# NJ Pigeon, unable to walk/fly



## SuddenPigeon (8 mo ago)

Just found a pigeon today, would really appreciate if anyone could come get it or let me take it to them. Looked up what to do and was told to _secure the pigeon_ so it’s safe from predators. I knew it wouldn’t survive the rest of the day/night out here with the amount of cats outside anyway. But yeah, it doesn’t fly, stand, or walk. The feathers don’t _look_ broken nor the legs, so not sure what the issue is. Nothing about it looks ‘sick’ or ‘broken’ to me, though clearly something’s wrong. It does have a large patch of missing feathers on its back but you can only see if you lift the surrounding feathers and when it opens its wings. Possibly attacked by something? It’s eyes are clear, no crusty or gunky stuff anywhere. Breathing seems a bit rapid but I don’t know what normal pigeon breathing looks like so. 

It hasn’t wanted water and I’m not sure it’s eaten any of the seed I left for it. I have it in a small box but not sure what size box to put it in. It’s sleeping right now.


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## Doves Witness (Apr 23, 2016)

Could be due to injury or illness. Please do try to get the bird to drink a little water, preferably with lemon juice in it for electrolytes. If you hold a small dish of water just below his beak, then slowly lift it so that the water covers the tip of his beak (but not his nostrils), then he might drink on his own.

You didn't post which state and city you are in. The best place to find folks willing to take the dove would be the Palomacy facebook page, linked below.

http://www.facebook.com/groups/palomacy


Or check their map of pigeon and dove friendly rescue centers...








Some Pigeon & Dove Friendly Rescues - Google My Maps


Not all rescues will help pigeons & doves (whether domestic or nonnative) but these will. (This map is in progress! There are more rescues than this. Please contact those closest to you & ask for referrals to an even closer rescue if needed.) Palomacy Pigeon & Dove Adoptions, www.PigeonRescue.org




www.google.com


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## SuddenPigeon (8 mo ago)

Doves Witness said:


> Could be due to injury or illness. Please do try to get the bird to drink a little water, preferably with lemon juice in it for electrolytes. If you hold a small dish of water just below his beak, then slowly lift it so that the water covers the tip of his beak (but not his nostrils), then he might drink on his own.
> 
> You didn't post which state and city you are in. The best place to find folks willing to take the dove would be the Palomacy facebook page, linked below.
> 
> ...


Thanks. Im in New Jersey but I’ll check the Facebook. I already checked the map and there’s nothing by me.

I finally got it to drink. I had to really dip it’s beak in and then it like realized that it was water and took some sips on its own. Im going to take it out in the yard to get some sun while I sit with it to make sure no cats get to it.

it’s very alert, eyes still look clear. Don’t think wings are broken but not sure. It lays with its feet facing back and it can’t stand. It keeps trying to stand but can’t.


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## SuddenPigeon (8 mo ago)

Ok so after more research I think it’s legs may be paralyzed or something? Seems there can be many reasons why, but that it can also recover. Im getting it a larger towel to act like a nest so it can lay in and it got some vitamin d through sunbathing today but I’m not sure how to give it calcium.


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## Doves Witness (Apr 23, 2016)

Thank you for caring for the bird and for getting him to drink! Good job!

It's possible that the bird was frightened and slammed into something, resulting in internal injury, perhaps muscle, joint, or bone damage. It's also possible that the leg paralysis is caused by bacterial infection (usually Salmonella but many types of bacterial infections such as Streptococcus can cause similar symptoms.) It's also possible that the bird has a viral infection such as Newcastle disease / Paramyxovirus / PMV-1. PMV is not contagious to people.

The bird can survive any of those things. If it is a virus there is no "cure", but there are various naturally anti-viral foods that may help him to recover more quickly. If it is bacterial, natural anti-biotics will definitely help. Synthetic anti-biotics could help too, but they may also cause side effects such as wrecking the balance of probiotic / friendly intestinal bacteria which aid digestion and that could lead to malnutrition. If the condition is due to injury such as broken bones, then it will probably take the longest time for recovery -- from five weeks up to a few months.

How do you want to proceed? Would you be able to care for the bird for a month or more?


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## SuddenPigeon (8 mo ago)

Update: we did some light leg exercises. One leg feels very weak and limp but she is able to move it, mostly when I touch the other leg. Now I’m going to let her rest for a while back in the bathroom. She’s been guzzling down water, it’s really nice to see. Hasn’t gone for any peas or bread yet. Tried once to get some seeds but gave up. If I can help this little babe back on her feet and in the air I’ll be really stoked.


