# Woodpigeon with injury to wing - advice please UK



## Witchy-poos

I'm in the UK & have an injured wild Woodpigeon here at the moment. I have had a lot of young/sick/injured birds over the years so I'm quite confident but am a bit stuck with this one. I think he's an RTA victim, he has lost all his flight feathers on one wing & has a bad injury inderneath it. I've had him to a vet to check for breaks & there are non, the wound has been cleaned & is staying clean but he's a wild adult & as such reacts very badly to me changing his paper in the bottom of the cage & putting food & water in. He bashes the wing against the cage & twice now the wing wound has opened up again & bled quite badly. The first time it clotted quite quickly so I left him alone but tonight I changed his water & he bashed it pretty badly & it didn't seem to be clotting (It's unusually hot here in the UK at the moment so that could be part of the problem). He was losing quite a bit of blood so I had to make the decision to handle him & stem the bleed - stress he didn't need & I'm concerned he won't come around from it as it is, I can't afford to risk this happening again. I can't bind the wing as such due to the wound needing to breath & anything I do now will mean that I have to handle him again, which I really don't want to do but I'm guessing that doing that in a couple of days IF he pulls through tonight's stress would be better than him bashing it again & losing more blood. Anyone any advice/ideas? Thanks.


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## Skyeking

*Thank you for helping this injured wood pigeon.

Rehabbing a wood pigeon is quite different from rehabilitating a feral pigeon as they can be easily stressed and it can be life threatening for them. Please read this link on understanding wood pigeons, you will also find other very useful information:

http://www.pigeonrescue.co.uk/woodpigeon.htm

*


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## Witchy-poos

Thanks, that's why I was so worried about having to handle him again with them being such sensitive birds, but I had no option when the blood kept coming. I managed to get it to stop last night & he's recovered from the stress & seems ok this morning which is a big relief. Problem is that he's just going to bang it again next time he gets stressed at me going to the cage. 

He's been eating & drinking fine, poops are fine & the other smaller wounds that he had have healed well, it's just finding a way to protect that wing while it heals. 
Any input appreciated. Thanks.


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## John_D

With a feral it could be possible to tape the tip of the wing to the body, to prevent damage from flapping, but I'm told that it isn't recommended for a wild woodie. Keeping the cage mostly covered may minimise agitation, but otherwise (as we found with a collared dove) probably the only other option would be to soften the inside of the cage with a material such as bubble wrap.


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## Witchy-poos

Thanks, the bubble wrap sounds a good idea. He has no wing tip to tape  all flight feathers ripped out - either way like you say, a no go for a Woody anyway, and even more so with the bad wound. I'm going to try padding out another larger cage for him & hopefully get him to move himself over to it by putting the two cages together. Thinking that the larger cage may give him a chance to put more distance between himself & me whan I change food & water over & he may not panic as much. The cage is already 3/4 covered, he only has a view of a window until I go to change food & water over. He's up & about today & has been eating & drinking so hopefully non the worse for last night's stress.


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## amyable

HI, I totally sympathise with your plight. I rehab a fair few Woodies and the biggest problem is how to house them while they recover from their injuries.

I've lost a couple through the damage they inflict on themselves during this period as opposed to their original injuries.

I've recently had some long term rescues that had severe cat inflicted injuries and I kept them in small pet carriers but kept the end covered only with a towel as opposed to the hinged door thus enabling me to access them quickly before they had time to 'erupt' into a full blown flap! I found the time it takes to open the door is enough for them to cause themselves some damage in their panic.
I think your idea of having two possible cages/carriers is good as you can get one ready prepared with whatever you put on the bottom and then put them end to end so hopefully the Woodie will move into the clean cage and you can put a towel over the end to prevent escape while you take the other away to clean out, ready to do the same next time.
When I have to handle them I cover their heads immediately they're out of the cage with a soft cloth and this tends to keep them quiet while I bath their wounds etc..
I have found though that they can take far more stress than is thought and have actually heard their hearts pounding in their cage but once left to quieten down they soon settle again.

The biggest problem is when they hit their wings hard against the cage and as you said, it can cause quite a bleed.
Often it's because they've broken a blood feather and this does look horrendous as it bleeds a lot. I put pressure on it with a cotton wool pad and hold it until it stops.

I don't know where exactly you're based but I've been lucky to have found a rescue centre that has an aviary for Woodies and once mine have got their main injuries healed I pass them over if needed so they are then able to finish re-growing any lost feathers etc amongst other Woodies and handling isn't needed until they're ready for release.
I have one at the moment that has lost all flight feathers but isn't too badly injured otherwise but makes such a mess every time I take it out to clean the carrier by shedding all it's downy feathers. It will look like a plucked chicken at this rate. 
Do you have any rescue centres nearby that are pigeon friendly and have such facilities for rehab?

I wish you luck with it's recovery and keep us posted as to how things are going. Good luck.

