# Help for injured pigeon



## mat6-26 (Jul 12, 2021)

This is my 2nd post in a day, Ive got 2 different situations with pigeons I found.

For this one, its a feral who has a twisted neck. I think poison, possibly, more than pmv bc the poop doesnt look like the snake in water droppings of pmv; also due to my lack of space to help them shes been around others who have not gotten sick, also there are suspicions of poisoning right now in neighborhood. And I gave her charcoal first couple days, it revived her, which supports poison. Shes not sick acting anymore, just neuro issues lingering.

My problem is she cant fly or walk well without bumping things, and when she does, she reopens a wing edhe wound that came from probably bumping into things. 

I have her in a soft carrier so she cant bump anything and do more damage. She is miserable in this carrier. She is sweet and wants to be held, I cant do it all day. I have a family, responsibilities and husband is not thrilled to say the least of my time and resources in pigeons right now. No way he will be ok with cost for a vet.

I called the only rescue I know of in Las Vegas, they say no bc is pmv if a twisted neck we cant take her. Despite what I told them that indicates poison and other than neck, which can be a number of things, there arent other pmv signs. But I get it, theyve got prob hundred or more there. I just need elp right now and I cant leave her in a carrier.

What I have is not a sick pigeon anymore, whatever it was, its a pigeon with lingering neuro damage that needs to be rehabilitated by someone who is able to, now that shes over the sick part tho there wasnt much sickness. Im also taking care of one that has pretty significant wounds all around her thigh and part of her body and is in terrible pain, that I posted about earlier. Not to mentions 3 others that had the poisoning or whatever and some neuro issues but are getting better. I need help. 
Is there anyone here in Las Vegas or know anyone here that would take in a sweet pigeon that needs attention and rehabilitation? Does anyone have ideas as to what I could do for her? Say a prayer if you will for little Spirit the spirited pigeon who wants to live and is full of life and energy 😢 just needs neuro miracle or rehab. In tears. Thanks

Im not on mainstream social media but will post on reddit pigeon too. going to take pics to attach


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## mat6-26 (Jul 12, 2021)

Also she knocks over food bowls and water, so I leave it scattered and hold her to water bowl periodically. I give her vitamin drops too. She really needs someone who wants a sweet bird to love and hold and nurture, she reminds me of having a preemie baby that needs to be worn kangaroo care often--not sick anymore but needs lots of attention. When shes wrapped like a swaddle and held she calms down, when I put her next to another pigeon, a healthy flock one that is very nurturing, Spirit leaned her head on her and went to sleep. Spirit is so sweet.


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## Doves Witness (Apr 23, 2016)

How long have you had this bird, and how long has the bird been unable to stand upright?


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## mat6-26 (Jul 12, 2021)

Doves Witness said:


> How long have you had this bird, and how long has the bird been unable to stand upright?


Had it about 8 days, was a part of the feral flock I take care of, have seen this one fairly regularly then one day showed up in that condition. She wasnt really too sick acting as far as lethargic or weak, but did have the neck twisting so I gave charcoal bc its worked for other ones that have showed up like this. Most of them recovered after charcoal and supportive care. 
So the whole time Ive had it theres been the star gazing neck twist tho at times she has had head upright. Ive had her in a soft carrier bag bc when I did put her in larger enclosure, her fits which cause her to spin and flip, caused blunt force injury to wing edge and she started bleeding. So Ive kept in soft carrier to reduce risk of harm, however, having said that, I notice she also looks more anxious like she is going crazy in carrier--which I am beginning to think is triggering fits. When I hold her very close, she relaxes and will stay fairly relaxed until I move her or adjust her. 

I also tried a sock style with feet cut out, but she got it off. She is tenacious and energetic. Also she eats, drinks which I hold her to bowl. So Im going to make a sling wrap that fits her more snug and doesnt stretch, and has smaller feet openings so she cant get out of it and try the suspension, but with feet touching. I need a solution that she can be in and not go crazy, get the boundaries feel she needs to stay calm, but doesnt require me to hold her the whole time. There is no way I can give this round the clock attention. 

The rescue I contacted told me to have her euthanized, as theres no hope and Im selfish basically for putting her thru torture by keeping her alive. And sorry but Ive had lethargic, weak pigeons here that you can tell are not well and this one has a will to live and lots of energy. I cant agree with that rescue seeing what a fighter this one is.


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

Moving her to a new enclosure is probably very stressful for her and causing the fits. Is the padded carrier small enough to put in the large enclosure? If so, try this and let her come out into the large enclosure by herself when she feels more relaxed.

