Rescued dove with swollen red eyes!

Dear friends,

today I went to a pet shop to buy a female dove for my male pigeon Lignos who is alone in his cage and is desperately looking for a companion... As I was looking at the birds, I noticed that in a small cage, hidden in a dark corner, there were three ill doves in a terrible condition...! The two of them were standing still and looking very miserable, but the third was the most pitiable of all! It was literally eaten by the other birds, its body was full of injuries and hairless patches, its eyes swollen and very red (and also the edge of its beak) and it was so dirty that all its feathers were stuck together as if it had fallen in the mud!!! In the tiny cage there was a small container with water, which was so dirty that it had the colour of dark tea!! There were also cockroaches running in and out of the cage!! I called the shop assistant and asked him about those poor birds, but he didn't want to admit that they were ill and abandoned... -'These three are fine, don't worry!! Choose one of those beautiful ones!' he said to me and showed me the healthy fantails in a big cage... But I couldn't stop looking at those poor ill babies in the tiny cage because I felt so sorry for them... So I asked the man to give me those three birds because I wanted to save them from there and try to heal them... He thought that I was strange but he liked my determination and he made a discount to me, so I got all the birds for a good prize! When I came home, of course I couldn't put the ill birds with my own pigeons, so I put them in cages on the balcony (fortunately the weather is good now, but I put a blanket over their cages to protect them at night). I sprayed all birds with Foractil for external parasites, they were full of them!! I also noticed that they were emaciated!! Their bones stuck out!! Tomorrow I'll take them to the vet. But I would also like to ask your opinions as you are more expert than the vets here...! Any suggestions about how to treat those poor birds? Do you have any idea about what the illness of the dove with the swollen red eyes could be? (which I think is a baby because it's quite small and it doesn't have many feathers...) I will post photos of the poor birds soon!

Irene

The swelling and redness are almost certainly due to being pecked about the face, and the muddiness on his stuck feathers may be dried blood. That one is probably a young male that got housed with a mated pair, and the dominant male attacked him -- and will continue to do so if you don't separate them.

Whether or not they're ill, it's impossible to say just now, but they certainly appear to have been horribly neglected, poor things!
Of course, your life won't be made any easier... you wanted a female companion for Lignos, and you've ended up with a couple and a male! But if I had been in your place, I would have taken them home too...

Please let me know what the vet says. Good luck!

Dear Teresa,

I called the vet and she asked me to bring her the birds' droppings for an analysis... I'll have the results tomorrow and I will tell you all the news... As you guessed, the 2 of the 3 birds that I rescued are a couple but the third one (the one with the swollen red eyes) is actually a female, as the shop assistant told me... I think he was right, because it's a very quiet and shy bird, with a very gentle and sweet expression... In the beginning, I put the 3 birds in the same cage as they were in the shop to see if they got on well... At first they seemed very united, but after a while the couple started attacking the single female, so I separated them and I left the couple alone.

The birds got used to their new environment very fast and they were very happy to see the sun, to drink clean water and to eat well! The couple became very lively (in the shop they didn't move at all), so perhaps they were not ill (as I thought) but just bored and depressed... But the single female is still very quiet and stays still all the time... She moves only when she wants to eat or to drink... At least she is eating, which is a good sign! I looked at her swollen red eyes again and I have started to think that they may actually be a characteristic of her breed, because although her eyelids are bulging and red, they are both the same and very symmetrical... She has a short beak and hairy feet, so she may be a 'Tumbler dove' or something similar... The other female (which is paired with the male) has the same features but its eyes are normal, so I can't understand whether they are both of the same breed (which would mean that the one with the swollen eyes is actually ill or it was pecked about the face) or different breeds (which would mean that the swollen eyes are simply a characteristic of its breed). I checked her throat and it seems alright, no signs of Canker (unless she has it in her internal organs). The droppings of all the birds seem normal...

