Um... so I have this pigeon. Help?

[pony]

I brought home a feral pigeon from my work site this morning. It had been walking around there for two days. I got tired of chasing the feral cats away from it, and decided to bring it home and see if I could figure out what it's trouble was.

It seems pretty healthy, in general. Lots of energy, totally alert, it can run like the dickens, but it can't seem to get more than a couple inches off the ground when it tries to fly. It's wings don't seem malformed or broken or in any other way messed up. It just can't rev them up high enough or something. No vroom.

I don't know a darn thing about these birds. I have no idea what color it's poop should be, or what the heck a crop or a cere is. I'm talking clueless here. (Yes, I read the thread about how to examine a sick bird. It was mostly greek to me.)

I am reluctant to handle it much, because it's so scared of me. I don't want the poor thing to have a heart attack or something. When I -do- handle it, it makes a terrified "peeeeeeep!" sound, and flaps and fusses.

I took a few pictures and threw them on a page here: http://pony.0catch.com/photos/pigeon/pigeonpics.html
(The first photo even includes poop. which looks like pretty ordinary bird poop to me, but what do I know?)

So far it hasn't shown interest in the wild bird seed or water that I provided it with, but I've only had it a couple hours now.

So. Now what?

[AliBlack]

Hi there, just writing a longer reply to you, bear with me! Are you in the UK?

Alison

[pony]

Hi... I'm in Tacoma, Washington. Pretty far from the UK.

[cyro51]

Hi Pony,


Welcome to Pigeons.com and thank you for rescuing the baby…the “peep” means he is still very young, under 8 weeks old ! Without being able to fly to escape predators and find food he would not have lasted long.

Now we know where you are with any luck one of us might be nearby and able to offer practical help!


This year I have found 4 babies in the state that you describe, young but fully developed and unable to fly but nothing obviously wrong. I concluded that they were just weak with hunger, one because she had not learnt to eat yet! I wormed them (in case this was the problem) fed them up and they soon regained their strength and could have been released once they were strong enough to fly, escape predators and search successfully for food. My advice therefore is based on my own experiences, but others may be able to add or correct me!

If you imagine a pigeon then think of the crop as a small empty balloon with the bit that you blow up running down the throat of the pigeon and the bit that blows up lying on its breast . When the pigeon is starving the balloon bit feels flat, as it fills with food it feels cushiony if the food is soft or like a Ty beanie baby if it has eaten seeds.

Its poops should be sort of khaki color or slightly darker, of the consistency of paint that has been squeezed out of a tube and with a little cap of white.

Small slightly watery dark green poops are a sign of starvation.

Put it somewhere safe and dry for the time being, with a measured amount of seed and water in a container that is as deep as your finger. Ideally the water should be the International Rehydrating solution which is made up by mixing a pint of warm water with half a tablespoon of sugar and half a teaspoon of salt, served at room temperature. Hold its beak gently in the water so that it either drinks or at least knows where the water is.

Leave it alone but not in darkness. A watched new rescue often will not eat, but left alone will do so.

If it won’t eat in the next two or three hours then I am afraid that you will have to hand feed it.

Soak some puppy chow in water until it is fluffy.

Talk to it reassuringly and wrap a towel round it lightly (too tight a wrap could suffocate a pigeon).

Assuming that you are right handed, place the index finger and the thumb of your right hand on either side of the beak and use your left hand to gently prise the beak open. Then slide the thumb and index finger of your right hand in a bit to keep the beak open. Use that opportunity to ensure that the mouth is clean and pink!

Then get a small piece of chow and poke it to the back of the pigeons throat. Don’t overload his crop with the first meal, just feed him a few pieces and see how he manages on those and how long it takes for the crop to empty. As as he progresses you can increase each meal until the crop feels like a ¾ filled balloon. The crop should always empty over night.

It would be a good idea to weigh it before you start so you can keep track of his progress.

Please let us know how you get along and if you have any problems.

Cynthia

[AliBlack]

Thanks for that wonderful reply Cynthia, I'm trying to deal with a sick woodie and was finding it hard to find time to write the lengthy reply Pony needed.
Good luck Pony!
Alison

[pony]

Thank you for the info. I need all the help I can get here.

His poop is kind of cream colored with a blob of very dark green.

I made some of the rehydrating solution and put it in the box with him. I attempted to do the beak-dipping thing, but he became quite upset, so I stopped. He did wind up splashing through the solution, so if nothing else, his feet now know it's there.

I couldn't feel anything other than bird chest when I fondled his crop, (which he objected to strongly. I tried reassuring him, pointing out that I had at least bought him dinner first, but he wasn't impressed.)

I'll have to wait untill after I've had some sleep before making any more attempts at anything. I'm up past my bedtime, and really need to go to roost... um, bed. Working graveyard shift is for the birds. Uh, wait. No. Forget I said that.

Right then. Goodnight. I'll check back in later. Thanks again!

