# Wood Pigeon - Young but has adult feathers, can't fly, possibly has bird pox or pigeon pox? Local rehab won't take them.



## Takoto (5 mo ago)

Hey all,

Long story short, we have a Wood Pigeon (UK) who appears to have fallen out a nest (couldn't find the nest itself). They have their adult feathers, and all appear to be intact/undamaged. I've given it a once-over and there's no blood or obvious signs of injury, tail-vent area looks clears, and they're alert, but the pigeon can't fly at all.

Where we found him (girlfriend's parents garden) is a hot-spot for cats and foxes, and my GF's family have a dog who, whilst gentle, definitely could easily hurt the pigeon. They first noticed him in the afternoon and he was still on the ground in the evening, so we picked him up last night and put him in a very quiet, warm part of the house in a box (with air holes, shallow water dish, and bird seed). 

We noticed that the pigeon has an odd lump on it's beak, and a little lump near it's eye (legs seem fine). Doesn't seem "lethargic" or anything, quite a bit unsteady on it's feet, and when it tries to fly, it gets no lift. Also quite a bit skinnier than most Wood Pigeons that look of a similar age.

Put in some fresh food and water this morning (and to check the pigeon was OK) and they seem fine, can't tell if they've eaten though and still can't fly at all. It had pooped over night which appears to be white with green mixed in. 

Called up the local Wildlife Rehab as soon as they opened and told them the situation, but they told me to "take it to a vet and have it put down" due to the potential of it having either bird pox or pigeon pox, which is apparently having a huge flare-up in our area (Dorset, UK) - seems a little rash as the bird seems healthy outside of not being able to fly properly. 


Going to contact another Wildlife Rehab group for a second opinion. 


In the meantime, is it best to keep the little guy in a box? It's big enough for him to stand up, has a towel "nest" (tower donut), plus water dish and food dish. However, I have a lot of solid metal cubes used for display purposes that can easily and quickly be used to create a much bigger "enclosure" (we used them as such when my cat had surgery and needed to be contained to stop her from jumping on things and opening her stitches...)

We have a contained lean-to/private enclosed alley between the road and our garden which is shaded, has good airflow. Would it be better to set those up and put the pigeon in there? It'd give them a lot more space, is secure from predators, and thankfully we live in a very quiet neighborhood so the noise of the outside won't be a problem. As the little guy seems to be having trouble flying, I'm wondering if just setting them up in a big enclosure like that with food and perches might be a better idea than keeping it in a box. 


For reference; I'm mildly familiar with what's normal for rock doves/stray pigeons as plan to keep them in the future when we have the money to build an aviary in the garden, but have never kept any myself - I know that Wood Pigeons are different and have very different behaviors due to not being domesticated but thankfully know how to hold/handle them and what to look for when it comes to (external) injury.


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## Doves Witness (Apr 23, 2016)

Sorry for the late reply, somehow I missed seeing this topic before today.



Takoto said:


> We noticed that the pigeon has an odd lump on it's beak, and a little lump near it's eye (legs seem fine). Doesn't seem "lethargic" or anything, quite a bit unsteady on it's feet, and when it tries to fly, it gets no lift. Also quite a bit skinnier than most Wood Pigeons that look of a similar age.


Please post a picture of the bird, and one of the bird's droppings too if possible. The lumps on the beak and near the eye could be pigeonpox (which doesn't infect people.) Pigeonpox is caused by a virus, there is no medical remedy for it, and most birds do survive it and are then immune to it. Some naturally anti-microbial foods (garlic, ginger, turmeric, fennel seed, anise seed, black peppercorns, coriander seed, dry peas, lentils, etc.) would help the bird's immune system and might give him an easier time with the illness. Some are also effective at treating the pox blisters topically. The inability to fly might be related to age / development, or a lack of protein and fat/energy in his diet. They usually eat 1.5 to 2 ounces of food per day as mixed seeds, veggies and fruit. All of the nutrients that a young bird must have to thrive are found in hard-boiled eggs, so including crumbled hard-boiled egg in the bird's food is a good supplement to prevent catastrophic deficiency of any nutrients.

I'd keep him indoor until he is over the pox, assuming that is the illness.


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