# Found an injured pigeon. What do I do?



## susie0 (Dec 5, 2018)

Hi there! We are located in Santa Clarita CA. USA.

My son brought home an injured pigeon that he found on the side of the road. Its strong and doesn't appear to have any broken bones. It is very alert and stand on its own just fine and flaps his wings around a bit. It can even walk but wont fly. It has wounds to the front of its chest that are already dry. We brought him inside to warm him up and put him in a plastic tub with towels laid inside. After we made sure he was warm we dipped his beak in some water and he drank. After that I put some Neosporin on its wounds and now I have no idea what to do. It it currently resting in the tub in a dark room with a towel over it. 

I've attached 4 pics. One of the pics of the wound is before the Neosporin and the other is after. One if of a dropping and the other is a whole body pic.

Any help would be very appreciated.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Is that a band tailed pigeon? Never seen one quite like that' Is that wound just scraped off,
or does it go deeper? A predator may have gotten him. If that be the case, then he should have oral antibiotics to prevent infection.
A good way to care for that would be to wash gently with a saline solution, (1 quart of water boiled and add 2 teaspoons of salt), then gently pat dry and apply an antibiotic cream. Please don't keep him in the dark, but rather try to find something to cover the container that will let light in. 
Can you offer him a seed mix, either for wild birds, or a dove mix? And leave a small crock of water with him that he cannot knock over. Until you can get some seed, if you don't have any, you might try some unpopped pop corn, lentils and split peas, maybe a bit of rice mixed in. He may be just injured, or could be sick too. Need to try and figure it out.


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## susie0 (Dec 5, 2018)

Hi Jay, Yes it is a band tailed pigeon and quite pretty! 

I'm not sure how deep the wound is. Tomorrow I'll wash the wound area as you've indicated and hopefully I can assess better. Just to clarify... we're not keeping him in the dark. I just put the towel over him temporarily so he could rest a minute after we were handling him(we're calling it a him but I have no idea what sex it is) while putting on the ointment. I already ran to the pet store and got some wild bird mix which he gobbled down. He seemed to perk up quite a bit after he ate and drank which I assume is a good sign?. He even had enough energy to flap his wings so he could perch himself onto the side of the tub. He's bobbing his head back and forth and even walking around the tub a little. He seems remarkably calm around us humans which makes me wonder if he might be someone's pet. No bands around his leg though. Anything else I should be doing?


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

So far you're doing very well actually. Thank you for helping him.
He may appear more calm and friendly because he is hurting, or maybe sick. He could have been a pet, but if not, when a bird is injured or ill, they do appear tame, as they are much quieter and easily handled. That will change once they start to heal and feel better. Right now he is scared of you, as to him you are a predator, and he doesn't know what is going to happen to him next.
Then we wonder how this injury happened. If predator caught, especially if a cat, he can succumb to an infection that could kill him. If he starts acting more defensive and more on the wilder side, then you know that he is feeling better.
Oh yes, and if you can find some pigeon grit, that would be helpful with his digestion.


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

Thank you for helping him. Wanted to emphasize that he might need antibiotics.


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## susie0 (Dec 5, 2018)

How can I tell if he needs antibiotics and how can I get my hands on some? I can't afford to take him to a vet.


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

Amoxycillin (sold as Betamox capsules) works best for infection. Unfortunately, I think over there you will need a prescription for that.


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## susie0 (Dec 5, 2018)

My husband found some Ciprofloxacin. The problem is that its a human sized dosage. Is it possible to even cut it down enough to give to a pigeon and if so how much and how?


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

You can crush the cipro tablet, remove the coating and dissolve it in water (used to do that when vet prescribed the cipro tablets for my guinea pigs). Someone here should know amount of water to add and pigeon dipose. What strength is the cipro tablet?


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## susie0 (Dec 5, 2018)

Its 500 mg


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

There are avian formularies online.
http://avianmedicine.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/18.pdf
To be safe, would try to weigh the bird if possible and ask a vet if they could just recommend a dose. This article says 20-40mg per kg twice per day. Someone more expert than me ( or a pharmacist) should be able to tell you how much liquid to dissolve tge tablet in, then what dose to give. Do you have a small syringe graduated in mg? I dont know if the med should be refrigerated. You might want to reach out to a vet, local rescue, or pharmacust ( just for free advice) to get the right liquid dose if someone here doesnt answer soon. It is doable...i just cant remeber how i used to figure it out ( 30 years ago).
Found an older post. TA Whatley suggests 20 mg per kg twice daily. The average pigeon weighs 290 to 330 kg. Hopefully someone here can help do the math for dissolving the tablet and the dosage. Be sure to shake it up well, hard to dissolve.
https://www.pigeons.biz/forums/f27/urgent-need-baytril-equivalent-12201.html?highlight=Cipro+dose
Think i will write Terry for the procedure.