Pity you are not on FB. The Palomacy Help group is an excellent group with plenty of members based in the USA.


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## Doves Witness (Apr 23, 2016)

mat6-26 said:


> Had it about 8 days


That bird has _*exactly*_ the symptoms of paramyxovirus.

Symptoms of paramyxovirus (or any of the other bacterial infections which can produce similar symptoms) can last for weeks and even up to a couple of months, but the birds can survive with supportive care. Three feedings per day, totaling about 1.5 to 2 ounces of nutritious food along with sufficient moisture.

Line the cage/carrier with paper towels for easier cleaning. Don't leave a dish of water with the bird that has more than a 1/4" depth of water. If water is provided during feedings, then a water dish isn't even necessary at all. The bird needs safety, rest, and good nutrition for a limited period of time -- and care doesn't require much time per day. Recovered birds have _*normal*_ behavior.

The photos you posted of your bird in the carrier show lots of urates spread-out. That along with the bird's behavior are positive indications of paramyxovirus.

PMV is known as one cause of polyuria -- wet droppings. The amount of fecal matter in the droppings varies with the amount of food the bird consumes, but the droppings are consistently wet from too much fluid which often results in the urates being spread-out.




  





^ "a" shows a dropping with urates spread-out due to too much fluid, which is characteristic of active paramyxovirus infection.





  





^ All of those birds are suffering from paramyxovirus. Their droppings are very wet with urates spread-out much more than normal.






  





^ That dropping is overly wet, but lacks the characteristic abundance of urates spread around. That is not a paramyxovirus dropping, but rather it is a stress dropping (released too early due to fear / stress but it is not a symptom of any specific disease.)










^ Your bird has the physical symptoms of paramyxovirus, and the urates spread around the carrier are also a symptom of paramyxovirus.






  





Two birds suffering from NDV (Newcastle Disease Virus) which is one type of paramyxovirus. Note the urates everywhere (white in the photo on the left, off-white/yellow-ish in the photo on the right. )​


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## mat6-26 (Jul 12, 2021)

Thank you, I really appreciate this specific informative reply. When you say recovered birds have normal behavior--so they look like this then it all goes away? So just keep her in the carrier with food, give her water and vitamins and expectation is good for recovery?


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## Doves Witness (Apr 23, 2016)

mat6-26 said:


> When you say recovered birds have normal behavior--so they look like this then it all goes away?


Yes, and it's an amazing change when they recover. While they are ill they seem very tame, but once they recover they act like normal feral pigeons -- afraid of humans, even the one that has been caring for them for weeks or months. Feed the bird nutritious seeds, a bit of chopped veggies like carrots/ginger root/garlic, and give either lemon juice or raw apple cider vinegar in the drinking water every-other-day (with plain water on the days in between) to help control secondary bacterial infections while the immune system is already under strain from the paramyxovirus. Probiotics or a bit of yogurt with "live cultures" mixed in with the food would also be good.


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

mat6-26 said:


> Thank you, I really appreciate this specific informative reply. When you say recovered birds have normal behavior--so they look like this then it all goes away? So just keep her in the carrier with food, give her water and vitamins and expectation is good for recovery?


Do you leave seeds in a deep bowl for her? If seeds are lying around, she will be unable to pick them up. That's how they starve in nature.

Some take longer than others to recover. The first one I got, took months before able to fly again. Then one of my couples both got the virus. After 6 weeks the male was completely fine, but the female took longer before the neurological symptoms disappeared.


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## mat6-26 (Jul 12, 2021)

Marina B said:


> Do you leave seeds in a deep bowl for her? If seeds are lying around, she will be unable to pick them up. That's how they starve in nature.
> 
> Some take longer than others to recover. The first one I got, took months before able to fly again. Then one of my couples both got the virus. After 6 weeks the male was completely fine, but the female took longer before the neurological symptoms disappeared.


I did have the seeds in bowl but she would bump into it when she had fits so I removed everything that she could bump. But I will put it back. Her droppings look like shes eating but I will try bowl again. She did have a few really good hours today where she was standing upright with her head upright/neck straight.


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## mat6-26 (Jul 12, 2021)

Doves Witness said:


> Yes, and it's an amazing change when they recover. While they are ill they seem very tame, but once they recover they act like normal feral pigeons -- afraid of humans, even the one that has been caring for them for weeks or months. Feed the bird nutritious seeds, a bit of chopped veggies like carrots/ginger root/garlic, and give either lemon juice or raw apple cider vinegar in the drinking water every-other-day (with plain water on the days in between) to help control secondary bacterial infections while the immune system is already under strain from the paramyxovirus. Probiotics or a bit of yogurt with "live cultures" mixed in with the food would also be good.