Janet


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## Witchy-poos

Well, I've left him alone since I last posted and he's fine >sigh of relief< . I put larger food & water bowls in so he can go longer without being disturbed & I can now fill the water bowl from the outside. Had a great tip from a local sanctuary - instead of using newspaper for the bottom of the cage use puppy training pads as they don't make as much noise when you change them so less chance of the bird being startled/panicking. Am padding out another cage with bubble wrap & am going to make a little platform inside it for food & water bowls so that they're just raised off the floor enough that I don't need to go in & remove the bowls to change the paper/pad - I'll be able to just slide out the tray.
Thanks for all your tips Janet, every bit of info helps. I have had a lot of birds here to rehab including ferals & other woodys & all sorts of other species, but never had a wound quite this bad on a bird quite so panicky lol.
I do have a local sanctuary that he can go to once the wound is all healed, I take a lot of my recovering/hand reared birds there once they're ready for the next step - they're fabulous & I know that they're in good hands there.


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## John_D

Oh yes, the puppy pads are great. We used to get couch roll for our cages but the paper is thin and not too comfortable in a wire bottomed cage.


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## amyable

Hi, sounds as if you're getting things well sorted for your Woodie.

I had a call from my daughter today just after she'd driven over to her boyfriend's house about 10 minutes away. An injured Woodie had walked across a busy dual carriageway in front of her car and although they'd chased it, couldn't get hold of it. A quick drive over there with my net and hey presto....another in patient. Obviously been clipped by a car and has some nasty gashes but thankfully no breaks!!!
Yet another very stressed adult so I may try yours and John's ideas myself and get some bubble wrap and pads!!!! 

I spent weeks last winter building and small aviary inside my own birds flight area. I made it with a hatch so I could put food and water in without disturbing the bird and also built it off the ground so any poops drop onto the ground through a wire base so don't have to get the bird out to clean. Sadly the Woodie I'd built it for died before I'd finished it. I've not used it for another Woodie yet, just feral rescues as I'm concerned they will hurt themselves by thrashing against the wire as they see other Woodies in the garden.
I think I'll try and adapt it and pad it out as suggested now and give one of these birds a go in there. It would make things much easier if they can be left quietly to re-grow their feathers once their wounds aren't in need of daily treatment.
I took three birds to another rescue centre today for release and was glad to see they had an aviary with some younger woodies in getting ready for release away from their normal release aviary used for smaller birds.
If you don't mind me asking, what area are you in as it's always good to hear of places that will take pigeons in for release.
Good luck and hope things carry on improving.

Janet


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## Witchy-poos

Hi, well, he's now in the newly padded out cage. He managed to bang his wing on the way through to it believe it or not (I put the two cages together & left him to it) but thankfully only a small bleed so good news. The new cage is slightly bigger and I've put his perch further back so there s a bigger distance between him & the door/food & water bowls in the hope that next time I go in he won't startle as easily. He wasn't as stressed with him not being handled this time. I think one of the main things with the bubble wrap idea along with the padding, is that he can no longer grab hold of the bars & flap repeatedly - which is what did the damage last time. He now has puppy pads instead of paper, we'll see how they go.
Janet, your mini aviary sounds great, what a fab idea. I'm in Lancashire & I use Greenmount Wild Bird Sanctuary in Bury (Manchester), they are fantastic, from over the phone advice to taking birds in. I've rehabbed/reared a lot of birds over the years & any that just need that final step with no intense TLC go there. They have open flights & lots of land and of course are likely to have other birds of the same species - so it's just perfect.


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## Witchy-poos

Well, he's done great  the bad injury on his wing has healed almost completely, just one small scab left. His flight feathers have grown back fully & he's looking really well. The puppy pads didn't work out due to the fact that every time he flapped his wings the pads flew up & ended up in a pile at the front of the cage lol. Swapped back to newspaper. The big helpers were the bubble wrap & only going in every 3rd day to give the wing time to heal between flapping sessions!! Meant I had to leave his cage dirty for the in between days but he was on a perch so it was ok (other than it stank the house out lol). He's leaving me today to go to an open flight at the sanctuary so he can build up his wings again after resting & then leave when he wants to - with a food supply to return to. So pleased he's ok, thanks everyone fo your help & advice


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## Larry_Cologne

I've had to use a plastic laundry basket in a pinch. Covered it with a towel or two. Easy to clean afterwards. 

Sometimes I use several dish towels, since I then have to wash only the dirtiest ones immediately. For a long-term convalescence, I will rinse out the poops if I use the towel as flooring to absorb messy poops, then dry the towels on the line and reuse them. (I don't do this if I suspect the bird has something contagious like PMV or pox, 

You could cover the approach sides, where you are visible to the bird. Then lower the towel on the bird suddenly, immobilising him. 

If you use two baskets, you can transfer the bird from the dirty basket to a clean, prepared basket, thus minimising the time the bird is under stress from your proximity. 

I have thrown my jacket over feral pigeons needing rescue. Usually I need a helper to corner the bird needing rescue, since I am getting older and slower, and I thus have a better chance of catching the bird without injury.

I use slow movements when I am around a wild, injured bird. They instinctively react to something moving quickly near them.

When changing water or food, I often quickly swap one dish for another. 

My most-used container for feral pigeons (not wood pigeons) is a pet carrier.

You probably know most of these things, but some others new to rescuing might find them interesting, and maybe useful.


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