# sick pigeon..?



## Malin (Jul 5, 2005)

Hi!
I met a pigeon today when I was out on my bicycle. It was just sitting there, not reacting when i passed, like a normal, healthy pigeon would have done. It was having his eyes closed most of the time. When I moved over to her, she tried to run away, or fly or something, but it was like she stumbled and her body was tipping forwards, so she didn't succeed. I carried her with me home in my bicycle bascet, and she stayed calm all the way.
Now I'm keeping her on our veranda in a box, been trying to offer her some seeds, but she's not at all interested. But I've got her to drink some water.
She is very small, so I think it might be a youngster, but all the feathers are there. She doesn't look too well, and I think, for a pigeon, she is skinny. 
I have no experience when it comes to birds, so I don't know how to find out if she's hungry or what..

The inside of her beak is light pink and looks ok. Her beak was not very clean when i found her though.
She had some (old) poop stuck in her feathers which I removed, but it looked firm. 
Her wings seems to be ok. She's having a problem with her feet though,- earlyer today she could stand/sit properly, but now she's kind of tipping forwards, 'cause her feet are curled or something. She has not been standig up more than a couple of times, I think she might be too weak. She is not moving around, mostly sleeping or just sitting there.

I've put some seeds in water for soaking, which I will try to feed her with later. 
Should I try to place a container filled with water big enough so that she can go into it, to try to bath her? Or rather, let her bathe herself?

Any tips on what should I do? If this is a young pigeon which should be taken care of fore a longer period of time, I don't know if I can do it, 'cause I don't really stay in one place for too long.. and it's not like a pigeon is the easiest animal to bring along, at least not when it's not healthy..


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

Hello and thank you for caring for this pigeon. We really appreciate all the time you put in her!

Keep her in a warm quite place, isolated from any other birds, in a box, sort of like intensive care situation. Do not allow any wind or air drafts to get on her. Layer the box with thick paper towels. The thick towels, will help in case of wet poopies, and we need to moniter what is coming out the other end. Make sure she is warmed up for at least 20 minutes, on a heating pad set on low, with towel in between. Keep the bird quiet and do not stress with moving around, just for drinking only, for now, and feeding later.

I would try to rehydrate this bird first, before you do anything else.

Do you have any Pedialyte? If not, take a pinch of salt, a pinch of sugar to a cup of water, stir thoroughly and give a little to the bird to drink. If she drinks it that is fine if not, give it to her with a dropper. Food is not important at the moment. Just keep a seed dish next to her in case she shows an interest.

What does any new poop look like? is it wattery? Firm? please let us know.

I can't really tell you what is wrong with the bird from description, but I can make a pretty good guess, once a bird is run down, they may get a few issues at one time.

Do you have access to an avian vet or rehabber?

Here is a link for resources:
http://www.pigeons.com/prd.htm

Do not worry about the future of the bird, let's take one step at a time, and if the bird needs a home, we will help.

please update us. a.s.a.p

Treesa


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## Malin (Jul 5, 2005)

Thank you for your reply!
I have been giving her some normal water and some water with a little honey. She just drank some of the honey water, so when I tried to give her the salt/sugar water, she was not interested, but I will try again in a little while. I don't have a dropper to use.
She just pooped, and the poop was watery and a little white. 
She also vomitted a little earlier when i was lifting her up to check on her underside, but she had just been drinking, so it was mostly water.
I've moved her inside now, she doesn't feel cold from touching her.
She woke up a little when I changed from my scarf to paper towels for her to rest on, and she was sitting in a normal position but tipped forward again after a few seconds.

Should I try to give her some of the soaked seeds later tonight (it's 7.30 pm. here now) or should I wate until tomorrow?


And all of the recourses you gave me are in the US or canada. I live in Norway. Hehe.
I live right by a vet, and I went there when I arrived with the pigeon, but the vet was not in. I asked how much I would have to pay for the vet to check on her, and it was around $30-40, which I can't really afford.
But if the situation gets worse, I will ofcourse pay the money to get her checked.


