# Sick Pigeon with yellow growth - need help



## bakadko (Dec 20, 2009)

We have a feral pigeon that has been visiting us everyday for a year. For the past few days she has not been acting the same and we suspect has contracted some kind of illness.
Symptoms are;
- ruffled neck feathers with strange yellow growth (see attached pic)
- lack of activity
- wet greenish droppings
- gulps after eating 

She is still eating normally.

I called our local avian vet but they advised if we could not catch the bird there is nothing they can do.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

Thank you for your concern. Please do catch the bird, and put in in a carrier, inside in a warm place where there are no drafts of air.

Follow this link first:

http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/showthread.php?t=8822

Can you get a better/closer picture of the growth/lesion, this could be anything, but definitely needs attention. If this is canker it will need to be treated quickly and we will direct you as to where to get help or how to treat.

Once the bird is hydrated you can feed it wild bird seed and give it water.

Where are you located?


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## bakadko (Dec 20, 2009)

Thanks for such a fast response.

We live in Melbourne, Australia. I don't know how it will be possible to catch him as we normally can't get very close to her. Also, our terrace is only a 4-5 meters wide.

I have attached another photo of the lesion. Also, I can confirm that his dropping are very watery and green.

thank you very much.


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## Whitefeather (Sep 2, 2002)

Are those seeds near the questionable site?

If so, could it be he has a puncture wound and the seeds are escaping from the crop?

Cindy


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## Whitefeather (Sep 2, 2002)

bakadko said:


> We have a feral pigeon that has been visiting us everyday for a year. For the past few days she has not been acting the same and we suspect has contracted some kind of illness.
> Symptoms are;
> - ruffled neck feathers with strange yellow growth (see attached pic)
> - lack of activity
> ...


I agree with the vet. The bird does need to be caught in order to properly examine and treat him.


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

If you know where the bird roosts at night, then you can easily grab him.

Also, you can try this trap:

http://www.racingbirds.com/ptrap.html


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

It does look to me like the bird has been injured due to a Hawk or other predator, food is coming out the neck and unable to get to the crop so the bird can process it for nourishment. That would explain the green watery poops too.
That's very sad. Perhaps you can make a trap on you terrace, to catch the poor thing.


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## bakadko (Dec 20, 2009)

She just had a bath and it seems as though most of the yellow stuff on her neck came off.....so I guess it could have been seeds stuck there.

From what I can tell (I can't get very close to her) there may be a sore or possibly a small hole on her neck...so it could be possible that seeds are either stuck on the wound or coming out of it. 

She does not seem to be in much distress. Just slightly less active than normal and the green poops. 

When I spoke to the vet they seems reluctant to treat a feral bird.... Is if possible that this might cure by itself?


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

bakadko said:


> She just had a bath and it seems as though most of the yellow stuff on her neck came off.....so I guess it could have been seeds stuck there.
> 
> From what I can tell (I can't get very close to her) there may be a sore or possibly a small hole on her neck...so it could be possible that seeds are either stuck on the wound or coming out of it.
> 
> ...




It is a natural defense, of birds, to pretend they are OK even when the are not, because a noticeably ill bird in the wild, is an easy target for a predator. So...they pretend to be OK until they can't pretend any longer. The slightly less active and green poops are not a good sign, especially if the bird isn't getting any nourishment. What you are seeing, is fairly common for a Hawk attack and survivor.
Will the bird be OK...it's hard to say. You could always tell the vet this is your pet pigeon, which is what I would recommend. If you don't take ownership and you do take the bird to the vet, doing so may be a death sentence.
In my opinion, to do nothing is risky.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

I thought it looked like food coming out also. If someone can't catch her and get her to a vet, than she will probably starve to death, or from infection. But as Charis mentioned, you should tell him it's your bird or it may just be put to sleep.


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## bakadko (Dec 20, 2009)

Just had a closer look and it is definently food coming out of a small puncture wound. We just saw her have a drink and water leaked out of the hole. 

We will try to catch her. We have never caught a bird before and are worried that the stress involved may do more harm than good...


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

bakadko said:


> Just had a closer look and it is definently food coming out of a small puncture wound. We just saw her have a drink and water leaked out of the hole.
> 
> We will try to catch her. We have never caught a bird before and are worried that the stress involved may do more harm than good...


Well, I don't see how it could do more harm. She will starve this way, or get an infection. Do you know where she sleeps at night? Some people catch them with box traps, or some have even made a frame and covered with netting and dropped it over the bird while they are eating. There are different ways to catch them. I know catching a wild bird is very hard for most people. But you need to try if you want to help this bird to live.


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## bakadko (Dec 20, 2009)

Jay3 said:


> Well, I don't see how it could do more harm. She will starve this way, or get an infection. Do you know where she sleeps at night? Some people catch them with box traps, or some have even made a frame and covered with netting and dropped it over the bird while they are eating. There are different ways to catch them. I know catching a wild bird is very hard for most people. But you need to try if you want to help this bird to live.


