Taylor, my special beak pigeon :)

My name is Saska, I rescued my very first pigeon when I was about 9 years old, she was orphaned when a raccoon killed both of her parents in a coop at my mothers friends house, everyone thought the baby was too weak and young to survive, but I had faith in her and carried her out into the woods by myself, just her in one hand and some wheat berry seeds in the other, she was no more then a week old as she laid motionless in my hand, so I chewed up the seeds and cooed to her as a parent would, she opened her eyes to little slits and tried to pick up her head with her weak little neck, she let out the quietest little 'peeeep' and right then and there I knew I wanted to help pigeons for the rest of my life :)
I walked back to the cabin with a fat happy little pigeon and I was her new mom. I now have access to syringes and feeding tubes, but back when I was a little kid I just fed her how I saw a mama pigeon feed her baby haha. I named her Peepers and she lived a wonderful life :)

That was 17 years ago and helping pigeons is still the most important thing in my life.
And the pigeon in my life right now is Taylor :)

Taylor was found as a 4 day old featherless baby almost stuck to a San Antonio sidewalk from dehydration in 100 degree heat. Luckily a woman happened to see her and took her to the Humane Society, where she spent an hour or two before being picked up and driven 45 miles north to a tiny little town called Kendalia, where I was in the middle of a six month internship working with a veterinarian at a wildlife rescue. Her tiny little helpless body reminded me of peepers and I instantly fell in love with her. We gave her fluids and put her in an incubator in the pigeon and dove room overnight.
The next morning I went in at 5 am and the vet had already taken a look at her and discovered a lump on the lower right side of her beak and feared pox.. she was correct because in the coming week she started to show more signs, and lumps began to form on her legs and feet.. the lump on her beak grew the largest and took the longest to subside, leaving her beak permanently deformed..
We tried all types of ways to reset her beak, but our facilities didn't have what it was going to take.
The vet tech thought it was a good idea to try to cut her bottom beak in half.. It caused so much bleeding they needed to cauterize it, but she had already swallowed so much blood that she aspirated and needed to be put on medication and her breathing sounded wet for days. :(

Then one day in a meeting it was brought up that "Special beak pigeon" was to be euthanized due to her 'quality of life.'
So I tried and tried with all different types of deep dishes to get her to learn to eat but nothing was working. She learned to drink water, learned to fly in the outdoor aviary and otherwise seemed happy and healthy and didn't seem to be concerned or bothered by her miss-shaped beak. So I asked them if I could work with her just a bit longer, at this point I was so attached to her my eyes would start to tear up with even the thought of her being put down.
The vet was on my side throughout the whole thing so they let me work with her till my internship was done.
But then my last week came, Taylor was now 3 months old and still had never picked up a seed. She was beginning to mature and starting to think of me as a mate rather then a mom so I knew I could not leave her.
Our company had a very strict "No 'wild' animals as pets" rule so I was planning my escape with her, but the vet realized how important it was and talked to the head people in charge and explained the whole story and 3 days later they agreed that I was able to adopt her!

I had already bought my plane ticket to California, had family at hotels waiting for me and southwest doesn't allow pigeons on board (Grrr) so at the last minute my friend offered to drive Taylor the 1,800 mile trip for me, she was an intern with me so I knew I could trust her with the feeding, and had to leave them both at the airport.. :(

It took her an entire week because she had stops along the way, but finally it was the day to drive to Sacramento and pick up Taylor! When I got there she was in the middle of her molt, skinny and stressed from the road trip and looked terrible! She had a lump in her ear canal bigger then her eye so I quickly took her to the vet, they removed the lump (most likely a pox lesion) and charged me 100's of dollars for it. (I know you are supposed to let them dry out on their own but this one was obstructing the entire side of her face and was under her skin, plus the vet wasn't being clear on what they were doing.)
I finally got to bring her home, she was so happy to see me and wouldn't let me go more then 2 feet away without following me.
I thought all was good till she scratched the side of her face, and even though I had trimmed her nails, tore all her stitches out and started bleeding everywhere.. I cleaned her up and she snuggled up beside me and took a nap.
As I laid next to her watching how peaceful she looked in dreamland, it was so surprising to me that despite all that she has been through, all the trips to the vet, nearly 2,000 miles on the road, almost being euthanized and dealing with the stress of her first molt, that she could be so happy and trusting with such a pure little heart.
She is doing really well now and her 1st birthday is in less then two weeks!
I don't know if or when she will ever pick up a seed on her own, but I do know I will continue to feed her for as long as it takes :)

That is such an amazing story and even though I heard you tell it in person, it still brought tears to my eyes. Thank you for sharing your story with every one else.

Taylor is one lucky bird to have ended up in your care.

Are you still hand feeding her every day, Saska?

Welcome to Pigeon Angels. Will be looking forward to hearing more about Taylor, and we love pictures too.

Here's some more pictures of the visit we had in May.

http://www.pigeonangels.com/about-you-f30/i-had-a-couple-of-very-special-visitors-today-t1688.htm

First and foremost, it's great to have you here, Saska.
Thanks for sharing your first 'pigeon' adventure and Taylor's story with us.
A true you are.

Taylor is beautiful.
I am so glad she's getting along well.

We look forward to hearing more about you both.
Oh, BTW we love pictures!!

Matilda wrote:

Here's some more pictures of the visit we had in May.

http://www.pigeonangels.com/about-you-f30/i-had-a-couple-of-very-special-visitors-today-t1688.htm

Thanks for posting the link, Charis.
You refreshed my memory.

I love the first picture with you and Taylor, Saska.

