# found a pigeon on my lunch break



## badbird (Aug 15, 2005)

I'm helping out another feral fellow again. I was going back to work on my lunch hour and I walked past the taxi stand where the taxi drivers often feed the birds from their car, as do passerby on the sidewalk. I noticed a bird huddled against a wall all puffed up. There were kids running around scaring the pigeons  but its ok. What I did notice was that whilst all the other birds took to the sky this lone black pigeon stayed huddled against the wall. When the crowd cleared I approached it...I had loose seed in my pocket from the last time I fed birds. He gobbled it up and could walk OK. But he would stumble sometimes and flap his wings as if he was falling over. 

He could not really fly either. I approached it and picked it up and held it in the air to try to coax it into flying but he just jumped and slapped his wings around and came to rest on a railing. He was staying there for a while I think he was afraid because he is having trouble flying. I picked him up and put him back on the ground because the railing overlooked a huge incline and I didn't want him to fall. He stayed ont he ground and huddle up against a wall right by me, looking at me. I stood there and waited for the passerby to stop coming as there was a lot of foot traffic. The bird did not move an inch but kept looking at me. It walked up to my feet and stood there!  It would not fly away or anything. Maybe it recognized me from when I would feed the birds sometimes and figured I would help him. He was following me and staying near.

It was obvious the bird was suffering from shock, was young and having trouble flying, or is not feeling well. When there was nobody near by I scooped the bird up and put it under my jacket. I walked into the building I work at and went to my storage room. I took an empty file folder box and lined it with paper towel and put the bird in there with the lid on askew so the light would keep it from being too afraid.

I took it home after my work day and its poops are not alarming...they look normal such as my pet pigeons.' black and white. the bird does not appear to have a broken wing. 

i'm going to have someone look at it very soon. hopefully it can be releaseable again in the near future. if it turns out to be sick i'll get some medicines for it.

for now its in a warm cage lined with paper towels. i now have just provided food and water for it and it nibbles on the food and slurps some special pigeon water I fixed up (bird vitamin drops, etc).

The bird is very good on his feet now and runs around and flaps his wings but does not attempt to fly. the wings are not drooping or anything and there is no evidence of any cuts or 'boo boos.' he is pretty strong when i pick him up as far as the strength of his wing muscles, etc. he is not scrawny either so he doesn't appear starved. he does look kind of on the young side. he also grunts alot and makes cooing noises.

I hope this bird turns out ok!!!!


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## badbird (Aug 15, 2005)

i named him Smokey


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## feralpigeon (Feb 14, 2005)

Hi Badbird,

It's hard to say what's going on with this pij, not a juvy per se, I see an orange colored eye and white cere. He could have one or more of common feral illnesses, is it possible for you to get a fecal float and do you have any meds on hand?

fp


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## badbird (Aug 15, 2005)

feralpigeon said:


> Hi Badbird,
> 
> It's hard to say what's going on with this pij, not a juvy per se, I see an orange colored eye and white cere. He could have one or more of common feral illnesses, is it possible for you to get a fecal float and do you have any meds on hand?
> 
> fp


ya he's not a baby or a juv cuz of the orange eyes but he is younger-appearing.... i just meant he's not an old man lol. i am going to go to the vet on monday or tuesday because i don't have anything for illneses. all i can do at this moment is watch after him.

is it anything i can get in the meantime for a drugstore or petstore?

thanks


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Nice rescue, Badbird! You are becoming quite the pigeon magnet! Thank you so much for assisting this needy pigeon. Just being safe, warm, watered, and fed has to be a blessing to the bird. Please do keep us posted.

Terry


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## badbird (Aug 15, 2005)

sometimes i wish i had property on farm or something i would have alot of pigeons, lol. for now i'll just have to stick with one or two for my apartment.

the bird, "smokey" is doing good. he is very vocal and if i hold him he is very fidgety, trying to get loose. a strong little bugger ( i held him to clean off his feathers...he had doo doo on the tail feathers)

he has not tried to take flight yet, but he will slap me with his wing when he is in the cage if i try to put my hand in there LOL. 

he seems overall healthy but doesn't want to take flight. he will hop around though and jumped out of the cage. he spread his wings to help him coast to the ground. the wings look fine.

maybe he had flown into something and is afraid?


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## badbird (Aug 15, 2005)

smokey is so cute right now...he's on top of the cage 'puffed up,' sleeping. everything is normal except for not flying. he would have been eaten by a cat because he was staying on the ground by my work so he is lucky i am here to help.

he is also lucky because it is going to rain for the next 2 days here and turn to snow and that can't be pleasant for pigeons. . .even though they are hearty.


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

Thanks so much for rescuing this needy bird.

Sometimes it can be cocci that keeps them from flying and puffed up and sleeping looking. I would definitely get the fecal done to etermine the disease.

Meanwhile do get the bird on human probiotics,Colloidal silver (drop down the throat), garlic, and ACV in the water. Those things alone can bring about a change until you can get a fecal..


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## Poulette (Feb 5, 2002)

Treesa, 
I have a bottle of Advanced colloidal minerals Copper, Gold and Silver. "A natural supplement composed of small particles of minerals in suspension in de-ionized water" (for humans). Is it as goog as Silver only for birds? Just in case one of my bird gets sick... Thanks!

Suz.


