# Pigeon with a gaping hole in neck!! Help!



## Guest (Jan 16, 2009)

My sisters pigeon has a wound on his neck that isreally bad looking. he is up and walking around he does seem hurt. But there is blood down the front of him. i don't even know what happen. I went to check on him and i found him like this. He lives in our barn. and normally hangs out up in higher places or right near our dove cage. it looked like he pecked himself cause his beak had dried blood and feathers all over it. It looks likeit is pretty deep... i think i can see the inside of his neck. Could a vet sew him up?? what should i do untill i can get him to a vet??


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## Maggie-NC (Jun 22, 2005)

Get him to a vet as soon as possible.


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## Somaey (Jan 16, 2009)

i called my vet and he does not treat birds! But the wound is already scabbing over. We are pretty sure now that he did it to himself... it isn't as big as i thought... do u think he will make it with out vet help?? he seems totally fine...


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## Guest (Jan 16, 2009)

At the very least the bird needs some antibiotics. You need to call around and find a vet that will see birds. And I really doubt he did this to himself. He may be picking at it because it hurts and he could make the wound worse. If you haven't done so, you should bring the bird in the house so you can watch him and keep him warm. If he lives in the barn it could have been a predator tried to get him.


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## Somaey (Jan 16, 2009)

i put diluted hydrogen peroxide on his wound and cleaned it. it looks ok right now. So i need to find some sort of antibiotic for him... would that be like a shot or medicine? He is inside, and we are making sure he doesn't pick at himself. The wound looks too small to be a cat that caused it. We have chickens in the barn with him and htey peck each other... a few days ago one tried to peck him in the chest but he dodged it... could a large rhode island red chicken inflict this kind of damage on a pigeon?? Im just trying to find out what happened... i looked all around the barn for signs of struggle or feathers, but found nothing... he looks like he is getting along fine now... Thank you very much for your help!!


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

glad he is doing better, could he of tried to get to the doves in the dove cage? they do like company and if he is a he perhaps he saw a hen dove he liked in there and hurt himself trying to get in.....just a thought


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## Guest (Jan 17, 2009)

You can get some antibiotics to give orally. Some chickens can be real aggressive and I've heard it's not good to mix them with other birds. Is he the only pigeon you have? I'd keep him inside for a while to make sure it gets better.


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## Somaey (Jan 16, 2009)

Yes, he is the only pigeon. He used to have a mate but she died. We were hoping to get him a new mate this summer. So is it possible that he would mate with a dove hen if he got the chance?? There is blood by the the door of my dove cage... the one that is in there is a hen im pretty sure. He might have scatch himself on the latch. hmmm... anywho, he normally stays away from the chickens. they normally have their own area, but since it is cold we moved them into the warmer part of the barn. they won't be around him much longer. He probably won't even be back in the barn untill after we move them back. So he is safe from chickens. And his loneliness will be helped this spring, when we get him a new mate... Thanks!! This has all really helped!


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

It would be best to get him a pigeon mate. Often pigeons are too big and too aggressive for doves and can actually kill them by trying to drive them to the nest and such.

Terry


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## Somaey (Jan 16, 2009)

ahh... ok. glad i have the dove in a cage away from the pigeon. Thanks for the info!!


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## Somaey (Jan 16, 2009)

Prince Charming (the pigeon's name) is doing really well! You an hardly even see the scab. He is making pigeons sounds at my sister again, and they sound great. So he the wound wasn't that deep. He seems to be doing alot better!! Happier, probably cause he gets to see us all the time... but he is healing great. And we are in the process of finding him a new mate! So he'll be excited about that. Thanks for all your help and advise!! It really helped! Thanks again!!


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## Maggie-NC (Jun 22, 2005)

Glad to hear he is doing well. Thank you for the update.


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## Bella_F (Nov 29, 2008)

Somaey said:


> My sisters pigeon has a wound on his neck that isreally bad looking. he is up and walking around he does seem hurt. But there is blood down the front of him. i don't even know what happen. I went to check on him and i found him like this. He lives in our barn. and normally hangs out up in higher places or right near our dove cage. it looked like he pecked himself cause his beak had dried blood and feathers all over it. It looks likeit is pretty deep... i think i can see the inside of his neck. Could a vet sew him up?? what should i do untill i can get him to a vet??


I don't know if this will reassure you, but we saw a small native dove attacked by a hawk in front of us about 3-4 months ago. My partner was excited about the opportunity to photograph the raptor, but he accidentally frightened it away while approaching it, causing it to leave its prey behind. 

I went looking for the dove, and discovered it sitting very still under a bush, in shock most likely, with a huge open wound on its upper left chest and blood gushing down it. I tried to pick it up, but it flew up into a tree where it sat until dark.

The dove healed up fine on it own; I couldn't believe it. It visits every day, and has a dark scar down its chest where it was wounded. 

Having said that, if it was a caged bird I would have it treated for sure, but I was amazed by the hardiness of wild dove to survive and thrive after something like that.


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