Found injured pigeon

[krumpledwhisker]

Thanks to this site I have already found a lot of information on helping out our little friend. We found him today on the side of the road. We live near a small lake/park where there are many pigeons/wildlife. I was afraid he had something viral or neurological going on, but i'm hoping it it just trauma. When we found him he was curled up in a ball with his neck in a position that looked like it was broken. Now that he has been at our house for a couple of hours his neck is back in it's normal position. I do not see any signs of external trauma, but he is a little off balance and not ready to fly. I looked up information on pigeon diseases but none of this seems consistent with a disease since he is gaining back some of his functioning. Does anybody know?

[Trees Gray]

Hello and welcome to pigeons.com

Thank you for helping our little noble feral pigeon.

Do you have any idea of the age of this bird? If he is young he may have calcium deficiency, or not.

He may be severly dehydrated and/or malnourished and just needed a helping hand. Did you rehydrate him when you first got him? You can use the unflavored Pedialyte.Have you put him on the heating pad for 20 minutes?

What is he eating and how much at each sitting? (sorry about all the questions)

I would keep my eye on him and watch as he progresses, those issues should disappear, if not let us know and we will help figure it.

Treesa

[AZWhitefeather]

Originally Posted by krumpledwhisker

Thanks to this site I have already found a lot of information on helping out our little friend. We found him today on the side of the road. We live near a small lake/park where there are many pigeons/wildlife. I was afraid he had something viral or neurological going on, but i'm hoping it it just trauma. When we found him he was curled up in a ball with his neck in a position that looked like it was broken. Now that he has been at our house for a couple of hours his neck is back in it's normal position. I do not see any signs of external trauma, but he is a little off balance and not ready to fly. I looked up information on pigeon diseases but none of this seems consistent with a disease since he is gaining back some of his functioning. Does anybody know?

Hello & Welcome,
Many thanks for helping this poor pij.

Just a couple more questions.
Is his keel (breast) bone pretty sharp & is his 'loss of balance' causing him to fall forward? If so, he may be on the verge of starvation and/or dehydration in addition to other issues that may be going on.

Here is a link to a very informative thread which offers step by step instructions on how to care for a suspected ill or injured pigeon or dove.
Hope this helps.

http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/showthread.php?t=9457

Please keep us posted on how things are going.

Cindy

[pdpbison]

Hi crumpledwhisker ( great name by the way!)


Thanks for rescueing this little one...!

Hmmmm...can you get some images posted for us to see?

...or post a link to some images you can upload to somewhere?


...what do the poops look like? If there are any to see yet?

If you are somewhere not warm, maybe set up an electric heating pad set on 'low', in a box with a towell on the heating pad, so the Bird can be on it or off of it as it sees fit.

This is often good to do even if we feel it is warm, or, in an air conditioned home, since Birds whose health is compromised for some reason, can spend energy needed for healing, trying to keep warm...

Does the Bird have any odor, if you put your nose right up against it's back?


Are there any Feathers having clumped poo under it's little butt? Is it's little butt clean?

A small glass of tepid water, with a pinch of Salt and a pinch of Sugar dissolved in it, may be offered as something of an electrolyte for hydration...


Let us know...


Thanks for your efforts and kindness...

Phil
Las Vegas

[krumpledwhisker]

Thank you everybody for the help. I'm going to try and answer all the questions. He's a full grown, adult pigeon. He does not appear to be emaciated. He has a full body with no jutting bones. I don't notice any odor from him. It has been really hot (we're having a heat wave here) but i found him on the road next to the lake. I suppose it is still possible to be dehydrated??? We have him in our cat carrier on a towel with food and water. I have not seen him eat at all since we have had him (five hours) nor have I seen him drink. we have water in an accessible small shallow dish. I didn't want him to asphyxiate so we haven't forced any water or food on him. He does seem to have normal pigeon stools. He looks clean and healthy in every way except for earlier signs when he his neck was twisted around and he was turning in circles. Since he has been home and resting, those signs have all gone away. HE can sit up straight but mostly when i peek in he is sleeping in the corner of the carrier. I suppose he wouldn't be doing that if he felt good I'm going to use your suggestions and hope for the best. Thank you.

