Larry the rescued field pigeon....

[Shalva]

Ok let me preface by saying that I have retrievers..... and I show and breed Champion retrievers..... Well my day took a surprising turn yesterday.

I do work my dogs with birds.... I have never used live birds and normally use fake birds and plastic bumpers I want my dogs to be able to do what they were bred to do... well this week a friend of mine asked if I wanted to go training with her and a couple of her friends so I thought sure what the heck.... when I got to the place with my friend..... I realized that they were using live birds... which is something that I am morally against doing..... so anyway..... my friend mentions that one of my goldens won't pick up a bird and the trainer guy says to me well what you need to do is take a live pigeon with its wings clipped and take him by the wing and tease your dog with him and then when your dog tries to bite him then throw the pigeon and he will retrieve it..... and I am standing there with this look of horror on my face..... this guy takes this pigeon and three dogs retrieve this pigeon from the brush and the little guy is alive and the trainer says well you take that pigeon home and do what I said with it..... and me trying to get out of this says oh no I have nothing to get him home with ..... and the guy goes and gets me a bag..... so ok great..... I get home finally and I have some dead birds and this live pigeon...... which I showed my husband and told him what the guy said and we both were like NO WAY ...... sooooooooooo

I now have a pigeon living in my basement......


I have a parrot so I understand bird basics...... "poopology" stuff like that..... but what I don't know is about pigeons.... this guy has a bunch of scratches on him from being retrieved by the dogs but luckilly no significant wounds..... he is missing a bunch of feathers.... has no tail feathers and his wings were clipped (I dont think he was pinioned)..... we have named him Larry and are going to try and get him healthy enough so we can release him when his feathers grow in......... and he can fly......

so I have questoins.....

temperature - how cold can it be for him if I were to eventually move him outside.... I live in Northern New England.... he is in my warm basement just until he can get over the stress ( I mean the poor guy has had a couple of really bad days)...... I gave him water, sand and popcorn kernals.... I am going to go and buy him a perch and some seeds.... he is living in a dog crate right now.....

So my first question is about what temperatures he will be ok in......
second..... is care for him basically the same as my cockatoo..... ???
third..... will he get attached to us??? I do want to be able to release him at some point without that being a problem so I could use some advice......

thanks a bunch.... I want to do whats right by this little guy and I am just not sure what to do.

[Pigeonpal2002]

How awful Those poor pigeons and this lucky survivour. I can't believe people are still using live pigeons for this purpose!

This pigeon looks like it needs professional care and YESTERDAY. I see wounds on his shoulders and the feathers will need to regrow completely before anything else. Carnivorous animals can carry a potentially lethal bacteria in their mouths that can kill a bird in a day or two. There looks like there is something wrong with it's neck too.

This bird needs more care than you can provide. I hope that others will be on soon to advise you. In the mean time, please keep him very warm, a heating pad set to low would be most beneficial. Offer either water or an electrolyte solution of water and a small dash of sugar and salt. Feed can be wild bird seed or un-popped popcorn, defrosted and thawed peas and corn.

[Shalva]

these pictures were taken as soon as we got home last night he actually looks pretty good this mroning.....

I can go get a few more photos.... I talked to a vet who said to clean his wounds with peroxide......which I did.... he said that cats were a problem more than dogs.... I am glad that the dogs all had soft mouths....
I realize that his feathers need to fully grow in..... I do have a parrot so I understand basic bird care..... I called the local er clinic and have a call into a wildlife person who I have not heard back from as of yet....

I just want this little guy to have a fighting chance.

he does look better to me today than yesterday.... I just called my avian vet who said he won't prescribe without seeing him .... and they can't see him until next wednesday anyway.... I am trying another avian vet to see.....
S

[Pigeonpal2002]

Well, any carnivorous animal can carry a potentially lethal bacteria in their mouths. Cats more than dogs yes, but it's still a worry. Any small scratch can leave the bird vulnerable to infection and the peroxide won't cut it. An antibiotic is needed for these cases, to be safe.

Keep him warm, quiet, in semi darkness and calm. This pigeon needs time to regroup and recupe.

[Nooti]

Hmmm....
Well done for your soft heart.
That bird has a ring on its leg.
He looks like a survivor to me. Just keep your eye on him. If he is going to sucumb to pasturella he will start to go downhill from about the third day. Ideally he should have had a long acting antibiotic injection, but a short course would suffice if he did start to look miserable as long as you get him to a vet mighty fast.
Good luck to both of you.
(I have parrots too)

[Shalva]

thanks for your help I will give my vet a call...... I have an avian vet that I use.

[Lady Tarheel]

Shalva, I just want to say thank you for saving this bird. You have a kind heart and are to be commended for taking him in.

I would keep him in the basement until warm weather if this is no problem for you. Maybe by then his feathers will have grown out enough for him to fly. I would agree with Brad and Nooti about the antibiotic, just in case. Even wild bird seed with a little of the popcorn will help until you could get a more balanced seed mixture for him.

The thing that concerns me about this bird is the band which means he was once a registered bird and not used to having to fend for himself so releasing him may not be the best thing to do either.