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## Maggie-NC (Jun 22, 2005)

Badbird, sure sounds like coccidiosis and, if it is, he'll need to be treated for it. Almost every rescue we've made when the bird couldn't fly (and there were no obvious injuries) it turned out to be coccidiosis. Worms can also cause this.

Maggie


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## feralpigeon (Feb 14, 2005)

Hi Badbird,

Sounds like you are being a pij magnet from your posts over time. If you have some extra money and are inclined to do so, you could place an order w/one of the pigeon supply houses and have a few meds on hand for the common ailments. As Maggie mentioned, coccidiosis and worms, and also, could have canker....did you check inside the pigeons mouth to see if there were any abnormalities there?

A link the the suppy house links:

http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/showthread.php?t=9455

Thanks for helping the pij out, and in the meantime while waiting for the vet's visit to roll around, the natural route will provide the bird w/relief for the time being. One tbls. in a gallon of water, especially the raw Apple Cidar Vinegar, although you can use the regular ACV if that's all you have on hand.

fp


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

Poulette said:


> Treesa,
> I have a bottle of Advanced colloidal minerals Copper, Gold and Silver. "A natural supplement composed of small particles of minerals in suspension in de-ionized water" (for humans). Is it as goog as Silver only for birds? Just in case one of my bird gets sick... Thanks!
> Suz.



Hi Suz,

You might check with the manufacturer and ask them if this product can be used on birds for rehab. I know that the colloidal silver is okay, the Sovereign Silver brand in particular, but not sure about the other minerals. Silver is a natural anti-infectant.

I have gotten several birds over the cocci with it, probiotics and garlic too.


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## badbird (Aug 15, 2005)

i will look into the 'silver' items. the vet at my....vet that specializes in birds is not in this week  i will try to locate a different vet.

meanwhile, today smokey ate a boatload of food. his poops look much more normal. they weren't the nicest looking at first but they look beautiful now if doody could look beautiful LOL. i think it is because he has fresh clean water with some vitamins, and has some dove/pigeon seed. he has had some peanuts too as a little treat. he can sort of fly now but not much.

i think he is still puzzled about how one minute he was begging for crumbs from a taxi driver then the next minute was huddled in a corner not feeling well and then whisked away to a warm cage with plenty of food, and water.


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## badbird (Aug 15, 2005)

on a side note,
also by my work i sometimes feed a mated pair of pigeons on my breaks and after work. they have come to expect me. they perch up high and they see me and they come down pacing around cooing. i throw them some seed from a baggie or if i am feeling generious i'll get some of those raw sunflower seeds from the nut store by my work and toss them some. today they had a smorgasbord (sp?) as my bag of sunflower seeds fell out of my bag and a mountain of them were on the ground. they must have thought it was thanksgiving.

today i saw the pair doing the beak bobbing thing/kissing, etc and then i saw them mating... i've never seen a femail bend down for the male like that. i have heard of it but never saw it in action LOL.


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## Birdbabe (Jan 24, 2006)

Thank you for helping the pidgie, please let us know how he is getting along


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## badbird (Aug 15, 2005)

btw one of the first things i checked was the mouth/throat. no signs of canker or any irregularities.


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## TerriB (Nov 16, 2003)

You are on the ball, badbird!


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

badbird said:


> today i saw the pair doing the beak bobbing thing/kissing, etc and then i saw them mating... i've never seen a femail bend down for the male like that. i have heard of it but never saw it in action LOL.



Well then, they will be laying eggs in another 5 to 10 days, so please continue to support them and feed them some varied grains, seeds and legumes, as they will be needing to feed youngsters in less then a month.

Thank you for feeding them and the flock, they really appreciate it.


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## feralpigeon (Feb 14, 2005)

Yup, Badbird, now that you gave them that extra food and they went into their
_food is pleniful so let's have babies mode,_you're gonna have to keep seeking them out and making sure they have enuf seeds  . It's all your fault you naughty BADBIRD....

fp


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

"Naughty BADBIRD" is right! You'd think from that other post that he's a voyeur!

Pidgey
(who NEVER watches)


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## badbird (Aug 15, 2005)

feralpigeon said:


> Yup, Badbird, now that you gave them that extra food and they went into their
> _food is pleniful so let's have babies mode,_you're gonna have to keep seeking them out and making sure they have enuf seeds  . It's all your fault you naughty BADBIRD....
> 
> fp



LOL!

i do feed them on occassion from seeds in my pocket and sunflower seeds or peanuts sometimes. they aren't dependant on me but they sure do look for me and get excited when they see me. i don't see any evidence of a nest where they roost at night. its an empty ledge lol.

the birds by my work appreciate my seeds i'm sure but even when i move to the different office the flock is in an area with lots of foot traffic from tourists, and business people. plus the taxi drivers throw things from their cabs when they are idling. that's about where i found 'smokey.' he had looked like he was munching on food earlier from a feeding someone gave out and then when all the other pigeons left he was puffed up against a wall, not moving.

smokey is doing better today, again. bit by bit he is getting better. he can fly a little now.


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## TerriB (Nov 16, 2003)

badbird said:


> ...smokey is doing better today, again. bit by bit he is getting better. he can fly a little now.


Excellent progress report - great job!


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## badbird (Aug 15, 2005)

i have some acv


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