# pigeon covered in black grease. Help



## goga82 (Aug 17, 2009)

hi guys question,, found a pigeon today covered in dumpster oil, probably been buliding up since he was born. couldnt fly away with all that grease on his wings so i caught him real easy. now problem is dawn cant get this grease out.. his feathers are so glued that nothing helps.. any suggestions??
I mean his whole body is basically matted, thats how it looks like.. somebody told me after dawn didnt help to try to break away the grease with baby oil..
then wash with dawn.. well i did that .. 
nothing helped..
i also heard that maybe i could try hair conditioner..
before i start doing old grandma receipits please any suggestion 
i need to get this off this pigeon..


----------



## MaryOfExeter (Sep 30, 2007)

I'd say keep the bird until it drops all the gunked up feathers. You've tried my suggestions already!


----------



## goga82 (Aug 17, 2009)

MaryOfExeter said:


> I'd say keep the bird until it drops all the gunked up feathers. You've tried my suggestions already!


what im going to do instead of waiting for him to molt.. going to take a looooong time.. i decided to cut the worst parts off.. even cleaning wont save these feathers.. they are very damaged..
im going to cut some off.. including the flight feathers and wait for the new feathers to grow and then release him.. he does have company in my house.. have one pet pigeon so they will have fun in the process of feather growth..
i would rather have a funny ( bald) looking pigeon in the house than dead one on the street..
the most damaged and glued feathers are the one on his belly and under neath the tail.. those will go first


----------



## Msfreebird (Sep 23, 2007)

goga82 said:


> what im going to do instead of waiting for him to molt.. going to take a looooong time.. i decided to cut the worst parts off.. even cleaning wont save these feathers.. they are very damaged..
> im going to cut some off.. including the flight feathers and wait for the new feathers to grow and then release him.. he does have company in my house.. have one pet pigeon so they will have fun in the process of feather growth..
> i would rather have a funny ( bald) looking pigeon in the house than dead one on the street..
> the most damaged and glued feathers are the one on his belly and under neath the tail.. those will go first


Dawn is what they use for this. You have to get as much of the grease/oil off. Its toxic if it gets into his skin. If its really bad, you have to bathe/lather him quite a few times, working at individual feathers at a time.


----------



## Quazar (Jul 27, 2010)

Goga, you really must try bathing & lathering with the soap *first* as Msfreebird suggests.
It will take a lot of time & effort, but if you cut all the feathers off, the bird is not going to be able to keep itself warm enough, which would be bad enough in itself, but deadly if it does ingest any of the toxins from the oils.
Also, cut feathers wont grow, feathers only replace themselves after they have moulted, or been preened out by the bird. Cut feathers will also encourage the bird to preen more & possibly ingest the oil, so it would be in a pretty bad situation then.
I realise you want too see this bird in much better shape, but honestly, bathing is probably the better route to go first.
It will take a huge number of bathes to get any where near close to a good situation, but I would suggest breaking it up into 5 or 6 at a time, then let the bird rest/sleep/feed/drink etc to avoid stressing it out too much at the one time.


----------



## Crazy Pete (Nov 13, 2008)

Orange hand cleaner, the stuff mechanics use. That will get the grease of anything, then wash that off with Dawn.
Dave


----------



## Quazar (Jul 27, 2010)

would be dubious about using any of those products on a bird as most are petroleum based.
Although specially formulated to remove oil & grease they would be very harsh on the birds skin.
Some also contain tiny plastic globules to help break up the oil.
They would easilly become trapped in the birds feathers & do more harm later.


----------



## Crazy Pete (Nov 13, 2008)

I don't think this would affect the birds feather or skin, and if you rinse it off with Dawn I would think it would be Ok. Well at least it would be a lot better than the grease the bird has on it now.
Dave

Fast Orange® Pumice and Smooth Hand Cleaner - The #1 selling, biodegradable, waterless, petroleum solvent-free hand cleaner in now infused with MicroGelTM a patent-pending hand cleaning technology developed by Permatex to make Fast Orange® even better! The MicroGelTM Advantage this advanced technology makes hand cleaning more efficient because the hand cleaner adheres better to hands- requiring less product to do the job right! Fast Orange® with MicroGelTM has the same great fast cleaning power, feels smoother on hands, and is even better for the environment. It contains no harsh chemicals, petroleum solvents, mineral oils or ammonia that can sting cuts or abrasions and is fortified with aloe, lanolin, and other premium skin conditioners to soothe and protect raw, rough hands. Pure, fresh-smelling natural citrus Fast Orange® is available in lotion or cream formula (for those who prefer a thicker consistency hand cleaner).


----------



## goga82 (Aug 17, 2009)

Update 
well i did cut some parts off from his belly, the matted feathers, didnt cut too short just got rid of the nastiest stuff,, one of the rehab centers in chicago suggested i get power wash that artist use to clean their brushes,, so i bought that,, but it did work,, and while i had that water running in the bathroom i realized any time my hair dye gets on my face i scrub it out with regular soap,, so i took that i lathered his tail first and it was coming off liek it was piece of cake.. every feather separately..
went to his wings too,, he actually has some brown color on his wings can u believe it :_)
wow just wow.. the only thing i have left is his head and neck feathers. really the only way i was washing is by petting him, i glidded my hands down and it was falling off..

few nasty pieces were really hard to break so i cut those off,, most were on his belly and underneath the tail,, tomorrow i will do the neck and head,, and repeat the wings and tail, just to make sure its all gone..
what i cut off its ok however it takes to molt, i will keep him for as long as he has a full set of feathers,, life with me isnt that bad 
but really regular soap,, just wow


----------



## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

dawn dish detergent? seems to help in oil spills with birds.


----------



## goga82 (Aug 17, 2009)

this is not oil that gets spilled in the oceans.. this is grease..
dawn didnt help with this grease..
regular soap did tho


----------



## Pigeonlove (May 6, 2008)

Wow, good for you! I wish I would have known that--I had a pigeon a few months back with the same problem. The Dawn did NOTHING, not even a speck of the stuff came off. You could see this grease on his eyelashes, he would blink funny. At first I thought there was something wrong with his eyes. I had to wait it out, for months, till he molted. Hmmm, soap. Way to go!!!!!


----------



## Jaye (Mar 13, 2008)

Doesn't matter whether oil or grease...Dawn works on grease, too. It is good stuff...always keep a bottle on hand. Yes, other stuiff works but if you wanna get the most effective stuff with the least amount of labor, Dawn is the stuff.

Glad it is coming off.


goga82 said:


> while i had that water running in the bathroom i realized any time my hair dye gets on my face i scrub it out with regular soap...


...prematurely grey, are we...?


----------



## goga82 (Aug 17, 2009)

Jaye said:


> Doesn't matter whether oil or grease...Dawn works on grease, too. It is good stuff...always keep a bottle on hand. Yes, other stuiff works but if you wanna get the most effective stuff with the least amount of labor, Dawn is the stuff.
> 
> Glad it is coming off.
> 
> ...prematurely grey, are we...?


DAWN DIDNT DO ANYTHING

AT LEAST NOT IN MY CASE


----------



## goga82 (Aug 17, 2009)

wings are completely washed, tail as well,,


----------

