# Pigeon can't walk. What do I do?



## Avalona Birdy (Apr 12, 2006)

My roller pigeon used to walk around just fine, but then somehow he went downhill...one of his legs doesn't seem to want to work, and he has started to keep the other stretched out in front of him to drag himself around. He flops and drags to get where he is going now, but there is no obvious problem....he hasn't been cut, there is no blood, no broken leg.....is there anything I can do to fix it, or should I just baby him for the rest of his life? I mean, I can do that just fine. I have done it for doves and quail before, but I would really rather fix it if I can.


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## feralpigeon (Feb 14, 2005)

Avalona Birdy said:


> My roller pigeon used to walk around just fine, but then somehow he went downhill...one of his legs doesn't seem to want to work, and he has started to keep the other stretched out in front of him to drag himself around. He flops and drags to get where he is going now, but there is no obvious problem....he hasn't been cut, there is no blood, no broken leg.....is there anything I can do to fix it, or should I just baby him for the rest of his life? I mean, I can do that just fine. I have done it for doves and quail before, but I would really rather fix it if I can.



Avalona Birdy,

Tell us more, like where in general are you located? 

How long has your roller presented w/these symptoms and did they develop
over days or was the onset sudden?

Do you notice anything wrong w/the foot on the same leg that is having problems? Please give a thorough hands on.....

Do you notice any difference in the knee joint from the good leg to problem leg?

Have the poops also changed during this time frame?

If you haven't already isolated this bird, you really should select to do so.
You will be better able to observe in this mode and if disease related it will
help to control the spread of an unwanted illness.

Any additional info will help folks to help you.

fp


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## Avalona Birdy (Apr 12, 2006)

okay..I am in North Texas.....

1. There are no growths, discoloration, or missing pieces on either leg or foot.
2. All the joints are in working order. There is no resistance.
3. It came on rather suddenly, he started stumbling when he would step on that one leg, and then a day or two later he resorted to dragging and wing-flapping instead.
4. There is no blood
5. He has no other symptoms. (no bleary eye, no loss of appetite, no mucky feathers)
6. He has not been picked on repeatedly, or beaten.
7.He has no history of stumbling or lameness.
8. If I try to get him to perch, he won't grasp with one foot, and the other he thrusts forward as though he is going to walk. He seems to have adopted this posture...
9. He has had it for about a week or two now, and I couldn't really get any advice then because my computer had died and I couldn't afford to go to the vet.
10. Poops have NOT changed. No symptoms other than that lameness. 


He simply can't seem to control one leg, and the other is taking a beating because it is carrying all his weight and I am afraid it might be stuck that way.


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## Reti (Jul 20, 2003)

I would have him rest for now, until get an idea of what could be wrong with him. Add some vitamin B and calcium to his diet.
The causes of leg lameness are quite a few, fractures/dislocations/sprains, nutritional deficiencies, spinal nerve injury, abdominal masses etc.
Really hard to say what your birdie might have.
You can provide warmth too and see how he does.

Reti


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## Avalona Birdy (Apr 12, 2006)

He is eating the exact same thing that all the others eat.....maybe it's sprained. That wouldn't cause bleeding or anything......but he is only going to make it worse like this. I'll put him near a heat lamp. He rests as much as he wants unless he is hungry, in which case he pulls himself to the dish. Maybe if I put everything he could need within neck's distance, then he will improve a bit?


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## Reti (Jul 20, 2003)

It also could be a dislocation, and that won't heal on it's own.
Have you tried to compare the two legs, from the hip joint.

Reti


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## Avalona Birdy (Apr 12, 2006)

I tried, but I can't find anything different. I may just not be experienced enough, though. o.o Could it just be some kind of weakness in the legs? Is there a list that I can look at that has all kinds of different pigeon ailments?


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## Guest (Mar 8, 2007)

Rollers sometimes hit the ground. Is it possible that this one did and that there could be spinal damage?


