First spring squeaker in feral flock has canker

[xxmoxiexx]

Ok, the first squeaker of the spring has been down with the flock for about a week and a half. He/she is GORGEOUS!! I LOVE the markings on him! He came down once 2 weeks ago, squeaking away, trying to pick up seed, and i didnt see him for about 4 more days, and he was trying to pick up seed again, not much success. Since then, he has come down much more, and has been eating fine. he is QUITE skittish though, so i can never get close. Well, Sunday's the birds are always EXTRA hungry because the guy that owns the clothing shop is closed, so they dont get any rice on Sundays, so I give them a bit extra seed.
He was extra hungry too, and all the pigeons were in one big pile eating seed, so i had my chance to get him, and i did, i just wanted to see that he was healthy and such, plus he had a piece of dry grass sticking out of his mouth that he couldnt figure out how to get out.
Boy, i'm glad i got him, as soon as i opened his mouth, saw the spot of canker. I posted pics on this link, the last 5 pics, only one of the canker, the others of jis markings.
He has Gray tail feathers, with the dark gray tips, his wing feathers, and on his crop, are a brown with light brown ends, his stomach and back fade into all white with a bit of gray and brown speckled throughout, and he has the pretty iredescant purple on throat, which looks SOOO pretty on top of the brown feathers.
Do you think you can tell who the parents are by a squeakers markings? Just curious.
Anyways, one pic is of the canker, the rest is to get an idea of his feathers, they are just gorgeous. He's not that into posing, but you get the picture, kind of!
Oh, someone said once i needed to warn folks of the graphic pictures in that album, so i'm warning you!

http://public.fotki.com/xxscribblerx...ons/page2.html

He is still squeaking, but is also making that very hoarse frog like noise, so i imagine he is becoming a teenager, his cere is also starting to whiten, his eyes are still the brown of a squeaker though.

The canker, well, that piece of grass had dried onto the canker, there was a bit of crud on there, i carefully wetted it with a q-tip to pull it off without disrupting the canker.
It seems like the canker started on the bottom left of the inside of mouth, and started to seep onto the top left of inside mouth since those two points touch so much when the beak is closed.
I started him on Flagyl, we'll see what happens.
I'm glad i got him when i did, otherwise i would of gotten him when it was too late, like most of the others i have gotten, just a bit too late.
You can see the canker on one side, the bulging where the canker is, but he was always so far away i didnt see it. Very noticable up close though. The canker isnt horrible, the beginning of it, but it's nice to get one that you feel you at least have a BETTER chance with then one thats whole throat is closed up with it.
Oh, he has been eating, but i have been tube feeding a bit, just to put on a bit of weight in case he has something else that starts to show up, then it will be too late to put weight on him...
Just a little, like 15-20 cc 2xday, on top of seed. Plus, easier to give meds with it that way.

[Charis]

You're right...he is a lucky bird and he is gorgeous.

[Pidgey]

Good catch--let's hope he doesn't lose part of his jaw like Scissors did.

Pidgey

[Reti]

He is really pretty. I am so glad you got him om time, looks like he will be fine, just hope the canker isn't too deep yet.

Reti

[Maggie-NC]

Moxie, I'm so glad you caught him and it looks like just in time. He looks healthy right now so hopefully the meds can kick in quickly.

He is gorgeous. I don't think I have seen one with such beautiful markings and color as his.

[jbangelfish]

This is the easiest way to treat canker. The tablets are large and made for the treatment of blackhead in turkeys but it is the same pathogen and treats canker very well.

You have to quarter the tablets and feed orally once a day for just a few days. I think the medication is actually metronidizol (sp?) but is a sure cure.

Bill