# Feral pigeon tipping forward, unable to stand



## dolcebluesea (Jul 29, 2018)

Good morning. First time handling pigeons and new to this forum - what an amazing and supportive community you have!

Three days ago a neighbor saw this pigeon on her front porch unable to stand or fly and just kept tipping over. Her dog then attacked it. She then brought him to me as she didn't know what to do with him (I don't know either, but I'm learning!).

He was alert but wouldn't move and just sat in my hand. I set up an old bird cage that we used for our chickens when they were little. Gave him water via syringe and let him rest that night.

The next morning I gave him bird seed which he ate voraciously. I tried cleaning him up (vent was covered in poo). I first thought his tail was broken, but it turns out that his tail feathers were falling out one by one. The ones that first came out were mustard yellow at the base. He also had bright green poo on his feathers. When he was cleaned up, I could see that there were new feathers trying to grow in.

Over the last three days he's gotten much stronger. The first night his legs were just limp and he's since able to move them some and lightly grip my finger. He also moves around his cage a little bit to go from his towel doughnut (like a pregnancy pillow so he can sit upright) to his food. Sometimes he'll be flat on his back, legs straight up in the air and then you can flip him over, get him settled, and he'll be fine.

I'm feeding him wild bird seed (he picks out all the sunflower seeds first), ground up chicken egg shell (thought he could use the calcium) and chick grit. I put some plain greek yogurt in there as well as squash but he hasn't wanted any. Thanks to this forum, his water has a pinch of sugar and salt.

I opened his mouth and couldn't see any yellow or white pus as I thought it might be canker (There was a post on here back in 2008 that reads nearly identical to our situation). The other concern was PMV with the bright green poo and limp legs but he's not showing any crooked neck symptoms. Other posts have talked about an infection causing swelling in the kidneys impinging the siatic nerve, but I don't know which.

His poops look great now (firm and dark colored with white on top - there's no more bright green or yellow anywhere) but I'm concerned he's not drinking enough. He's still eating well and getting stronger but I don't know if he needs meds nor which ones. We have erythamacin (sp?) from when we had a beta and I've read that it can be used with birds but I don't want to give him something he doesn't need.

As best I can tell, he's comfortable and getting better. He's still tipping forward and/or rolling over. It's like he just can't get his legs directly under himself and they splay out in front.

My other concern is that if he has an infection that it doesn't spread to my chickens. 

I'm in South Mississippi (39520). I called and left a message for a wildlife rehab place with their bird person but I think they care more for raptors & pelicans and haven't heard back. I'm happy to continue to care for Oliver as long as it take but just want to make sure I'm doing right by him. Thanks, in advance, for your help!


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## dolcebluesea (Jul 29, 2018)

*Pictures of Oliver*

Pics showing his legs out in front, feathers that fell out the first day (with yellow base), and current poops.


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

Thank you for helping him! Hopefully someone more expert than me will answer soon.


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

His droppings look good. The bright green droppings must have been starvation droppings from not eating. He will benefit from vitamins, try to get some that you can add to his drinking water. Also calcium with added Vit D3.


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## dolcebluesea (Jul 29, 2018)

Thanks, Marina and cwebster! 

Would Nutri-Drench Poultry be okay? I'm not sure what vitamins he would need, but the label on the Nutri-Drench reads:

Guaranteed Analysis: Lysine (min) - 0.2%, Methionine (min) - 0.05%, Calcium (min) - 0.4%, Calcium (max) - 0.7%, Vitamin A (min) - 22,400 IU/ fl oz, Vitamin D-3 (min) - 5,610 IU/ fl oz, Vitamin E (min) - 90 IU/ fl oz.

Ingredients: propylene glycol, molasses products, calcium carbonate, choline chloride, DL-Methionine, l-lysine, Vitamin E supplement, Vitamin A supplement, Vitamin D-3 supplement, thiamine mononitrate, niacin, zinc sulfate, ethylenediamine dihydroiodine, magnesium sulfate, manganese sulfate, iron sulfate, copper sulfate, sodium selenite, cobalt sulfate.


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

I'm not familiar with the product, but guess it won't be harmfull and she will benefit from that. A bit of exposure to sunlight will also help, in a cage for protection under your supervision. Half an hour a day will be enough.


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## dolcebluesea (Jul 29, 2018)

Marina - thanks again. I'll pick some up after work.

He's actually living in a cage on a table on our front porch. We're in South Mississippi, so it's warmer outside than in the house. I have a big fern on top of the cage so he gets filtered light in the afternoon.

He seems to be getting better each day. This morning he moved off his towel doughnut and made it over to the food bowl and ate on his own. I still haven't seen him drink on his own but he's getting a tiny bit from the syringe.

It's heartbreaking to see him flipped over, feet in the air or face-planted with his tail up, but once he's righted, he seems a-ok. fingers crossed.


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

I hope he makes a speedy recovery. Just be careful when you give water by syringe, they can easily aspirate. Rather put him on your lap with his waterbowl and dip the tip of his beak (not over the nostrils) in the waterbowl to get him to drink. I'm sure he must be drinking anyway, keep the waterbowl next to his foodbowl so he does not need to move much to get to it.


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