Yes Charis, thank you for posting the link.
I had seen that stuffed chicken before in your pics, but I thought it was a fake chicken. Didn't know it was a real one.

Hello Saska & welcome to the forum.


We also have a pigeon with a crossed beak, not as bad as Taylors though, and our pijjie refused to eat on her/his own so I am still hand feeding him.

Thanks for telling us about you & Taylor.

Saska.

I loved your amazing stories of both your birds. You are a true

Your Taylor is precious

Pleas keep us updated.


Louise

Thank you everyone :) I trimmed her beak yesterday afternoon so it looks a little better now
I am so happy that Charis introduced me to this forum, it's good to know that there are good hearted pigeon people like me out there!!!

Oh Saska, I am teary-eyed. You're story is so-so precious. I love you and Taylor.
It is so nice to know you here, taking care of Taylor. You are such a very kind person.

Hi Saska, and welcome!

I loved your story, and Taylor is wonderful!
We have often discussed here how 'handicapped' birds can be so self-sufficient, confident and fun. I'm so glad that you had the chance to adopt him and help rewrite the book on the worth of a life others thought disposable.

Here's a painting of Taylor at feeding time that I just finished

Ooooh, another pigeon artist!

Love your painting, especially the glint in his eye!

That is a wonderful painting of Taylor, Saska.

Just read this post and thank you Saska for posting it! It brought tears to my eyes to see what your dear pigeon has gone through - and the love and dedication you have towards him. I hope that he learns to eat seed one day! Fingers crossed.

Such a lovely painting! He looks like a real character.

I got an email back from Brian Speer today regarding Taylor's beak, here's what he wrote:

Hi, Saska - thanks for your note and inquiry. Wow. That is a pretty significantly skewed beak! There MAY be some things that could be considered to try to correct a deformity such as this, but they are far from a "sure bet". I have successfully corrected two similar deformities in young chickens in the past - not yet a pigeon, though...

Where are you located?

Brian Speer, DVM
Diplomate,ABVP (avian)
Diplomate,ECZM (avian)


I wrote him back, also asking about the problem I came across with her troubles keeping seeds down that I had popped in her mouth, (she would throw up seeds hours later that were softened in her crop but not ground at all, (I gave her grit as well) which made me worry that her gizzard may have 'shut down') But she was able to digest all the thawed peas Charis had given her, so *crossing fingers* he has a good reply!

I'll be interested in what Dr. Spear has to say.
If she can't keep seeds down, she may have canker and or worms. It wouldn't hurt to treat her for canker again.
Are you comfortable asking Sharnell to do a fecal exam?

I got an email back from the vet this morning:

Saska - In order to best try to assess if there is some reconstructive considerations that my apply for your bird, I will need to physically examine her and possibly do some scouting diagnostic testing.

I will be at the veterinary school there in Corvallis to do some presentations on the weekend of October 16-17, if it may be feasable to try to have a look at her at that time, otherwise, I can see a fairly long trip for you just to have me try to assess IF there is a feasable plan to consider!

What may help in the interim would be some carefully positined photos, from the top of her head, straight-on anterior to posterior, as well as right and left lateral sides.

If the is eating adequate grit, the gizzard of a pigeon is more than capable of developing its grinding ability for consumed seed items. The birds that have been hand fed formula without the need for that muscular contration of their gizzards tend to have pretty small ones that initially do not function so good when they get their first solid foods.

Brian Speer, DVM
Diplomate,ABVP (avian)
Diplomate,ECZM (avian)

I'm really happy that he seems interested in helping her Now if I can keep her still for some close up photos!

October? How far is he from you? So is he saying that the gizzard would get better with time if Taylor were fed seed and grit more?

That is a very nice note from Dr. Speer, Saska.
I sure hope you and Taylor will be able to meet up him while he's in Corvallis.

I'm hoping I can have him see her before then, I have family in California so I take trips down there sometimes. But I may not have enough money saved up till October anyway, so it might have to work out that way. I'm not sure how much it will be, but I have already started saving.

I'll try getting her gizzard working properly again too haha

taylor-bird wrote:

I got an email back from the vet this morning:

Saska - In order to best try to assess if there is some reconstructive considerations that my apply for your bird, I will need to physically examine her and possibly do some scouting diagnostic testing.

I will be at the veterinary school there in Corvallis to do some presentations on the weekend of October 16-17, if it may be feasable to try to have a look at her at that time, otherwise, I can see a fairly long trip for you just to have me try to assess IF there is a feasable plan to consider!

What may help in the interim would be some carefully positined photos, from the top of her head, straight-on anterior to posterior, as well as right and left lateral sides.

If the is eating adequate grit, the gizzard of a pigeon is more than capable of developing its grinding ability for consumed seed items. The birds that have been hand fed formula without the need for that muscular contration of their gizzards tend to have pretty small ones that initially do not function so good when they get their first solid foods.

Brian Speer, DVM
Diplomate,ABVP (avian)
Diplomate,ECZM (avian)

I'm really happy that he seems interested in helping her Now if I can keep her still for some close up photos!

That's very cool Dr. Spear will be in Corvallis. That's about a 4 hour trip for you from Astoria. You would be welcome to spend the night at my house and then go to Corvalis. I would love to go with you and meet him.
That is interesting about the gizzard.

Matilda wrote:

That's very cool Dr. Spear will be in Corvallis. That's about a 4 hour trip for you from Astoria. You would be welcome to spend the night at my house and then go to Corvalis. I would love to go with you and meet him.
That is interesting about the gizzard.

I would love it if you would come with me if it all works out that way

Great! We can talk about it.