# Need Urgent Help!!!!



## Braydo25 (Jan 14, 2007)

Hello there, my name is brandon. Where I live it has snowed 5" in the past 4 days and has been around 20F outside. I found a pigeon on my jobsite that wasnt looking so well and wasnt moving, but i could see it was still breathing. so i decided to take it home and see if it was the extreme cold that was causing it. I have been feeding it h20 and pigeon food that i got lately and have secluded it in a lightly lit room in a kennel that is fairly large size. I have been checking on it every few hours but it doesnt seem to be getting better.

here are some things ive been noticing that it has been doing that doesnt seem right to me. I think it may have pneumonia

1. He opens his mouth to breath whenever he takes a breath in and doesnt seem to breath any other way.

2. He has not been moving much, he can barely move his head when i feed him though a straw and give him water through a syringe.

3. he hasnt gotten up from the same spot and just lays there and stares but he is still breathing.

4. He twitches whenever anything seems to touch him (food water)

5. I have not seen any of his stools and i dont believe he is dropping stools

Im not sure what to do, i really need help on what to do or how to treat him. even knowing whats wrong with him will help. And another bad thing is that there is no bird hospital around where i live or bird sanctuary. i have been searching for a near one online and it is very very far away.

please someone help!!!!


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Well, I've gotten several that were kind of like that for the first day because they were hit by a car and had gotten badly dehydrated. How much water have you actually gotten into the bird?

Pidgey


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## Braydo25 (Jan 14, 2007)

i dont think ive gotten much into it, it keeps twitching when i try to give it water and does not seem to want it. but now it is not opening and closing its mouth, but it is still breathing.


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

To give you a clue, they'd normally take in about 5 to 8% of their weight per day in water. That'd be about one to two tablespoons of water per day for an average sized pigeon. Since he's breathing like you're describing, it's pretty easy to aspirate (take the water or even food down into the lungs--can be a pretty fast death) one so how are you syringing in the water?

Pidgey


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## Braydo25 (Jan 14, 2007)

i am just putting a small drop by its beak but it still doesnt seem to want the water.


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Is he laying on his side or rolled upright and laying on his chest? Are his legs tucked under or are they kinda' sticking out at funny angles (like somewhat straight behind)?

Pidgey


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## Braydo25 (Jan 14, 2007)

he is laying on his side and the wing on the side he is laying on is pointed out. and i believe that his legs are tucked under.


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

You might take an old towel and roll it into a donut-like nest. You can put him in the middle to help hold him up and that might make it a lot easier on him. Can he hold his head up at all?

Pidgey


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## Braydo25 (Jan 14, 2007)

yes he holds his head up when i try to give him food, and he does eat the food but in very small bites.


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Can you count the breaths per minute? They can be fast and shallow or longer and deeper. If you write it down and keep timing them over the next hour, you might see them speeding up. If that's the case, then he's more than likely not going to make it.

Pidgey


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

You mean he takes the food out of your hand in a pecking type way and then works on swallowing it? Well, that's a bit more on the hopeful side of life.

Pidgey


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## Braydo25 (Jan 14, 2007)

no, not out of my hand. i have a very thin straw that i pit very small bits of pigeon feed on and he does move his head towards it and opens his beak, but when he opens his beak, it looks like he can barely open it but still takes very small pieces of food down.


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

What kind of pigeon feed can you put on the end of a straw? Can you post a picture of the bird?

Pidgey


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## Braydo25 (Jan 14, 2007)

yes i can get a picture of the bird on here. and i just counted his breaths over a minute and i counted 26 breaths that were long and shallow.


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

You see, normally we don't try to feed them until we've gotten them rehydrated. How long have you had this bird? Another question is how sharp is the keel? The keel is the equivalent of the sternum in us and is a blade-like bone that runs down the middle of the chest. If it actually feels like a blade that you can literally pinch between the fingers then the bird is emaciated. If there's good muscles running down the sides of it then the bird's in better shape. If you can't really feel the keel at all except a hard line running down the center of an extremely muscular chest then he's in real good shape.

Pidgey


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Well, that's pretty good actually. I'm a little less worried now.

Pidgey


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## Braydo25 (Jan 14, 2007)

i cant tell because he is hardly responding to touch now. but i dont think that his muscles are weak. he is breathing less now and isnt responding to the water of the syringe. but he is still occationally moving.


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Not a whole lot less, but a little. I suppose I'm finding it weird that a bird that's as bad off as that is actually wanting to eat. Usually, they're needing water more than anything and food's just not as important. Just out of curiosity, does this bird have any little yellow hairs on it anywhere? And/or is the base of the upper beak have a lot of white on it?

Pidgey


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## Braydo25 (Jan 14, 2007)

no it doesnt have yellow hairs or white on its beak. and i cant get a picture up atm  my digital camera isnt working with my computer and i dont know why.


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Well, it may be that the bird is exhausted. Seriously, he may die within the next few hours or he might actually be feeling better in the morning. It's pretty hard to tell, especially when you can't see the bird. I've got to go to bed myself. Where are you (city)?

Pidgey


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## Braydo25 (Jan 14, 2007)

Portland, its been cold here.


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Can't think of any members in that city. We've helped folks there before but no members. If the bird's alive tomorrow, we'll have a better chance of getting some supplies and going from there. You may need to tube-water and tube-feed it. That'll require some stuff. I'll go fetch a link to a thread on that but then I'm going to bed.

Pidgey


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## Braydo25 (Jan 14, 2007)

alright, ill try to get a picture up.


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

You can study this thread:

http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/showthread.php?t=16235

There are also some other things you should study up on:

http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/showthread.php?t=11265

Good luck and thanks for caring!

Pidgey


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## feralpigeon (Feb 14, 2005)

We did have a member from the Portland, Oregon area not that long ago:

http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/showthread.php?t=15583&highlight=Portland+Oregon

who posted regarding one 'Avian Medical Center' not far from Portland:

http://avianmedicalcenter.net/

Perhaps you could give them a buz and if you get lucky they might have an emergency number to call. Thanks for helping this pigeon out.

fp


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## pdpbison (Mar 15, 2005)

Hi Brado, 


Just a few fast suggestions -


Get the Pigeon set up somewhere indoors where it is definitely "warm"...in a Cardboard Box is fine, drape a light cloth over the top...he is not going to fly out or anything...

If you have an electric Heating Pad or electric Blanlet you can use, set it up somehow so that the Bird is for sure definitely "warm"...if a Heating Pad, have it in the Box and have a light small Towell over it...test it now and thenm to make sure it is not TOO hot, but if the towell is as warm as the underside of your wrist is fine. 

Re-Hydration -

Dissolve a good 'pinch' of regular Table Salt, and one of regular Sugar...in a Glass of Water.

Get a small Shot Glass or little Bowl at least an inch deep, and, when you offer the 'Water' make sure that the Water is about your own Body Temperature. Warm the Shot Glass of Water in some Hot Tap Water in a cup or somehting to get it warm.

Hold the little Glass in front of him and low, gently, with your finger tips, guide his Beak into it, and he will almost certainly drink. Do this a few times if need be with some intermissions till he does drink.

Do these things and he may have a chance...

Let us know if there are any poops, and if so, what consistancy and colors they have to them.

For now though, "warmth"...he needs to be around 100 degrees farenheit, and almost certainly he needs to be re-hydrated...after that, after enough hours of that, we can see about other things, like feeding him and or what kind of injury or illness he may have to be in these dire straights.

Thanks for rescueing him!

Been "cold" here too...22 degrees last night, and likely about that tonight too.


Good luck!

Phil
Las Vegas


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