Hello and I'm so sorry to hear about your baby

Please don't feel guilty, you cared enough to help him and there is nothing you could have done to prevent this from happening..
It is sad especially in babies but it could have been so many things that we really won't know for sure what it was.

If the pigeon was a squeaker than he must have been between 16-30 days old but not any older, a bird who is 2-3 months is practically an adult.

I've had afew pigeons in a shock but not very bad.. the best thing to do is keep them in a dark area with no noise.


Take care,

Mary



[This message has been edited by maryco (edited May 27, 2003).]

 

For shock, you keep them warm and away from noise (dark quiet room). But this was a baby and unhealthy droppings, so not a good sign anyway. The one thing about the feeding, is if it gets in the lungs...goes down the wrong way, they can die quickly, gasping for air a few times.

But it sounds like he was ill already and with doctor's care and maybe some medicines, he may have been able to survive, but when they are that young, they can die easily and the treatment comes too late. Many times, they went too long without the proper nutrition and they get natural antibodies from the parent's milk, so without that, they are super susesptible to illness.

You gave him comfort, food, and love and that was much better than what he would have had if you'd left him alone. As a rehabber told me..."they were already left for dead..so you can only try and then if they die, at least you gave them comfort".

 

Judging from your responses it seems we might have inadvertently killed this bird. We feel really terrible. We should of just waited till he got a bit stronger before we tried to feed. Hopefully next time this happens we'll know better. Thanks for all your help.

 

Don't you dare think you killed him. Shock usually happens to grown birds or injured birds. Older birds can go into shock by being taken in by humans. This was a baby..didn't know much difference. I seriously believe, the little one went without food for too long before you found him and his resistence was too low to fight infection. The vet told me, if they went several hours without food, then they can become quite suseptible to illnesses. They are very fragile at this age. Please don't blame yourself!