Pigeon covered in tar

[Reti]

I was brought a little pigeon today which is covered in tar. The problem is, it is all caked in that stuff, from head to bottom, feet including.
I had one baby a few weeks back in similar condition, but not as bad. This one is really, really bad. I tried the cinchilla dust and then a dawn bath and it got only worse. The tar is still stuck on it and now I have a sticky, hard substance, I cannot remove, all over his body.
On his back he has a large spot of missing feathers and the wings have only the shaft of the feathers, also the tail feathers are missing. My guess is the tar was hot when he got into it and burned the feathers.
Now how do I remove this stuff, at least partially, he also seems to weight a lot because of this.

I hate to think this was done intentionally, but how on earth would he imerse himself from head to toe into tar.
Oh well, any ideas are welcome.

Reti

[Lovebirds]

Originally Posted by Reti

I was brought a little pigeon today which is covered in tar. The problem is, it is all caked in that stuff, from head to bottom, feet including.
I had one baby a few weeks back in similar condition, but not as bad. This one is really, really bad. I tried the cinchilla dust and then a dawn bath and it got only worse. The tar is still stuck on it and now I have a sticky, hard substance, I cannot remove, all over his body.
On his back he has a large spot of missing feathers and the wings have only the shaft of the feathers, also the tail feathers are missing. My guess is the tar was hot when he got into it and burned the feathers.
Now how do I remove this stuff, at least partially, he also seems to weight a lot because of this.

I hate to think this was done intentionally, but how on earth would he imerse himself from head to toe into tar.
Oh well, any ideas are welcome.



Reti

We've had birds come home from races with a little tar on their feet. I believe that from the air, it looks shiny like water and they land in it thinking they can get a quick drink. Hard to imagine one being covered like that. I personally think it sounds like it was done intentionally, but you'll probably never know. I have no idea how you would get that stuff off. One of our racer buddies had a bird with tar on it, not covered but he said there was quit a bit, whatever that means and he just waited until the bird molted. Your's sounds much more serious though.........good luck...

[Pigeonpal2002]

Hi Reti,

The only thing I know to use, is dawn dish washing liquid. They use this all the time on oil covered birds that are pretty bad off. I don't know if it will help since the tar is hardened so much and thick. Perhaps you repeatedly soak the bird with the dish liquid, it will soften and break up?

[Reti]

Wow, Brad, love this avatar of yours. You did it. You're a genious.

I did soak him for a while in warm dawn water and also rubbed her a bit to break the stuff up, but it is worse now.

Thank you, Lovebirds, this one is really bad. I think too, it was intentionally done, especially since he has all those feathers missing. I bet this stuff was put on him while still pretty hot.
Will give him another bath in the morning, but doubt it will work.

Reti

[Lovebirds]

I don't know how thick it is but do you think if you had some one hold her and took a cig lighter and tried to just melt it a little and then with gloves on, sort of peeled it off? I don't know.......just thinking here. This sound horrible and very uncomfortable. Poor baby......

[Pigeonpal2002]

Hi Reti,

Yes, sorry that is all I know to do...this pigeon sounds really bad off indeed and it does sound intential. Just what we need, another rampage of pigeon abuse but now on this side of the world

I found this link about cleaning tar/oiled birds, it suggests treating with warm vegetable oil first and some other tips.

http://raptor.iinet.net.au/raptorcr/rehab/oil.html

Best wishes and good luck with this poor pigeon.

[Lady Tarheel]

Reti, I'm sorry to say the outlook for a tar covered bird is not good. Much of the literature I have says that if they are completely covered with tar that euthanasia should be considered. But treatment ican be:

Heat 10 cc of canola oil to 102-104 degrees F. Apply warmed oil to comtaminated area. Gently work oil through the feathers, stroking toward wing tip. Gluey substance forms which can be gently pulled off feather tips. Requires an extremely gentle touch to prevent pulling feathers out. May have to repeat but only if ABSOLUTELY necessary. After about 5 min most of the tar should be softened so it can be removed from feather tips or
washed out. IF oil is not efffective, citrus based hand cleaner like Goop without pumice or silicone may be gently applied in small quantities to help break down the tar. NEVER ALLOW the goop to contact the skin and should not contact feathers for more than 3-5 minutes, as they can cause serious skin damage.

I would follow up with Dawn and chinchilla dust.

Good luck,
Maggie

[naturegirl]

A neighbor of mine was doing a photo shoot with a pure white dove, they had candles burning and afterwords blew the candles out and the bird got spooked and literally flew into the wet, hot candle wax. I told her to take the Dove into the vet as I didn't have any ideas and she told them she could do 2 different things, either wait till she goes thru an entire molt or put her under and pluck her bald. Well she waited thru the molt instead. Seriously if this poor bird has been burned from the Tar I would see about a vet putting her under and doing an entire pluck so that way she can get cream on any burns before they get too infected. Poor thing. Good Luck and pet the Piff y for me

[naturegirl]

Here is another idea don't really know if you can use it or not maybe one of our more experienced rehabbers can help with this one, but what about this stuff called Goof off, My husband just used it to get Tar off his hands from working on our roof works wonders!!!! Disolves it almost instantly.

[TAWhatley]

Ohhhh, Reti. That's a tough one. Poor, poor pigeon and poor Reti too. Let me check with a couple of people and see what they might suggest.

Terry

[Reti]

Brad, thank you, this is a great link.
I will do as it sais tomorrow evening, after she calms down a bit. He was freaked when I got him and washed him, then he wouldn't dry and had to put him under the lamp to dry. He is better now and started eating after I hydrated him.

Thank you, Maggie. Great advice, that is what the link advices too.
I do hope and pray he makes it.


Naturegirl, thank you. I don't think I will pluck her whole body, it would be too much.
He doesn' actually have burns, just a bit of an irritated skin and big bald spots.
I applied Silvadene.
I have Googone, but I don't want to apply it on him, might be a bit too toxic for a delicate bird.

Thank you, Terry. Any advice is welcome.

Reti

[Trees Gray]

I'm so sorry to hear about this pigeon with all the tar on it. This is a real tough one.

....just a thought....What about using Basic H, the vegetable household cleaner that will strip anything clean? It takes the shiny fake coating off vegies and permiates the surface and make it squeaky clean, with no toxic fumes.

[Reti]

Hi Treesa,
You mean Basic G? I don't have Basic H. Where do I get it from?

Reti

[Trees Gray]

Originally Posted by Reti

Hi Treesa,
You mean Basic G? I don't have Basic H. Where do I get it from?

Reti

Nope, not G...this is another Shaklee product, they also have a basic I, which is an industrial strength cleaner, a bit stronger, I'm sure.

I will e-mail the website pages on the product and see what you think.

[Reti]

Oh, I didn't know they have so many basics
Thanks.

Reti