[Guest]

Hi, This is WildlifeVetToBe but i cant remember my password!!
Im currently looking after a wood pigeon with a wound on its wing(was on Baytril-now almost fully healed so just waiting til 100% til release), one rock pigeon with a cyst on one wing (on dexafort) and my newest addition is a young collared dove, I can fid any images on the web to age it. He has all his feathers and is learning to fly. He was probably caught by a cat and has a wound under one wing. He is on Baytril but im mostly worried about what he's going to eat. I have bird seed and will try to get him to have a small drink of warm water.
Ive read that you can use some baby foods(wheat based w/no fruit). I can go to tescos but everywhere else is closed. Any tips??

Thank you!
Charlotte

 

[Feefo]

Hi Charlotte,

Welcome back! It is good to hear from you and to know you are keeping busy with the rescues. I was just thinking of you this evening when I came across photos of Roger.

You can feed a baby dove Ready Brek made up with warm water. I usually scatter seeds around the very young ones and they start picking them up very quickly, they are clever little things.

A lot of collared doves have a calcium deficiency, check his beak to see if it is hard or "rubbery". If it is rubbery then give him calcium supplements.

If you go into my profile and look in my albums there are some photos of Coriander. I meant to check the dates the photos were taken so that I could provide an "aging guide", but haven't got round to doing it. If you let me know which of the photographs resembles your dove most closely then I will try to establish her age. The length of the tail and flights are the best indicator.


Cynthia

 

[PoppyFieldVet]

Ive had a look and they're both about the age of the image "This is Coriander a few days later, her tail and flights are much longer". The one my brothers found is a bit younger.
They were both gulping down baby rice but are not so interested anymore. Im still feeding the younger one some baby food as he still seems a bit lethargic but he is eating seed on his own, as in the other dove. The beaks seem fine but ill try and get some calcium. The dove that fell out of the nest also seems a little wobbly. His left wing is lower than his right when he flaps. The vet has seen them both and said to carry on as i was as he's still going.
XxX

 

[PoppyFieldVet]

Unable to perch.

Hi again, Three out of my hour rescues are doing great. My woodie is extremely wild and tosses most of her food and water everywhere as soon as I give it to her which made me worry that she'd start losing weight and becoming weak although that really doesnt seem to be the case!
My rock pigeon is also doing fine. Hes very calm and very tidy. Ive seen him showing off to my woodie several times, although shes not impressed!
My collared dove with the cat injury is 100% healed and eating great. Shes also learnt to become a great flyer and loves perching and flying between perches on a huge twig I brought from a local woods.
Unfortuately my other dove, Poplar, is not doing so well. I believe she's eating ok although she's not as well covered as the other dove.
My brothers brought her home after finding her fairly near to an adult dove who'd been killed by a car. I suspect Poplar has fallen out of the nst in her attempt to fledge. She was unable to perch properly and when she flapped her wings one was lower than the other. I took her to see the vet I work with who said she should be fine. Ive been keeping an eye on her and suspected nerve damage.
Ive been pretty much leaving them to their own devices and my other collared dove, Periwinkle, is no longer very tame. However, when cleaning them out today I tried again, to get Poplar to perch. She still cant fly and cannot perch for any great amount of time. She can move her legs but they do not look right. She was getting quite stressed so I sat with her for a couple of minutes and then put her legs in some warm water. She loved it and sat there for a bit just enjoying it. Now she was more relaxed and i managed to get a good look at her legs. I have to be honest, both looked deformed. Her left leg looks the most normal although she doesnt seem to know how to grip with this foot. Her right leg is worse. It looks like it was broken and has fused at an odd angle. I wished I'd noticed this before.
Even though I wish I could have done something about the possible break, I still feel like she has some nerve damage. It takes quite a few attempts before she'll curl her toes to perch and when she does they still cand hold the branch properly. When I put my fingers to her feet they simply stay flat.
Both Poplar and Periwinkle are eating and drinking fine, although Poplar is more skinny than Periwinkle. Im planning to take them to the vets today to get the vet to look at Poplars legs. Ill try to post some photos later.

Thanks
Charlotte & co.

 

[Feefo]

Hi Charlotte,

Try something like Calivet for the little dove. Just one drop a day for three days, see if it makes a difference. I can send you some if you like, your address is still in my Pigeon book.

The leg might be splayed, but he should still be young enough for correction with self adhesive bandage.

http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/193589827zTYswz

Cynthia

 

[PoppyFieldVet]

You are literally a life saver! Ill take some photos of your pigeon Gonzo to the vets and try and get some tape today. He is still young and is very bright, much brighter than when we found him.

Will take some photos this evening.
Thanks
Charlotte & co!.

 

[Feefo]

This is the bandage that I use, it works better that vetwrap:

http://www.boots.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10052&productId=7822&callingViewName=&langId=-1&catalogId=11051

 

[PoppyFieldVet]

update

I took Poplar to the vets last week and had the vet look at her. She said she is underweight and to keep hand feeding her. Ive been giving her ready brek with sugar and water twice a day by syringe. She has approximately 10-15ml at a time, enough so i can feel her crop is quite full.
The vet said she didnt think her legs were broken, both seem to be the same. Ive bought some bandage from boots and been using it on her legs. She is using her legs a little but im also a little worried about her wings as shes still using them to help her walk and cant fly.
I cant find anything I could really use for calcium supplements for her but am going to pets at home after college today so will have a look.
Shes otherwise bright and interested in whats going on around her. I certainly havnt given up on her.
My other pigeons and dove are fine, eating very well and propably near release. My rock pigeon is still hanging his wing low, ill take him to the vets next to see how thats progressing.