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Another possibility is Paratyphoid or a Paratyphoid-like condition. They can get Salmonella, E. coli and a few other things that can get in the bloodstream and end up landing in a joint where they can cause arthritic conditions. It may be that the leg works but it's too painful to move or use. We see that from time to time, more often in wing joints but it occasionally happens to legs. Do you have any Baytril that you can put the bird on for a few weeks and keep it isolated from the rest of the loft? I had one once that had gone lame in one leg and I kept him on a towel and gave him Baytril for about two weeks before he started feeling better enough to start using the leg just a little bit. And over the following week (I kept treating him) he got better and better to the point of being completely back to normal.

Pidgey


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## feralpigeon (Feb 14, 2005)

Pidgey said:


> Another possibility is Paratyphoid or a Paratyphoid-like condition. They can get Salmonella, E. coli and a few other things that can get in the bloodstream and end up landing in a joint where they can cause arthritic conditions. It may be that the leg works but it's too painful to move or use. We see that from time to time, more often in wing joints but it occasionally happens to legs. Do you have any Baytril that you can put the bird on for a few weeks and keep it isolated from the rest of the loft? I had one once that had gone lame in one leg and I kept him on a towel and gave him Baytril for about two weeks before he started feeling better enough to start using the leg just a little bit. And over the following week (I kept treating him) he got better and better to the point of being completely back to normal.
> 
> Pidgey


Pidgey, I originally asked Avalon Birdy about droppings and the onset of the
symptoms. The onset appears to be sudden, and there was no difference
noted in the joints from one leg to another.

I was hoping for something more definitive than described here.


Avalon is there a local rehabber or avian vet that you could bring this 
bird to?

fp


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Yeah, I know. And I wish that particular disease family would announce itself with more certainty. The bird that I had that seemed to suffer from it in the leg was limping and hopping around for days with no other discernible symptoms until I got him and felt the leg. It didn't swell much (certainly not like a Paratyphoid boil on the wing) and I continually compared it to the other leg and was surprised how little swelling there was. It was the joint of the tibiotarsus to the tarsometatarsus, what some call the "hock joint". The bird seemed to respond to the therapy.

I know what you asked and I read how Avalona Birdy responded:

"2. All the joints are in working order. There is no resistance."

In the bird that I'm talking about, I could have said the exact same words and would have been correct--in flexing the joint and leg, there didn't appear to be any problem. The other things that Avalona Birdy said referred to there being "no growths". I could have said the same thing about my patient's leg.

So, what I was doing was trying to give Avalona Birdy a little more description and find out what, if any, medications they have just in case.

Avalona Birdy, why don't you feel the leg joints and compare them to see if there's any slightly mushy feeling on the joints of the bad one. The good one should definitely feel like a thin layer of skin over bone for the most part. It might not be easy to tell if the other one is swollen because it might be surprisingly little. 

I also had a bird that probably developed Salmonellosis from vertical transmission because he was affected from the egg. We pulled him through childhood the hard way. The vet finally determined that his tendency to stick the one leg out (kinda' like Avalona Birdy described) was a neurological thing because all of the joints were fine. 

Pidgey


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## feralpigeon (Feb 14, 2005)

Suppose it could be vertical transmission, though it seems as though Avalona Birdy's grandma got a handle on how to keep rats out of the loft some time ago. It's not an exact science, though.

Can't always be certain over the net for sure, but I hate reaching for Baytril if an injury or other non-bacterial issue is a possibility. 

Avalona Birdy is there someone that you have brought your different birds to over the years for evaluation? Maybe a fancier in the area
that helps you out w/health issues and could have a look-see?
Do your birds have free-flight time outside of the aviary, have you 
isolated him for the time being?

In terms of links to common health issues for pigeons, there are quite a few
at this site. Go to posts #1 and #4 in the link below for starters:

http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/showthread.php?t=17438

fp

Here is a generic link for the disease we are considering:

http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153-10370_12150_12220-27268--,00.html

This illness is frequently referred to as Paratyphoid and will be listed in the 
pigeon illness links provided above.


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