# Very sick female feral pigeon cant walk



## Shannonplunk21 (Feb 12, 2017)

I have recently rescued a wild female feral and she was very very ill in the beginning, very bad diarhea and cannot walk at all, while shes gotten much better health wise she still cant use her legs and I've desperately been trying to help her, giving her muscle therapy, massaging her legs so she gets enough blood circulation, she can now move her legs but she still cannot stand or walk yet and so when she wants to get going somewhere she just frantically flaps on along the ground dragging her legs behind her I'm very worried that this is not good for her wings nor us it good for her legs, Ive had to unfortunately wrap her in cut up sock just so she doesnt over exert herself. She eats very and drink well too but what else can I do for her? Will she ever learn to walk again?


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

Are you keeping her indoors? She might need some extra calcium. You'll get that from a petshop or can order from www.diamondpigeonstud.co.za. Get the calcium in liquid then you can just add to her drinking water.

What was wrong with her when you found her?


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## FredaH (Apr 5, 2016)

When you get the calcium try giving her a dose directly down the back of her throat with a needless syringe, that's what I do with one of my house pigeon girls because she doesn't take enough water for her needs - unlike the other girls. I give her 0.1ml from a thin diabetic syringe twice a week and add to her water too. Losing the ability to walk and fly can be down to calcium deficiency and is remided quickly once calcium gets into the system. I'd dose your girl 0.1ml each day for three days and then twice a week.


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## Shannonplunk21 (Feb 12, 2017)

Thats actually a very good idea I never thought of that, we think she may have gotten botulism because unfortunately the pigeons here in the city often go through the dumpsters and garbage looking for food.


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## Shannonplunk21 (Feb 12, 2017)

She couldnt move much at all when we found her and we weren't sure if she'd make the night but she did and she's gotten a lot better but still can't walk and is hurting herself from trying


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## Shannonplunk21 (Feb 12, 2017)

Yes she,s staying in my bedroom with me so I can check on her in the night to make sure she doesnt get too hot or too cold or has put herself in an awkward position (as she has already done)


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## Shannonplunk21 (Feb 12, 2017)

I let her go outside in the day for exercise and fresh air, sunshine ect but she'll get herself in such a state flapping and dragging herself for hours that I actually have to bound her up again because she hurts herself.


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

A photo of the pigeon would be nice. I would rather keep her in a smallish cage on soft bedding with water and food close by. Doesn't she lose her balance when wrapped up in a sock? Seems in a bit cruel to me doing that.


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## Shannonplunk21 (Feb 12, 2017)

No shes comfortable, her feet are free and she can move around if she wants but she can neither stand nor walk, I only put it on her at night because she just keeps flapping and doesnt stop


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## Shannonplunk21 (Feb 12, 2017)

I always keep her in a comfortable state with soft bedding and a small cage sometimes she sits next to me on my bed


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## Shannonplunk21 (Feb 12, 2017)

As you can see her one leg just hangs


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## Shannonplunk21 (Feb 12, 2017)

Sorry about the photos being upside down not sure why that is haha


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## FredaH (Apr 5, 2016)

It seems putting her outside just stresses her out because she wants to be free, she's also open to predators in that state so I'd keep her indoors until she's better personally and I wouldn't wrap anything around her to freak her out further. Confine her in a cage with seed and a water dish within reach, give her direct calcium and make a donut ring shape out of a towel for her to sit in comfortably, placing her legs beneath her in a natural position. You don't want her weight on them when they are stretched out behind her. I've seen posts of female pigeons unable to move, virtually paralysed that have improved within hours of being given calcium + vit D supplement. Make sure the tiny tip of the syringe goes right beyond her tongue and even though it's a tiny amount give it in two small 'pushes' of the syringe so as she swallows and it doesn't go down her air hole under her tongue. 
It may be something entirely different to calcium deficiency but that's what I'd try first - as well as monitoring her poop for signs of other problems and checking her throat is clear of canker because poorly birds often develop that too. 
I hope she pulls through and please let's know how she gets on. Thanks for helping the poor little girl.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Make sure the calcium supplement also has the vit. D3 in it, or it won't do her much good.
Are you sure the legs aren't injured or broken?


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## Shannonplunk21 (Feb 12, 2017)

Okay sure thing, thanks for the advice, is it also possible to get calcium in her with certain food?


