# Rescued a frozen pigeon. Advice?



## Nezumi (Feb 10, 2014)

So it's 17dg outside right now. While heading to the gym I saw a lethargic female rock pigeon among a couple active ones. They were eating while she remained fluffed and huddled next to the building on the sidewalk.

I spent an hour in the gym and on the way back she was still in the same spot on the sidewalk despite humans passing by and the other pigeons running away as I approached again. 

When I went to catch her she didn't try to run or peck me. Her eyes/head didn't track anything and she was very cold. 

Hour 1: Feed her two drops of water w/ diluted honey in the side of her beak. (1 cup of water, 1/4 tsp honey) Left her in a warm dim room. She slept laying down, eyes dull, and very fluffed up. Poop is watery.

Hour 2: Head/eyes are tracking movement now. Still very fluffy and sleepy. Poop still watery

Hour 3: Still sleeps laying down and fluffy. Gave her a few more drops of honeyed water in the side beak. When placed back in the cage she suddenly perks up and starts eating and drinking.

Hour 4: Is warm, alert and sleeping standing up. Much less fluffy. Poop seems firmer but still looser then 'normal' poop.

So how many days/hours should I give her to recoup before releasing her? I have other birds so keeping her long term isn't an option. 
Will she be fine on going back out in the cold after some rest?


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## AndreiS (Jul 28, 2013)

She certainly has some serious issue, otherwise you wouldn't have been able to catch her. Keep her longer, like 1-2 weeks to see how develops. Four hours aere not enough to make an idea.


And keep her in a warm place. Warmt is one of the three main elements that cure a bird, together with food and medicaments. Not only that warmt helps the sick bird maintain its body temperature (sick birds lose rapidly temperature due to disfunctioinal metabolism) but also helps her psychologically, making her feel protected, like she was in her parents' nest.


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## kunju (Mar 14, 2012)

Thanks for rescuing this poor bird. Keep her warm, and slowly up her feed. Maybe starvation and the cold caused her to collapse on the ground. Or there could be other reasons like an infection going on. 

Once she is up and walking, monitor her for any leg/wing problems. Check her poop for abnormality --- abnormal color, diarrhea, bad smell.
Check her mouth for cheesy deposits (canker)..
If nothing seems to be the problem, and she is eating well,drinking well, active and flying well in the confines of a room, you can plan to release her where you found her. But you need to keep her for a few days to make sure she is fit for release.
Are you sure it is an ADULT pigeon?


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## Nezumi (Feb 10, 2014)

kunju said:


> Thanks for rescuing this poor bird. Keep her warm, and slowly up her feed. Maybe starvation and the cold caused her to collapse on the ground. Or there could be other reasons like an infection going on.
> 
> Once she is up and walking, monitor her for any leg/wing problems. Check her poop for abnormality --- abnormal color, diarrhea, bad smell.
> Check her mouth for cheesy deposits (canker)..
> ...


No canker. Wings and legs seem fully functional. I'm worried about testing her flight as she is a feral pigeon. I don't want to cause her more stress by having to catch her now that she's feeling betterish. Suggestions?

Are there visible indications of a young pigeon? She looks pretty 'normal'. I'm a parrot person. Pigeons are out of my expertise.


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## Woodnative (Jul 4, 2010)

If a baby she might still have some yellow hairs (down) around the neck. Less likely at this time of year in the colder parts of the country but not out of the question. Pigeons can breed year round though the ferals around me slow/stop in winter. In case she was just starving I would certainly give a couple days for her to put on some weight. As said above monitor her droppings etc. in case it was an illness that brought her down in the first place. If she looks fit and starts reacting to you more (e.g. not wanting to be handled etc.) try releasing her on the morning of a relatively warm day. Make sure she is 100% first, esp. with her flying (you can see in an enclosed room or bathroom where she can easily be caught again). BTW when handling her how was the breastbone? She shoudl have some fat there......if she was "light" in weight and the breastbone was very obvious than she was too thin (from starvations and/or sickness).


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

*Thank you for helping this very needy bird.

Please follow these instructions first:http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/f108/basic-steps-to-saving-the-life-of-a-pigeon-or-dove-8822.html

You need to get her stabilized first BEFORE hydrating and feeding, and do not force her to fly.

Put her in cage or carrier away from drafts of air. Put her on heating pad set on low, with towel between bird and pad.

She may be starving, once hydrated you can start feeding.

She needs to be force fed (if not eating or not eating enough) as she may not eat at all. Frozen (thawed, warmed and drained ) work best and are easiest to feed. *


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## Nezumi (Feb 10, 2014)

Woodnative said:


> If a baby she might still have some yellow hairs (down) around the neck. Less likely at this time of year in the colder parts of the country but not out of the question. Pigeons can breed year round though the ferals around me slow/stop in winter. In case she was just starving I would certainly give a couple days for her to put on some weight. As said above monitor her droppings etc. in case it was an illness that brought her down in the first place. If she looks fit and starts reacting to you more (e.g. not wanting to be handled etc.) try releasing her on the morning of a relatively warm day. Make sure she is 100% first, esp. with her flying (you can see in an enclosed room or bathroom where she can easily be caught again). BTW when handling her how was the breastbone? She shoudl have some fat there......if she was "light" in weight and the breastbone was very obvious than she was too thin (from starvations and/or sickness).


No yellow down.

She can fly.

Her breast bone is very pokey. There doesn't seem to be much fat/muscle next to it at all.


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## Nezumi (Feb 10, 2014)

Update. So I weighed her. My scale said she's around 260-280grams. This is an educated guesstimate as I did have to keep her still. So I'm not sure how much my hands came into play.


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

Nezumi said:


> Update. So I weighed her. My scale said she's around 260-280grams. This is an educated guesstimate as I did have to keep her still. So I'm not sure how much my hands came into play.





Skyeking said:


> *Thank you for helping this very needy bird.
> 
> Please follow these instructions first:http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/f108/basic-steps-to-saving-the-life-of-a-pigeon-or-dove-8822.html
> 
> ...


*PLEASE follow advice and link above, thank you.*


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## kunju (Mar 14, 2012)

That's good news. I think you can feed her for about 10 days so she puts on some weight, then release her right where you found her.


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## Nezumi (Feb 10, 2014)

*Last update*

Last update: Called my local wildlife center. Luckily the one closest to me does not euthanize pigeons. In fact they have a flock of 12 rescues that they are rehabilitating over the winter which are sent to be released in march, after it warms up. We took Miss Pigeon there, so with luck she'll get a new family and get released after a long rest to fatten up. 

Thanks for all your help in stabilizing her so that she could make it to the aviary. She won't be alive today otherwise.


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## kunju (Mar 14, 2012)

Glad to know she is going to be fine. Thanks a lot for helping her.


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

Nezumi said:


> Last update: Called my local wildlife center. Luckily the one closest to me does not euthanize pigeons. In fact they have a flock of 12 rescues that they are rehabilitating over the winter which are sent to be released in march, after it warms up. We took Miss Pigeon there, so with luck she'll get a new family and get released after a long rest to fatten up.
> 
> Thanks for all your help in stabilizing her so that she could make it to the aviary. She won't be alive today otherwise.


*That is great news! Thank you for the happy update!
*


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