# Our New Rescued Pigeon Friend



## johnnykirk (Aug 16, 2016)

Hiya, I just wanted to recount the last week of my wife Amy and I rescuing a poorly, injured and adorable pigeon in order to get some advice and maybe be of some help to others.
Jacklyn the feral Rock Dove, your standard British feral pigeon, hobbled up next to us on my wife's way to work just next to our front door. She looked like a drowned rat from all the rain and wouldn't fly; also "hobbling" is a bit of an understatement, and we had to divert an angry cyclist and car as she seemed oblivious to traffic and decided to make a getaway at much less than walking pace. Naturally, we caught her after getting her to safety.
One trip to the vet with our new patient cowering in a cardboard box with her head pressed into the corner, and it turns out she has a broken toe. 
After ringing for an update just in time to find out she was about to be shipped off to a sanctuary of some kind, possibly to be put down, after we said we'd be delighted to rehabilitate her (grrr), and Jacklyn the pigeon now has a roomy cat carrier to live in, food and lots of love. That's been the case for a week now, but what she doesn't have is experienced carers, so please keep reading as we'd appreciate any advice and if we're doing anything wrong.
So first, her toe. It's sidewise a bit, and was swollen but it has very much reduced. She limps badly and always uses her wing to hold herself up, but she's very active when she is let out for her supervised exercise. The vet has advised us just to leave her foot alone, and they don't want to put a splint on it as it's very delicate, but she doesn't need surgery. So we don't touch it.
As for her food, she gets fed twice a day: pigeon feed from a pet shop in the morning (grain and seeds), and poultry feed in the evening (mixed corn). She gets a little poultry grit mixed in made from oyster shells, and has water supplied 24hrs. We change it if it gets dirty and any left over food is taken out after 20mins. She has started to wait for her breakfast expectantly.
She lives in a big cat carrier, and she feels very secure in there and relaxed. She gets lonely if she can't see either of us, so we keep close by or else she makes a racket.
We let her out twice a day, clean her house (we use puppy pads) and gently put her in a little tray to bathe, but she doesn't. It does get her feet clean though, and she's happy to have her feet gently cleaned.
She doesn't mind being picked up, she never makes a sound (except she squeaked in terror when we captured her to take her in), she's eaten from my hand, sat on my tummy and gone to sleep, and seems to like her head gently fussed... I thought she was wild! She also likes being sung to! How adorable is that?
As for her general health, her feathers look great, she keeps herself preened but never baths (worried about that), she sleeps a lot, she can just about fly to her house roof but if she tries anything else she kind of crash lands then sits and preens herself. Her eyes are dull. She seems so much better though and eats and drinks very well, but again she never makes a sound; no cooing, nothing.
Well anyway, so far it looks like she's here to stay (no problem, we love her!). Got a wormer coming for her in the mail and we want to try to get her to eat a little garlic for her pests.
So... how are we doing? Thanks for reading!


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

First of all, thanks for helping her, if it is a her. You can leave the feed with her all the time so she can take it when she wants. Please don't mix the oyster shell in with the food. Oyster shell is needed, but not in the food, and it isn't a substitute for grit. Oyster shell breaks down too easily, and will supply calcium, but not great to help with digestion. A good pigeon grit is needed. A good calcium and vit. D3 supplement should be given. They cannot utilize the calcium they get without vit. D3. I'm guessing it wasn't an avian vet that you saw. There could be more wrong than just a broken toe, that was missed. Can you post a couple of good pictures of the bird in order to help us to get a better idea of her age?
Very young birds shouldn't really be wormed till they are about 4 months old. Can you tell me what dewormer you are buying, as some are not good for pigeons.


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

Thank you for rescuing wonderful Jacklyn! She sounds like a great pigeon. Am looking forward to photos. Her history reminds me of Phoebe, who we rescued as a feral because she was severely injured and headed for euthanasia. She was the most delightful member of our family for eight wonderful years and we dearly miss her every day. Glad Jacklyn found you as Phoebe found us.


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## FredaH (Apr 5, 2016)

Lovely to hear that you rescued a sweet pidge in need of care. I'm sure Jacklyn will give you years of companionship and pleasure, they really are adorable animals and pretty clever too. Mine are three ferals that I raised and they honestly brighten every day. Love to see pics of her too.


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## johnnykirk (Aug 16, 2016)

Thanks so much for the replies people! I'll try to answer everyone's comments .

@jay3 we think she's a hen, as she has a flat skull and virtually no iridescence, but we just got that from Wikipedia. It doesn't matter to us if she turns out to be a boy pigeon though . The grit we bought says on the packet: "Supa Mixed Grit: a mixture of soluble and insoluble grits to assists digestion, shell quality and general well-being." I'm sorry I said it was made of oyster shells, I meant it had them mixed in. It's for chickens I guess as it has them on the label. She won't touch it unless we mix it with the food. If it's the wrong stuff, happy to replace it. The vet didn't tell us any of this, we just read it online; they basically just gave us an injured pigeon back. We did see them check her wings though. We'll get her a vitamin supplement, thanks! We bought a specific wormer for pigeons on Amazon: Petlife Harker-Vern liquid worming treatment for pigeon. We'll not use it until we know her age, plus we are going to weigh her tonight. Happy to toss it out if it's no good. We'll get some pictures of her when she has her evening totter tonight! Thanks for all the wonderful advice!

@cwebster thanks so much! Phoebe sounds like a lovely pigeon friend, thanks for sharing your memories and we'll get some pictures up tonight hopefully.

@fredah three pigeons? I'm jealous! Lol, thanks for the support and we'll upload those photos for you.

- Johnny, Amy and Jacklyn


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

You still don't mix the grit in with the food. Put it in a separate dish and they take it when they need it.

If the wormer is the tablet and contains fenbendazole, then shouldn't be given. fenbendazole can be toxic to pigeons. I know these places make these products, but pigeons die from them, and then they test it and find out that it can be toxic. I would stay with the safer products. The liquid doesn't contain that drug.


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

*Welcome to the wonderful world of pigeons!

Thank you for rescuing one. Please post a picture of your new friend. 

Please check our pet pigeon forum with some useful sticky threads, on caring and nutrition: http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/f24/

Please be careful when using wormers, there are special ones designed for pigeons, as there are some just not good for them. *


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## JennyM (Sep 21, 2015)

can't wait to see pictures of beautiful Jacklyn! cute name by the way  and thank you for rescuing her!


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