Thank you!
Charlotte & co.

 

[Feefo]

Hi Charlotte,

I will send you some calcium today, it should arrive tomorrow.

Can you way her daily to make certain that her weight is increasing? It might be necessary to increase meals, but if you scatter some very small seeds around her she might start to eat those as well.

Cynthia

 

[PoppyFieldVet]

Thank you. Yes, i will. She can eat seed, in fact she was eating seed better than my other dove when i first started looking after her. Problem is the last time I actually saw her eat seed was a while ago, at least a week. Thats not to say she isnt eating seed. Ive also noticed any time I check on her, her crop is empty. Shes got plenty of seed, I think one of the problems is that she could reach it or that the other dove is a little dominant.
Thanks again, will start weighing her today.

 

[PoppyFieldVet]

Wow, the liquid calcium arrived at 12 today. Ive already given poplar a drop and have separated him from the other dove for a couple of hours to give him a chance to feed properly.

 

[PoppyFieldVet]

Ive given up on my camera so will get my brother to take some photos when he gets in. Poplar does seem more active today. Shes using her legs more but still is completely unable to grip and still cant fly. Im also still syringe feeding her ready brek because i cant feel any seeds in her crop. On mon and tues she was 90g but today she is 100g.
XxX

 

[Feefo]

It is good that she is making progress. I usually give a drop of calcium for a few days in a row. I have seen some amazing recoveries.

This is a link to a thread about one of my rescues that sounds very similar to the one you have:

http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/showthread.php?t=10013&referrerid=560



Cynthia

 

[PoppyFieldVet]

Photos

"Rosie-she is extremely strong!"

"The wound doenst look amazing, its where the scab has fallen off-there is a little dip left where it was and its still got to heal. The blood at the top is just where shes been flapping in her cage, Ive moved her from another cage to try and prevent her doing anymore damage. Even though the wound doesnt look great shes got alot of power in those wings"

"Rock Pigeon-Hes a real sweetie. Unfortuately he's obviously had his injurys for a while. He's extremely bright and runs around like a runner duck. He cant fly though, his right wing is fine but im worried he had an old injury in his left "elbow" joint which has fused"

"This is the cyst on the joint. It looks like Im squeezing it but im just parting the feathers from around it!"

 

[PoppyFieldVet]

"He obviously had a number of wounds as practically all the feathers on his body are regrowing. When I first got him the vet pulled off alot of old scabs off his back. This is why I think his wing injury may be a little old. The lil guys extremely bright otherwise"

This is Poplars feet. I couldnt get a better shot, hes a real wriggler. This photo is honestly how he sits, not attempting to perch at all. He is using his legs more to walk however."

 

[PoppyFieldVet]

http://yfrog.com/33dsc0271tjx

 

[PoppyFieldVet]

Hopefully the link will work-the images are in the order of the desciptions above

 

[PoppyFieldVet]

Poplar is better she is flapping her wings more and more and starting to stand up for short amounts of time. Im going to have to keep separating the two doves as Periwinkle keeps sitting on Poplars head!
Rosie the wood pigeon still has wounds on her wing, but they are apporx 95% healed. Shes extremely strong and restless. She hasnt enjoyed being in her cage and hasnt been eating properly, spending more time tipping her food/water up than eating it. She hes subsequently lost weight. I took Rosie and Deron(the Rock pigeon) to the vets this morning and the vet agreed it would be best if Rosie was released as shes almost 100% healed and has lost weight. If we release her when the weathers nice she has a chance to eat and heal without the stress slowing her recovery down. I live in a quiet close although there are cats about. However, to be honest where ever she is released there will probably be cats and/or foxes about and she is an adult bird who knew how to look after herself before she came into my care.
Im giving her one last check to make sure she can fly fine before I release her this afternoon.
The vet gave Deron a check up today, she said that the cyst was infact a callus around an old fracture on this elbow joint. It is restricting his movement and he is completely unable to fly. His only option is to remain in captivity, but to be honest he's extremely tame and the most chilled of all the birds I have at the moment. Im handling Deron more and more now although he'll be needed a permenent home as Im going to uni this year and he should be with other pigeons.
Periwinkle is absoltuely fine, Im just waiting until shes old enough for release.
Thanks all!!!
XxX
Charlotte and co.

 

[PoppyFieldVet]

Unfortuately its not quite gone to plan. I released Rosie into my garden but she is obviously still finding it too painful to fly. She simply ran about and bit under a bush. I picked her up only to find she'd managed to pull off all the scabs from her wound making it bleed again. Ive cleaned it with saline and bandaged his wing to prevent her doing it again.
Fingers crossed she'll heal properly this time.

 

[Feefo]

Hi Charlotte,

Are you going to pursue your original ambition to become a vet?

I am sorry that Rosie's release didn't work out. I can't remember how long I have been rescuing wood pigeons - not as long as I have been rescuing ferals - but of the three (woodies, ferals and doves) they are by far the worst as far as successful recovery goes. I adore them, but even though they are, perhaps, the most successful species in the UK I consider them one of the most fragile species if they are sick or injured.


Here are a couple of possible "permanent homes" for Deron in Kent. I know both have given homes to disabled pigeons in the past, but I don't know how they are fixed at the moment, there are always so many disabled pigeons needing an aviary!


http://www.foalfarm.org.uk/

http://www.retreatanimalrescue.org.uk/


Cynthia