# Found pigeon in barn. Need Advice.



## huniper (Jun 24, 2012)

Hi, about 2 days ago after we had some pretty bad thunderstorms, I found a pigeon in one of our sheds. What struck me as odd is that he seems very tame. He follows us around, is able to be picked up and held, and hangs around that same barn.

I tried to locate a band on the animal but it doesn't have one. According to the guides on this site he should be a wild bird. He seems very well adjusted to people. I'm not sure if he is injured. I haven't seen him try to fly. 

I have put out fresh water and some songbird food that I had on hand. Is there anything I should be doing? We have 3 cats that I have been keeping inside, or else I would adopt it and I am willing to drive anywhere in the state to get this bird where it needs to go. Any advice/help would be greatly appreciated!

here is an album with photos of the bird:
http://imgur.com/a/QYAUc


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

Thank you for your concern over this bird.

Did he just eat on that picture...because his crop looks rather odd?

Please do contain this bird as we need to find out what may be wrong with him, since he is not flying and his crop looks impacted.

Just because he doesn not have a band doesn't mean he isn't someone's lost pet.

Please follow the advice on this link first:

http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/f108/basic-steps-to-saving-the-life-of-a-pigeon-or-dove-8822.html


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## huniper (Jun 24, 2012)

Skyeking said:


> Thank you for your concern over this bird.
> 
> Did he just eat on that picture...because his crop looks rather odd?
> 
> ...


Yes he did just eat. I am going to contain the bird right now. He seems to be drinking fine, but I'll pick up some pedialyte, it can't hurt. I will report back when he is contained.


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## Quazar (Jul 27, 2010)

Theres something strange about the birds upright posture, it seems to be stretching its neck all the time & leaning backwards using its tail for some support to stay upright.
Maybe just the camera angle, but it shows in all 5 pics, which is unusual.
Normally i would expect at least one pic of the bird to be in a more relaxed pose ???


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## nycpigeonlady (Jan 22, 2012)

Could this be the "penguin posture" associated with canker/ crop pain?


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## Quazar (Jul 27, 2010)

Was thinking along those lines, it certainly doesnt look 100% comfortable.
Maybe Charis could comment. Without a visual examination of its throat and some pics of its poops when it is contained its difficult to guess.


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## huniper (Jun 24, 2012)

Sorry it took so long. I picked up a medium sized bird cage and placed the Pigeon in there. I have lined it with newspaper and placed wild bird seed in one dish and half pedialyte half tepid water in the other dish. 

For now I have him in the barn where I have been seeing him. Thought it would give him the least shock, to at least be in a familiar place. I can bring him inside if needed. He is in the shade and it's moderately cool (80F)

I do notice the strange way he is standing, and when I was containing him I did notice he treated one wing differently than the other.

I have attached a photo the most recent dropping, it's about 7 minutes old in the picture. And I have also attached more pictures of the bird.

http://imgur.com/a/dUBMR

I have tried to get him to drink by the guide posted here but he doesn't seem to want to. He seemed a little riled up after I put him in the cage so I will try in a little bit when he calms down.

Should I take him in the house, I can isolate him so my cat's won't scare him and any other tips?


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

Yes, please bring him inside.

Could you post another pic of the poop when he poops again?... it is kind of hard to tell what is what from the pic. Place bird on paper towel and after he poops post it.

Can you open the bird's beak, does it smell and/or do you see anything other then pink?


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## huniper (Jun 24, 2012)

Ok I have brought the bird inside. I got him to drink some (10-15 drops) of the water/pedialyte mixture, I haven't seen him drink yet but he doesn't move too much when I am watching him, He is moving as I see him in different parts of the cage after I leave and come back.

I have another photo of his stool: * The whole seeds are ones that he scattered from the dish.

*http://imgur.com/wbxC4*

He has already made a mess out of the cage so I am going to change the newspaper for paper towels and will get a better picture. I have not opened the bird's beak. How would you suggest going about that?


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## huniper (Jun 24, 2012)

He seems to be settling down a little bit. He hasn't had any more droppings but I will edit this post as soon as he does. 

I tried to open his beak but he is not making it easy for me and I don't want to hurt him. I will let him calm down for an hour and try again. I will try some more pedialyte then too. 

Where do we go from here? I put an add in the local Craigslist lost and found, and I tried to look up some wildlife rehabilitation in the area but didn't find anything that looked like it catered to pigeons.

