Piper in egg binding emergency

My sweet Piper, my pigeon matriarch, was in terrible trouble earlier on.

She was due to lay her second egg today, she'd had her second weekly dose of Calcivet, and she's never had problems laying before -- until today.
I had checked on her and found her hunched up on the bottom of the cage, tail turned downwards, so I thought, 'any minute now'.
Then I sat at the computer and began to reply to topics here. Twenty minutes after I'd checked on Piper, Soni came in, drew in her breath and said, 'Mum, Piper shouldn't be doing that!!!'
She was lying down on her side, head upside down, gasping.

I picked her up, calmed her down and checked her abdomen. I could feel the egg, it wasn't broken, but it didn't seem to be quite in the right place.
I rushed her to the bathroom, filled the sink with warm water (which she started drinking) and let her lay in it, supported, while I massaged her abdomen very gently. She looked visibly relieved. Ten minutes later, I wrapped her in a towel and brought her back here, together with the vaseline tub.
But by then I'd already noticed something else worrying: the beginning of a canker lesion on the side of her beak. So I rolled up some little pellets of wholemeal bread, one of her favourite treats, and offered them to her. She ate them readily, unaware that one of them contained Flagyl. Then she had another drink.
After that it was time to deal with the egg again. I put plenty of vaseline in and around her vent area and started massaging the egg in the right direction.
Suddenly she started gasping again, breathing very quickly with open beak, closing her eyes. I checked her throat for obstructions, but there were none. I picked up the Piper burrito, held her in front of my face and started blowing air into her beak, then stopping and talking to her, then starting again. After what seemed like an eternity the breathing returned to normal. The egg had moved, it was by then much closer to the vent.

With Soni's help (because I wouldn't let go of my burrito) I rigged up a deep nest to fit in the wicker basket, put a hot water bottle wrapped in fabric then plastic in it, and over the top a thick dampened towel. Then I put Piper in there, checking on her every few minutes. Fifteen minutes later she'd laid the egg!


She's now resting comfortably, looking perfectly well and calm in her cosy nest. Phew... So for now, there'll be 'only' the canker to deal with.

I had to apologise to Marty for feeding him half an hour late...

What a time you and your feathered babies are having, Teresa.
I hope Piper doesn't encounter anymore problems.

To you and Soni . . .

Thank you, Cindy! She's fast asleep now and her breathing is perfectly normal.

This was the photo I took just after removing the egg. She was perching on the side of the nest, but now she's snuggled up in the middle of it.

I am so glad she is doing OK now.
Bless her heart.

Teresa - you are my hero

This is incredible - I can only say:

Sending more healing prayers for Pipin now!!!!

Thank you so much, Cindy and Petra -- what a week it's been!

Piper is doing well but she seems tired. She's happy enough lying in her nest or being a little burrito being carried round the house. She's always been a bit of a lap pigeon, that one!
Hercules isn't at all happy with her absence, but what matters now is for her to get strong again.

Piper has recovered completely, and in the last couple of days her poops have been perfectly normal.
As soon as I have enough free time to let her and Hercules spend a few hours on neutral ground together, I'll do that and then hopefully move her back into the cage she shared with him.

as long as my indoor bird gets vitamin D3 - she never gets any problems

Good for you, mine also get vitamin D3 and calcium, but Piper is much older than Golubiatko.