# Sick Wild Pigeon



## RebeccaNZ (Oct 18, 2014)

Hi,

Our cat brought a baby pigeon into our garage a few weeks ago. We weren't sure how long it had been there for so we feed it and took care of it etc and it seemed to grow up normally but smaller than average then we realised it had canker so we treated it for that. Now, I can see that it has worms so I got Aviverm from the petstore and I have treated it with that but I am not sure if I have made it up following the right measurements (I think maybe it is too weak and not working). The Pigeon is fine and happy but is still not really eating by itself and quite small/skinny despite us hand feeding it and providing seeds. It tries to pick up seeds but has some difficulty it has also been slow with it's flying. It is very friendly and trusting of humans it is also not as strong or large as regular pigeons as it has lost nearly all of it's yellow feathers but is still small so I am not sure that it can be released back into the wild even when it is totally well.

Any advice? ( I am in New Zealand)


----------



## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Lucky that he made it without antibiotics, when caught by a cat. Very lucky.
Hand raised babies are usually slower in growing and maturing then parent raised babies, but they catch up. He must be about a month old now? Sounds that age, because he has almost lost the yellow feathers. It takes them a little while to get the hang of eating by their self. If you cut back on the hand feeding, especially in the morning when he's hungry, he may work harder on feeding himself. What and how is he being fed now? 

At about this time, or soon, is about when they start flying. Doesn't sound so behind. As long as the canker is gone, as that can put them behind too. How long did you treat him for that, and with what?

Also, just releasing a friendly hand raised pigeon into the wild isn't always the best idea, as they have not been raised by their parents, and have not had the teaching that they would have had from the parents and the flock. They don't know about predators, or how to find food and water in the wild. Some have slow released them into flocks, but that takes a little while, and not just turning them out.


----------



## RebeccaNZ (Oct 18, 2014)

Jay3 said:


> Lucky that he made it without antibiotics, when caught by a cat. Very lucky.
> Hand raised babies are usually slower in growing and maturing then parent raised babies, but they catch up. He must be about a month old now? Sounds that age, because he has almost lost the yellow feathers. It takes them a little while to get the hang of eating by their self. If you cut back on the hand feeding, especially in the morning when he's hungry, he may work harder on feeding himself. What and how is he being fed now?
> 
> At about this time, or soon, is about when they start flying. Doesn't sound so behind. As long as the canker is gone, as that can put them behind too. How long did you treat him for that, and with what?
> ...


Thanks for the reply! I got Flagyl/Trichozole from the vet and gave 1/4 tablet twice a day for about 5 days. I'm just not sure how to get rid of it's worms - have you used Aviverm/ Levamisole hydrochloride and what ratio do I use for water/medicine?

It's being feed peas and frozen corn by hand ... and sometimes seeds by hand and then we give it seeds to eat itself. We are trying not to feed it till later in the morning so it gets used to feeding itself. But, sometimes it doesn't even try maybe because it has worms? It's a stage where it is not wanting to be hand fed as much but it doesn't really eat itself and we were worried because it's small so we kept hand feeding it.

I am not sure it can be released, it might be older than 1 month because we've had it for about three weeks or more ... it was very small when we got it but was walking around. Yes, the cat must have carried it inside and not put his teeth into it. He must have left the bird and it found a little nook to hide in and then when we were sweeping out the garage we heard it squeaking and brought it inside but we aren't sure how long it had been there for.


----------



## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Flagyl is usually more effective given the whole dose once daily. 5 to 7 days, but I usually do 10 days just to be sure it's gone. And there have been times when it has taken 14 days to clear it. A young bird that small should have gotten about 25 to 30 mgs. once daily. Are you sure the canker is gone? Why do you believe that he has worms?


----------



## RebeccaNZ (Oct 18, 2014)

Jay3 said:


> Flagyl is usually more effective given the whole dose once daily. 5 to 7 days, but I usually do 10 days just to be sure it's gone. And there have been times when it has taken 14 days to clear it. A young bird that small should have gotten about 25 to 30 mgs. once daily. Are you sure the canker is gone? Why do you believe that he has worms?


The vet said give 1/4 tablet 2x a day for 5 days the whole tablet was 100 mg so it would have worked out about 50 mgs a day. Yes, I think that the canker is gone the yellow inside it's mouth has gone away and hasn't come back since we stopped the medicine. It seemed quite mild and we treated it as soon as we saw it.

I can see little white worms in it's droppings. Poor thing, I have been giving it the Levamisole for nearly 24 hours in it's drinking water but the worms still haven't gone away. I'm worried it's not going to get better and I don't want to overdose on it different medicines. I don't know what to do about the worms.


----------



## RebeccaNZ (Oct 18, 2014)

I'm worried that I made up the levamisole (aviverm) mixture too weak - 1 drop to 1 litre and that's why it hasn't killed the worms. One website recommends 1 - 1.5 grams to 1 gallon and on the bottle it just says 1 ml to every 9 kg of bird. So, I am confused about the right dosage - I made it up weak as I know it can have side effects etc.


----------



## John_D (Jan 24, 2002)

Aviverm and similar poultry wormers are not what I would use for a single pigeon, unless it gives specific instructions for a single dose on the container.

As you say, figuring out the dose is a problem. You really need a wormer that can be given from a syringe or dropper (or even the tip of a teaspoon) as an individual dose. Mixing in water is too unreliable as regards getting sufficient medicine into the bird, though it is OK as a routine preventative for a flock (what this stuff is probably designed for).

We would normally use Moxidectin (as sold by the Australian Pigeon Co., but whether it is available in NZ is a big ?). Otherwise, I would hope there are suitable wormers available online. 

What weight is the pigeon in grams?


----------



## RebeccaNZ (Oct 18, 2014)

John_D said:


> Aviverm and similar poultry wormers are not what I would use for a single pigeon, unless it gives specific instructions for a single dose on the container.
> 
> As you say, figuring out the dose is a problem. You really need a wormer that can be given from a syringe or dropper (or even the tip of a teaspoon) as an individual dose. Mixing in water is too unreliable as regards getting sufficient medicine into the bird, though it is OK as a routine preventative for a flock (what this stuff is probably designed for).
> 
> ...


Moxidectin is used to drench sheep and cattle over here, I don't think that it's available in individual doses for birds. The Aviverm was the only thing available for pigeons at my pet store, I think you are right it is designed for a whole flock of birds though. I will look around online for something but it might take a while to get over here if things like that can be shipped here. There isn't a large market of pigeon products over here which is shame. Can I use regular bird wormers for it ... I think that it still has worms?


----------



## John_D (Jan 24, 2002)

If you mean wormers for various cage & aviary birds, definitely worth trying. The dose is usually dependent on the weight of the bird. Also, not all wormers (even pigeon wormers) will deal with every kind of worm, though if you are actually seeing worms in the poops then they'll be 'common' ones so any bird wormer should be OK.


----------



## RebeccaNZ (Oct 18, 2014)

John_D said:


> If you mean wormers for various cage & aviary birds, definitely worth trying. The dose is usually dependent on the weight of the bird. Also, not all wormers (even pigeon wormers) will deal with every kind of worm, though if you are actually seeing worms in the poops then they'll be 'common' ones so any bird wormer should be OK.


Ok thanks, it still has worms so obviously the Aviverm didn't work I will have to find something else now.


----------