[cyro51]

I see his poop in the picture now. Small, but it doesn't ring any alarm bells. Nor does his appearance.

Perhaps if you sprinkled a few seeds outside the dish...they enjoy picking up and testing bits, that might make him realise that there is plenty in the dish!

Ali, brief answers are usually the most I can manage and I have so much less to do than you do!!! Hope the woodie is one that recovers.

Cynthia

[pony]

The Insomnia Fairy has decided to camp out at my house, so I'm back.

I checked in on Oliver, (I have no idea why I chose to call him that, but he doesn't seem to mind.) and some seed had been scattered about in the box. He had also pooped a couple more times. (Same color and consistancy as the first one)

I tried cropping a feel, (ouch. sorry.) and he totally freaked again. I managed to get my hands around him finally and felt for the beanie baby thing, but I couldn't feel anything but ordinary bird chest again. So I don't think he's eaten anything yet.

I held him with my hands holding his wings against his body for a while and spoke quietly to him, explaining why he was in my house instead of back in his parking lot, and once he seemed to have calmed down I opened my hands. He stood up on the palm of my hand and stayed there for quite a while as I continued talking to him.

So I'll go pick up some puppy chow and grit, I suppose. I really do want to get the little guy into shape to go out on his own. The sooner the better, as my boyfriend is quite annoyed that I brought a "disease-ridden rat with wings" into our home, and we're surely going to die of some horrible infection now. *sigh*

[cyro51]

Hi Pony,

A character in a Woody Allen film called pigeons "rats with wings" because he was afraid of them and because his girlfriend thought the pigeon was a good omen that would bring them good luck. Unfortunarely a lot of people forget that this was a joke. Sad, isn't it?

The majority of diseases that some of them carry are a threat to other pigeons, not to humans.

So please reassure your boyfriend! And the pigeon!

Cynthia

[pony]

Okay, Oliver update.

I went to the pet store and picked up dove/pigeon seed and grit. In my sleep-deprived state, I forgot the bleedin' puppy chow. I was too exhausted to go back out when I realized I hadn't gotten any.

So. I put a dish of the seed and a dish of grit in his box with him, changed his reydrating solution stuff, and left him alone while I slept a little. When I woke up, the seed looked like he'd dug through it, there was some scattered around in the box. His crop feels like it might have a little something in it, but since I am so utterly clueless I can't be sure.

He's pooping more frequently, and now it has turned watery with green sludge.

I'm not going to be able to get puppy chow untill tomorrow. Is there anything else I can try to give him? I have canned cat food, I have mealworms, I have bread... any suggestions?

He's gotten used to me handling him somewhat, he still fusses when I pick him up, but once I get him on my hand he sits quietly and doesn't freak out when I touch him.

[cyro51]

Hi Pony,

The green sludgy poops often come when they haven't eaten.

The tinned cat food will do in an emergency (not the meal worms...the bread is a good "filler" but doesn't have much nutrition in it for a pigeon).

You could also try soaking his seed in boiling water for half an hour and force feeding one seed at a time. Or if you have a grinder you could grind the soaked seed into a paste, roll it into pellets and feed one pellet at a time.

Frozen and defrosted corn or peas are good, but not tinned food as it has too many additives.

Cynthia

[pony]

Cynthia, I don't know what I'd do without you. Thank you for being so patient with me.

I soaked some seeds and used my mortar and pestle to mush them, which was only halfway effective, but I don't have a grinder. I managed to get a tiny bit down him, but mostly we both wound up wearing it. I need three hands!

I've got some frozen corn defrosting now, I'll try giving him some of that once we've both recovered from this attempt.

One thing's for certain, he's still got plenty of energy. He led me on a merry chase around the apartment when he decided he'd had enough of the last "feeding session".

I've upgraded him from the box to a big laundry basket, and made a "nest" out of a shallow ceramic bowl lined with paper. He seems to like it.

Oh, and I think my boyfriend has decided it's not the end of the world having him here. He's still grumbling about mites and fleas though.

[cyro51]

LOL, tell your boyfriend that pigeons don’t carry fleas and when they have mites (none of my rescues have had any!) they usually stay off us humans because we are so cold blooded and tasteless!

BTW when I handfeed a pigeon I aim for a level tablespoon at a time. It is exhausting though, and I am so relieved when they start to feed themselves!

Cynthia

[pony]

I'll pass that info on, and see what he comes up next with to grumble about. *grin*

I got six kernals of corn down Oliver before he started to struggle too much, and I was afraid of hurting him. But that's a lot better than nothing. I'll try for some more later.

It really is exhausting, isn't it. I never would have guessed. Six lousy kernals of corn, and I was beat. heh. But if I can get him in shape to go back out on his own safely, then it's well worth it.

[cyro51]

Try making a paste out of the corn and rolling it into pellets that are roughly twice the size of a kernel. Then you will probably be able to feed him twice as much for the same amount of effort.

Cynthia