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## Shannonplunk21 (Feb 12, 2017)

Her legs seem fine themselves but her feet have a lot of calluses on them do you think that could be causing her discomfort?


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## Shannonplunk21 (Feb 12, 2017)

Her poop has gotten a much better consistency now its not horribly foul smelling as it was and its no longer a sickly brown colour


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## Shannonplunk21 (Feb 12, 2017)

Good news!!! Astra (which is what we decided to call her) is starting to use her legs again! She's actually trying to push against the ground with her feet.


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

Very glad to hear Astra is doing better!


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

How long have you had her? Maybe she just needs time to recover.


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## Shannonplunk21 (Feb 12, 2017)

Yeah I think so too, we've had her for over 2 weeks now


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## Shannonplunk21 (Feb 12, 2017)

I also have another pigeon that I rescued previously a male, I'm not completely sure what breed he is but when I found him he was only a few weeks old and extremely dehydrated and starving, I soon realised though that his behaviour was strange for a pigeon and he couldn't seem to notice food that was on the ground right in front of him. I decided to have a close look at his eyes and found that both of his eyes were partially cloudy, this left me to conclude that he was quite blind and could only see things that were very close to him. But he pulled through and is very healthy beautiful young man now ?


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## Shannonplunk21 (Feb 12, 2017)

Isnt he a handsome boy?


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

Yes, he's quite handsome. Are you going to keep both? How does the female react to him? If possible, built them a nice aviary outside and you will have 2 happy pigeons forever.


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## Shannonplunk21 (Feb 12, 2017)

Thats the plan we're going to start building it as soon as we've bought the materials. She doesnt really mind him but hes quite wary of her because she flaps so much to get around and it scares him I think ?so hes not too keen at the moment.


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## Shannonplunk21 (Feb 12, 2017)

Or sometimes he just stares at her for hours not sure what that means


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## Shannonplunk21 (Feb 12, 2017)

How can I help Astra groom herself?? Because at the moment her legs are still too weak for her to balance on and every time she tries she just falls over and her feathers are becoming a complete wreck.


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

Is she tame or really scared of you? Pigeons love to bath. Maybe you can put her in a shallow dish of water (not too cold) and see how she reacts to that. Just supervise her for in case she falls over. Put her in a sunny spot afterwards to dry off.


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## Shannonplunk21 (Feb 12, 2017)

She's wary that's about it she's quite a calm bird aside from when she wants to go somewhere, shes used to me holding her and feeding her now, I have put her in a large container with water in it and she seemed to just enjoy floating for a little bit and that's about it then she wanted to get out. It gets very hot here in the summer and since its summer now I have to monitor her temperature because obviously she cant really do much for herself yet so I've given her small dips in the container and wet her a little bit on her feathers just so she cools down properly then I let her dry on an old towl in a sunny area.


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## Shannonplunk21 (Feb 12, 2017)

The problem is she can't comb her feathers and I think this frustrates her because my other pigeon can get very OCD with his grooming and is very thorough.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Are you sure the legs hadn't been broken? Or splayed? If she has such calluses on her feet, then she could have been like this for quite a while.


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## Shannonplunk21 (Feb 12, 2017)

Only her one foot has calluses on it, they could be splayed because her one is leg are a bit skew but it's not broken


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## Shannonplunk21 (Feb 12, 2017)

Sorry that sounded weird, let me rephrase that, only her one leg is skew and that one doesnt have calluses on it. The straight leg does


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## FredaH (Apr 5, 2016)

As I said previously you could use a rolled towel made into a donut ring shape and place her in the middle so as she can't fall over and maybe she could preen herself.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

She may very well have broken the leg and it healed wrong, or become splayed when young, and always been like that. That could account for the calluses, and the leg going out like that. If either if those 2 scenarios are right, then she needs more than calcium. The leg would have had to be set right if it were broken, or brought back into the right position while the bird was growing. If either of those things is going on, she would need a good avian surgeon to fix them.

For now though, Freda's idea of the towel nest is a good one.
I had a splayed house pigeon for several years, who could fly, and I had a soft nest like that on a shelf by my computer for him to sit in and keep me company. It worked great for him as it does hold them steady for preening and such.


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## Shannonplunk21 (Feb 12, 2017)

Thanks so much for the advice! I'll make sure to do that, also another thing is there any way I can get her to calm down a bit when she gets into her flapping mode theres almost nothing I can do to stop her and I dont want her to hurt herself anymore than she already has as she's scraped some feathers and skin off her one wing, its like shes desperately trying to get somewhere, do you think its possible she has a nest she wants to back too?


