# Pigeon found tilting to one side (EU - Estonia)



## smallbrains (Feb 19, 2018)

Hello, while on the way home from the shop my fiancee and I found a pigeon lying on the side of the road in the snow. It was shivering and had its wings spread. 

We inspected the bird and it was still alive, no sign of blood or external injury, no missing feathers, looked like a healthy pigeon apart from the fact that it was unable to move.

We quickly emptied one of our shopping bags and took it home with us. We thought it was probably dying but figured a warm place with food and water was a better place to do that than a cold sidewalk in the snow.

After we got home we let the pigeon rest a bit with access to food and water, an hour or so later it started flapping and running around, probably scared.

We went to check on the noise and once the pigeon stood still we noticed it was tilting over to the right side, the whole body, including the head, which was bent to the right.

My first guess was that there's something wrong with the bird's balance.

This is only the second time we've taken an injured bird in, please let us know what we can do. 

Thanks for reading.


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

Not sure what is wrong. Someone more expert should answer soon. Thank you for helping the bird!


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Hard to know what it is. Could be sick or injured. Maybe clipped by a car?
Keep him warm, get food and water into him, and see what the droppings look like. See if he gets any better, or worse. Don't suppose you have any good avian vets around there?


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## smallbrains (Feb 19, 2018)

Jay3 said:


> Don't suppose you have any good avian vets around there?


We looked for some with the previous pigeon but couldn't find any that we could go to. The pigeon seems to be stable at the moment though, I was wondering if we should turn the light off for the night so it can get some rest..?

Thanks for the replies btw


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Yes, he will need lots of rest. Either turning the light out, or covering his cage with a towel or something. Have you been able to get him to eat? You may need to hand feed the poor thing.


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## smallbrains (Feb 19, 2018)

It tried to eat a bit when I checked last night, didn't seem to have very good coordination, kept pecking next to the food. 

I moved some of the food closer and a lot of it is gone, I'm gonna try and give it some water soon, since it doesn't seem to move much I'm worried it can't drink from the bowl we gave it.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Putting water in his mouth, you could aspirate him. Better to gently dip his beak into the water but not over the nostrils. Be careful also in what you leave the water in, as he could possibly fall in and drown.


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## smallbrains (Feb 19, 2018)

Thanks (again) for the sound advice, it is most welcome!

We had a spare water bowl fit for small rodents, so we cleaned it and used that. It's not nearly big enough to fall in to. 

Pigeon seems scared and still tilting (but maybe a little more straight up now? not sure)
I hope the poor thing got some rest..


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

He would be scared if a feral. Poor thing. Is he eating? And if so enough? You may need to hand feed.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Can you post a pic of him?


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## smallbrains (Feb 19, 2018)

He seems to be eating yes, I don't know if it's enough but we gave some dry food mix including grains and such, as I said, this is only my second rescue and the first one died only a few hours after we took it in. 

Is there anything I can get for the pigeon? Food wise, I'm going to the store today anyways. 

Here's a picture, we put him in a box for the time being, it's warmer and softer than the tub, should we put some clean rags in there so he can sleep in a soft place? (will have to pick those up from the store as well then)


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## Silverwings (Oct 27, 2017)

Could this possibly be PMV? Just consider


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## Colombina (Jan 22, 2017)

Hi, you could look for vitamins for drinking water, they will help him to get stronger and to improve his resistance to any possible disease.
Here you can find also dove/pigeon mix enriched with vitamins and minerals like iron, etc, you could look for something similar there.

You could put a puppy pad trainer in the box, it's soft and you can throw it away when dirty (you can check easily his poo too).


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

Really pretty bird!


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

At least put newspaper and then paper towel over that so that you can change it out and also monitor the droppings. Please don't put him in a cold tub. He needs to be kept warm. By the droppings, he isn't eating much of anything. Also food needs to be in a dish. Get some frozen peas. You can defrost them under warm water till warm and feed those to him by hand. I would start with about 30, wait till the crop empties and then feed again, probably in about 6 hours. You need to get food into him, and the peas also help with moisture. Here is how to do that.

If you need to feed peas to a pigeon, hold the bird on your lap and against your body. This gives you more control. Reach from behind his head with one hand and grasp his beak on either side. Now use your free hand to open the beak, and put a pea in, then push it to the back of his throat and over his tongue. Let him close his beak and swallow. Then do another. It gets easier with practice, and the bird also gets more used to it, and won't fight as much. If you can't handle the bird, then use the sleeve cut off a t-shirt, slip it over his head and onto his body, with his head sticking out. This will stop him from being able to fight you so much. Just don't make it tight around his crop area. It helps if you have him facing your right side if you are right handed.


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