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

Just heard from Terry Whatley, a wonderful pigeon rescuer. She said dissolve the 500 mg tablet in 10 cc of water and assuming a weight of 350 gm, you would give .14 cc. Am asking is that once or twice per day and about refrigeration...will pass along the response when i hear.


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## susie0 (Dec 5, 2018)

Thanks so much. I'll hang tight. Should I give him probiotics along with the medicine?


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

Would hold off on the probiotics i think until the med is complete.
Here is a great dosage calculator that Terry recommended:
https://wildliferehabber.com/rehab-data/dosage-calculator


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

Would give him the first dose as soon as you can...cat bacteria will kill a pigeon very quickly. Have googled cipro and sites recommend giving it twice daily. From what i can tell, it may not need refrigeration...will let you know when i hear back from Terry. Problem with just giving an antibiotic is that it is hard to say if it is the right one. You are in Santa Clarita. Terry lives about 11/2 hrs from you i believe, in Lake Forest. I will send you a private message on how to contact Terry.


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

I think cipro is the same as amoxycillin, if the pamphlet says it contains 500 mg of amoxycillin, then you know it's ok.

I always disolve 1 capsule in 5 ml of water, so 1 ml contains 100 mg of amoxy. I go by the ratio of 12 mg per 100 gr birdweight. So if she weighs 300 gr, then you can give 36 mg and that will be 0.36 ml twice daily. 

The best way to give the meds will be to soak a small breadball with the meds and put this deep inside her beak over the tongue for her to swallow. It's easy to aspirate them if you put the liquid meds in her beak.

Give her the meds for about 7-10 days.


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

MarinaB, i like the idea of giving the meds in a small breadball.
But Cipro is a totally different kind of an antibiotic from Moxicillin, so the dosage is not the same. Per Terry Whatley, dose should be .14 mg twice per day. Ciproflxacin is a quinolone ( like Baytril) while amoxicillin is a penicillin.


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

Just checking to see how he is doing. Terry wrote that you should check in his mouth to rule out canker ( there would be yellow there if he has canker). Thank you for helping him.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

You can't really rule out canker that way. Often times they do have canker, but no nodules in the mouth or throat. Helpful if they do have the yellow nodules to know that it is canker, but it isn't always present.


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

How is he doing? Thank you for helping him.


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## susie0 (Dec 5, 2018)

I'm so sorry I didn't get a chance to post sooner. 

He's doing pretty well. I was finally able to clean all the dried blood off him yesterday morning and realized that there is no wound site. It took a while because I was hesitant to get too aggressive with the cleaning and accidentally injure him further. I'm assuming that the blood came from loosing so many feathers? Anyhow, because I saw no wound site I opted to not give him the antibiotics. He's eating and drinking on his own really well. Stools look good. He's not super active but when I take him out of the box he does walks around a bit. 

Its pretty hard for me to get a good look into his mouth but from what I could tell I didn't see any yellow in there.

I had help today while I was cleaning him and I was able to get a really good look and get some good pics of the area. I've attached new pictures. They were taken right after I sprayed his chest down with the water/salt solution hence all the wet feathers. His chest is really dark purple! Is some of that their normal color or is it really bad bruising or a sign of something else?


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

Poor birdie. If only feathers are gone hopefully they will grow back. Is he being kept warm? How is he eating and drinking? Thanks again for helping him!


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## susie0 (Dec 5, 2018)

Yes. He's being kept inside and I have half of the box sitting on a heating pad... so he can choose to sit where its warm or he can go where its cooler. He's eating, drinking and pooping great. I just wish I knew what all that purple on his chest means.


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## navamanas (Mar 17, 2016)

That looks awful. It's looks to me like the skin was torn and has pulled back over some subcutaneous tissue. It's hard to tell from a photo.

I live in Santa Monica. I know a place in Calabasas that takes care of wildlife. I think that this pigeon would qualify because it's a native species of pigeon. I've had success with this place in the past.

California Wildlife Center
26026 Piuma Rd
Calabasas, CA 91302
(818) 222-2658

If you decide to do it, let me know before you submit the pigeon to them, and I'll call them to make a donation for its care.

You can text me at 310-985-0319. Keep me updated.


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