Wounded Dove

[Amitesh]

So, I went camping this weekend with my fellow FFA Officers, and my mom took care of my birds for me. This weekend has been so great until now. I have 4 ringneck doves, and two homers living together in one loft. I have never had any pest problems what so ever, no cats, rats, raccoons... This morning when my mom goes to feed the birds, she sees white feathers all over the floor, and this black cat sitting ontop of the loft. As soon as she opens the sliding door the cat runs away. My mom goes over and sees that two of my beloved ringnecks are dead. One has two deep puncture wounds under its left wing, and one bird is unhurt except for the fact that its missing all its tail feathers. The pigeons are totally unharmed though. We think the cat must have reached through the bars in the aviary and grabbed the doves. Like I said one of the birds is fine except for all of its tail feathers gone, and the other one has punture wounds under its wings. What should I do to the wounded bird! I NEED HELP PLEASE!! I dont want him to suffer, and so should I just put him out of his misery!! SOMEONE PLEASE GIVE ME SOME ADVICE

[TAWhatley]

I'm so sorry your birds got attacked. No, there's no need to put the one out of it's misery. You do need to clean the wounds with an antiseptic and also start the bird on Clavamox in case of infection.

You also have to make sure the loft is predator proof ASAP so there can be no repeat of what just happened. Since the cat was right there it seems likely that the cat was the culprit, but it could also have been a raccoon, hawk, or even rats.

Can you post a picture of the wounds on the one bird as well as pictures of your loft? Pictures would be helpful to our members for making suggestions as to care of the bird and also for predator proofing the loft.

Terry

[altgirl35]

or baytril, i would treat the one with the missing feathers also, just one little pin prick from a cats claw can cause a deadly infection in birds.
u can use 1/2 in hardware cloth or 1/4 in to prevent this from happening again.
i would bring my birds in until the loft is 100 percent predator proof, the culprit will be back

[Amitesh]

ok, I am definitly gonna bring the birds inside. I am wondering if they could somehow get maggots?

[altgirl35]

they could if they are wounded and left outside, i also flush the wounds twice a day with diluted nolvasan that will help with healing

[Amitesh]

ok, so I called my friend who owns a white dove releasal, and sells white rigneck doves, and so far I have cleaned the wound with water, and then I put some antibiotic on the wound, and bandaged it. My teacher will give me some of medecine for the wound tomorrow. I have also seen that the other dove that got all of its tailfeather ripped out, but doesnt seem to be cut or bitten is kind of limping now. What should I do about that. Otherwise they seem to be doing ok. They ate and drank which makes me soo happy!! I took some pictures of the wound to.

http://i364.photobucket.com/albums/o...veWound004.jpg
http://i364.photobucket.com/albums/o...veWound006.jpg

[altgirl35]

oh no poor little thing, ouch that must hurt.
i would still treat both with antibiotics, to be safe
check her leg for swelling or fractures, compare to the other leg.
if it's broken she may need a splint, if she's just limping slightly she will probably heal up okay.
an anti inflammatory like metacam, will help with swelling and pain for both