We have no idea where she sleeps at night. We have set up a box trap over some seeds that we have put out. 
Hopefully we can catch her when she comes back....fingers crossed. 

This is so sad


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

You'll find this one interesting (similar injury):

http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/f6/pierpont-fistula-and-injury-11512.html

Pidgey


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Good Lord! It's amazing that he lived. Amazing. Shows that they can heal from extraodinary injuries. Good job!


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

bakadko said:


> We have no idea where she sleeps at night. We have set up a box trap over some seeds that we have put out.
> Hopefully we can catch her when she comes back....fingers crossed.
> 
> This is so sad


It may take a while for the bird to get comfortable enough with the box to go under it to eat. Good luck. It's going to take patience on your part. Please let us know how it goes.


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## Ed (Sep 18, 2008)

You can try building something like this picture to see if you can trap the pigeon.


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

he he, the "sneaky person" gets me every time...lol...


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## amyable (Jul 7, 2007)

I found the box trap propped up on a piece of wood with a long peice of string attached, ( as shown in one of the links). has worked every time for me when catching a wild pigeon.

It helps that they are always wanting to get to the food and you just have to wait until they are totally underneath and then pull the string sharply so the box falls as quickly as possible.

Just be quiet and patience will pay off. Also try not to let it see you staring at it, they do seem to know when you're after them !!

Good luck.

Janet


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## bakadko (Dec 20, 2009)

Thanks for the advice guys. We are setting up a box trap this morning and taking her to the vet. Fingers crossed the trap works!

The vet is a pigeon expert. We have told him that she is our pet. Hopefully everything goes well!

Will keep you posted.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Ya know, if you tape another piece of wood or something for weight, on top of the box, and toward the front, that will make the box fall faster. Better to trap a bird.

That picture was cute Ed.


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## bakadko (Dec 20, 2009)

Caught her! Have an appointment with the vet in 1 hour.

wow...that was nerve racking..


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## John_D (Jan 24, 2002)

bakadko said:


> Caught her! Have an appointment with the vet in 1 hour.
> 
> wow...that was nerve racking..


And pretty quick too!

Well caught

John


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

bakadko said:


> Caught her! Have an appointment with the vet in 1 hour.
> 
> wow...that was nerve racking..


WOW!---GOOD JOB!


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

Im impressed! it is not easy.....as you know already....lol...


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## bakadko (Dec 20, 2009)

Just got back from the vet. Everything went great 

They performed a quick surgery on the wound and gave us some antibiotics that we have to administer for the next 3 days. The vet said that if we hadn't have brought her in she would have definitely died from the injury.
They vet also gave her a thorough check over for diseases and parasites and gave her a completely clean bill of health...which they sad was "surprising given she is a feral pigeon."

Our pigeon is now recovering in a large box in our house with plenty of food and water. We are going to rerelease her on xmas day.

If anyone has any tips on how we should care for her over the coming days we would very much appreciate it.

Thank you so much for your support!

Here is a link to the vet we visited http://www.auspigeonco.com.au/ They were absolutely fantastic!


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## Feefo (Feb 8, 2002)

That is wonderful news...well done!!!!

The Australian Pigeon Company is coming up a lot on this forum, it sounds like a wonderful resource and it is comforting to know that they treat feral pigeons. Dr Colin Walker has been very helpful to this forum, responding to e-mails about our forum rescues and a lot of members have his book. I am delighted to see first had positive feedback here!


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Whoo Hoo! Great news and very well done!

Terry


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## John_D (Jan 24, 2002)

That's great stuff 

So glad all went smoothly. That pigeon will never realize how fortunate she is!

Is it possible to keep her a few more days, say about a week, just to ensure she is fully healed up before releasing?

John


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Yeah, I'd give a wound like that all the time it takes to completely heal before I let the bird go. If it's been open for awhile, there might be a surprise or two down the road in a few days.

Pidgey


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## altgirl35 (Sep 5, 2008)

good job!! i would keep her also untill fully healed


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

Great job! I would keep her longer than Christmas day though. You need to make sure there are no complications.
That Colin Walker is wonderful. I have a phone consult coming up with him.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Great news! Thanks for being so super in helping this lucky bird. I wouldn't be so quick to release either. I'd want to make sure that everything healed properly first, and that the poor thing gets its strength back. Could you post a few pictures of the bird now?


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## bakadko (Dec 20, 2009)

We released her today. Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to check this forum again before doing so otherwise we may have waited a few more days.
The wound was healing up really well and she was getting stressed out being boxed up so I think it was the right thing to do. They vet saw the wound and advised that 3 days would be enough as well.
Since releasing her she has rejoined her partner and has come back three or four times already today for a bath and some food. She looks so happy to be free.
Fingers crossed that there are no complications with the wound. I am pretty sure that everything will be fine but will monitor her closely for the next week.
I have attached a photo of her just before she was released!


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

You did a great job with catching and treating this bird. Because of you she now gets a second chance. Thank you for helping her, and thanks for the update and picture. God Bless.


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