Help needed with fledgling dove

About pea size droppings or a bit bigger? Sometimes the dropping can be a bit loose depending upon how much water the bird has had or if the bird is stressed. Consistently loose droppings can be an indication of illness, with bright green an indication of starvation.
Can you post a picture of the droppings?

I think I will call the vets tomorrow & see whether they have a single dose that I can purchase.

I am starting to fret a bit about it now, I had not thought that it may have an underlying condition. I promised myself that I wouldn't get attached to it but am in tears tonight about the thought of it dying

It has been eating & drinking (& pooping) as normal today but again when I took it out of the cage it was in exactly the same spot after 30 mins as when I left it - should it be showing signs of restlessness & flying by now or am I being prematurely worried? We were told by the vets that it would 1-2 weeks before being ready to fly and have had it a week tomorrow

I am just wondering how it got to be on the ground in the first place if it cannot fly - I have heard that the parent can kick them out of the nest if they are not well - could this be the case? Or just fallen out of the nest?

I will post a pic of it's droppings if possible tomorrow night (have to work tomorrow). Might be a bit difficult to see on the newspaper though!

Raelene,
Does the little one try to get away from you when you go to pick her up or continue to sit without attempting to move?

She doesn't madly try to escape. from me but she does get a bit nervous & start edging away from me. She makes little cheeping noises at me too sometimes.

The droppings are about pea sized and mostly pretty solid. When it is looser I would say it was more a sludgy brown than bright green and always has the white in it.

Raelene71 wrote:

She doesn't madly try to escape. from me but she does get a bit nervous & start edging away from me. She makes little cheeping noises at me too sometimes.

That sounds about right for her age.

Raelene71 wrote:

The droppings are about pea sized and mostly pretty solid.

When it is looser I would say it was more a sludgy brown than bright green and always has the white in it.

I am just about to go off to work for the day but am concerned about the little bird as she won't eat this morning.
She has had a few pecks but is not trying to pick anything up and when she does they are getting stuck in the front of her beak. I thought maybe she is due to dehydrated but she won't drink either.

Up until last night she was bright & keen to eat but now she is not interested at all in eating. I am concerned because I will be at work all day, I live only a few miles away so will pop home to check on her but only for a half hour.

She is also hanging her wings down, she has been doing this off and on for a few days now I guess
Also her poos are watery and some of it now actually is bright green.

Should I force feed her food & water? Help!!

Hi Raelene,
I'm sorry to hear your little visitor has taken a couple steps backwards.
Given your last update, I would say there is definitely some underlying issue going on. What exactly?

If you are able to get some canker medication, I would do so asap.
I would also offer her supplement heat. If she is not feeling well, her body temperature will drop. Maintaining her body temperature is priority.
Place her on a towel lined heating pad set on low (making sure there is room for her to move off it if she so desires) or place her under a low wattage lamp.

Yes, if she has stopped eating, you will need to intervene. Hydration is vital. In place of regular water, I would suggest giving her some rehydration solution (to a cup of room temperature water, add just a pince each of salt and sugar).

Here's the link to the basic life saving steps thread. This should help guide you on what to do.

Please do keep us posted.
Positive thoughts being sent you way.

Hi again, just an update on today -

Our little pigeon seems maybe not so bad after all (maybe me panicking this morning?

When I came home at lunch time, I noticed that a bit of seed had been eaten from the dish.

I put her out into the room when I got home and although she didn't move around too much she still seems very alert and timid - backed away from me nervously when I approached to put her back in the cage.

She has had a drink tonight on her own but still seems a little off her food to me although she's having a pick or two. I have force fed her a mixture of warmed soaked bread (only a little) and some of my left over muesli from this morning which was fully soft & mushy: oats, wheat flakes, dried apple, probably some sugar & I expect a little salt too!). I then blended it all up so it was in liquid form. I think she had about 3mls in total (1ml at a time). I don't know if this is the correct thing to do but it was mainly oats & wheat so hopefully not too harmfull.

She's now tucked herself up in her nest of shredded newspaper and is asleep I think!

One thing I did want to mention though was that she seems to have a hard bit jutting out below her neck - it feels like bone - is that normal? Is that where the crop is? I'll see if I can get a picture of her tomorrow so you can see what I mean.

Lastly, I have put her in our small bedroom which is a warm room because it has the emersion heater/boiler in it which heats the water for the house. I have kept the window closed - we have been leaving her in a room with the windows open - was this the wrong thing to do? I don't have a heated pad I'm afraid, but I think she will be cosy enough in there.

I'll let you know how she is in the morning.

Thank you again for your support, I am not getting much over here I'm afraid - most people think of feral pigeons as vermin and pests and do not see why I would want to save on, which is very sad I have to say

Hi Raelene,
Panicking a little is OK in my book.
I'd rather someone be overly conscious then not at all.

The hard bit jutting out below her neck is not normal. I'm wondering if that isn't a piece of 'internal' canker. A picture would be great.

Here is a link to some anatomy photos.
The last photo shows where the crop is. Maybe you can tell from that where the hard piece is on your little rescue.

I hope you all have a good night.

Hi, it starts almost where the words 'gular region' are on the anatomy picture. I looked again inside her mouth and could not see any muckiness or yellow spots/discharge and the feathers over the hard area seem to sort of stick out almost as if the feathers are puffed out on that region.

If it is a piece of internal canker, what can be done about it? Is it treatable? I am wondering whether to take her back to the vets, they obviously did not look her over very much to have missed this

The other concern I have is that my cats do not get infected by this parasite also - can this happen?

