# Injured Feral Pigeon



## Hato (Apr 19, 2007)

Hello, everyone. I just found a young feral pigeon on my deck. I feed wild birds including many feral pigeon everyday, naturally I often find injured birds. 

He/she is young adult and except for some small bleeding from her leg there is no other visible injury. However she has trouble flying, when she tries she is only able to fly about 10 feet at the most. I put her inside a box with food and water. She is pooping fine and cries well when I hold her. Since it rained very hard in my area for last 2 hours, she is really wet. I am keeping her in warm place so she is not cold. Should I observe how she is doing untill tomorrow morning? Should I give her any kind of medicine?

Please advise. Thank you!

Hato


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Are there any yellow hairs sticking out from the feathers?

Pidgey


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

And this "crying", is it a high-pitched squeaking?

Pidgey


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## Hato (Apr 19, 2007)

No, I can't see any yellow feathers. Shoud I take her picture and post it?


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## Hato (Apr 19, 2007)

You know what, kind of...


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Then she probably can't fly too well because she's too young. You've got a lost squeaker who's too young to be away from her parents. She might not know what real food (seeds) even look like. You may have to try and teach her what food is by way of pecking with your finger in the food although she might have some trust issues with you for awhile.

Pidgey


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Is there any way that you can post a picture?

Pidgey


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## Hato (Apr 19, 2007)

I found her inside my dog house on the deck. When I saw her, I knew something was wrong.


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Since she's really wet, you can dry her with a blow dryer (carefully, of course) or snuggle her in a towel. The warmth might help her to feel more like you're a decent person.

When you get a chance, you might look in her beak and see if you see any cheesy buttons.

Pidgey


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## Hato (Apr 19, 2007)

I am going to take her picture now and post it. Please give me a moment!


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## Hato (Apr 19, 2007)

Here is the pictures. She is definatelly afraind of me and cries like a puppy!


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Well, she'll get over that in a few days (often takes three) and then she'll be crying to you for love and attention. You wanna' get started on trying the feeding? You've got bird seed, right?

Pidgey


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

And, yes, that's definitely a squeaker. Nothing looks too amiss from here. You might try setting her down (cornered, if you have to) in front of some seeds and pecking them with a pencil or your finger. Also, she might not know what water is (despite the rain) and even be thirsty. You often have to put the bowl or cup in front of the bird (lukewarm would be better) and gently push the back of the head down so that about half the beak is in the water. If the bird is really thirsty (even more than the fear), it will get a look like "WOW--I REALLY NEED THIS!!!" and slurp like a pro.

Pidgey


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## Hato (Apr 19, 2007)

Yes, I have lots of bird seeds. I put the water and food bowels inside box. Should I try to hand feed? Do you think one of my back yard visitor is her parents and able to find her tomorrow?


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Might be (her parents). This is a very tricky time of life for them. The majority of them don't make it through it.

How are you set to hand-feed? By showing the bird how or by literally putting stuff down it the hard way?

Pidgey


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

I gotta' head home so I'm hoping that someone else will help you for awhile if required. The bird's not in any real dire need at the moment. On my first which was just about like this one, I didn't get much food down it for three days before I finally taught her to start eating properly. It was Katie-bar-the-door when she finally caught on, though.

Pidgey


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## Hato (Apr 19, 2007)

Thank you so much for your help Pedgey!

I will give her a time and wait and see. I will update her condition tomorrow morning.

Once again, thank you!

Have a great night!


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## Hato (Apr 19, 2007)

I am sorry I misspelled your name, Pidgey!


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

No biggie. Worse things have happened to better people.

Pedgey


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## feralpigeon (Feb 14, 2005)

Thanks for helping out w/the birds in your area, Hato, specifically this one
that needed some help. The eyes are orange on that one, so possibly on the
tail end of being a squeaker. Nine times out of ten when folks find a feral squeaker it isn't just a fluke. Maybe once you get some food going in one end 
and making an exit at the other, perhaps you could post a picture of the droppings from this bird. Also, are you noticing any odor to the bird or the droppings as the droppings are normally odorless. Any droppings matted underneath the tail area? Also, a visual inspection of the inside of the mouth is also good, should be pink and clear of any unusual growths. Thanks again
for helping. 

fp


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## Hato (Apr 19, 2007)

Thank you for your advice, pidgey and feralpigeon!

