# Help Please



## Msfreebird (Sep 23, 2007)

Came home from work and checked on my birds (as usual), One of my hens was on the floor of the loft with wings spread trying to get away from another bird that was walking all over her. (Everybody has been fine, no problems other than some aggresive cocks - but nothing major).
She can't seem to walk - she stretches her wings out to help her move along. I picked her up to check her over. Very alert, good weight, can't feel an egg (if I'm checking it right - I don't want to hurt her if it is an egg), small bald spot on the back of her head. I set her up in a small cage and brought her in the house. She ate some food and grit (pigeon grit w/calcium and minerals) and drank some water. Very alert and resting comfortably - looking around.
Any suggestions on what else to check, or do, or what might have happened? She's been fine, is it possible one of the cocks was too rough on her?


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

It sounds like maybe an egg issue. I believe that Pidgey has said there's a nerve that runs along their spine and sometimes the egg can pinch it and cause their legs not to work. That's not exactly how he would explain it, but......... 
Was/Is she mated? I expect the cock bird that was after her was picking on her simply because he could. I doubt anything he did has anything to do with her problem. 
I'm sure someone who REALLY knows what they're talking about will be along shortly. 
Bringing her in was the right thing to do. Do you have her on heat?


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

I need to leave for a few minutes but in the mean time, put a heating pad under her, set on low and I'll chek back in a few minutes. If you can track down Pigdey or Maggie in the mean time...


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## Msfreebird (Sep 23, 2007)

Lovebirds said:


> It sounds like maybe an egg issue. I believe that Pidgey has said there's a nerve that runs along their spine and sometimes the egg can pinch it and cause their legs not to work. That's not exactly how he would explain it, but.........
> Was/Is she mated? I expect the cock bird that was after her was picking on her simply because he could. I doubt anything he did has anything to do with her problem.
> I'm sure someone who REALLY knows what they're talking about will be along shortly.
> Bringing her in was the right thing to do. Do you have her on heat?


She could have been mated, I took out all the nesting boxes to slow them down but their laying eggs everywhere! (its a free for all right now because I have them all in 1 loft while a put a new floor in my other loft).
I went to get my heating pad and my cat chewed the cord!! So thats out! It's 82 degrees here right now, so its very warm in the house. I do have some lactated ringers bags that I could put in the microwave so she could sit on, but I don't want them under her when they cool during the night.


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## Reti (Jul 20, 2003)

Do you have an antiiflammatory like Metacam or baby Motrin? If she has no injuries my thought would be an egg issue. Has she laid an egg you haven't seen maybe?

Reti


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Msfreebird said:


> She could have been mated, I took out all the nesting boxes to slow them down but their laying eggs everywhere! (its a free for all right now because I have them all in 1 loft while a put a new floor in my other loft).
> I went to get my heating pad and my cat chewed the cord!! So thats out! It's 82 degrees here right now, so its very warm in the house. I do have some lactated ringers bags that I could put in the microwave so she could sit on, but I don't want them under her when they cool during the night.


Well, you could use them for a little while until bed time. You could also give her a couple of drops of olive oil. If it IS an egg, that would help pass it maybe, and if it's not, the olive oil wouldn't hurt her.


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## Msfreebird (Sep 23, 2007)

Reti said:


> Do you have an antiiflammatory like Metacam or baby Motrin? If she has no injuries my thought would be an egg issue. Has she laid an egg you haven't seen maybe?
> 
> Reti


I have every antibiotic in the house that you could think of - but wouldn't you know it, not one anti inflamitory! I'm heating the fluid bags to put under her for starters.
She is very calm and alert. A soft little grunt a couple of times when I patted her.


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

I'm back although you have been well taken care of. You also can heat rice in a sock and put that around her.
You need to put the nest boxes back in the coop. Removing them won't slow anyone down.Pigeons will lay anywhere. In your thread about Runts, I recommended buying some wooden eggs. Really, they need to complete their cycle. without hatching any babies. If they just keep laying eggs, it will deplete their systems of calcium which is not good.... t could have something to do with the current situation.


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## Msfreebird (Sep 23, 2007)

Charis said:


> I'm back although you have been well taken care of. You also can heat rice in a sock and put that around her.
> You need to put the nest boxes back in the coop. Removing them won't slow anyone down.Pigeons will lay anywhere. In your thread about Runts, I recommended buying some wooden eggs. Really, they need to complete their cycle. without hatching any babies. If they just keep laying eggs, it will deplete their systems of calcium which is not good.... t could have something to do with the current situation.


