# Pigeon is exhausted



## AprilS (Nov 15, 2015)

I "rescued" a racing pigeon- she/he has an AU band but despite lots of searches could not find the owner so she became our house pigeon. She does not have a cage as I could not do that to her. 

I have had her for 4 months and she sleeps on her bed next to me. I have always allowed her to sun in the yard and she will go out for an hour or two and always comes back in the house. Two days ago something spooked her - we have a large crow family near by-- perhaps? She flew away. We also have many hawks. 

After being gone for just over 24 hours she flew home and walked into the house. She was exhausted. She ate a lot not much drinking though.... She has been sleeping most of the time! Her poop looks normal. She was even a little unsteady on her legs ..... she flew straight to me though.... 

Is this normal for her to be so tired? She weighs 465 grams.... she lost a bit of weight... I have never seen her sleep so much. Should she see a vet? Is there something I should do to help her? It has just been 24 hours now since she has been home. I note that racing pigeons should have a special diet after flying a long time... Is there something I should watch for? 

Thank you, 
She is a lovely bird and I can't imagine what she might have gone through....


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## GrizzleMan (Jan 17, 2013)

Really hard to say whats wrong with it. I don't even want to guess it could be a number of things,,,,,


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## Alamo (Nov 22, 2008)

What are you feeding her ?? If you want to get some weight on her,get some RAW/UNsalted nuts,and give her a few everyday...She will gain weight....Alamo


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

*Thank you for rescuing this pigeon.

If she has been gone for 24 hours, of course she would be tired, hungry and exhausted.

If you cannot imagine life without her, then do not let her outside to fly, it is dangerous for a lone pigeon-she is a sitting duck for a predator attack, it is just a matter of time. Pigeons fly in flocks, they are safer in numbers. We have had many sad stories around here that do not end well....just a matter of time.

Keep her as a pet indoors and let her fly around in a safe enclosed place. You won't regret it.*


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## Scottsdaleaz (Aug 30, 2014)

You are awesome for rescuing her. We created an aviary for our racing pigeon (we were able to track down owner but he didn't want him). We got him a mate and they live with an other "couple" in our outdoor aviary.


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## AprilS (Nov 15, 2015)

She started coming around late yesterday. She was so good at sitting in the sun and not flying off but I will have to set up a system for her - 

I am not sure how much she should weigh- She was 465 grams I noticed she dropped to 450 she is a large bird --- her wing span is about 30 inches ... I can feel her keel and always have been able to she has muscle though. I put vitamins in her food along with some probiotics and electrolytes. She scared me as I had not seen a bird sleep so much. She is more active today. 

I feed her a combo of pellets and organic seeds and she likes fresh greens ( that are still growing!). The pellets are from organic seed combos with added vitamins - my Tiels hate them but she will eat it. I use bottled water as I heard they have issues with the chlorinated water? 

She is bigger than many of the crows around here - yet we do have Hawks nearby- I will make an extension off the house for her to get sun safely. Thank you for responding... I was just so glad that she flew back home.


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Hmm... how about a picture? That's awful big... 

(not the weight--the wingspan)

Pidgey


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## AprilS (Nov 15, 2015)

*My Big Bird?*

















The matt is on a three story cat condo that she loves. The disc that she is standing on is over 8 inches wide.... not sure if that helps. 

I put a pic of her on my head on the general area. I think for being her size she is underweight. 

(is there a way to make the pics go straight up and down?)


April


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## Rod Hultquist (Aug 23, 2009)

The average weight of a homing pigeon is near 16 oz. (454 grams).


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## AprilS (Nov 15, 2015)

*Maybe a combo pigeon?*

This pigeon seems larger than most I see in the wild and I noticed that king pigeons weight an average of 570. Perhaps this pigeon had a short race life due to her size.? 

When trying to figure out how much weight she might have lost and what to do I read an article by UC Davis: Unlimited food vs planned feelings and all their birds averaged around 600 grams....

I read that racing pigeons are kept somewhat slighter than their contemporaries and this bird has a sharp keel at 450-460. 

I have no idea how heavy the giant runts weigh or other large pigeons. I see petite fast looking pigeons often. This bird is not that . 

I have tiels that range from 70 - 120 grams and they are all healthy for their body stature- I was hoping there was a measurement chart for body stature for pigeons. (Even the pigeon pants folks have 4 sizes for varieties of pigeons and use stature measurements). I will just go by her keel.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Doesn't matter. If fed a good diet, it will put on the weight it needs.
By the picture, it's a homer.


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Definitely a homer...

They're not usually "tired", no. We've probably got something else going on like an infection or infestation. Many racers regularly dose their whole loft with medications and, thus, their birds are a wee bit to the "immuno-naive" side. That means they might not tolerate the standard diseases that they might encounter that everything else has learned to battle off on a constant basis. Might have a look down the throat to see if everything's a nice color and then start describing the poops.

And where, basically, are you? We sometimes have resources available for stuff like that.

Pidgey


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## c.hert (Jan 15, 2010)

After a long flying session they can be tired and it might have been "exciting" with other factors predators etc etc. When you keep pigeons in the house they get on their time table and usually they sleep or rest all afternoon----unless they have flying activity outside with other birdies but they rest then get energy around 4 Pm to eat and drink and go to bed after getting sun on their wings. This pigeon looks healthy to me and its large but not too large for a "flying pigeon mature"...It's a pretty birdie with multi colored white patches and other markings as well---but pretty....lol If you want to keep this pigeon as a pet bird I would not leave it "flying free" out side because you will regret this down the road. A wild pigeon one can release because they know the "game plan" out there and stay in groups and other wildlife and go by their signs to know that something is around. This pigeon is a sitting duck...Yes you can rotate pictures but you need to inquire about your picture taking equipment with your camera I guess--but you can rotate them right and this would be good for the picture is good but aggravating..lol lol...Thanks for caring for the pigeon and saving its life. Where are you posting from? What age is she--?...She could have taken off for her first loft and found no one there (maybe release because of death or sickness by family) and then came back to your area to get food and water...Just a suggestion..She looks very mature---How old is she?.....


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## AprilS (Nov 15, 2015)

*Thank you for responding*

The leg band says 2014. So about two years old. I live in San Clemente California at the south end near lots of open land as there is a state park and the military base and lots of hawks. I noticed a flock of pigeons that hang out at the state park... They sure seem sassy! They are more slender and have the grey and stripes on their wings and they are fast. I so hate caging birds and my pigeon sleeps on her condo or my bed post. She chases my cockatiels all day long... She lands on the chandeliers so I had to make a platform so the glass would not come crashing down. She was found by friends who said she came each day to hide in their patio and then would find some place to sleep at night - she did this for a week... So they asked me to help. I could not find her owner - this was last Oct/Nov and there was a large race going on in San Diego- I assumed she was involved and contacted the committee chairman and he said he could not find the owner either .... Neither could the AU folks. So I have her now. 

She walked outside for about 5 min the other day and came back in- I will make a passage to a safe outdoor place for her so she gets sun and air. I know very little about racing or homing do they put homing birds in races? Do they keep them in flocks and then just let them come and go?


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