Maggie

PS - you were posting the new pics as I was posting and he does look a lot better. Ask the vet to check his stool for worms because he probably will have them.

[Shalva]

here are his photos from today....








S

[pdpbison]

Hi Shalva,


Yahhhhhhh...as the several above Posts mention...be nice if you can get him to an experienced Avian Vet for a fast evaluation and some appropriate anti-biotics to ward off poeeible infections from his ordeals just paassed.

Looks like he might have some Carrier Pigeon in him...and, as Nooti observed, there does seem to be a Band on his leg which may denote his provenance and past owner, which info could be posted here for those savvy in such matters to investigate.

This does not mean of course that the previous owner was other than whomever consigned the poor Soul to his recent fate, so...

Anyway, seems a handsome fellow!

And lucky you elected to care for him...

Please describe the poops for us when there are some to describe?

And consider to get him some regular Wild Bird Seed mix or if possible some boni-fide Pigeon Mix, which many Feed Stores or some places like Petsmart should sell in the big bags.

Cool dry still air should be no problem for him, but damp air or drafts should be prevented if possible.

A conventional Electric Heating pad could be set up with a towell on it for him to elect for himself to be on or near if he likes, in the larger Cage he is in...and or to drape the Cage if draft is a condition at all of the Basement.

Best wishes...

Phil
Las Vegas

[Shalva]

thanks you guys for not slamming me and just helping me do right by this little guy.... as soon as my husband and I took him out of the bag he was in... he was so cute and I just think he is lovely.... .... I also find it mind boggling that people just can kill a sentient creature so thattheir dogs can play a game.... had I known they would be using live birds I would never have gone.... I also am concerned about him being able to fend for himself.... he is banded, he was at a game preserve..... I live in a cold cold climate.... so its hard for me to know when he can go outside... having him in my basement is not a problem.... but there are fumes down there as I am a stained glass artist and I solder.... generally with the basement door open.... I could just cover his cage completely but the sooner I can get him outside the better .....

I am waiting to hear back from the other avian vet..... but he looks like he is standing better and not as puffed... I am going to go and get him some perches tonight.... can you tell me what I need to outfit his cage.....

I do worry about him exposing my parrot to stuff... so that is why he can't be in the main house.... I will talk to the vet about the worms.

so

[Shalva]

ok so if he can't live on his own or be released then ummmm how do I find a home for a rescued field pigeon.... omgosh .... I so don't need a pet pigeon... with five dogs, 2 cats a parrot and a litter of puppies on the way.....
S

[Shalva]

his poop that he has looks fairly loose right now and there doesn't seem to be a discernable stool vs. urea definition..... but these are poops from last night.... I will keep an eye on his poops and see if they solidify just a bit.... the stress could be an issue.... I have a call into the avian vet so hopefully he calls back soon.....

thats interesting about the carrier pigeon.... I am learning so much .....
I will go to blue seal feed tomm. and see if I can get him some pigeon mix.... my husband is not excited about the not being able to release him thing.....
I will get the band information and post it here and see if you can tell me anything more about Larry.... I don't want to do that right now as I dont want to stress him anymore for a while.....

S

[Trees Gray]

Thank you for your kindness and concern in helping this pigeon, I'm very sad the others didn't make it. How can people be so cruel... pigeons feel pain too!

First, here is a link to a good pigeon mix, I'm sure once he gets that he will do so much better and the poops will solidify.

http://purgrain.com/ingredients.htm

Please do post the band numbers so we can locate the owner.

He will need a large cage so he can stretch and excercise his wings, a deep water dish and seed dish. You can get the dishes used for parrots that attach to the side of the cage.

Pigeons are less stressed sitting up high, out of drafts of winds, and cannot be in any kind of area with fumes, candles, solder, etc. they have very delicate lungs. I usually cover the cage on all sides with a towel, except the front and set them up against a wall.

[Shalva]

ok well here is my concern about locating the owner.... I don't want Larry going back to them..... I am sure he came from a game farm and unfortunately what they were doign wtih him is absolutely legal..... I just want him healthy and happy..... and if posting the band numbers helps him then that is fine, but I don't want the world to know that I have this pigeon.... nor do I want my friend and her friends to be in trouble about this pigeon no matter how I personally feel about what they are doing.....

I have to honestly say that bird flu may be the best thing to happen to stop people from using real birds to train their dogs with.... it may give them the push they need to go to artificial birds.....

S

[Trees Gray]

Originally Posted by Shalva

ok well here is my concern about locating the owner.... I don't want Larry going back to them..... I am sure he came from a game farm and unfortunately what they were doign wtih him is absolutely legal..... I just want him healthy and happy..... and if posting the band numbers helps him then that is fine, but I don't want the world to know that I have this pigeon.... nor do I want my friend and her friends to be in trouble about this pigeon no matter how I personally feel about what they are doing.....

Well, we certainly don't want to call the owner, if that is why he has the pigeons.

I have to honestly say that bird flu may be the best thing to happen to stop people from using real birds to train their dogs with.... it may give them the push they need to go to artificial birds.....
S

It may relieve the birds used for training dogs, but the problem is people will also panic and that could possibly end up with lots of healthy birds being put down.

Where do you live, and would you like help in someone taking over the care?