puffed up pigeon

[cossagirl]

I came home tonight to find a very puffed up grey pigeon sitting on the floor of my balcony. He isn't interested in food or water and makes no attempt to move when approached. I have no idea about how to help this bird, but have placed him into a box for now as we have large possums visiting the same balcony every evening and am scared they may attack him. If anyone has any suggestions I would love to hear from you.

[maryco]

Hello and thanks for helping the pij out..

Sounds like he is sick, pigeons will often puff up and not move when they are feeling sick. closing their eyes and not being too alert also means something is wrong.

It's good that you put him in a box. For now try to keep him warm by placing a heating pad set on low under a towel under the box or set a heater on low and put it near by.

Check the bird's mouth it should be pink and clear of any yellow growths.
How are the droppings?
Do you notice any injuries?

Try to get some rehydration fluid or use Cynthia's recipe:

"Use the international rehydrating solution (Half a litre of water (preferably filtered) • Half a teaspoonful salt • Half a tablespoonful sugar or glucose Stir until salt and sugar are dissolved and administer lukewarm.)"

It's best to bring the pigeon inside if you haven't done so already, and try to give him some water, pigeons will put their whole beaks into the water and suck it up so make sure the water is 2 inches deep and not less.

Let us know how things go so we can offer you more info.

P.s Where are you located, we might have a member who lives in your city or near by who can offer some help/advice. Also might help us locate a pigeon friendly wildlife rehabber or rehab centre.

[cossagirl]

Thanks Mary, just checked the balcony for droppings...only found 2 feathers and one small white dropping. No apparent injuries on the bird. I am located in Sydney, Australia. Before I got your message I offered some water (about an inch deep) but the bird showed no interest in it. I will follow your instructions though and hope for the best!

[maryco]

Hello again,

Maybe this will help, there is a list of rehabbers in Australia. Make sure you call them up first and ask if they will treat pigeons, some rehabbers only take in native birds.

Hope that helps..

http://www.tc.umn.edu/~devo0028/contactI.htm

[cyro51]

Hello,

Thank you for caring for this pigeon.

I am in the UK so I don’t know much about possums but from what I have heard they would not have any problems getting a pigeon out of a box and they do kill pigeons, so please take it inside and keep it safe.

Warmth and rehydration are the most important things you can provide at the moment.

Cynthia

[birdboy12]

Hello and thanks for helping this pij i also try to dip their beak into the water so they can drink because sometimes they will forget about every thing (food water danger) and just sit so try dipping his beak into the water and also if he is not eating u can go to your local pet store and by bird formula and mix it as it say but make sure it is warm and do as maryco said keep it on a heating pad and keep us up dated! thanks for helping the pij!

Bye

[AZWhitefeather]

Hello & Welcome to pigeons.com

Many thanks for taking in this poor pij.
He most certainly isn't feeling well.
How is he doing today? Was his mouth clear of any obstruction?

If you could make up a batch of the 'International Rehydration Solution' & administer a few drops at a time with an eye dropper, that would be great.
At this point the little one needs a bit of a boost & this solution will help. Do this only if he isn't drinking on his own. Please note: Make sure the solution is dropped into the mouth slowing & the tongue is down (you should see it moving about in his mouth if there are no obstructions).
If he is drinking on his own, I would place a little solution in his cup.

Please keep us posted on how thing are coming along.

Cindy

[cossagirl]

Thanks to all for your help and advice. Kept the pij warm in the box last night and managed to get him drinking the rehydration solution. Took ages to start drinking - but once he started couldn't stop! Today he's still puffed up, but looks more alert. Is moving head and has looked at me, last night was sitting there kind of frozen. Just got him to drink some more and noticed his droppings are green and very watery....am off to the shops now to grab some seed.
Thanks again for your advice - its fab that you guys care so much about these sweet birds. (I've been attempting to save injured birds since I was a little girl - but never had the info to really be successful - hopefully this time my pij will recover!)

[maryco]

Hello cossagirl,

Thanks for the update, sounds like she is doing better

You are a very kind person, thanks for caring and hope many other pigeons come your way

Keep us posted and let us know if we can offer any advice!

[cossagirl]

Offered seed to the pij and was surprised how enthusiastically he ate. The strange thing is he only seems to eat if I hold the dish to his beak. Tried many times to lower the dish to get him to eat by himself, but the pij just stops eating and sits there. I've tried this now over the last few hours and always the same response....with the water mixture too. Any thoughts? Other than that he looks much better than yesterday. Quite alert and moves his head to watch me.

[maryco]

Hello,

Hmm..that behaviour sounds like what many sick birds do. Often they are too exausted and weak to even pick up seed that is in their cage and would rather just sit there puffed up (This is a sure sign of illness)
As for him eating once you put the dish up to his chest then that tells us he is hungry. Just keep an eye out for him and make sure he only eats the smaller seeds like milo and millet because if he is too weak he might not be able to digest the bigger, harder things and they could just sit in his crop leading him to have crop statis. (food not going through at all and spoiling in the crop)

Any other noticable symptoms he is having so we can try to figure out what the problem is..
If you can locate an avian vet near by that will help especially if this birds needs some meds.

[AZWhitefeather]

Good Morning Cossagirl,
Thanks for the update. Glad to see your little patient is showing sign of being more alert.

There are a few things that could be going on. It's possible he could have ingested something that didn't make him deathly ill, but sick enough to give him a good size belly ache.
The fact he is wanting to eat is great.

I would continue to observe him. Keep him warm, quite & hydrated.

Please do keep us posted.

Cindy

[cossagirl]

Thanks for all your advice.
Good news, today the pij isn't puffed up at all - infact he looks beautiful. He is walking around (the box), still hungry and when, after hand feeding him, I scattered seed on the floor he stooped down to eat. His droppings are no longer watery.
My husband thinks I should try to release him asap, but the weather here has turned very cool and rainy....maybe I'm being a little over-protective but I want to be sure he is well and has the best chance, so I'll decide in the morning.

[Reti]

I wouldn't release the bird yet. He needs to build up more strenght. If released too soon, he might relapse and not even be able to find his way back to you.
Could you, please keep him for another few days and see how he is doing?

Reti

[cossagirl]

OK, I will keep the pij for a few more days.
Although he looks and acts very well now I had been thinking to keep him the extra time anyway. My husband has been pushing me to release the pij very soon...he's concerned pij is suffering in the box...and I believe he's slightly worried I'll never let the pigeon go! Of course I can't wait to see him fly off well, any tips for when I do release him? Should I just put him on the ground or is there a better way?