OK, I'll get wooden eggs right away, Foyes has them - right?
I have her sitting on the heated ringers bags. She could have layed an egg already - I don't know for sure. Anything else I can do? What am I watching for? I've never had this problem before. She's still eating food, grit and water, but not moving her butt off the heat bags. Had a very good poop for herself!


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## Msfreebird (Sep 23, 2007)

Lovebirds said:


> Well, you could use them for a little while until bed time. You could also give her a couple of drops of olive oil. If it IS an egg, that would help pass it maybe, and if it's not, the olive oil wouldn't hurt her.


I have mineral oil. Would that be ok to use? How much orally?


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

Msfreebird said:


> OK, I'll get wooden eggs right away, Foyes has them - right?
> I have her sitting on the heated ringers bags. She could have layed an egg already - I don't know for sure. Anything else I can do? What am I watching for? I've never had this problem before. She's still eating food, grit and water, but not moving her butt off the heat bags. Had a very good poop for herself!


Great about the poop. Sounds like she is much more comfortable. 
Buy more wooden eggs than you think you need.


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## kippermom (Jan 11, 2006)

I bought wooden "beads" at a craft store that the birds treat like eggs...and I drew a ring with a marker around the center circumference of each of the eggs (both Jedds and the craft store beads) so I could tell at a glance whether they were already on wooden ones or had laid new or other ones...I used to lose track and get oops babies. The bald head on this hen could be from an aggressive male but that is not the cause of the leg problem. Make sure she keeps eating and drinking, watch her weight, check her crop etc. Others will have better, more specific ideas about the leg problem.


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## Msfreebird (Sep 23, 2007)

kippermom said:


> I bought wooden "beads" at a craft store that the birds treat like eggs...and I drew a ring with a marker around the center circumference of each of the eggs (both Jedds and the craft store beads) so I could tell at a glance whether they were already on wooden ones or had laid new or other ones...I used to lose track and get oops babies. The bald head on this hen could be from an aggressive male but that is not the cause of the leg problem. Make sure she keeps eating and drinking, watch her weight, check her crop etc. Others will have better, more specific ideas about the leg problem.


Thats a great idea!, I can get those tomorrow. She's eating and drinking, crop is full. Very bright and alert but just sits there "like she's nesting". When I pick her up to check her she can kick and move her legs, she just has trouble walking - using her wings to help her along. Very small bald spot on the back of her head which tells me someones been after her. She is one of my smaller quieter hens. I gave her a couple drops of olive oil. She's resting and seems comfortable, So I hope she's ok in the morning. I'll check back in the morning and give an update. Thanks


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

Can you get Metacam tomorrow?


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## TerriB (Nov 16, 2003)

Sounds like you're doing a wonderful job supporting this little hen. If it's egg-paralysis (pressure on the nerve), she should recover with a few days of your good TLC.


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## Msfreebird (Sep 23, 2007)

Charis said:


> Can you get Metacam tomorrow?


Yes, we carry that at work.


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## Msfreebird (Sep 23, 2007)

TerriB said:


> Sounds like you're doing a wonderful job supporting this little hen. If it's egg-paralysis (pressure on the nerve), she should recover with a few days of your good TLC.


Thank you and I hope so


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

Msfreebird said:


> Yes, we carry that at work.


Maybe you could take her to work with you, get a weight and have the vet prescribe some for her. It's a good thing to have on hand anyway. The directions I have are...0.1 cc for each KG.


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## Msfreebird (Sep 23, 2007)

Charis said:


> Maybe you could take her to work with you, get a weight and have the vet prescribe some for her. It's a good thing to have on hand anyway. The directions I have are...0.1 cc for each KG.


I don't work tomorrow, have to take my mother to Portland (Maine) for her cancer check up. But I can swing in and pick some up. Now thats .10 per KG, NOT .01? Just making sure!


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

Msfreebird said:


> I don't work tomorrow, have to take my mother to Portland (Maine) for her cancer check up. But I can swing in and pick some up. Now thats .10 per KG, NOT .01? Just making sure!


The instructions I have are, 0.1 cc For each KG. It a very small amount. These are the instructions on the bottle.

Just to add, if she is doing great, no need to give her the Metacam.


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## Msfreebird (Sep 23, 2007)

Charis said:


> The instructions I have are, 0.1 cc For each KG. It a very small amount. These are the instructions on the bottle.
> 
> Just to add, if she is doing great, no need to give her the Metacam.


OK Thank you, I just peeked in on her and she's sleeping. I'll give update tomorrow.


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## Maggie-NC (Jun 22, 2005)

I sure hope this little girl is doing well this morning. It does sound like temporary leg paralysis and I think she was being pecked simply because she was down and not able to walk. Pigeons will do this to others - I think it is a automatic reaction when they think another pigeon is ill and don't want it to harm the flock.

