# pigeon with half beak



## andragos (Jul 14, 2014)

Hello everyone,

Found half an year ago a pigeon (was almost dead at the time) who's upper beak was missing for almost half its length. 
After several weeks of care, the pigeon recovered from all the other illnesses (eye infection, some sort of lung infection causing him to noisily breathe and so on), gained in weight (less than 200g->400g now), but the beak remains the same.
Seems like it hasn't been broken but more like some malformation. 
Obviously, he cannot eat well.
I have to keep him in a cage and I don't have any idea what could be done to improve his status.
Any ideas highly appreciated.
I am from Romania - no specialized organization in taking care of animals in such condition, poor vet help regarding birds.

Thank you.


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## kunju (Mar 14, 2012)

Thanks for rescuing the bird. Broken beaks can grow out with time, but could become disfigured. Perhaps you can try giving him a deep dish of seeds so he can scoop the seeds up rather than having to peck individually. 
He might work his way around his disability and learn to eat with the disfigured beak...only time will tell. Encourage him to eat as much as possible on his own, and then top it up with hand feeding.
There is a member here, AndreiS from Romania. He does a lot of bird rescue. You can try contacting him for help.


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## kunju (Mar 14, 2012)

Posting a photo of the beak will help.


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## andragos (Jul 14, 2014)

Hello Kunju,

Thank you for answering.
Attached are 2 pics of "how it was 6 months ago".
Now he looks like the usual pigeon, just that the beak is still in the same status.
He its alone, I have only hand fed him for like 2-3 weeks at the time, when I also had to administer him some antibiotics together with eye drops.

Cheers


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## kunju (Mar 14, 2012)

The beak does not look to have grown in the 6 months. For one of my pigeons who lost just the tip of the upper beak, it took less than a year for it to grow back. But this is about half the beak missing, so it could take quite some time before you see noticeable improvement.
Meanwhile, let him learn to use his beak in new ways by practice...and you can hand feed once daily maybe in the night so he doesn't get weaker. Give him a deeper dish. Experiment with small and big seeds, see which he can pick more easily, and give more of these.


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

*The bird can learn to scoop up seed from a deep spill proof dish, we have a member with bird missing upper beak and it learned to scoop the seed up like it was using a shovel. Let the bird practice when he is the hungriest, that is the motivator. Also, move the seeds around with your finger to generate an interest. Once he is done practicing then hand feed until him.*


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## andragos (Jul 14, 2014)

Hello everyone.

Thanks again for all the replies.
I think I was not clear enough.
The bird is fine now, no illness, no problem of any sort.
The beak didn't grow back though and this is the main issue.
He eats alone, all by itself, he scoops fine in his feeding bowls, all's fine from this perspective.
Nevertheless, without a full beak, I cannot release him back - he wouldn't be able to feed properly and starve to death.
I have to keep him in a very large cage, but this is not probably what he'd like to do.
This is why I ask for advice - is there anything I can do, any wonder food or medicine or whatever that could help him recover the beak and get a real pigeon life?

Thank you all


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

*No, the bird will not be able to live in the wild. Please do find him a home. There are a lot of handicapped pet pigeons in homes that have adapted perfectly fine. *


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## andragos (Jul 14, 2014)

I guess he'll have to stick with me. There are no pigeon homes in Romania. I'll care for him and figure out a way to allow him to gain back some of the freedom.


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## lg5555 (Aug 2, 2013)

*half beak*

There are two possible ways to fix the beak, a prostheses can be attached to the ttop beak making the bird look more like others. Or the bottom beak can be shortened to look like one of the shorter beaked pigeon breeds. Either way the beak will be even allowing the pigeon to pick up seeds. 
Perhaps, the pigeon can be shipped to someone who has access to medical care for this pigeon.


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## corvid2e1 (Nov 9, 2011)

lg5555 said:


> There are two possible ways to fix the beak, a prostheses can be attached to the ttop beak making the bird look more like others. Or the bottom beak can be shortened to look like one of the shorter beaked pigeon breeds. Either way the beak will be even allowing the pigeon to pick up seeds.
> Perhaps, the pigeon can be shipped to someone who has access to medical care for this pigeon.


Agreed, either one would have to be done by a vet though. for a prosthetic to work it would have to be well anchored and properly shaped to wear down the lower jaw properly. this would be a very specialist job for a vet that wasn't used to dealing with birds, even here it can be difficult to find a good avian vet, I am guessing in Romania it may be even more difficult. Trimming back the bottom jaw would be slightly simpler, but again would need to be a vet job as it would have to be cut very short to match the top, which would mean cutting through the bone. there is also the chance of making the situation worse, and once the beak has been removed, there is no putting it back! either one would still have to be monitored in captivity anyway, so if the bird is already feeding without any problems it is probably safer to leave it as it is, as you are not really gaining anything except improving its appearance. The only issue that will need to be addressed is that with no upper jaw to grind against, the lower jaw will overgrow and need to be regularly cut back. this is simple enough to do yourself with nail cutters once you know what you are doing and how far back you can cut.


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## Asfo Khan (Jun 24, 2014)

I think it required proper surgery of beak to have the same length...also giving him protein may help..


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