(please note I am a rather poor college student, so while I would love to take this fellow to the vet I really, really cannot afford it! 
)
Hello! Three days ago I received a call from one of my friends, informing me that she saved a baby bird from her barn cats. She had no idea how to care for it, and since I have successfully hand raised kittens and puppies from birth, wondered if I could try rearing this little fellow.
He has dark grey feathers, and little tufts of yellow sticking out every where. He also is bald under his wings and belly.
I think he is about 2-3 weeks old?
When I got him he was a little bit bloody, but I didn't seen any serious wounds other than a scratch on his wing and one on his back. He had no puncture wounds that I could see, and cleaning what he did have was little trouble.
My mother had raised various baby birds as a girl, and after talking with her I followed her recipe for a dog food, bread crumb and milk. While she had never had pigeons, this seemed like a good start to at least get some vitals in him.
He was reluctant to eat, I was trying to syringe it down his throat. After going online and doing some fast research, I realized I was going about it all wrong. Now I feed him via a sandwich baggie, with a cut out corner where he can stick his beak into.
He is the sweetest thing! Love cuddles, gives 'kissies' and cries for me if I'm not near. He loved to eat, and the first day was smooth sailing.
Last night however, I went to give him his last meal of the night when I noticed he was acting very off. He was listless, and his right side of the body was acting 'lazy'. His leg wasn't able to grip my fingers, and his wing kept going slack.
His crop also felt very hard, and I was worried about dehydration. I made his mash with a bit of extra water, and he wanted nothing to do with it. Normally he is MORE than excited to eat, I can't get his beak in the bag fast enough!
I figured this little bout of fussiness was due to the extra water, so I warmed up a fresh and normally watered batch. He wanted nothing to do with that either.
This little bout of anorexia had me so worried! He finally ate, 3 hours later, but he only had 1/2 of what he usually ate.
This morning he ate, but still just a limited amount, his little crop wasn't even slightly puffed out.
His refusal of the food made it splatter all over him, so I gave him a quick bath. It was then I realized I had missed a clump of bloody feathers. Upon further washing and probing with a q-tip I realized I had missed a serious puncture wound on his right side, on his lower back right before his tail feathers start.
I promptly washed it as I would any other animal (I am a vet student, but we haven't broadly covered birds/reptiles/exotics yet) and it is definitely infected, it had such a horrible smell! Thankfully it is fully open and there is no abscess, and I made sure to flush it out well.
Now he definitely had a fever, and his right leg is completely limp. He can move the thigh portion, but the whole foot is not being used. If he needs to walk somewhere, he uses his little wing as a 'cane'.
I had some Tribrissen left over from this winter when one of my horses was hurt, so I gave him a LITTLE LITTLE amount via syringe.
just over 4 hours later I came down to find him happily and hungrily chirrping for his food.
I made a new kind of formula, with wet dog food, cream of wheat, water and a little bit of honey.
He GOBBLED this down.
I mixed a bit more of the Tribrissen in with his mash, and I bathed him again and washed his puncture wound.
Now it's just a waiting game, but I want to make sure I am doing this right!
He has a nice wicker 'nest' with two warm water bottles, and a little plushie friend.
Do you think it will be okay to continue with Tribrissen? I was wondering about adding some penicillin or bactrim, but I don't want to over load him. He still has no use of his right leg
Thank you for helping!
)Hello! Three days ago I received a call from one of my friends, informing me that she saved a baby bird from her barn cats. She had no idea how to care for it, and since I have successfully hand raised kittens and puppies from birth, wondered if I could try rearing this little fellow.
He has dark grey feathers, and little tufts of yellow sticking out every where. He also is bald under his wings and belly.
I think he is about 2-3 weeks old?
When I got him he was a little bit bloody, but I didn't seen any serious wounds other than a scratch on his wing and one on his back. He had no puncture wounds that I could see, and cleaning what he did have was little trouble.
My mother had raised various baby birds as a girl, and after talking with her I followed her recipe for a dog food, bread crumb and milk. While she had never had pigeons, this seemed like a good start to at least get some vitals in him.
He was reluctant to eat, I was trying to syringe it down his throat. After going online and doing some fast research, I realized I was going about it all wrong. Now I feed him via a sandwich baggie, with a cut out corner where he can stick his beak into.
He is the sweetest thing! Love cuddles, gives 'kissies' and cries for me if I'm not near. He loved to eat, and the first day was smooth sailing.
Last night however, I went to give him his last meal of the night when I noticed he was acting very off. He was listless, and his right side of the body was acting 'lazy'. His leg wasn't able to grip my fingers, and his wing kept going slack.
His crop also felt very hard, and I was worried about dehydration. I made his mash with a bit of extra water, and he wanted nothing to do with it. Normally he is MORE than excited to eat, I can't get his beak in the bag fast enough!
I figured this little bout of fussiness was due to the extra water, so I warmed up a fresh and normally watered batch. He wanted nothing to do with that either.
This little bout of anorexia had me so worried! He finally ate, 3 hours later, but he only had 1/2 of what he usually ate.
This morning he ate, but still just a limited amount, his little crop wasn't even slightly puffed out.
His refusal of the food made it splatter all over him, so I gave him a quick bath. It was then I realized I had missed a clump of bloody feathers. Upon further washing and probing with a q-tip I realized I had missed a serious puncture wound on his right side, on his lower back right before his tail feathers start.
I promptly washed it as I would any other animal (I am a vet student, but we haven't broadly covered birds/reptiles/exotics yet) and it is definitely infected, it had such a horrible smell! Thankfully it is fully open and there is no abscess, and I made sure to flush it out well.
Now he definitely had a fever, and his right leg is completely limp. He can move the thigh portion, but the whole foot is not being used. If he needs to walk somewhere, he uses his little wing as a 'cane'.
I had some Tribrissen left over from this winter when one of my horses was hurt, so I gave him a LITTLE LITTLE amount via syringe.
just over 4 hours later I came down to find him happily and hungrily chirrping for his food.
I made a new kind of formula, with wet dog food, cream of wheat, water and a little bit of honey.
He GOBBLED this down.
I mixed a bit more of the Tribrissen in with his mash, and I bathed him again and washed his puncture wound.
Now it's just a waiting game, but I want to make sure I am doing this right!
He has a nice wicker 'nest' with two warm water bottles, and a little plushie friend.
Do you think it will be okay to continue with Tribrissen? I was wondering about adding some penicillin or bactrim, but I don't want to over load him. He still has no use of his right leg
Thank you for helping!
