One-legged pidgie needs a forever home. Queens, NY

[flitsnowzoom]

Hi Gang, we have a lovely young feral that was rescued a few months ago. All is well, except the little guy has but one leg. The person that rescued the bird also rescues and fosters dogs and has done so for several years. She feels the pigeon needs to be with other pigeons and as the dogs are taking too active of an interest in the pigeon, it's time for the pigeon to have a lower stress home with better accomodations than she is able to provide. "Pigeon" is friendly, has all of his tail feathers back (they were all gone when she found the bird), and is people-friendly. He doesn't balance all that well but that is because he's a "unipod".
His human buddy would prefer a fairly close place as she does not have reliable transportation but other things could be arranged. She's very attached but really wants to do the right thing for the pigeon.
Please let me know if you are interested.

[CHRISTIN RN]

Hey Flitznowzoom,

Does this poor little guy fly? Approx. age? Male or Female?
Any other probs.? Any pics?

[flitsnowzoom]

Hi Christin -- thanks so much for asking.
Don't know the age but think it's pretty young. (this year's bird). The balance is a bit awkward -- that's because of the missing leg though. I have a one-legged finch (Flit) and he is constantly having to adjust his body position because of that missing leg. On a teeny bird not much bigger than a ruby-throated humming bird, it's not all that noticable when it moves, but on a larger bird, it would appear that the balance might be off.

As to flying -- The lady thinks it doesn't fly well because of the missing leg . More than likely, it just needs to exercise the wings because it hasn't had the opportunity to have free flight inside (the dogs are interested). She's afraid to really let it try outside because of the potential it might fly up and away.

The missing leg is the only health issue that I know of.
I've asked for a picture and referred her to P-Talk, so hopefully she'll be able to post a picture for us.

She thinks Pigeon might be a boy, but without proof, well, only the pigeon knows.

She might have a potential place up in Rochester but that's a few months away before the pigeon could go and it would be nice if we could get this little one situated a lot closer. A pigeon buddy would be nice too (Coco? )

[CHRISTIN RN]

Hi Flitz...,

OK. I guess I'll await her post.
The reason I was asking about male or female is because I don't want to become a pigeon breeder if you know what I mean!
The idea of Coco having a little friend is fine with me especially if this guy cannot be out on it's own either.
I also wondered if this little guy, Hop-a-long for the time being, has been seen by a vet.
Let me know if you here from her just in case I miss her post.
Thanks again for the info.

[Maggie-NC]

Mary, did the lady say whether there is any part of the leg left? That makes a world of difference to them. Our experience with one legged pigeons is that they can fly while adolescent but once ours matured and got over 350 grams, he simply didn't have the leverage to lift off.

I think, however, that Cynthia may have at least one who is able to navigate the coop very well.

[Charis]

I have a one legged Roller that lost a leg as an adult. It's been three years now and he does great.

[flitsnowzoom]

I just wrote the lady to see if she will be able to post over here this evening some time.
I don't know how much of the leg is left -- probably not much from the fact that she thought it might have been born that way. Anyway the leg wasn't anywhere around when she rescued the pigeon.
She thinks it's a boy, but I think it's probably too young to tell. You can always remove any eggs that may get laid. And having only one leg is a real handicap in the reproduction game so I seriously doubt if there would be any offspring. I don't know if the bird has been "vetted" but it seems very healthy. I will definitely keep you posted if I hear anything back.

[flitsnowzoom]

I received this message from Laura this AM. If anyone wants more information, please let me know.
Hoppy is very cute. He obviously thinks of himself as a special person.
Thanks in advance, Mary

---------------------------------------------
HI ALL~

I'M NOT FAMILIAR WITH POSTING ON FORUMS, AND I KNOW EVERYONE IS ANXIOUS TO SEE PHOTOS.....

MY KIDS TOOK SOME GREAT PHOTOS OF OUR RESCUED PIGEON, aka HOP-ALONG, aka HOPPY!!

I MUST SAY HE/SHE PHOTOGRAPHS VERY WELL.... PLEASE FEEL FREE TO POST HIM AS YOU SEE FIT.....


General Info
Date Found: 08/24/2007
Bird ID: 8242007-5705
Rescuer: LAURA
City, State: QUEENS, New York
Breed: Feral
Organization: Unknown
Band Number: NONE

--------------------------------------------------

[flitsnowzoom]

Cute isn't he/she?
Now for a new family -- PLEASE!

[CHRISTIN RN]

Hello Mary!

Soooo thankful that little Hoppy is doing ok. I was wondering about him/her so I've just been praying for whatever was meant to be.
I think it's ironic that I thought I'd name him hop-a-long and have referred to him as Hoppy to my family!
I'm still willing to have him join Coco and be part of our family.

It was also nice to see pics of Hoppy. Seems in good health other than missing his leg...poor little guy.

Just wanted some info. with regard to any vet visits/stool tests/possible reasons why/how Hoppy lost his leg?
Has the family observed him trying to or actually flying?

I have to run out now, but will check back later!

[flitsnowzoom]

From the finder:

I HAVE TAKEN HIM OUTSIDE, IN MY YARD, TO EXERCISE HIS WINGS, BUT IT SEEMS LIKE HE HAS A HARD TIME TAKING FLIGHT, AS WELL AS BALANCING & GRIPPING ON OBJECTS. I'M GUSSING THIS IS DUE TO HIS MISSING LEG. HE CAN FLY, BUT HE CHOSES TO FLY AND PERCH ON ME. I'M SURE THIS IS DUE TO A FEELING OF SECURITY

I can pm finder's contact info to folks.

[TAWhatley]

Come on guys and gals! Let's get this little one into a wonderful forever home!

Terry

[horsesgot6]

Was Christin RN Getting This Bird So Her Pigeon Had A Friend.

Jennifer

[Hillybean]

Well, it for sure is a CUTIE!

Hopefully, someone will give it a home soon.

-Hilly

[CHRISTIN RN]

Greetings All!

I did contact via e-mail the rescuer of 'Hoppy', our one-legged friend.

I inquired about Hoppy's health status and she answered back that he/she is eating/pooping/growing and even flying well.
She did inform me that Hoppy had not been checked out by a vet.

I told her that I would love to have Hoppy as a companion for Coco.
She was concerned, however, that they might not like each other. ???
I guess I'm still a bit ignorant about birds, cause I thought they'd be so happy to have companionship with each other. ???

I've had very few problems with getting my rescued dogs/rabbits to co-exist...just the normal, "Who the heck are you?" sort of behavior which resolves after everyone sniffs each others butts for a day or two and then it's "Welcome, I'll show you around the place, just stay away from MY food, the nice lady will give you your own bowl!".

Anyway, was looking around the forums for anything on getting birdies together. It will just be the two of them unless somebody else happens to land in my path needing some help. Still, I just have the room for these guys at present.

Any suggestions on getting Coco & Hoppy happily together would be most appreciated! I also pm'd Mary.