[Sharmi1014]

Hi All,

I just joined Pigeon Talk today; I'm looking for some advice on a pigeon that my daughter brought home, She thought it had a broken wing and brought it to me to fix up. But she doesn't have a broken wing at all. Her head is twisted to the side and when we came too close, it would twist all the upside down. Poor birdie.

Aside from the twisted head, she looks beautiful. Soft, smooth, shiny feathers, full but not puffy. Clear, shiny and alert eyes. Clean cloaca. Feet are clear and a nice red color. No unusual dryness. No swelling on her body that I can tell. Poops are a little questionable. I have a lot of experience "reading" poop from my two tiels. Some are runny, some not so much. They are chalky white with a dark foresty green. Some poops have a bit of stringy appearance to the dark green. Her head twists to the right and she has to lean her left side of her body into the box to keep her balance. She to fall over to the left if not propped up. I have a heating pad under the box and two hot water bottle in the box wrapped in a towel that I lean her up against. I prop her twisted head up with paper towels. Is there any thing else I can do for her?

I have her in the bathroom because I have two cockatiels. I don't know if they can catch this or not. I have my daughter helping me take of the pigeon so she understands we are expected to help all of the earth's creatures.
The birdie is very gentle and she'll drink water from a little cup if I straighten out her head and hold it under her beak. She resisted me feeding her some of the cockatiel seed I have here. I don't want to toture her, so I only fed a few seeds and a few mashed peas. I don't know how much to feed her. I don't know exactly what's wrong with her, either. I don't know if I should medicate her or what. I need some serious advice. I don't want to do the wrong thing and hurt the birdie.

 

[John_D]

Hi

Glad you took the pigeon in and thanks for the excellent observations

Though the twisted neck has been known to occur with a couple other illnesses, the bird's overall condition and her response to approach indeed points to PMV.

Best thing I can do for the moment is point to this thread in our resources section, a comprehensive view of PMV symptoms and care.

http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/f107/pigeon-paramyxovirus-aka-pmv-ppmv-pmv1-pigeon-12250.html

Unfortunately there are no anti-viral meds for this, and In the absence of any evidence of concurrent problems I'd not be inclined to give any other meds. Vitamin supplements may help the system to a degree, if you have birdie multi-vits.

Please do keep us updated and ask any questions on specifics that occur to you

 

[Msfreebird]

As John said, this can be a symptom of other things....one being salmonella (stringy poop). With that, it wouldn't hurt to give a course of Baytril just in case. If you can get some bayril, the dose would be 5-10mg divided daily for 7-14 days. Heat, support and supplemental feedings. You can put a dash of salt and sugar in his water to help him keep hydrated. And thank you for caring

 

[Sharmi1014]

Hi again,

Thanks for your help everyone. I have a few questions. How much should I feed her? Because she resists me. Should I feed her whole seeds or should I puree something? Salmonella would twist a pigeon's neck? An antibiotic couldn't hurt. I found a website called Foy's last night, Baytril has been discontinued. Is there anything else I can give her that is just as good? Also, is this virus dangerous for my tiels? I've had them for 7 years and raised them from babies. Can this birdie ever be released if it's PMV? I don't mind keeping her if necessary but I really would hate to see a free animal caged. Thanks for all of your help, everyone.

 

[Sharmi1014]

Hi all,

This little birdie has been doing pretty well today. I feed her some cockatiel mix, and she gobbled it all up by herself. SHe still needs help getting the bowl to her head. But her head is much straighter today and she even ate out of my and my two daughters hands. I can feel her breastbone so I think she needs a lot of nourishment.

Does anyone know if PMV is dangerous to my cockatiels? The pigeon looks so lonely in my bathroom all by herself. They are flock birds and she must feel terrible in there.

Also, being as this bird will not be able to be released, does anyone know where I can purchase a good second hand cage for a reasonable price on Long Island? Or know of anyone who is willing to give one away? I truly don't have the funds for a cage and could use help on this.

 

[John_D]

Sounds like she's doing better now

It is pretty much species-specific, except that there can sometimes be a crossover between pigeons and chickens with the Pigeon PMV (avian paramyxovirus 1 - pigeon) and Newcastle Disease. Not seen any record of it affecting parrots, cockatiels or other such birds though they can get other PMV types from their own kind.

Still, we do advise complete quarantine as a safeguard. The virus itself ceases to be active after 6 weeks from infection, but as we don't usually know when that was (it's before you see the symptoms), we isolate ours for at least 6 weeks (we have close to 40 ex-PMV rescues).

If she's OK to eat normal seed diet (even with help) that's best. They often need a deep and quite long dish, as they can have problems focusing as well as that of actually picking the food up.