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

Hi Malin,

Thank you for your kindness to this bird. The best thing at this point would be to take the pigeon to a "pigeon friendly" avian veterinanian. Not knowing how long the bird has been sick or what he has, it would be best to get this diagnosed and start treatment, as time may be crucial.

Another idea, would be to find a pigeon rehabber in your area, anyone that deals with wildlife, and is pigeon friendly, also.

Did the pigeon throw up when he was standing, or did you hold the bird upside down? If the bird is nauseated, I wouldn't feed yet.

Is the bird drinking on its own? If the bird is drinking put a deep dish of seed in front of it and see if he will eat. If it eats, (5 minutes, 1 tablespoon of seeds at a time) that is fine. If not it will need some help. You can soak a tablespoon of seeds and hand feed it down the back of the throat behind the tongue, or drop a seed at a time behind the tongue. Drain the seed of excess water. You should make up only a little at a time, as you can't let soaked seeds sit, they get mouldy.

Do you have any human pro-biotics, from health food store? You can mix that in the seed (with water) to help reinstate the gut bacteria this bird is lacking. It will really help with absorption. 

Treesa


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## Malin (Jul 5, 2005)

*The pigeon died..*

The pigeon just died..
I left the livingroom where the box with the pigeon was, and when I came back to check on her, she had vomitted, and just died I think, 'cause I could hear some sounds from the box just before I arrived, and she was still warm..
I feel kind of bad because I weren't there when she started to vomit, but there were probably nothing I could've done at the moment anyway..
So I will bury her on this beautiful little island right by where I live..
Thank you for all your suggestions and help!
malin


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## Whitefeather (Sep 2, 2002)

Malin said:


> I met a pigeon today when I was out on my bicycle. It was just sitting there, not reacting when i passed, like a normal, healthy pigeon would have done. It was having his eyes closed most of the time. When I moved over to her, she tried to run away, or fly or something, but it was like she stumbled and her body was tipping forwards, so she didn't succeed.
> 
> Any tips on what should I do?


Hello Malin,
If you would, please check his keel (breast) bone & let us know if it's sharp. 
A sharp keel bone accompanied with a pigeon falling face forward when attempting to walk is a good indication he is at the starvation point.

Please refer to the link below as it will walk you through the steps of caring for an ill or injured pigeon.
It will also help you to determine to what extent he is dehydrated.

http://pigeons.biz/forums/showthread.php?t=9457

Please do keep us posted on how he is coming along.

Cindy


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## Whitefeather (Sep 2, 2002)

Malin said:


> The pigeon just died..
> I left the livingroom where the box with the pigeon was, and when I came back to check on her, she had vomitted, and just died I think, 'cause I could hear some sounds from the box just before I arrived, and she was still warm..
> I feel kind of bad because I weren't there when she started to vomit, but there were probably nothing I could've done at the moment anyway..
> So I will bury her on this beautiful little island right by where I live..
> ...


I'm so sorry Malin.

Given the physical description, I would venture to say the little one, for whatever reason, was unable to eat & starved. 

The fact that you took the time to rescue him & offer him shelter was the best thing you could have done.  
Thank you.

Cindy


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## Feefo (Feb 8, 2002)

Hi Malin,

I am so sorry that your pigeon died. I only just found this thread and as soon as I started reading it I thought that the pigeon had already passed the point of no return. It is good that you found her and were able to offer herwarmth safety and shelter. I really don't think that there was much more you could have done.

Cynthia


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

Malin said:


> The pigeon just died..
> I left the livingroom where the box with the pigeon was, and when I came back to check on her, she had vomitted, and just died I think, 'cause I could hear some sounds from the box just before I arrived, and she was still warm..
> I feel kind of bad because I weren't there when she started to vomit, but there were probably nothing I could've done at the moment anyway..
> So I will bury her on this beautiful little island right by where I live..
> ...


Hi Malin,

I'm sorry the bird died, inevitable as it seemed I always and will continue to try and help, and thank you again for helping this bird during its last hours.

Treesa


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