 years.

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

Answered By Jessica Desrosiers

Veterinary Technician

Published on February 14th, 2019

If your bird has been injured it would be best to have the injuries addressed by a veterinarian first to make sure they are not impeding his ability to eat and causing him to worsen. Your vet may also want to give fluids or other IV medications if he cannot eat properly or is too weak to.

If he is able to eat food that is in a mash, you can offer something such as baby bird food in a syringe or his regular diet blended and then mixed with water. This will help provide him with more balanced nutrition while he recovers. Rice cereals don't provide as much nutrition as a diet formulated for birds would. Monitoring how full his crop is (it will feel like a balloon under his chin) can let you know if you're feeding enough or not.

1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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