I hope so, and shes got a feisty will to thrive, also she acts pretty wild, tho likes when I hold her close, other than that when I open bag she starts grunting at me and when I grab her she starts a fit. She did have a few good hours today tho, where she was upright for awhile, looked normal for awhile. Hopefully this is a good sign.
I will try some pure yogurt, also how much on the ACV in water? I will give these to the other one Im taking care of too that had injury is taking amox.


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## mat6-26 (Jul 12, 2021)

mat6-26 said:


> I hope so, and shes got a feisty will to thrive, also she acts pretty wild, tho likes when I hold her close, other than that when I open bag she starts grunting at me and when I grab her she starts a fit. She did have a few good hours today tho, where she was upright for awhile, looked normal for awhile. Hopefully this is a good sign.
> I will try some pure yogurt, also how much on the ACV in water? I will give these to the other one Im taking care of too that had injury is taking amox.


Standing upright right now. Even if she goes back into star gaze, does this indicate improvement? She didnt do this much yesterday, but is for limited time today.


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## Doves Witness (Apr 23, 2016)

In that last picture the bird looks much better. The dropping on the paper towel looks normal too.

For raw apple cider vinegar / ACV: 1 teaspoon per quart / liter of water, which is the same ratio as 1/4 teaspoon per cup.


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

mat6-26 said:


> Standing upright right now. Even if she goes back into star gaze, does this indicate improvement? She didnt do this much yesterday, but is for limited time today.
> View attachment 101901


She is probably feeling more secure, that's why you see improvement. The neurological issues of my first PMV pigeon was at it's worse by week 6. After that week, she kept on improving.


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## mat6-26 (Jul 12, 2021)

Doves Witness said:


> In that last picture the bird looks much better. The dropping on the paper towel looks normal too.
> 
> For raw apple cider vinegar / ACV: 1 teaspoon per quart / liter of water, which is the same ratio as 1/4 teaspoon per cup.


Thats very good to hear that the dropping looks good. And I gave some ACV today. She still has moments of standing upright then back to twisted. She is super energetic. 
Also she grunts so much when I come near, her, and the other one I posted about thats injured, both grunt before I pick them up, alot. I guess its bc they are not very happy, probably scared? The grunts sound kind of annoyed like please just leave me alone right now.


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## Doves Witness (Apr 23, 2016)

The grunt sound is a warning, sort-of like telling you not to come too close. If you pause even for just a moment and make reassuring sounds before proceeding, the birds are less likely to panic.


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## mat6-26 (Jul 12, 2021)

The beautiful feral, Spirit, that had the twisted neck is better. I moved her from the cloth carrier to an outdoor basement window well with a few others that like to hang out there. I leave the top mostly off for any feral bird that would want to come and have shelter, food, shade whatever. I feed them from here now (something I will post about, Im having problem with neighbors) Anyway, Spirt hung out with any others in there, as soon as I put her in she looked better, seemed to be emulating the others. Soon after another twisted neck joined, but less severe. We called her Twister and them the twisted sisters lol they were so cute and hung out together. 

Long story short, Twister wasnt as affected as Spirit and about 2 weeks ago, right before we left for a family 2 day bird watching trip, Twister straightened up and flew out! She came back n forth still but was normal and flying free. Spirit looked sad like she missed her buddy. Anyway, got home, checked the birds in well and it wasnt until later it dawned n me, Spirit is walking around normal! So whatever happened in the 2 days, idk--but she was looking normal and few days ago she was watching the open top and I said she wants to go. Im not going to stop her if she can helicopter hover to get out she can. Esp since many of her tail feathers are gone from the fits rubbing her body. 

Later that day, Spirit was gone! She flew out. Since then shes come back so I know shes fine. I am so proud of Spirit and how she lives up to her name. Both her and Josie (the one with wounds likely predator attack survivor) did well. it was not easy to have both with these issues at once, Im not a rescue just someone who loves birds and its a conviction by faith in God that we are to take care of them. Im so grateful to @Marina B and @Doves Witness for always responding to posts to offer advice. Thank you and if anyone reads this, it was about one pigeon with suspected pmv, or poisoning but likely pmv; and a likely falcon or hawk survivor that Im referring to. Both survived and did amazing. So believe me there is so much hope if youre willing to care for them and this is a good place to come for advice.


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