Hello all,
I brought in a little girl pigeon yesterday who is not well. She was eating with the other pidgies, but when everyone else took off, all she could do was skip down the driveway swinging her wings in circles. I quickly caught up to her, and grabbed her. The first few things I noticed holding her were that she was very young, VERY WARM to the touch, and her eyes were a washed-out orange/grey color (which sometimes indicates chronic coccidiosis).
I manipulated her arms and legs, and everything is physically okay. She also has good chest muscle, so loss off flight due to wasting is unlikely. My next thought was that she broke/fractured her coracoid (colar bone), and this is precluding flight. I placed her in a cage overnight. She ate and drank well, and her poops (and fecal wet mounts) were absolutely unremarkable. I let her have the run of my garage today to see if she wanted to attempt flight. She stayed on the ground and feasted on seed and water. Then she sat down on the concrete slab and went to sleep. And then she disappeared at some point! After looking everywhere, I finally found her nested in grass clipping on the deck of a lawnmower.
When I scooped her up, she was downright toasty -- too hot in fact. Her sinuses sounded congested (popping), and there was a small amount of clear uncolored liquid discharge from her nares. She is NOT puffed. I gave her Clavamox prophylactically. She is not currently making any sinus popping noises and I do not see any liquid coming from the nares. She is now nesting in a cage where part of the floor has a heating pad if she so desires.
Does the fever and sinus discharge sound like a viral illness? If this were pneumonia, I would expect a very puffed bird, as this I do not have.
Any thoughts or suggestions on how I should proceed with this little sweety?
Thank you!
I brought in a little girl pigeon yesterday who is not well. She was eating with the other pidgies, but when everyone else took off, all she could do was skip down the driveway swinging her wings in circles. I quickly caught up to her, and grabbed her. The first few things I noticed holding her were that she was very young, VERY WARM to the touch, and her eyes were a washed-out orange/grey color (which sometimes indicates chronic coccidiosis).
I manipulated her arms and legs, and everything is physically okay. She also has good chest muscle, so loss off flight due to wasting is unlikely. My next thought was that she broke/fractured her coracoid (colar bone), and this is precluding flight. I placed her in a cage overnight. She ate and drank well, and her poops (and fecal wet mounts) were absolutely unremarkable. I let her have the run of my garage today to see if she wanted to attempt flight. She stayed on the ground and feasted on seed and water. Then she sat down on the concrete slab and went to sleep. And then she disappeared at some point! After looking everywhere, I finally found her nested in grass clipping on the deck of a lawnmower.
When I scooped her up, she was downright toasty -- too hot in fact. Her sinuses sounded congested (popping), and there was a small amount of clear uncolored liquid discharge from her nares. She is NOT puffed. I gave her Clavamox prophylactically. She is not currently making any sinus popping noises and I do not see any liquid coming from the nares. She is now nesting in a cage where part of the floor has a heating pad if she so desires.
Does the fever and sinus discharge sound like a viral illness? If this were pneumonia, I would expect a very puffed bird, as this I do not have.
Any thoughts or suggestions on how I should proceed with this little sweety?
Thank you!
