# Found a young pigeon (again!)



## Pidgeys (Nov 18, 2012)

Hi there, I just signed up to this website so I hope I'm using it properly! This is the 6th pigeon i have found this year and i have loved every single one!

I recently found a young pigeon that does not have any yellow scragglys but is still growing the feathers under his/her wings and is a squeaker. I have it at my apartment but it does not want to fly or even walk around much. It has grown very used to my presence and does not mind me picking it up. 

I've been trying to feed it canary seed as it can't pick up food very well and wild bird feed is too big for it. I have also tried a little bit of seedy bread (which I now isn't great for birds) as well as mushy cat food, mushy wheatbix, and egg w/water. It does not eat well at all and does not like me trying to open it's beak to syringe food in, although i do anyway to make sure it eats. It drinks sometimes when I hold water up and dip it's beak in which is good. I checked online to see if it's beak was normal and i'm pretty sure it is...the top beak it a bit longer then the bottom but not by much.

Like I said he/she does not move much at all and just fluffs itself up and squats all the time, although does preen and stretch now and then. To me the poop also looks normal. Twice I thought i saw blood although there hasn't been any since. 

I'm worried that the pidgey is sick and i am not sure how to find out, as vets here do not care much for pigeons (the last one I had got put down  ). I have checked for canker and there is no sign of anything in the beak/throat.

Is anyone able to give me suggestions with being able to feed him/her better and with any possible illness? Perhaps I just have a very lazy pigeon on my hands!


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## Reti (Jul 20, 2003)

It could be the poor guy is sick. You mentioned you checked for canker but this parasite might be deep down tge tgroat or crop and you wouldn't see it.
My vet very recently mentioned that Flagyl besides killing canker and some bateria it also increases appetite. I definetely would give him a round of Flagyl. He doesn't sound like a healthy bird.
Can you post any pics of him/her?

Thank you so much for rescuing the little pij.

Reti


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## Pidgeys (Nov 18, 2012)

Thank you for the reply!

Pidge has actually perked up quite a lot and now pecks at seeds that i give as well as a little seeded bread and water. I've been keeping him warm and hydrated and he seems much better, poops look normal too. Will just kee a close eye on him :]


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## Dima (Jan 15, 2011)

I wouldn't give him any medicine if there's no sign of illness yet. May be he was just starving. Watch his poop and see how he is acting. You can hand feed him defrosted peas.


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## Pidgeys (Nov 18, 2012)

Thanks Dima, I have been doing that as well as leaving out food. He hates being hand fed!
And man does this one poo a lot.....
Since he/she is a feral i have bought some worming stuff to give just in case, do you think this is a good idea? 
He just took his first un-encouraged fly over to my hand, very sweet


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

Unless worms are present, it's best to wait until a pigeon is at least 4 months old, before worming. It would be better to treat for canker and coccidia.


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## Pidgeys (Nov 18, 2012)

Ohkay thank you :]


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## BHenderson (Sep 8, 2011)

Just an observation, but I just could not imagine a pigeon flying over to my hand after only being here for a few days. Obviously pigeons are different where ever you go. Pigeons in London will let you get close, especially if you are feeding them. They will even eat from your hand after some initial nervousness, but once I let a pigeon go in my house they will rarely come near me until they get used to me. I have the feeling I walk about too fast, and I have been trying to slow myself down, but I think that is part of why it takes them time to get used to me. Two of the pigeons that were born here and are now grown up, will land on me when I am asleep and creep up to my head as if they are playing peek-a-boo. I could never imagine one of these pigeons just flying over to my hand though. Maybe its because I have many other pigeons here rather than just one?


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## Pidgeys (Nov 18, 2012)

I guess this pigeon is reasonably friendly. When I feed the pigeons in town i can get them to fly onto my hand to eat there (which i love ) 
The pigeon is still with me (un-officially named pika) and does not mind being handled or sitting on me at all. 
I take her outside minimum once a day to wander around and get some sun and to see if she wants to leave but so far she is happy to be with me. I take her to the local park and sit there reading, and normally she ends up huddling close to me when she has had enough wandering around. She is getting better at flying too which is nice to see.

I was wondering if it was a bad thing if her beak sometimes appears really dry? Just the little soft bit above the nostrils. Sometimes she also throws her head back and opens her beak up wide as if she is doing a funny yawning gesture. Is this a sign of canker or anything? Like something is stuck in the throat? She has been eating and drinking fine and her poops look normal, she is also pretty active and i cannot see any signs of canker (looked in the beak etc). Could there be anything wrong??


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## minimonkey (Apr 7, 2005)

That funny yawning thing can indeed be canker, which you can't always see. It can also be a respiratory infection, or even mites. But it does mean that something is irritating her head/beak area. 

What is it that makes the cere (the area above the nostrils) appear dry? Color? Scaliness?

She sounds adorable and very bonded to you!


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## BHenderson (Sep 8, 2011)

I find it interesting that the pigeons in your area are happy to feed from your hands. We used to have an area in London that had lots of friendly and Hungry pigeons that the tourists would come to see because they land on your hand, but in other parts of London the pigeon have learned to be careful about who they approach. The number of times I put food out for the pigeons in an area where there is plenty of room, but you still get people walking through the pigeons while they are trying to eat as if they don't exist. This really infuriates me. Also children are not discouraged from cruelty, and will happily kick a pigeon if it does not take off fast enough. I do not understand why parents do not see that this is encouraging a brutish personality in a child and that child will find it hard to get on with people in the future.

At the end of the day I think the pigeons tell you a lot about the population of a city, if the pigeons are afraid of people, then that city is has people who a full of anger and cruelty(Like London). It is an unhealthy way to be, and I do not understand why people think it is ok to be like that. I would imagine the area where you are is less angry, has less people who are frustrated by their jobs and environment. The overall effect must be that people are generally kinder to the pigeons so the pigeons are less nervous of the people.


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## Pidgeys (Nov 18, 2012)

She is the cutest thing. Has started flying around more and sits on my knee preening herself. 
Have just bought a cage for her at night and to have open during the day so it looks like she is staying!  However if she wants to go in the future she can of course, birds are meant to be free if they can handle it!

The dry cere just looks dry, not flakey or crusty or anything. It looks like when I get dry/scaly skin. Is it normal? Or is she missing out on some vitamin etc?

I live in New Zealand so does anyone have any recommendation on canker treatment? Preferably in pill form? Also some kind of flea (whatever they are called) treatment? I notice she scratches her self a fair bit, no feather loss though.


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## Pidgeys (Nov 18, 2012)

Bhenderson I totally agree with you! Here in Wellington, N.Z most people are pretty good with the pigeons and just tend to ignore them, however i do know of a few horrible people who hate them  Especially a person who lives near my work who tries to bait them etc
I was feeding the wild ones a few days ago and someone walked past and just said really menacingly "you know they are just gonna s**t on people right". It was so unfair! Humans do much worse things to the wild life then they do to us!


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## Pidgeys (Nov 18, 2012)

Here are some pictures of 'Pika' if anyone is interested 
In the first pic is on another thread of mine-- http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/f24/what-to-feed-65645.html she is exploring the couch in that pic
second pic is of her falling asleep on my chest which seems to be one of her favorite pass-times 

By the way, does anyone know of a canker treatment (pref in pill form) that I can get here in New Zealand? I can only find Australian online so far


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## BHenderson (Sep 8, 2011)

Lovely picture. She has grown attached to you, you can see she is very comfortable with you.


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