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## Shannonplunk21 (Feb 12, 2017)

Also I'd like to know how I can get her to trust me more because at the moment she only trusts me enough to feed and water her and pick her up. And also what kind of affection can I give her? I always just stroke my male's feathers and scratch his head, would she enjoy that too?


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## Shannonplunk21 (Feb 12, 2017)

He purrs when I give him affection


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

If you live in a big city, try to get hold of a decent avian vet (not one that only do cats and dogs). Since you are going to keep her, at least try to find out exactly what is wrong with her. First go for a consultation (won't cost that much) and then get an estimate for further treatment. Then decide if you want to spend more having her treated. Just don't let the vet try to persuade you to have her put down.

Reg the flapping. She's just trying to fly, that's normal for a pigeon. When does she do that? At nighttime or during the day as well? They like to perch high especially at night, so maybe put her cage in a high spot to make her feel safer.

Pigeons love chopped up unsalted peanuts. You can offer her that to gain her trust. Have you tried scratching her around the eyes and head? I have a pigeon that had PMV, and she would just love it when I did that to her. If she can't groom herself, a good scratch might be appreciated.


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## Shannonplunk21 (Feb 12, 2017)

Okay I'll find out if we have an avian vet here, our city isn't a very large one but I'll make sure and check if we have one, Astra is making very good progress she was putting one foot in front of the other while flapping so I think that's a good sign. Also lately (Chicken) my male pigeon, is some reason not eating his normal food and only wants to eat greens. Any particular reason why?


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

Pigeons like their greens, especially spinach. He will switch back to seeds once he's filled up on the greens. Maybe a shortage of some vitamins that only can be provided by the greens.


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## Shannonplunk21 (Feb 12, 2017)

Ah I see well I'm glad he listens to his body's needs?


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## Shannonplunk21 (Feb 12, 2017)

Astra won't eat any greens I offer her and she doesn't like peas or corn either only seed and bread, I'm going to get some unsalted peanuts tomorrow and see how she finds them.


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

Chop the peanuts into smaller pieces and mix it with her food. Once she tastes them, she will love it. Then you can start offering her some in your hand. Give no more than twice a week, peanuts are quite fatty and too much won't be good for her in the long run.


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## Shannonplunk21 (Feb 12, 2017)

Okay cool thanks I'll do that she already eats from my hands ?


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## Shannonplunk21 (Feb 12, 2017)

Update on Astra: 
Astra is doing very well and getting stronger, I helped her to stand on her own and gently propelled her forwards and she started putting one foot in front of the other! All she needs now is to gain muscle strength in her legs. The only one thing that still worries me is that she still has very bad diarhea which throughout all this has only gotten slightly better but nothing more, I've give her a small amount of activated charcoal which has helped but her diarhea still comes back afterwards. What else can I try?


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

You can put apple cider vinegar in her drinking water 3 times a week. 5 ml to 1l of water. It helps to restore the good gut bacteria. Your pigeons will also benefit from probiotics in the drinking water on a regular basis. You can order this from diamondpigeonstud in Kimberley.

Glad she's doing much better. Hopefully once her legs are strong enough, she will be able to take off and fly again.


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

Does she have access to grit? You can get that from Kimberley as well.


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## Shannonplunk21 (Feb 12, 2017)

Oh okay thanks so much I'll definitely try the apple cider vinegar, what would the grit be for?


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

It helps them to grind the seed they eat so they need it for digestion. Also many brands of grit add minerals they need to it.


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## Shannonplunk21 (Feb 12, 2017)

Oh I see! That makes sense I'll definitely be on the lookout for grit then ?


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## Shannonplunk21 (Feb 12, 2017)

Also I'm curious to find out what breed of pigeon Chicken is (my male rescue pigeon) because hes quite different from Astra in size, colour and shape.


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## Shannonplunk21 (Feb 12, 2017)

Jay3 you seem to be an expert on this site, would you know?


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

I'm no expert, but if you post his picture we can all try to figure out what breed he is. There are people on here who are much better at picking out the different breeds than I am.


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## Shannonplunk21 (Feb 12, 2017)

Ooh I see okay thanks very much I'll do that


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## Shannonplunk21 (Feb 12, 2017)

If you look closely in the photo with the close up of his head you'll see how his eye is half bluish. Both eyes are unfortunately this way.