I was very busy this morning. In addition to the injured pigeon in my room, I found a stray dog in the street on the way to work. I had to u-turn to bring the dog to my home and ask my mother to look after her when I had to work. Of course, not really an animal lover, she was very overwhelmed by 4 dogs and 1 puppy and an injured bird, I had to organize a quick rescue search for the owner of the stray dog. Since this was the 2nd dog that I rescued in the last 2 weeks, she was getting really fed up. So, I quickly took the dog's picture and posted it on the Internet and contacted a shelter near by. I was late for work for more than 2 hours again (I almost always find injured animals on the way to work), I had to catch up with my work at the office.
Here is the great news. I found the owner of the stray this afternoon. He belongs to the Priest in the church near by... He was so thankful that it made it worth every bit of my rescue work.
Now back to the little pigeon, she was loud as she can be and seems little better than last night. I didn't smell anything from her poop but I will check again when I get home this evening. I will also take the picture of her poop so you can look at it for me and advice.
Thank you so much for all your help!!
Hato


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## JGregg (Jul 28, 2003)

You will need to make sure that your little squeaker is eating the seeds provided, and if not you'll need to turn to hand feeding for a while. Feel for seeds in the squeaker's crop (this is a pouch on the squeaker's chest). If you don't feel seeds in the squeaker's crop and/or it is loosing weight (you'd have "bad" poops too) hand feeding is the way to go. Don't worry hand feeding a squeaker isn't hard.

To hand feed soak some dry dog kibble in water until its soft. Place the baby on a table on in your lap (you can wrap the baby in a towel to minimize wiggling, and be careful the baby doesn't fall off of the table or your lap) and gently open the baby's beak (as pigeons don't gape) and gently insert a bite sized (for the pigeon) hunk of dog food into the baby's mouth, and the baby will take over swallowing the food. Feed until the crop is soft and full but not taunt, overfeeding can cause a impacted crop (can be fatal). Repeat after the crop empties. You can also use a little hand feeding to ensure that the squeaker is hydrated. Make sure you soak new food for each feeding, the shelf life of soaked dog food is short!


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## Hato (Apr 19, 2007)

Hello, everyone! I have great news! 

I was hand feeding this little PJ after work and I realized how strong she was getting. So, I decided to leave her box out on the deck until my flock of PJ came to visit for dinner. I feed the bird every evening. When the 50+ pJ came as usual, my little PJ became even more restless. So~ I decided to try to see if she is strong enough to fly away.

Well, she was!!! She flew in to the flock and even came down to eat bird seed for a while then left with them!! I know her family is part of my flock. She was so strong that I couldn't believe she was not able to fly last night!! 
I attached few pictures of the family (and also her poop). 

Thank you so much everyone! I hope she will be back to visit me again with her family tomorrow!!
Thank you so much for your advice. I am so pleased to have you guys around to give me great advice! 

Hato


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## Hato (Apr 19, 2007)

I forgot to attched the pictures..


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Well, good! Maybe it was just the very wet feathers that were the problem.

I've been to your town before. My company sold a local power company a heater that I've been to for to start up. It's been a few years (four or five).

Pidgey


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## Hato (Apr 19, 2007)

Thank you, Pidgey! You are fantastic! You help so many people. When I first joined this blog, I read about your beautiful blind PJ. The story about you and your PJ really touched me. I realized how wonderful you are to everyone who comes here for help. I have a lot of respect for everyone here and for you!!

Well, part of NJ is nice. I really enjoyed the living in Nebraska. I wish I could go back there some day. It must be really nice where you live... a beautiful environment..

Once again, it is so nice to have someone like you around here!!  

Hato


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Oh, well, thank you, it's a good forum and there are a lot of good folks here who work really hard for the birds. I imagine we all started just like you.

Pidgey


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