Raising A Pigeon By Hand

Raising A Pigeon By Hand

I have a pigeon "Coco" who was born on the street and I took him in when he was just a baby. He is essentially an outdoor bird, however, he has always been allowed to come inside. He loves to be inside, but will only come in if someone is in the room with him. He loves to follow me around and when I sit down, he will jump up on my lap and stay there for hours, pecking at my hand for attention. He sleeps on his back with his feet up in the air. And he makes the most adorable cooing sounds to get your attention that sound like a squeaky toy.

He has always been by my side 24/7 since I brought him home from the street at 2 weeks old. I had always thought that he didn't "need" me because he was so independent and could fly away any time he wanted, but in recent months, I have come to realize how very wrong I was and how much he actually needs me.

A month ago, Coco began plucking out all of his chest feathers down to the skin where they are now red and sensitive looking... He won't let me touch them as they seem sore. But under his

I have been raising a pigeon by hand.

The original plan was to use the pigeon as a test subject in an experiment I wanted to do, but that plan was foiled by my irrational reluctance to be cruel to it.