New hurted pigeon in my home

hello dear friends,
I'm here again after a long time... andnow I've a new pigeon that I've to save...
I think it's a male one because it's really big, even if he's relly thin... =( He has a eye that is almost white, it lose the most part of his beatiful orange color.
He has a hurted wing, now it's sunday, so my vet specialized in pigeons is closed, I'll take him tomorrow to my vet, now I gave him water with vitamines and food.
I controlled his throat, I hadn't see any plaque or catarrh, so I think he hasn't got any pathology to respiratory system, also their feet are beatiful and red.
He has as I just said bad eyes and lore and around eyes are dry.
What do you think about him ?

Hello again, Marta!

I can't really advise you on the eye, as I'm not sure what's going on. Could it be an old injury, blindness even? Ornithosis, mycoplasmosis, pox and canker can affect the eyes by causing growths or inflammation of the lids, and sometimes the swelling leaves only a part of the iris visible, but you didn't mention any swelling... It would be good to see a photo.
The dryness around the eyes could be dehydration or inflammation.

About his hurt wing, does it hang, is there any swelling, does he try to move it? It's quite late now, and you'll be in bed for sure, so rather than suggest ways to examine his wing to find out what the problem is, let's just wit and see what the vet says later on today.

I hope your vet gives him a wormer -- not Fenbendazole/Panacur -- because very thin birds usually have worms, and they're very debilitating.

Please let us know how it goes!

This is the pigeon when I found him. However his eye is really better! Yesterday night it was yellow, so I think he was only hungry.
Could it be?

And this was his eye yesterday



I think today he's better. But I will stay better when I'll be in my vet clinic
The wing doesn't seem to be really bad, he lose some feather, and he take it sometimes stretch, but I hope it will be fine soon..

i have to tell you a bad piece of news... his wing is seriusly damaged, he can't fly again.
I will not fly again in his life...
He is healty, a part of parasites, but he will not able to fly away.... I'm a little sad for this...
What could I do? Do you know anyone here in Italy that welcomes pigeon like him ? I don't want for him a bad life... but I'm not sure he could stay forever with me, I have no cages, and I have to travel a lot because I'm a student in an other city... what could I do?

Oh dear... poor bird, and what a difficult situation for you!
What did the vet say, is his wing broken?

I only know another person in Italy who keeps pigeons, but she's finding it very hard and she tried to find homes for hers, without success so far.
Did you ask your vet if he knows anyone who would take him? Or an animal rescue (though many of them don't take pigeons)?
I wish I was closer, cause I would keep him. Fancy a trip to Portugal?

yes, his wing is broken...but the terrible thing it's that is broken whre ther is wrist, in carpus, so it's a terrible fracture.
My vet said that I've to think about the possibiltiy to cut him a part of wing if he will drag it touching the ground... he could get hurt and he could dirty it and pathogen could proliferate.
I hope I haven't to do this surgery... well, now is too much weak to do anytype of surgery, I gave him appertex (calzuril), enrofloxacin, clorexydina and tomorrow I'll give him something for mite because he's full of them...=(
yeah, a trip to Portugal it's a little fancy =) t thank you!

If I will not find someone who will take care of him maybe I could take him with me =P But I have no cage... it's possible to breed a pigeon like that without a cage? He's really good... poor guy, I gave him the pastille of clazuril, and I haven't to do any effort,I could open his beak with one hand without many problems, and he spit the pastille only once time!
Cute piji!!!!

You will need to see how he moves, and if the wing dragging really is a problem. Some pigeons need that surgery, but others don't. And sometimes just cutting the tips of the longest feathers is enough. It all depends on how comfortable he is and if there is risk of infection or of him catching the wing with his foot.

Does he need chlorexydine if he's also taking enrofloxacin? Did the vet prescribe that?

A large cat carrier can be great for carrying pigeons and also makes a good temporary pigeon bedroom, and it's not expensive. You can keep a pigeon in all sorts of ways, lol, even in the house with you, but in that case it's best to put him in pigeon diapers, to avoid poop on the furniture... or your head!
The best cages are the ones for rabbits, long and not too high and with a large door, so don't buy those expensive ones for parrots, they're the wrong proportions and really difficult to transform into a pigeon home. A simple cage 45cm wide X 75cm long X 45cm high is fine for one pigeon. The cheapest I've seen was in a Chinese shop for about €30.

