# HELP! Keeping pigeon in winter time- missing neck feathers too.



## LovesRutherford (Nov 20, 2010)

A beautiful white racing pigeon has been hanging around our front deck for about 4 months. We called animal control the first day we saw him in hopes of returning him to his owner. They sent over some police officers with a large net to catch him; I live in a small town . Then the bird flew on top of our roof despite have an injured wing at the time. They couldn’t catch him and suggested we keep him as a pet. We put special bird food and water out on the deck everyday for him. He just comes by our front deck in the afternoons and leaves by dusk. 
I’m worried about him in the winter because of the cold weather. A couple of weeks ago my husband and I got home around 9:00pm and saw the bird sitting on the deck, which is unusual because he always is gone by that time. It was maybe 35 degrees and windy out. He was all puffed out and was not moving or responding much, he almost looked frozen. My husband scooped him in a box and put him in an small empty storage shed in our backyard and the next day he was good as new! But a few days later I noticed he was missing feathers on his neck under his head. I think he pulled them out himself maybe, judging by the location.
I live close to the Minnesota border and it’s not unusual for temps to get well below zero in January and February. He does not stay overnight and obviously, has found a warm place to stay at night elsewhere. Should I be concerned about him flying in the cold weather like this? I worry about him especially with his missing neck feathers. I feel like he’s become a member of the family, he’s so sweet with his cooing and his loyal personality. We could keep him in the shed in the backyard for the winter with a little modification to make it more loft like. Catching and putting him inside the shed would be quite a challenge since he’s been feeling better. I’m worried it might stress him out and he may pull out more of his feathers again if we force him in there. I don’t know what to do about it. Please let me know what you all think, thanks!
-Megan


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## LovesRutherford (Nov 20, 2010)

Can anyone help me with this one?


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## Dobato (Jul 3, 2008)

Megan, thanks for your concern for this little guy.

Maybe it would be best to catch him and keep him with you for a few days and we can make sure that there really is nothing out of sorts with him. Here is a link to making a simple box trap to catch him. Once caught, bring him inside and take a few good, clear photos of him and his fresh droppings and post them to the site and we'll take it from there.

http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/showpost.php?p=409652&postcount=1

Good luck with him,

Karyn


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## LovesRutherford (Nov 20, 2010)

*Pictures*

Here are the photos I got of him outside today.


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## Dobato (Jul 3, 2008)

The bare patch on his neck is not normal, in the sense that a healthy bird would not, in normal circumstances, pick himself bare to his skin like this. It may be indicative of a pest problem, which would be easy enough to treat once he is captured, the photos of his droppings are not clear enough to make any real assessment of, thanks for trying, please try again, you are trying to get photos like in this link if you can: 

http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/showpost.php?p=137089&postcount=20

He seems comfortable and should be easy enough to round up with the box trap, just place the seed dish in the photo in the center with a small trail of seeds leading up to it, make sure to weight the top so it falls quick and he can't overturn it. Be patient and don't pull the string too soon, wait until he is right under feeding from the dish, you may only get one chance, as if you miss, he will be quite wary of going under it again.

Karyn


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## LovesRutherford (Nov 20, 2010)

He went a lot today and I think it looks wetter than normal...


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## Reti (Jul 20, 2003)

Hello and welcome to PT.
You have a lovely and sweet bird there. I guess, he is either lost or was put out to fend for himself. Those poor birds don't know how to fend for themselves so they ususally do seek out people to help them survive with food and water and shelter.
I have some very tame pigeons that are still hard to catch when I want to. So, you will have to try to catch him. 
Also there might be something wrong with him and he might need treatment as the feather loss is not normal. Pigeons don't peck their feathers like parrots do unless there is a problem. He might have mites or other problem.

Thank you for looking out for this little guy.

Reti


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## pdpbison (Mar 15, 2005)

He may have suffered a Bruise from a flying mis-hap there on his Neck, also.


Indeed, best if you can round him up, and, have him in an observation Cage for a week or so, and we can figure out more then.


Who knows what his provenance is, Wedding Release Bird who had enough of that stuff and lit out on his own, or...


Phil
Lv


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## LovesRutherford (Nov 20, 2010)

I wonder if he was attacked by crows maybe too? They are always taunting him a lot when he's on our deck. But I will scare them away when I see them. We did catch him a couple of weeks ago and put him in the shed out back on a really cold night, released him, and 2 days later the feathers were missing. Would being caught and put inside a shelter stress him out enough to pull them out? I'm worried if I catch him again he may pull his feathers out, if he was the one who did it. And his feathers are finally coming in slowly.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

LovesRutherford said:


> I wonder if he was attacked by crows maybe too? They are always taunting him a lot when he's on our deck. But I will scare them away when I see them. We did catch him a couple of weeks ago and put him in the shed out back on a really cold night, released him, and 2 days later the feathers were missing. Would being caught and put inside a shelter stress him out enough to pull them out? I'm worried if I catch him again he may pull his feathers out, if he was the one who did it. And his feathers are finally coming in slowly.


Pigeons, unlike parrots, do not normally pull out their feathers when stressed. I would think either another animal pulled them out, or that he may have mites or something which is causing it. An itch mite could cause him to do that.


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## cubanlofts (Sep 3, 2010)

pigeons are hardy, winter wont affect her as long as she has food and water, if u can see any skin attach to the loose feathers on her wound, it could be a flying accident, a hawk maybe almost got her, a nail, a stick out of a tree, poop dont look so bad actually, get a trap and get her, u can make 1 with a box, a stick and a cord, feed her under the box untill she gets used to it, them pull the string, put the feed tour the end of the trap, not the center, good luck, iam in MO, how far are u from KC i can keep her if u dont want her. by the way, that pigeon looks like a hen


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## Pawbla (Jan 6, 2009)

Please, do catch this guy. Don't be concerned about stress, we do this stuff all the time when it's needed!


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## LovesRutherford (Nov 20, 2010)

*Doing Better*

I wanted to show you the bird is doing great and his/her feathers have grown back!


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## MaryOfExeter (Sep 30, 2007)

Beautiful bird and good job!


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## Reti (Jul 20, 2003)

He looks wonderful. You've done a great job with this bird.
Thank you.

Reti


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Thanks for the update. He looks great. Good job.


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