[krumpledwhisker]

Unfortunately we just lost our digital camera so i don't have any way to take pics at the moment.

[Lin Hansen]

Originally Posted by krumpledwhisker

He looks clean and healthy in every way except for earlier signs when he his neck was twisted around and he was turning in circles..

Welcome and thanks for coming to the aid of this bird.

To our more experienced members:

Anyone else thinking PMV here?

Linda

[pdpbison]

Hi Linda, all...


Hmmmmm..yea, could be.

My own little "Crow Baby' is a 'twirley Bird'...even though never a PMV Bird andhealthy as can be. But only when he gets excited, otherwise he is a normal bird in how hw stands or moves or walks.

I have seen others, who hurt as infants, grew up to be sometimes a twirley Bird, likewise, when they get excited about something.

So, this appearance can be sometimes from old neurological injuries...

But, on a new arrived 'ground bird' it is hard to guess from here...could be dehydration might do it, concussion, old injuries being stressed from privation or heat exhaustion, food poisoning, stress, a nagging hen back at home...

Lets hope the most benign of those, and not the PMV...


Rumplewhisker,

Now tell us this -

...are there any fine palsies? Tremors? little odd 'spells'? Does the Bird pull it's head way back and over in what some call 'Star Gazing'? Does it act like a Statue at all?



Phil
Las Vegas

[krumpledwhisker]

He does not seem to have any tremors. His neck was not in a "stargazing" position but rather his neck was twisted down near his feet with his head turned inward toward his wings which is why it looked broken initially. When we first saw him some little girls were trying to get him out of the street by prodding him with a branch. THis is why he was turning in circles. His neck was all twisted and it looked like his wing was broken b/c he was keeping it spread out while he was frantically turning in circles while they prodded him. The circles seemed more like a response to the position of his head and what seemed to be complete disorientation. Somebody mentioned concussion and I'm wondering if he wasn't knocked by a car since he was in the street. His little bird buddies were watching all of this from a tree above us, i hope they aren't too upset with us for taking him. Question. I was reading somewhere to put cover his box at night. We were going to put him in the garage tonight since it is more temperature controlled (due to the heat we've been sleeping with windows open = Drafts). Is that okay for him? It seems like a nice quiet dark place. You guys have been awesome in helping me figure out this little guy.

[krumpledwhisker]

...are there any fine palsies? Tremors? little odd 'spells'? Does the Bird pull it's head way back and over in what some call 'Star Gazing'? Does it act like a Statue at all?

Oops..i got a little off topic and forgot to answer the rest of the questions. He doesn't have any fine palsies or tremors. A little imbalance when he gets up and moves around. No little "odd spells". No statue moments either but it's hard to tell b/c he sleeps most of the time. His body temp is warm though so he seems okay as far as that goes. He really doesn't seem odd in any way except for when we initially picked him up. Since that time he has been pretty sedate but nothing unusual except for that. I forgot to mention, before we contained him to bring him home we watched him for a while. He didn't move at all. He sat on the sidewalk with his head tucked under his wing (his neck was still weird then so that might be why). You couldn't see his face at all. He didn't struggle when i picked him up and unfortunately since we were on a walk all i had was a paper bag with me so I carried him home in that. I thought he had died because he didn't move the entire way.

[krumpledwhisker]

I looked up PMV. I had no idea what it was and was curious what you might be referring to...it certainly sounds like it could be the case. Head and neck twisting with circling and incoordination and inability to fly....hmmmm...I might be waiting for a bird to heal that isn't going to. I'll keep taking care of him and hope for the best.

Signs- Initially, infected pigeons will consume more water and have watery, greenish droppings. They will often go off feed, act depressed, rest fluffed-up and lose weight. Later in the course of the disease, birds may develop neurologic signs. The first being incoordination and inability to fly. Head and neck twisting is easily recognized and often leads to circling or head and neck tremors. Paralysis or weakness of wings and legs can also occur. Nine out of 10 birds with prominent neurologic signs will die and unvaccinated squab mortality may reach 100%.