Thanks for all the help guys!


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## nycpigeonlady (Jan 22, 2012)

Poor guy. Beautiful bird - looks like a homer, not an feral pigeon. Too bad he's not banded.
The poop doesn't look too bad and he's no longer standing upright. 
To look into his mouth - (unless someone can hold him for you) it would be easiest to wrap him up in a towel or t-shirt so that only his head and neck are sticking out. Make sure the legs are extended back towards the tail to prevent him form getting a grip and wiggling out of the wrap. Then gently open his mouth and take a good look. With a flashlight look down his throat too - everything should be uniform and pink. You are looking for any yellow or white discolorations/ patches/ growths/ nodules, etc. Don't worry - you won't hurt him by opening his mouth - they feed their young by having them stick their beaks inside their mouths pretty far back. 

Pigeons make wonderful pets - I know you said you have a few cats, but you sound like a lovely, caring and kind person and I'm sure you'd make a great pigeon owner......I know it's not that simple, of course.


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

Please check this link for possible rescue facilities: 

http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/showpost.php?p=652129&postcount=1

http://www.pigeons.biz/pigeons/prd.htm


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## huniper (Jun 24, 2012)

nycpigeonlady said:


> Poor guy. Beautiful bird - looks like a homer, not an feral pigeon. Too bad he's not banded.
> The poop doesn't look too bad and he's no longer standing upright.
> To look into his mouth - (unless someone can hold him for you) it would be easiest to wrap him up in a towel or t-shirt so that only his head and neck are sticking out. Make sure the legs are extended back towards the tail to prevent him form getting a grip and wiggling out of the wrap. Then gently open his mouth and take a good look. With a flashlight look down his throat too - everything should be uniform and pink. You are looking for any yellow or white discolorations/ patches/ growths/ nodules, etc. Don't worry - you won't hurt him by opening his mouth - they feed their young by having them stick their beaks inside their mouths pretty far back.
> 
> Pigeons make wonderful pets - I know you said you have a few cats, but you sound like a lovely, caring and kind person and I'm sure you'd make a great pigeon owner......I know it's not that simple, of course.


Thanks for the tip, I will go try that now. I was just so afraid of hurting him I didn't want to do any damage.

I really wish I could keep him/her as a pet as he is very awesome bird. I just am too afraid that my cat's would sneak by me somehow and I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if something happened


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## nycpigeonlady (Jan 22, 2012)

huniper said:


> I really wish I could keep him/her as a pet as he is very awesome bird. I just am too afraid that my cat's would sneak by me somehow and I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if something happened


There are many on PT who have both cats and pigeons, but I do understand - it's a valid concern.


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## huniper (Jun 24, 2012)

nycpigeonlady said:


> Poor guy. Beautiful bird - looks like a homer, not an feral pigeon. Too bad he's not banded.
> The poop doesn't look too bad and he's no longer standing upright.
> To look into his mouth - (unless someone can hold him for you) it would be easiest to wrap him up in a towel or t-shirt so that only his head and neck are sticking out. Make sure the legs are extended back towards the tail to prevent him form getting a grip and wiggling out of the wrap. Then gently open his mouth and take a good look. With a flashlight look down his throat too - everything should be uniform and pink. You are looking for any yellow or white discolorations/ patches/ growths/ nodules, etc. Don't worry - you won't hurt him by opening his mouth - they feed their young by having them stick their beaks inside their mouths pretty far back.
> 
> Pigeons make wonderful pets - I know you said you have a few cats, but you sound like a lovely, caring and kind person and I'm sure you'd make a great pigeon owner......I know it's not that simple, of course.


I came in the room and his beak was wet, so I can confirm that he is drinking on his own.

I got a couple of my friends to help me and I got a couple pictures of his throat, I also took pictures of his most recent droppings:

http://imgur.com/a/LksXw

Thanks again for the help.


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## Larry_Cologne (Jul 6, 2004)

From your first set of photos, which showed him extending his neck, I thought that if he were keeping his neck in that extended position, he might have something stuck in his crop.

From your second set of photos, he appears just fine to me. He is definitely tame, unless you have some sort of gift for attracting animals which you haven't told us about (LOL). Most of my rescues usually preferred to keep a bit of distance from me and my "Hand."

The only thing I can think of, is to be a bit patient and see what develops. Continue to observe him. See if he eats okay.

I live in Belgium, but I would be careful about turning him over to "just anybody."