Going by the last picture, it looks like it is at the top part of the crop, I can't remember how far the hardness runs down though, I'll have to check tomorrow as she is sleeping now & I don't want to disturb her while she is getting some rest

Hi Raelene,

The hard area you described may be one of two things: either a canker lesion in the aesophagus, or the trachea. Canker lesions feel a bit like little stones or squishier, whilst the trachea, which can jut out just at that point, and can be quite prominent on a very thin bird, feels a bit like a backbone,as you can feel the rings of the hard cartillage. You can't see the trachea on the diagram, but it runs alongside, and in front of, the aesophagus.

Canker can be present even without the tell-tale signs of the yellow nodules. Raised/missing feathers on the neck, standing puffed up or with a 'penguin' stance and sluggishness, can be an indication. Either way, a treatment can always be given as a precaution.
You should be able to get canker medication easily. Flagyl tablets (ingredient: metronidazole) are common in Europe, and they're also used for humans, so they're available at the chemist's, but I don't know if you need a prescription for them in the UK. Pet shops often have canker meds, so check for something consisting of metronidazole or carnidazole. Tablets are better than stuff to put in the drinking water, as they can be dosed out precisely. (You know what they say about taking a horse to water...)
The dosage will depend on the bird's weight, but the treatment must be carried out for seven days (vets will tell you less, but less than that will NOT work, it wil only temporarily suspend the symptoms!)

You may want to give her an antibiotic as well (just in case). For that age I use Synulox, which is sold for cats, as it is very gentle.

I always have those meds in the house, and I can send you some asap if you PM me your address. Postage within Europe is quite fast.

I don't think your little patient was rejected by her parents because of being sick, rather that the parents may already have another clutch and may have pushed her off to fend for herself, especially as she can eat by herself. Either that, or she fell off the nest before she could fly properly.

Don't worry about your cats, or yourself. Most pigeon diseases/parasites can only be passed on to another pigeon. And they carry less of either than most other birds, wild or domesticated!

PS. I sent a message to Revati (Mrs.AviatorRodent), who is also in the UK and may be able to advise you better.

Hi Teresa, thank you for getting back to me.

The hard area feels as if it starts kind of where our collar bone meets and feels quite bony. I can't feel any stones or squishy areas.

With treatment, will this hardness go away & she will live a normal, healthy life?

Again this morning she is off her food, she is trying to eat some seeds but seems to struggle to swallow them. She kinda throws her head back, almost to get the seed to the back of the throat?

Thank you for offering to send me some meds, I am going to call the vets this morning & see what they say. I think she needs treating immediately - I can't see her lasting too long like this & I am struggling with it all now - I was in floods of tears at work yesterday and again this morning! I don't think I am cut out for caring for sick animals, I just go to pieces

I will let you all know what the vet says today...

Thanks again

Just to update those of you that have been so helpful in the past week, I have left the little pigeon in the care of our local vets. I have my 2 cats registered there and know from past experience that she will be in safe, caring hands.

They are going to take a look at her and medicate as & when necessary, they will then pass her on to a local lady who rehabilitates/cares for young/sick birds and then re-releases them.

They have taken my details so that if & when she is ready for release they can bring her back to her flock.

I was very sad to have to hand her over but I know that she is in far better hands, I have done all I could for her but I didn't really know what I was doing!

Thank you all again for your support & help

Hi Raelene,
Bless you for all you did in caring for this sweet little one.

We are here to help the rescuer help the rescued. I am glad we were able to assist you as best we could. Ultimately, the person who has the bird in hand knows the all around situation much better than we do and can evaluate things more closely.

I will continue to think positive thoughts that all turns out well for your little visitor and that she recovers without further incident.

We would love to hear any updates.

Thank, I will definitely let you know if I hear anything

I'm so glad that you have a vet that you can trust and the little one will have really good care.
Thank you so much for all you did for her!
I hope you continue to visit, even if you aren't looking after any pigeons! For one thing, you could share any photos you take of your local flock and lovely location!

Just thought I'd post an update on our little white pigeon!

I called the vet this morning and they told me she is doing very well, eating on her own and now also trying to fly

They are going to keep her in over the weekend to feed her up but think she will be ready for release early next week. I am going to call on Monday to see if I can collect her then so that I can release her back to her flock.

I asked about the hardness on her neck and they think it is her larynx (?) and that she is underweight and just in need of putting weight on. I must admit it did feel to me more like bone than something soft & lumpy!

I will post some pictures tomorrow of her flock and of our lovely convent. I'll also try to remember to get one of her when we get her back next week

thanks for the update, Raelene.
I'm so glad to hear the little one is doing good.

We're looking forward to the pictures.

Thanks for the update.

Raelene71 wrote:

Just thought I'd post an update on our little white pigeon!

I called the vet this morning and they told me she is doing very well, eating on her own and now also trying to fly

They are going to keep her in over the weekend to feed her up but think she will be ready for release early next week. I am going to call on Monday to see if I can collect her then so that I can release her back to her flock.

Quote :

I asked about the hardness on her neck and they think it is her larynx (?) and that she is underweight and just in need of putting weight on. I must admit it did feel to me more like bone than something soft & lumpy!

The cartillage surrounding the larynx and the trachea, which follows on from it, is quite hard, and feels bony. That's to stop the air passages from closing up when compressed. In very skinny birds it is very prominent.

Quote :

I will post some pictures tomorrow of her flock and of our lovely convent. I'll also try to remember to get one of her when we get her back next week

Excellent! I'll be looking forward to that!

Just thought I'd drop a little hint...