New little baby

[Lady Tarheel]

I am a happy woman. We found a new baby this morning at the bridge where we usually get so many (this summer zero until now). We named her Rachel (for no particular reason), she weighs 137 grams, lots of fuzz and lots of squealing. Oh joy, what a wonderful sound! She will probably turn out to be a boy but hopefully with no psychological problems.

Right now she seems ok - scared and cautious but no broken anything. She has pooped nicely and been fed 15 cc Exact, watered down, til we see how things go. Tonight, we'll start her on Bactrim and Nystatin just as a precaution for five days. Long ago, our vet said with the wild ones it wouldn't hurt and probably would help.

We have dusted her for mites and right now she is tucked into her little bed. We use the cases that canned drinks come in, cut them in half, tape together and fill about 1/2 full of shavings and top with several paper towels. They all love to pile up in the bed.

If I can ever decide what type digital camera to get, I'll post her picture.

maggie

[cyro51]

Hi Maggie, is this the bridge where you have not found survivors this year? What had happened to this litle one or her parents? Thank goodness she is safe now.

Cynthia

[Lady Tarheel]

Hi Cynthia - yes, this is the same bridge I have mentioned. Normally, we rescue at least 30+ over the year (about 20 during the summer) from there but she is the only live one from there this year. When my husband found her there was another baby dead nearby. He believes it was hit by a car. But even though he has seen several dead there, it still doesn't account for that many. We worry that something is going on there. When he parked the car to go get Rachel, he said 4 cars went by her in the street but luckily they saw her and drove around her. He had already walked down this street earlier and didn't see her or the dead one but he usually gets the car and drives back by there just in case. I sure am glad he did. If this had happened on a week day the first car would have killed her because it is only a 2-way street and a lot of traffic so the cars wouldn't have been able to avoid hitting her.They usually fall from the bridge and sometimes the parents get hit when they go down to the street to feed them. One of our "keepers" named Simon that we've had about 4 years is an example. His mother or father was laying dead beside him when he was picked up. It's pretty sad sometimes.

Thanks, maggie

[cyro51]

What a sad situation

Cynthia

[Trees Gray]

Lady Tarheel,

I can understand your joy! I bet the youngster is "one happy baby" to have found you. I'm so sorry to hear about the parents and other youngster.

The baby may be psychologically scared, as I have several, but will be able to live a relatively normal life, given your supportive & loving care and that there are no injuries. I found out pigeons do remember well, especially youngsters, that have lost their parents, and older birds that have had negative things that happen in their lives. My "Skye and Sonic" cannot be parents, as they are not equipped emotionally due to the trauma from abandonment at 4 days of age.

[Lady Tarheel]

Another happy Sunday at our house. Picked up another baby this a.m. at the bridge. This one, named Raymond, weighs in at 180 grams, but looks much smaller. Lots of fuzz. He is not as perky as Rachel, acts a little "off", and is very dirty, poop balls on all toes, but we'll worry about those later. Giving him Bactrim and Nystatin and keeping separate from the others. Wish us luck with this one.

maggie

[Trees Gray]

Another lucky Sunday, especially for little Raymond. Sending best wishes for his speedy recovery to full health.

[Lady Tarheel]

Before I update on Rachel & Raymond, we picked up another baby this am, lying in the street next to the curb, named it Ella, but knew right away that the baby was in serious condition. It weighed 155 grams but looked smaller, wouldn't respond at all, eyes closed. Gave it hydrating solution and put on a heating pad, but sadly, it died within two hours. Beautiful, black with white wing tips. So sad, but at least it died in a warm bed with no cars scaring it.

Rachel & Raymond are doing fine - now. Rachel gave us a scare the first of the week. She had been active, energetic, and looking good until last Sunday when she became more subdued but we thought she was just growing up. We had kept the two separate for 8-10 days because Raymond was not as well as Rachel. We started giving him Metronidazole after the round of Bactrim & Nystatin because he was still sick and he immediately started getting better so after a couple of days we would put him on the counter with Rachel. Tuesday am, we fed Rachel as usual but about mid-morning noticed her puffed out, sitting in a corner. Her crop had not gone down at all. I went back and read the thread that Phil, I think, started about "slow crop youngster". Pidgey mentioned candida, which I've never dealt with but he made the comment that you don't fool around with this very long before they go downhill really fast. Even though we had given Rachel nystatin when we first got her, we started it again and also metronidazole. For the rest of the day she looked terrible and I really thought we were losing her. By about 9 pm I checked her and she was preening - still sick, but getting better. The next day showed more improvement. Today, she and Raymond are sharing a cage, eating seed really well. I took them both to our vet on Wednesday, she did a fecal and that checked out ok and said the action we took was probably what did the trick. The reason I want to thank Pidgey is, while we don't know what they both had, had I not read what he wrote, I might not have been as aggressive. I think I'm going to add metronidazole to the meds I give them when they're picked up. This is their picture with Rachel throwing her wing around Raymond. They are in love.

[Reti]

They are adorable.
Thanks for the pic.
You did a great job, your quick action saved her life.

Reti

[Trees Gray]

I'm sorry that Ella didn't make it, but sure am glad to see the picture of Rachel and Raymond. Those names are too cute!

Thanks for sharing the pictures of the two youngsters.

[Garye]

Aren't they adorable? It's so hard to understand how people could possibly hate pigeons once they get to see them up close. They're so cute! I'm so happy that you have the means and abilities to help these creatures. It's just too bad they seem to like that spot to raise their families. Sounds very dangerous.