If you can have him sit on your wrist or the back of your hand, and gently wave your hand up and down (keeping your hand parallel to the ground, see if he reacts to your moves by trying to keep his balance. Rotating your wrist , in a way to put him slightly off balance, will show if he uses his tail to maintain balance, a center of gravity over you wrist or hand. I found out one of my pigeon rescues ("Luxie-311" in 2006) had a paralyzed tail due to an infection, suspected paratyphoid or salmonellosis, and another couple of pigeon rescues had paralyzed wings, and some rescues had injured wings.

My movements were gentle and subtle, so they were not alarmed, and were possibly even not really aware of what I was doing, just reading subconsciously and automatically.

Larry


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## beatlemike (Nov 28, 2009)

Looks like a unbanded homer to me. Most likely someones pet.


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## huniper (Jun 24, 2012)

Larry_Cologne said:


> From your first set of photos, which showed him extending his neck, I thought that if he were keeping his neck in that extended position, he might have something stuck in his crop.
> 
> From your second set of photos, he appears just fine to me. He is definitely tame, unless you have some sort of gift for attracting animals which you haven't told us about (LOL). Most of my rescues usually preferred to keep a bit of distance from me and my "Hand."
> 
> ...


He seems to be much better recently and the wild ones I have seen in the past are much more skittish, I'm not sure if it's because he was dehydrated/weak. But he seems to be doing good now. 

I sent an email to one of the rehabilitation centers to see if they could take him. I have looked it over and it seems like they are a very good place, and the resources that I located it on said they were pigeon friendly. I just emailed them so I don't expect an answer back for a couple days.

I will definitely keep an eye on him and report back with any changes!



beatlemike said:


> Looks like a unbanded homer to me. Most likely someones pet.



I posted an add in the local craigslist lost and found, hopefully I'll get a response back. I'd love to get him back to his owner.


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## nycpigeonlady (Jan 22, 2012)

You've done a great job - thank you. Could you post the name of the rehab center, so that we can see if any of our members are familiar with its policies and practices.


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## huniper (Jun 24, 2012)

nycpigeonlady said:


> You've done a great job - thank you. Could you post the name of the rehab center, so that we can see if any of our members are familiar with its policies and practices.


It's called a place called hope, the spreadsheet:
http://pij-n-angels.forumotion.net/t95-matilda-s-list-united-states-a-k

says that they are pigeon friendly, although their website says they specialize in raptors. I wasn't sure so I sent them an email.


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

*That is great news, huniper, you have really done an excellent job.*



nycpigeonlady said:


> You've done a great job - thank you. Could you post the name of the rehab center, so that we can see if any of our members are familiar with its policies and practices.



*it is Matilda's list from the link I posted earlier in our resources forum.*


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## nycpigeonlady (Jan 22, 2012)

Oh, wonderful - what a lucky guy this pigeon is!


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## Cricket (Sep 1, 2005)

*A Place Called Hope*

Hi All,

I have not been here in a long while... I am President of A Place Called Hope and we are definitely "pigeon friendly" despite the Raptors we specialize in! I would be more than happy to help this pigeon if huniper wants to bring him out my way... Still love this forum! so much good information and plenty of advice. Thanks to all of you for all the caring you give.


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

Cricket said:


> Hi All,
> 
> I have not been here in a long while... I am President of A Place Called Hope and we are definitely "pigeon friendly" despite the Raptors we specialize in! I would be more than happy to help this pigeon if huniper wants to bring him out my way... Still love this forum! so much good information and plenty of advice. Thanks to all of you for all the caring you give.


Hi Cricket,

It is so nice to hear from you and your rescue organization, I'm thrilled that huniper find you thru our forum. Lucky little pigeon!!


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## huniper (Jun 24, 2012)

Cricket said:


> Hi All,
> 
> I have not been here in a long while... I am President of A Place Called Hope and we are definitely "pigeon friendly" despite the Raptors we specialize in! I would be more than happy to help this pigeon if huniper wants to bring him out my way... Still love this forum! so much good information and plenty of advice. Thanks to all of you for all the caring you give.


Awesome! I can bring him to you. I looked over your organization's website earlier today and was so impressed that I made a small donation. I will definitely be making more donations now that I see first hand what good you guys do! 

I sent an email to the [email protected], but I never expected to get a response this quickly! I am so very relieved that I found the perfect place for him  I can call you guys Tomorrow to set something up and thank you so very much again!


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