Do all feral pigeons have bugs?

[DebiTOP]

For those who don't know me, my pigeon, Coco is a rescued feral whose mom and sibling were killed when the pallet in a ware house where they were living fell over. I think Coco was around a week old at the time (or less) and was barely feathered. I raised him in the house and he's never been outside (since he was born indoors). I see him preen, but really no more than my other birds (except the tiels who preen a lot normally). He's had baths and I've never seen bugs. Should I look into his feathers now. I didn't see any when he was little and never saw any in his "nest" box. He sleeps in a cage with a white pad under and I don't seen anything there either. Since I have 18 other birds, I'd hate to have an epidemic! And I don't think I can put chemicals on my smaller birds. Am I worried for nothing?

[fred2344]

Hi Debi,
It's doubtful that there are any insects but just to make sure there are no lice, Hold open the tail feathers against a strong light and look for any holes. Do the same with the flight feathers. If you see some holes, those would be the results of feather lice and you would need to dust the bird down. It doesn't hurt to check it and if there are any, we can give you the names of some products that are pretty good.

[This message has been edited by fred2344 (edited September 01, 2002).]

[DebiTOP]

Coco is moulting quite a bit right now. He has pin feathers coming in so I'm thinking this is a normal moult. The feathers that he is losing are in fine shape. In fact, they are so pretty I'm saving them. I haven't seen any holes. I hope this means I'm safe. I've looked over the tail feathers that he's lost pretty well since I have some taped to my monitor at work!

[maryco]

Wow!! I save my pigeon (Tooty's) feathers too..I put them in a stick Album and I got the tinest feather from his face to the biggest tail and flight feathers..Tooty is also moulting now and has those little pin feathers coming out of him face and they seem to bother and itch him so I give him a nice itch!!

Mary

Originally posted by DebiTOP:
Coco is moulting quite a bit right now. He has pin feathers coming in so I'm thinking this is a normal moult. The feathers that he is losing are in fine shape. In fact, they are so pretty I'm saving them. I haven't seen any holes. I hope this means I'm safe. I've looked over the tail feathers that he's lost pretty well since I have some taped to my monitor at work!

[raynjudy]

All warm blooded animals, humans included, are crawling with microscopic "mites". They're part of the natural order of things.

But to answer your question--no. We've never had to treat Bernie, Cosmo, or Ally for "bugs", and all three are rescued ferals.

Judy did recover a pigeon with "bugs" once. It was treated, rehabbed and released.

Some birds treat their own bugs--they will incorporate tobacco into their nests as a natural insecticide. Judy observed starlings, several times, picking up moth balls and rubbing them pretty much anywhere they could reach. (People sometimes use moth balls in gardens to deter rabbits.) She figures this had to be a delousing action! Surprisingly smart, huh?

--Ray

PS. We save feathers too!

[This message has been edited by raynjudy (edited September 01, 2002).]

[turkey]

I started saving feathers when Turkey started moulting, then the feathers became abundant, so I threw them away. Saved, threw away, saved threw away ...

I have a ziploc of my favorites.

Does anyone know if they use them for nesting? So far mine just like to play with them.

Julie

[maryco]

Yes, they do..My wild pigeons have a nest full of feathers, it's beautiful all the colours from grey, white to brown and peach..I also see Tooty carrying some of his big flight or tail feathers into his nest box before he sits down to mooooaaaaaaannn..

Mary

Originally posted by turkey:


Does anyone know if they use them for nesting? So far mine just like to play with them.

Julie

[DebiTOP]

Eeew. Ray and Judy. Did you have to remind me about those microscopic crawly things that are on me. I bought a Vaporetto steam cleaner and blast the stuffing out of everything around here (not the birds, obviously) like my bed, couch, everything. That 270 degree steam at 60 psi gets rid of a good many of them. And I keep the place as cool as possible and dry as possible. I like to share my living space with critters I can see, thank you.

[Danielle Chase]

Hi Debi
Eggbert doesn't use his dropped feathers for nesting materials; prefering instead to use q-tips, wire ties, cable ties, small store receipts, scraps of paper, string - and his favorite - which is the straw pulled from a broom. I even bought him a bag of alfalfa hay to use for his nest - but he ignored it. He pays no mind to his dropped feathers - where ever they land is where they stay until I clean them up. I kept some of his feathers - wing and tail - for a couple of years, then tossed them out. I'm not sure why I even started keeping them . . . DC

[WhiteWingsCa]

I picked up a ringneck two weeks ago (long story...but the short of it was that some stupid jerks released a pair of them at their wedding...someone "saved" one of them, I was contacted...now I have a new bird! LOL)

Anyway...it was moulting too. One of the kids in the family that was caring for it used some of the longer tail feathers and made a dream catcher! It was really cool...and a neat way to have a momento of your beloved birdie.....