I have used Metacam but don't have dosing info available since I usually get it on a bird by bird basis and the vet has already figured it out for me. I would check with the vet to see what they advise on the dosage amount because .1 and .01 does make a difference.


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## Msfreebird (Sep 23, 2007)

Lady Tarheel said:


> I sure hope this little girl is doing well this morning. It does sound like temporary leg paralysis and I think she was being pecked simply because she was down and not able to walk. Pigeons will do this to others - I think it is a automatic reaction when they think another pigeon is ill and don't want it to harm the flock.
> 
> I have used Metacam but don't have dosing info available since I usually get it on a bird by bird basis and the vet has already figured it out for me. I would check with the vet to see what they advise on the dosage amount because .1 and .01 does make a difference.


Sorry I didn't get back sooner, I was away for the day.
I know, thats why I double checked on the dose. Still no change with her. She's just sitting (looks like nesting) looking around. Very alert, eating and drinking. But still having trouble walking. Seems at times like its one leg more than the other. I took her into the bathroom to watch her walk. Its kinda like a limp, she takes a couple steps then sits down. She can fly though! - she tried to get away from me and flew up on top of the shelf - and sat down. If this is an egg paralysis, will she pass it? She doesn't seem uncomfortable at all.


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## Msfreebird (Sep 23, 2007)

Charis said:


> I'm back although you have been well taken care of. You also can heat rice in a sock and put that around her.
> You need to put the nest boxes back in the coop. Removing them won't slow anyone down.Pigeons will lay anywhere. In your thread about Runts, I recommended buying some wooden eggs. Really, they need to complete their cycle. without hatching any babies. If they just keep laying eggs, it will deplete their systems of calcium which is not good.... t could have something to do with the current situation.


I found wooden eggs at the craft store ("Michaels") today! They had small, medium, chicken and goose eggs!!


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

Congratulations on you wooden egg purchase! Hopfully you won't have as many new additions now. 
Could she have laid an egg in the coop and you didn't see it ?
Did you happen to pick up a heating pad?


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## Msfreebird (Sep 23, 2007)

Charis said:


> Congratulations on you wooden egg purchase! Hopfully you won't have as many new additions now.
> Could she have laid an egg in the coop and you didn't see it ?
> Did you happen to pick up a heating pad?


She could have laid an egg in the loft, I don't know. There was a couple of new ones on the floor, but no one was around them. I usually let them sit on them for about a week or so, then I take them out. Some hens have 3 eggs some have 1, they steal each others eggs.
No, I forgot the heating pad, but I still have her on the heated ringers bags. She gets on and off of it, shifting position.


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

Could be she has already laid one or two already. MY EXPERIENCE is that when they lay too often, that nerve we've been talking about becomes painful and they can't or don't walk Since you got the wooden eggs, you will be able to put the nest boxes back and they can do their nesting thing and hopefully this won't happen again. Don't remember...are you giving them oyster shell?


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## Msfreebird (Sep 23, 2007)

Charis said:


> Could be she has already laid one or two already. MY EXPERIENCE is that when they lay too often, that nerve we've been talking about becomes painful and they can't or don't walk Since you got the wooden eggs, you will be able to put the nest boxes back and they can do their nesting thing and hopefully this won't happen again. Don't remember...are you giving them oyster shell?


She is not quite a year old yet. She was born last summer.
They get pigeon grit w/vitamins and minerals, and oyster shell.


I just gave her some whole wheat bread (they like that as a treat) and she gobbled it all up.


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

Msfreebird said:


> She is not quite a year old yet. She was born last summer.
> They get pigeon grit w/vitamins and minerals, and oyster shell.
> 
> 
> I just gave her some whole wheat bread (they like that as a treat) and she gobbled it all up.


Mine enjoy minced carrots, minced broccoli, greens and defrosted corn and peas...sprouts too. 
I'm glad you gave her a treat.


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## Msfreebird (Sep 23, 2007)

Charis said:


> Mine enjoy minced carrots, minced broccoli, greens and defrosted corn and peas...sprouts too.
> I'm glad you gave her a treat.


I know she's young. I don't recall her laying any eggs before. Will she be able to walk again? What else can I do for her?


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

Yes she should be able to walk again. Give her some oyster shell, keep her warm and give her some of the Metacam. That's what I would do.


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## Msfreebird (Sep 23, 2007)

Charis said:


> Yes she should be able to walk again. Give her some oyster shell, keep her warm and give her some of the Metacam. That's what I would do.


ok, she'll be pampered


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

Msfreebird said:


> ok, she'll be pampered


 ... ... ...


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