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## SuddenPigeon (8 mo ago)

Doves Witness said:


> Thank you for caring for the bird and for getting him to drink! Good job!
> 
> It's possible that the bird was frightened and slammed into something, resulting in internal injury, perhaps muscle, joint, or bone damage. It's also possible that the leg paralysis is caused by bacterial infection (usually Salmonella but many types of bacterial infections such as Streptococcus can cause similar symptoms.) It's also possible that the bird has a viral infection such as Newcastle disease / Paramyxovirus / PMV-1. PMV virus is not contagious to people.
> 
> ...


I can care for it for that long, I’m just scared of not doing it right or well enough. Or of it hurting itself more because it’s really restless and flapping around trying to get on its feet but can’t get them to move even slightly under herself. I read I’m supposed to wash its little butt too lol. I did find a place that’s a bit of a drive away that will take it but I’m low key worried they’d feed it to one of their eagles or hawks cause it’s a raptor place. They said they’d care for it though.


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## Doves Witness (Apr 23, 2016)

Even when injured or ill, the birds are fairly low-maintenance. They don't require constant care, but rather only periodically throughout the day. As long as the bird has a safe place to rest, and is eating, drinking, and passing droppings that show that food is making it through the bird's system, they can recover from pretty-much anything -- horrific wounds, debilitating disease, etc.

I bathe birds in a large mixing bowl about 1/2 filled with room-temperature water. Add 1 teaspoon of boric acid per quart of water to kill and/or repel mites. Feral / wild pigeons generally have mites and/or lice, and pigeon flies, none of which survive for long if they aren't on a bird. Since your bird has some paralysis, don't leave him in water, and when he is able to drink by himself, don't give him a water dish that is large enough for his head to fall into to the extent that his nostrils would be underwater. Use something shallow and heavy like a small, clean, glass ashtray. Pigeons and doves use their beaks like a drinking straw and can sip water even if it is only as deep as a dime is thick.

Add a little bit of lemon juice to his drinking water for electrolytes, and the birds actually seem to like the flavor. About 1/4 teaspoon per cup of water. My _formerly feral_ pigeon friend here is healthy and drinks a couple of sips of water in the mornings after eating seeds. She drinks a couple of times during mid day, more if the weather is hot. Mid day is when she seems to drink the most volume of water too - three sips each time instead of the two sips in morning and evening. Then in the evening she eats and has two sips again before sleep. Since your bird may be sick, he might want more frequent water, and possibly more volume of water too, but I wouldn't force him to drink if he is able to do so by himself when you hold the water up to his beak.

It would be good to look inside his beak and throat for any orange or white colored spots. Normally the tissues are all a similar shade of pink or red. If there are orange growths in his throat / esophagus, they may grow so large that food can't pass to the bird's crop, and in which case he'd need a diet that is more liquid, mixed with a powdered formula. If there is nothing blocking his esophagus, then he can eat seeds.








He is probably vitamin A deficient, most feral pigeons are -- so a few tiny bits of carrot or bell pepper each day may make a big difference in his recovery. Raw, unshelled sunflower seeds, dried peas or split peas, barley, lentils, rice and other similar seeds and grains are all good food for the bird. Don't feed him dry, uncooked beans though as they have lectins such as hemagglutinin that can cause digestion problems, diarrhea, and death. There are a lot of naturally antibacterial and antiviral foods (see the Natural Remedies link in the signature at the bottom of my posts) that are both nutritious and helpful in fighting infections. Some like raw Apple Cider Vinegar are added to drinking water. Others can be fed to the birds just like seeds -- if he can't eat on his own, slightly squeeze your fingertips against the sides at the base of the beak to get him to open his beak, place a seed or bit of food inside and then let him swallow.






Normally, adult pigeons eat from 1.5 to 2 ounces of food per day, which is about 3 to 4 level tablespoons of seeds although it varies by the density of each type of seed. The adult pigeon here, whom I call Sky, likes to eat some seeds about a half-hour after waking-up (we both get-up at dawn), and a couple of times during mid day, then once in the evening prior to going to sleep.

Line his box or sleeping area with paper towels for easy clean-up of droppings. Also, if you post a picture of his droppings it may help to determine whether he has an illness vs. physical damage.

Oh, and calcium deficieny is common in indoor birds but not in feral pigeons. They have all the sunshine and limestone they need usually, so he probably isn't calcium deficient at this point, though adding some vitamin D3 to his diet (hard-boiled chicken's egg yolk is a good source) while he is recovering would be good since they can only get it naturally through exposure to direct sunlight. Some seeds contain enough calcium by themselves (sesame seeds, flax seed, raw and unshelled sunflower seeds, oats, and rice as examples), and offering "pigeon grit" (any of crushed limestone, oyster shell, or boiled chicken's egg shells) is a good supplement.


