Injured Mourning Dove

[ghandy]

Hi all,

We have an injured mourning dove in the house at the moment and she is today fading - hope someone can offer a little advice as we are novices at this ...

We found her Friday, it is now Tuesday. She was one of the third pair we have had the pleasure of watching hatch in our hanging basket this year and we found her thrown from the nest and being pecked mercilessly by a Blue Jay - she had been due to fly the nest anytime then, in fact her brother/sister did successfully fly away the very next day - so she is pretty grown up.

She had a very nasty looking wound on her head, right side to the rear, about the size of a fingernail, bloody and weeping it looked really unpleasant.

We know well enough to let fledglings alone and that the mom will usually take care of them but with the injury we doubted the poor little girl would survive - in fact when I finally got to her the blue jays were following me!

So we took her in, cleaned her a little, put some neosporin on the wound, and placed her in a dark shoe box with a towel. She seemed to thrive and within 24 hours was leaping about and exploring and taking water from a straw quite happily. We fed her oats and water mix as we did not then know what she needed, also some wildflower seed.

We found a proper cage with all the comforts of home for her and although she ate very little she seemed to have lots of energy and sat there preening herself happily for the next couple of days while we wondered what to do with her. Her wound was healing nicely, dry and not inflamed or infected looking.

Yesterday (Mon) when we got up in the morning she was very quiet and in the same position we had left her the night before, she staggered when she walked and when handled she would close her eyes.
We got some baby formula (exact) and have been trying to get her to take food and water, she does not seem interested and seems very weak now.

We do not know enough to get food down into her crop and have read that it is too easy to get the food into her larynx instead, at this stage though it seems like things are getting so serious that we would give it a try if that was what was needed.

She really is totally cute but we feel stuck with our lack of knowledge and experience. She has taken very little food so maybe she has just used up her stores and is starving, in which case maybe that is for us to fix. Infection does not seem to be a problem, but then again ...

We are in southern Oregon and don't know of any experts here

Any help and suggestions would be wonderful

Thanks

Cheryl

[spirit wings]

try to feed her frozen corn and peas thawed to room temp, you may need to open her beak and place a peice at a time in the back of her throat and she should swallow it, wildfower seeds might NOT have been a good choice, some flower seeds can be toxic, wildbird seed would of been good, you can try that if you can get her up again and pecking at some seed. others will be along to try to find a rehab place you can take her to, so check back here often, feed her the corn and peas as she needs something now.

[Lovebirds]

Check this list and see if any of the rehabbers are close to you. I believe it's actually illegal for you to have the little dove, however, I and most here would have done exactly what you did. I can't really offer much advice about where to go from here as far as taking care of the poor baby. Keep checking the thread.

http://wildliferehabber.com/modules/...bers/index.php

[ghandy]

Hi again,

Got a couple of pieces of corn down her and some water, she seemed to cope ok with that so we have placed her back and made her comfy and will try again in a little while.

Thanks so much for the speedy advice, we will check out the local rehab center now if there is one...

Cheryl

[Dobato]

Hi Ghandy,

I agree, the very best thing to do would be to get this little one into the hands of an expeienced rehabber ASAP. In the meantime she will need about a teaspoon and a half, over the course of a day, of water to keep her hydrated and for feeding, I have found this link very useful: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uU1SO0ZJoow

Instead of the dry peas, as shown in the link, you could use a good quality cat kibble broken or cut up into the same size as a split pea and give her about 10 pieces a feeding, this will be more nutrition and easier to digest than the corn. You can soak the pieces in warm water to soften them up a little, as well as to add moisture, just before feeding them. Also, they can become quite lethargic when they are dehydrated and this may be what you seeing. Please use hydration fluid, in stead of plain water to start her off, if you feel this might be the case. You can make it by adding one teaspoon of sugar and a good pinch of salt to one cup of water. This will re-hydrate her quicker than just plain water, the sugar in the fluid will get her glucose levels up, making her feel better/stronger sooner as well. If you have an eyedropper, you can slowly give her the fluid/water at the side of her beak, a drop or two at a time, just make sure she is getting enough in total.

Good luck with her,

Karyn

[ghandy]

Thanks, has taken to the hydration fluid well, ate a couple of bits of kibble and corn and now an hour later is lifting her head and looking a little more alert, although still very weak

Thanks to all!

Cheryl

[Dobato]

Hi Cheryl,

Good to hear she has rallied a bit.

Cheryl, there are roughly 120 drops in a teaspoon of fluid/water, so she will need about 180 drops a day. If you are giving by eyedropper you are going to waste/lose some while administering the fluids and will have to judge just how much she did not get and adjust the drops upward accordingly. I would err towards a little more than a little less fluids in the next day or two, until she is stable.

All the best,

Karyn

[missmadison]

The best thing to do is to get her to a rehabilitator, as they can give her antibiotics and probiotics, etc. as well as veterinary attention. How is her keel bone? If it sticks out it is very important to get food into her asap via crop feeding. Ideally you would use Emeraid (I think only available from vets?) and LRS subcutaneously. I work with birds at a rehabilitation center and this is what we often need to do for birds that will not eat. Until you can get to a rehabilitator, you may want to crop feed the Exact with a gavage syringe and offer her Pedialyte by beak from a cup about an inch deep. Please keep us updated and good luck!