Can you weigh her, and say what she is in grams? I generally go by their droppings and monitoring weight as a guide to whether they are getting enough food. She may need supplementing with stuff like thawed out peas and corn if she's not managing too well.

I'm currently feeding a rescue (not a PMV case) with corn, peas, very small raw peanuts and bits of pigeon mix 3 times a day, popping them into her mouth and checking he/she is swallowing them OK. I make sure he/she gets about 30 bits each time.

 

[Msfreebird]

Hi again,

Thanks for your help everyone. I have a few questions. How much should I feed her? Because she resists me. Should I feed her whole seeds or should I puree something? Salmonella would twist a pigeon's neck? An antibiotic couldn't hurt. I found a website called Foy's last night, Baytril has been discontinued. Is there anything else I can give her that is just as good? Also, is this virus dangerous for my tiels? I've had them for 7 years and raised them from babies. Can this birdie ever be released if it's PMV? I don't mind keeping her if necessary but I really would hate to see a free animal caged. Thanks for all of your help, everyone.

Sorry....I overslept this morning! Glad she's eating some, that's a good sign. Here is another good med...
http://www.foyspigeonsupplies.com/catalog/563.html
Covers quite a few things. Do you have a vet that treats your birds that you could get some baytril from?

 

[Sharmi1014]

Hi all,

Little Birdie did not eat very well today. She refused to eat from me and wanted absolutely nothing to do with me. I tried to straighten her head to get her to drink for herself, but she panicked and her head twisted and then she rolled over. She then scuttled over to the side of the bathtub and stared at me. She feels a bit thin to me, but she pooped quite a lot last night and today.
Yes, I'm sure my vet can give me some Baytril. But he's on vaca. I'll figure something out, I'm sure.
I saw her flock today and they were soaring from rooftop to rooftop. It makes me so sad that she will never do that again with them. I know she'll adjust but it seems so wrong. Maybe I'll find her a sanctuary or something when she is all better so that she can be with other pigeons.

 

[Msfreebird]

Hi all,

Little Birdie did not eat very well today. She refused to eat from me and wanted absolutely nothing to do with me. I tried to straighten her head to get her to drink for herself, but she panicked and her head twisted and then she rolled over. She then scuttled over to the side of the bathtub and stared at me. She feels a bit thin to me, but she pooped quite a lot last night and today.
Yes, I'm sure my vet can give me some Baytril. But he's on vaca. I'll figure something out, I'm sure.
I saw her flock today and they were soaring from rooftop to rooftop. It makes me so sad that she will never do that again with them. I know she'll adjust but it seems so wrong. Maybe I'll find her a sanctuary or something when she is all better so that she can be with other pigeons.

Well, don't give up on that yet. I had one fantail that I had to bring inside months ago. He had no balance, falling over and twisting his head backwards. Never had this happen before to ANY of my birds. I put him on triple sulfa (smz-tmp). By day 5 he was fine.....like nothing ever happened. I did 5 more days of antibiotic and he went back into the loft like nothing was wrong. He's been fine ever since. My vet thinks maybe a toxin of some sort .....a bad seed or something
So it's not 'definitely' PMV, other things cause these same symptoms. I would just get him going on antibiotics, make sure he's eating, and it wouldn't hurt to give him a dose of pyrantil (strongid) for worms. It's very safe and effective. If the pyrantil is 50mg per ML strength, the dose for a pigeon is .12 mls

 

[Sharmi1014]

Hi All,

Just updating on how the little birdie is doing. She's getting quite feisty, she'll karate chop your hand with her wing if you try to touch her. She can flap her wings now but she still leans to the left and loses her balance. But she is definitely better.
She is really scared of us, how do I get her to accept us? If she can't ever fly again, my daughter wants to keep her. How would I tame her?

Thanks again, everyone.

 

[Sharmi1014]

Hi All,

Happy Holidays. Does anyone know of a good rehabber on or near Long Island?

Little Birdie had a relapse over the holidays. She's slowly getting better, but I have a child with autism and she is preventing me from dedicating my time to this bird. Since she's home on school break, she keeps following me to the bathroom and insists on touching the bird (which I do not allow) and is basically too loud and scary for this little bird. I can't put the bird down on the floor for some exercise and when she flaps her wings my child starts shrieking. It is not in this bird's best interest to stay here. I really need to give her to someone who can help her recover in peace and quiet.

 

[Sharmi1014]

Hi All,

I'm sorry to nag, but I really need somehelp finding someone who is willing to help take this birdie. The vet that would take him doesn't guarantee to not put her down. That makes me uncomfortable. But I do really need help finding someone. it's becoming more and more difficult to keep my daughter away from the bird.