[AZWhitefeather]

If you haven't already done so, could you check the inside of his mouth for any unusl matter, looking like small bits of yelllowish cottage cheese.
Could be he has canker, which could hinder his eating.
His mouth should be nice & pink & free of any obstructions.

Yes, Linda, when I read about the circling, my first thought was PMV, however it seems he was circling beause he was being teased. I still wouldn't completely r/o it out though.

Cindy

[AZWhitefeather]

Originally Posted by krumpledwhisker

Nine out of 10 birds with prominent neurologic signs will die.

This is not always the case.

A few of us (me included) have PMV pijjies that have recovered.
If PMV is suspected, I would suggest keeping the little one very quite as this will help to keep the symptoms at bay. Sudden movements, noises, etc., will enhance the symptoms.

If he isn't drinking on his own, he needs to be hydrated. Using an eyedropper & slowly dropping a single drop at a time just inside his beak shouldn't cause any problems. But he does need fluids. Perferrably the rehydrating solution.

Cindy

[Trees Gray]

Originally Posted by krumpledwhisker

I looked up PMV. I had no idea what it was and was curious what you might be referring to...it certainly sounds like it could be the case. Head and neck twisting with circling and incoordination and inability to fly....hmmmm...I might be waiting for a bird to heal that isn't going to. I'll keep taking care of him and hope for the best.

Signs- Initially, infected pigeons will consume more water and have watery, greenish droppings. They will often go off feed, act depressed, rest fluffed-up and lose weight. Later in the course of the disease, birds may develop neurologic signs. The first being incoordination and inability to fly. Head and neck twisting is easily recognized and often leads to circling or head and neck tremors. Paralysis or weakness of wings and legs can also occur. Nine out of 10 birds with prominent neurologic signs will die and unvaccinated squab mortality may reach 100%.

Hello there,

Did you try the unflavored Pedialyte? Rehydration is crucial.

PMV is not a death sentence, it means some time for rehab, but the bird can get thru it, especially if he doesn't have any issues of starvation, injuries, and if he is an adult.

How is the bird doing today?

Treesa

[pdpbison]

...could be in inner Ear problem..injury or infection...

That can get anyone into a tizzy, or, I imagine, if a Bird, into all sorts of odd movements and co-ordination problems and twisting things...

Does not sound typical of (the little I know of ) probable PMV anyway...

If this Pigeon was wacked by a Car or flew hard into something, who knows what allmuscles and nerves are strained and contused...

And yes, 'Hydration' and easy to digest chow, for now, for starters is what I'd do, that and lots of re-assurances and secret handshakes so he feels at ease and knows he is not in danger anymore.

Krumplewshicker -

If this is a young adult, he might really love it if you fed him like he was a Baby...see my last nights thread on that, and if any questions, let me know. I will run you through the drill.

Initially, you can just give them Water and electolytes this way, then move on to some light chow with the same method.

It is a good way to give them a really big morale boost sometimes, and it also gets them interested to get onto their feed again by themselves, and it shows them you are a 100 percent pal, so they do not waste any energy on being worried about their situstion, and this helps them then for healing up and getting over whatever their woe has been.

We gotta remember, these are sensitive, wild Creatures, whose compromise obliges them to abide thngs they'd never put up with if they could get away...whose appearent tolerance does not necessarily show us the level of mental and emotional stress they are really under to be in our care sometimes...so anything we can do to ease those energy drains, the better...

I am thinking this Bird is not a PMV victim, but had had some mishap, some privation likely, and a whole lot of stressful adventures...rest, tenderness, 'secret handshakes' and good nutrition, an avian Vet to look at that Wing, and to feel safe...would be the regimin in general.

He might be ill also, for which, the good nutrition and comfort might be enough for his immune system to conquer it, or as well keep an eye on the poops or on his behavior for symptoms. At this phase, he has been through so much, it is hard to guess.


Phil
Las Vegas