Good News....Bad News

[Amber]

Good Morning Everyone,
I wanted to tell all of you thankyou again for your help when I lost 6 babies and 3 adults to acid smoke and salmonella when my pigeon barn caught fire. To update you, the one pigeon who was very sick is now very healthy, and the birds started breeding again right away and I just had 3 babies born yesterday. However, not all good seems to come without some bad. Last night i went into one of my pigeon houses and they all came to their cage to eat except one, a 2 month old. He came to the cage but went to the side of it. Normal behavior for my pigeons is to run wild into the cage with their wings spread like 747's... . So, I kissed to him and he hobbled around very slowly, looked at me, then looked at everyone else in the cage. Obviously something was wrong....he decided to go ahead and go inside, but didnt have the energy to keep all the others off of him or move out of the way fast enough, so he just laid down. I finally got him out and he felt very light, cold, and listless. He is still not used to people a whole lot and will respond to me but does not let me hold him at all. He did not fight very much when i picked him up and seemed quite a bit under weight. But the day before he was behaving normal, even about 3 hrs before he was on the perch with everyone else. In a matter of a half hour he went from being mildly interested in eating, but not actually eating and hobbling around, to being off balanced and really puffed up, to almost seizure like episodes. I thought maybe he had a little of what my last sick pigeon had, but he went from seeming normal to almost dead in 4 hrs. Very different. So I went ahead and wormed him. And was gonna give him some Baytril today if he made it through the night. What do these symptoms sound like to you? Thanks for your help!
Amber

[TAWhatley]

Hi Amber,

I'm so sorry your youngster is doing so poorly. As is often the case, the cause could be one or more of several things. If you can, take a look at this site and see if you can maybe narrow down the cause:

http://chevita.com/tauben/e-index3.html


It could be worms but also could be cocci, e.coli, adenovirus, salmonella, or other things. Try going down the list of symptoms that match what you are seeing and let us know what seems the most likely to you.

Meanwhile, keep the bird warm and quiet and be sure it doesn't become dehydrated. If this is already likely to be the case then give some unflavored Pedialyte or other electrolyte solution.

Terry Whatley

[maryco]

Hello,

If you mean he has a sort of balance problem and twisting it could be salmonellosis again, if one(or both) parents are carrying it then the baby could be born with it and it might show up later on, I had this problem with many of my feral flock.. the babies looked perfectly normal then they grew up and were sick.
I know that the mother is carrying it so I make sure not to let her breed or if she lays eggs I take them away or replace them with fake ones.

Keep us posted on the young one.

Mary

[Amber]

I wasnt really sure that it would be salmonellosis again because I had some medicine in their water yesterday, I was treating all of them for it again took make sure to knock it out...so I wasnt thinking that would be it, but I guess it is possible. Once they have it, do they always carry it, but not always suffer from it?

[maryco]

I'm not sure really.. Maybe if they were treated they will be fine but will just carry it? I don't know...hope someone can clearify this.

Mary

Once they have it, do they always carry it, but not always suffer from it?[/b]

[TAWhatley]

Since salmonella is a bacterial infection I would think that once cured through the use of antibiotics it would no longer be present in the bird. Likewise, I am pretty sure a bird could become reinfected. If salmonella is suspected, I would get started on a powerful antibiotic as soon as possible. I realize this bird is a youngster so Baytril may not be the drug of choice but I wouldn't delay in getting in on something more powerful and easier to control the dosage with than a drug in the drinking water.

Terry Whatley

[Amber]

Hey guys ...Thank you for your help....unfortunately, my young piji died over night . I'm still trying to figure out what the cause was and am getting ready to go through all the stuff at the chevita site you gave. I am treating the pigeons presently for Canker/Coccidiosis/Worms...it a multi treatment for the water. I am positive it wasnt canker though, but wanted to treat for worms. He just went so fast, it is mystifying. Could the fact that I quarantined him from the others stress him out, being he was so young and never having been seperated from his sibling? Thanks again guys!

[Amber]

Also, when i found my pigeon...he had what seemed to look like little mites on his body. I'm assuming b/c he had died and they were moving on. They were very, very tiny..what could they be. I am going to dust them tomorrow for them, but could they have contributed?

[maryco]

Amber,

I'm so sorry

Take care,

Mary

[Navigator]

Amber, those critters you see are most likely feather mites. Seven Dust should do the trick or Malathion. These parasites do stress the birds, but not in a way to be responsible for a fatality.
I suspect it could very well be Paratyphoid (salmonella). I vaccinate my birds each year to avoid this, but there is a product on the market through Global Pigeon Supply called Furaltadone that is proclaimed to be just as effective.
However, the loft should be disinfected if you do suspect this as the problem or it will most likely return in the near future.