I show you the hurted wing

And this is a picture about his poops, they are quite strange... maybe because of antibiotic and calzuril?



I'm giving him the antibiotic by oral way instead I give him clorexidina only on his wing by a spray.
Where do you buy pigeon nappies?

p.s. sorry for the quality of the pictures
However, I saw today Ottaviano flying a little, he was flitting, not a real flight, but I was happy (he escaped from the box where I put him because I removed the cover to leave him to have a sun bath, it was a funny moment seeing me running after a pigeon...heheh^^")

Ottaviano? Love the name!!!

You know, he really doesn't look as bad as I expected, nor his eye or his poops either!

The injury on his wing looks terrible, but not as bad as my Piper's was when I found her. Look at this photo, taken when her wing was already healing. The wound was a 6 cm bite mark with very deep puncture wounds at both ends (dog bite) -- you can see the top puncure, and the bottom one is under some feathers. Many of her wrist and finger bones were shattered. The yellow is pus.



You can see her wing hangs down lower than Ottaviano's. However, Piper can fly just a little now, not enough to be released, but enough to get around the house. She hasn't had surgery for that wing. On a couple of occasions I considered cutting the longest feathers shorter, but didn't do it, as she can lift the wing at the shoulder and get it out of her way. Sometimes that wing tip gets a little dirty, but that's not a problem, a nice bath and she's as good as new.
The injury on Ottaviano's wing is very far away from the part of the wing that can touch the ground, so I don't think there's any chance of infection.
Here is Piper again, more recently:



His eye looks fine! Some pigeons have very pale eyes, and I think yours is one of those. He must have lost a lot of blood when he got injured, so it's possible that, as in people, when they are anaemic their eyes also look paler.

The poops are not alarming either. There should be three components: solid matter (brownish or greenish, formed into a little ball or a spiral), urates (solid urine, which forms a white cap on the solid matter) and a little liquid. So you see, it's really very close to being perfectly normal.
The white urates are very good news, because when there is a serious infection they turn yellow, and when the bird is dehydrated they disappear.
The liquid component could be a little less, but it may just be because he's getting a higher amount of water than usual in his diet. It certainly gives no immediate cause for concern.

The ceres, the two little white lumps at the base of a pigeon's beak, should be white on a healthy adult, and in Ottaviano's case they are! If you compare the two photos of Piper, they are white on the second photo, but on the first they look dirty. That shows that she wasn't well.

All in all, I think Ottaviano was very lucky that you found him when you did, and he's doing VERY WELL in spite of the trauma!
If you google 'pigeons as pets' you will find the blog of our member Revati (Mrs.AviatorRodent). She and her husband have two disabled house pigeons, love telling their adventures, and can also give you lots of advice on keeping pigeons in the house. Have a look, the blog is brilliant!

About pigeon nappies, I think you can only buy them online, and my guess is you'll have to look for them in the USA, where they are called 'pigeon diapers'.
I know we have some information in the forum about them, and I'll try to find it later.
As you can see, Piper loves to perch on the landing board I made for her cage. From there she can see everything around her... and poop on the floor! Pigeons always prefer to poop outside their home, if they can. Knowing that, a newspaper placed on the floor underneath her landing board is perfect for catching the poops. Then I remove it and put another one there. Easy!

PS. Thanks for explaining about the two antibiotics. If the chlorexidine is just to spray on the wing that makes perfect sense!

PPS. I do NOT recommend the cage that Piper has. It's very difficult to clean and to adapt for pigeons with specific needs, and with such a large area and small door it's difficult to catch a pigeon (for medication) who doesn't want to be caught. Besides, it cost me a fortune!!!

thankyou Teresa ! As always you are my rescuer!

The eye is more dark now, do you know? And maybe it was because he was really weak as you said and he lose blood.
He's a cute pigeon =) But he's always afraid from me... I'm starting the "food-therapy", that is giving him the more inviting food haha
I leave you some pictures of the temporary cage I did for him...








Ok, it's horrible to see scotch around bracnhes... but this was a cage for rabbits... in my animal association base there wasn't a good aviary, so I have to make do.

I have to give him antibiotc 3 days yet!

