Rescued injured pigeon is in my care. I know nothing!

[sharoneicher]

My neighbor suckered me into taking an injured dove off of his hands. I know nothing about pigeons or how best to treat an injured one.

The bird had an injury to the breast and fresh blood there. The wing tendon seems to be hurt or completely ripped, judging by the angle at which the bird was holding its wing. The bird was walking fine as it tried to evade capture.

I have 3 chickens, so I put the bird in a pet carrier next to the chicken coop. It will hear the other birds, but is separated from them. I gave it water, some seed, and left it alone.

The bird does not seem to be in shock, even though its injuries seem extensive to me. I thought it best to move it as little as possible and to see how it fares recouperating on its own.

I know that the body temp of chickens is high enough that antibiotics are not needed and they will kill bacteria on their own. I am guessing a pigeon is the same.

So. Anything else I should be doing to help this bird recover its health?

How long should an injured wing/wing tendon take to heal?

Thanks for the advice. Sharon

[lwerden]

Hi Sharon,

Welcome to Piegon-Talk.

Thank you so much for taking in this injured dove.

From what you have described the injuries seem fairly severe.

Piegons are very different from chickens. If your bird was attacked by a cat there is something in the cats saliva that can kill a piegon within 24 hours. Therefore this bird needs to be put on antibotics immediately.

I am fairly new to this forum and do not have enough experience to really aid you any further, but I will do my best to get one of our experienced members to get to you shortely.

Regards,
Louise

[TAWhatley]

Hi Sharon and welcome to Pigeon-Talk!

If you could post some pictures of the bird, that would be really helpful to our members in offering advice.

Actually it kind of depends on what did the damage to the bird as to whether or not it needs to be on antibiotics. If a cat caused the injuries, then the bird needs to be on Clavamox pretty ASAP.

The wing may need to be wrapped/splinted.

Please get back with us as soon as you can.

Terry

PS: Thank you for posting your location ..