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## FITANDCHIC (Nov 20, 2020)

SuddenPigeon said:


> Just found a pigeon today, would really appreciate if anyone could come get it or let me take it to them. Looked up what to do and was told to _secure the pigeon_ so it’s safe from predators. I knew it wouldn’t survive the rest of the day/night out here with the amount of cats outside anyway. But yeah, it doesn’t fly, stand, or walk. The feathers don’t _look_ broken nor the legs, so not sure what the issue is. Nothing about it looks ‘sick’ or ‘broken’ to me, though clearly something’s wrong. It does have a large patch of missing feathers on its back but you can only see if you lift the surrounding feathers and when it opens its wings. Possibly attacked by something? It’s eyes are clear, no crusty or gunky stuff anywhere. Breathing seems a bit rapid but I don’t know what normal pigeon breathing looks like so.
> 
> It hasn’t wanted water and I’m not sure it’s eaten any of the seed I left for it. I have it in a small box but not sure what size box to put it in. It’s sleeping right now.


Bird needs antibiotics IMMEDIATELY. I'm in Hoboken you can bring here.


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## SuddenPigeon (8 mo ago)

Doves Witness said:


> Even when injured or ill, the birds are fairly low-maintenance. They don't require constant care, but rather only periodically throughout the day. As long as the bird has a safe place to rest, and is eating, drinking, and passing droppings that show that food is making it through the bird's system, they can recover from pretty-much anything -- horrific wounds, debilitating disease, etc.
> 
> I bathe birds in a large mixing bowl about 1/2 filled with room-temperature water. Add 1 teaspoon of boric acid per quart of water to kill and/or repel mites. Feral / wild pigeons generally have mites and/or lice, and pigeon flies, none of which survive for long if they aren't on a bird. Since your bird has some paralysis, don't leave him in water, and when he is able to drink by himself, don't give him a water dish that is large enough for his head to fall into to the extent that his nostrils would be underwater. Use something shallow and heavy like a small, clean, glass ashtray. Pigeons and doves use their beaks like a drinking straw and can sip water even if it is only as deep as a dime is thick.
> 
> ...






Doves Witness said:


> Even when injured or ill, the birds are fairly low-maintenance. They don't require constant care, but rather only periodically throughout the day. As long as the bird has a safe place to rest, and is eating, drinking, and passing droppings that show that food is making it through the bird's system, they can recover from pretty-much anything -- horrific wounds, debilitating disease, etc.
> 
> I bathe birds in a large mixing bowl about 1/2 filled with room-temperature water. Add 1 teaspoon of boric acid per quart of water to kill and/or repel mites. Feral / wild pigeons generally have mites and/or lice, and pigeon flies, none of which survive for long if they aren't on a bird. Since your bird has some paralysis, don't leave him in water, and when he is able to drink by himself, don't give him a water dish that is large enough for his head to fall into to the extent that his nostrils would be underwater. Use something shallow and heavy like a small, clean, glass ashtray. Pigeons and doves use their beaks like a drinking straw and can sip water even if it is only as deep as a dime is thick.
> 
> ...


thank you for all the information. I appreciate it.
Yes I was worried I wasn’t doing enough but sometimes less is more in terms of letting pigeon friend rest and not get so stressed.

Update is that it wants to leave. It’s gotten stronger and has regained some strength in its lil legs. Before its legs wouldn’t move at all when I’d pick it up and now it kicks when I pick it up. It’s now getting its left leg underneath its body but the right leg is still dragging. But that right leg has seen progress too bc before it really wasn’t moving at all. So yeah the bird wants to leave but it’s not ready, and I don’t want it hurting itself trying to fly out of the box.

it’s been drinking and eating. I gave it carrots and bell pepper yesterday with some bird seed mix and today as well.

thanks fitandchic for the offer but there’s a place closer to me that I’ve found so I’ll probably be taking the bird there instead.


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## Doves Witness (Apr 23, 2016)

SuddenPigeon said:


> Yes I was worried I wasn’t doing enough but sometimes less is more in terms of letting pigeon friend rest and not get so stressed.


Definitely! The progress sounds wonderful! Thank you for giving him care.


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## FITANDCHIC (Nov 20, 2020)

SuddenPigeon said:


> Update: we did some light leg exercises. One leg feels very weak and limp but she is able to move it, mostly when I touch the other leg. Now I’m going to let her rest for a while back in the bathroom. She’s been guzzling down water, it’s really nice to see. Hasn’t gone for any peas or bread yet. Tried once to get some seeds but gave up. If I can help this little babe back on her feet and in the air I’ll be really stoked.


No bread please.


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