He's a gorgeous boy!!!
He's got white eyebrows, lol, which make his eyelids look swollen from the distance, but his eyes seem fine!

Don't worry about the scotch tape, we all have to improvise with what we have when we need a cage in a hurry!
Later on I'll try to post some pics of ways to get round that and easy ways to make accessories.

You know what he would really appreciate in his new home? A platform, or a shelf. Pigeons love to perch, pretend they're on a high roof looking at the view! Or, even simpler, a brick, or something the shape of a brick -- even a shoe box with a stone inside it (so it doesn't tip over) and covered in something that can be wiped. I use plastic or sticky-back plasticised paper, and then wrap it in newspaper or similar. Then when the newspaper gets dirty, I take it off and put another one over the box. The box itself can be wiped clean and lasts for quite a while.

Yeah!! I'll build him a platform! =) he'll enjoy it, I'm sure.
I have a question, he's always scared from me, I've no problem to give him antibiotic because even if he try to runaway I catch him without problems... but I'm sad he is in this kind of condition...
what do you suggest to make him less scared and to start to be more friendly with humans ? I don't know if I'll take him for all his life with me, but I don't want he's scared from me or from his new possible human firend...

I can understand your feelings, but he's an adult and he grew up with very little human contact, having been taught by the parents to stay away from possible predators -- including human ones. It takes time to develop trust, and the older the pigeon is, the longer it takes.
Your best chance of success is to move slowly around him, when you touch him try to keep your hands below his eye level (less of a threat), speak softly to him, and when you discover which are his favourite foods, offer him those from your hand. As he gets used to you, he may also enjoy it if you gently scratch the feathers on his face, like you're preening him.
It's all very much a matter of time. Good luck!

I show you a little update!
Here are some new pictures of my new friends =)




the baby now stay always together the adult one... they are too cute

What a happy pair! You're right, they're so cute together!!!

I have some new pictures to show you...
One of them is the wound of Ottaviano, he fly 2 meter tall some days ago and the crust that he has in his wing went away, so he started to loose blood...but now he's better, I gave him a gel that stimulate the healing of the wound, and now the wing is better, maybe it was good that the crust went away, because it was only a blood-crust, and now he could heal better.



and then I have to say you a big news : Ottaviano and Nocciola are now in a better place with a lot of other pigeons!!!
I talk better with the girl who has got the aviary, and there are not hawks... so they could live without problems there!!!
Oh, and the girl will take Ottaviano close in the aviary for a month, so he will get used of the new enviroment.

Here some pictures of my two cutie-pie and their new beatiful home!

Ottaviano Cesare Augusto and his beatiful eye



Nocciola! Little rascal =) (I'll show you also a video)



And their new friends(a lot of them were saved from dead because one breeder don't want them) and home!!!

I write again to leave you a beatiful picture made by the new human friend of my rescued pigeons, she went in the night to take this pic, and you could see both two relaxing on nests of other pigeons, even if she built one for them on the bottom of the structure =)
However the other pigeons like to sleep on perches =)

Great pictures, Marta, and I'm so glad Ottaviano and Nocciola can enjoy a comfortable, safe life in the company of other pigeons! Thank you for the happy update!
That wound looks quite deep, and the healing jel must be helping. Is your friend treating him with it?

PS. How did Ottaviano get up to a higher nest box? I don't see a ladder...

The answer is simple, he flyed!
I don't know how he can do it, because I saw the broken wing and I could see the bone, so it was a big and bad fracture, but also in my room he could fly 2 meter tall... it's a strong pidgeon.
Yed, my friend is treating him, I gave her the gel so she can continue the therapy.

How wonderful!!!!

I just want to say these two good news:

Nocciola is now a beatiful pigeon and lives with the other pigeons of my friend
Ottaviano can fly as other pigeons ! Well, he has some little problems to turn in the first time, but now he's perfect... and the thing that I love more is that... he found a mate!!!
Infact he's leaving my firends aviary, she said he came back once a day, but she saw him with an other pigeon, flying and stay together. He comes back to the aviary to find food, and he comes with his mate.
I'm really happy.

That's really good news!!! I'm so happy to hear that he's healed completely, has a mate, and is enjoying his freedom fully!
Congratulations to you and your friend for a brilliant job!