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## Shannonplunk21 (Feb 12, 2017)

Sometimes he reminds of a dove


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## Shannonplunk21 (Feb 12, 2017)

Sorry he reminds me of a dove, because I've raised three doves in the past, 2 laughing doves and one hybrid


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## Shannonplunk21 (Feb 12, 2017)

Any idea what breed he is? He seems completely different to Astra


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## FredaH (Apr 5, 2016)

I'm new to pigeons and wouldn't know what breed he is but a lovely looking boy all the same.


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## Shannonplunk21 (Feb 12, 2017)

Aww thanks he's a lovely boy if a little grumpy at times.


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## FredaH (Apr 5, 2016)

Typical boy then.


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## Shannonplunk21 (Feb 12, 2017)

Hahahaha yeah do all male pigeons get like that?


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## Shannonplunk21 (Feb 12, 2017)

They didnt think much of the peanuts


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## FredaH (Apr 5, 2016)

Mine didn't either the first few times I gave them but I crushed them into small pieces and mixed them in with their food and now they know what they are as soon as I get them out, lol. I don't give them whole because of choking them but they love their peanuts now, and hemp seeds as a treat. 
The boys are more grumpy than the girls and more bitey too but such characters that it draws you to them even more.


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## Shannonplunk21 (Feb 12, 2017)

Oh I see! I'll do that then  yeah sometimes he just wants to attack everyone XD


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

How is your pigeon doing? Any improvement in the walking and flying?


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Shannonplunk21 said:


> They didnt think much of the peanuts


They didn't recognize the peanuts as a food source, so they don't eat them. What I do is to chop them to bite size and mix them into their feed dish. Eventually they will try them. Once they do, they love them. But they don't know that till you get them to try them. They they will come to you for the treat.


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## Shannonplunk21 (Feb 12, 2017)

Unfortunately shes still not completely better still can't stand or walk but her legs are getting stronger, I took her to the vet but we dont have any avien vets here but I took her anyway to see if he could help, and he told me that its very likely that she had botulism poisoning and that most likely caused her paralysis and muscle loss, he told me that I can put her on antibiotics and hope for the best... So I dont actually know if she will ever waln again or not but I do know that she has made a huge amount of progress.


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## Shannonplunk21 (Feb 12, 2017)

Thanks yes I have been mixing it in their seed and Astra has been eating it but Chicken struggles to eat seed because of his blindness although I have seen him peck at it but I'm not sure hes actually swollowing it.


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

Don't think antibiotics will help for botulism. With botulism they either die or recover as soon as the toxins are out of the system. At least she's in good hands and hopefully in time will recover.


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## Shannonplunk21 (Feb 12, 2017)

Yes I think she just needs time they say that if the bird survives after 48 hours then it'll live and we've had her for nearly three weeks now and shes still alive. My parents keep wanting me to put her down, they say she's suffering D: but she's come so far from what she was like when we found her and I feel like it'll be such a huge waste to have her put down now.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Why did the vet think it was botulism poisoning? It wasn't a bird vet, and if he was guessing, then he can't really know. Regular vets don't know enough about birds. If he did know, then wouldn't have suggested antibiotics for it.
Don't go with the idea that this is botulism, as you will then stop looking to figure out what it actually is, and could miss something. This could even have been an injury where she hurt her spine. You just don't know.
Probably a simple splay that went untreated. If that be the case, then she won't get any better.


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## Shannonplunk21 (Feb 12, 2017)

Very true, I haven't stopped looking to find out what she has, she can technically fly but because she cant stand she cant get herself in the air, her legs do move a lot now which is a huge progress from she was before which was no movement at all so I'm not sure if it is her spine or maybe its her pelvis that is damaged. But she still has quite bad diarhea and its extremely foul smelling, but the consistency has gotten better slowly over time.


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## Shannonplunk21 (Feb 12, 2017)

She's even started to groom herself a little bit which is just as well because her feathers are in an awful state


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Could she have cocci?


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## Shannonplunk21 (Feb 12, 2017)

Do you mean Coccidiosis?


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Yes, that is what I mean.


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## Shannonplunk21 (Feb 12, 2017)

Hmm it's possible but she has no loss of energy in the slightest nor does she not eat, she eats a lot


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## MET_AXA (Jun 6, 2021)

I just saw this article. 
How is this little pigeon doing now?


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