I called the male Aggelos ('Angel') because he is extremely shiny and he looks divine! I called his companion Neraitha ('Fairy') because she also has many beautiful colors and looks otherworldly and the female with the bulging eyes Agapi ('Love') because she is so sweet and adorable that I couldn't ignore her when I saw her suffering in the shop...

I gave them plates with water and they were all very happy to have a bath, so now they are clean and beautiful! I can finally see their colours because in the beginning they were so dirty that they looked muddy!! But the feathers of Agapi still look a little shaggy, especially the feathers over her feet, which are still stuck together and yellowish... I don't see any dried blood, so it is probably dirt... Perhaps when she has her second bath, she will clean herself better...

As for Lignos, I had also bought a healthy looking companion for him, a fourth bird, which I called Eva. The shop assistant who examined it insisted that it was a female but now I have started to have doubts because it has a big crop and it likes showing off and cooing a lot, as males usually do... I could take it back to the shop and replace it with another bird, but I feel sorry to bring it back to that awful place... so I'll keep it even if he finally proves to be a male... (but let's hope I'm wrong!) I have 4 males (Lignos, Eros, Thethalos and Ikaros) who are alone in their cages and need companions and 2 females (Kirki and Arapina) who are a lesbian couple. If my new pigeon is a male, I'll put him with the lesbians, if it is female, I'll put her with Lignos. I'll put Agapi with one of the other single males but I must put the couple (Aggelos and Neraitha) somewhere alone... However, I have to keep all the new ones away from my other pigeons for about 1 month to make sure that they don't have any infectious diseases...

I already had too many birds and now I have even more!!! I shouldn't have gone to that pet shop at all, but at least 4 birds will have a better life thanks to my mistake... (which is my only consolation...!!)

Irene

Aggelos (an 'Archangel High-flyer') and Neraitha (a 'Tumbler dove'?)


Aggelos, Agapi (with the prominent eyelids) and Neraitha


Agapi


Eva (or perhaps... Adam??)

Oh dear me, another pigeon?!!!! And now "she" seems to be a "he" and I wouldn't bet on Agapi being a female either, whatever the shopkeeper told you! Please don't buy any more pigeons as mates for the plethora of males you're gathering!!!!

Agapi's right foot looks bad! It doesn't look to me like matted feathers, but bumblefoot, and that can be fatal if not treated properly. If it's bumblefoot, he /she will need Baytril AND surgery.

As for pairing the pigeons, after Agapi has finished quarentine/treatment be very careful about choosing a mate, and especially don't rush things. Don't just put two pigeons together, they need a chance to get used to each other gradually.
And as for thinking your two paired females could be mates for two single males , think again! Even if they're the same sex, they are nevertheless a mated pair, and shouldn't be separated. You can let them exercise with the boys and see if they show any interest, but if they don't, don't force the issue, they have a right to be with their chosen partner, however inconvenient that may be for us humans.

PS. Your four new pigeons are gorgeous... but don't get any more!!!

When I went to the shop I wanted to buy one female or two (at maximum) for Lignos who is very agitated all the time because he is looking desperately for a companion and Thethalos, who is also desperate and is cooing loudly all the time! Ikaros and Eros are calm, so I thought I could leave them alone for the moment... When I was in the shop I chose a healthy looking female and the shopkeeper gave me Eva (which he insisted was female...!) Then I thought to choose a second female and as I was looking at the birds around, I noticed those 3 neglected and (perhaps) ill ones that were really pitiable... In the beginning I thought to save only the female one of them, but I felt too sorry to leave the other 2 in their misery... So when the shopkeeper caught the female and I saw the other 2 looking at me with those sad innocent eyes, my heart melted like wax and I said to him: -'Give me the other 2 as well!' without thinking... When I went out of the shop with the 4 birds, I was really angry with myself for being oversensitive and creating troubles for myself, but it was too late for regrets... Now I just have to think what is best for the birds and concentrate on them...

Fortunately the foot of Agapi is fine, only the feathers are in a bad condition...

After the quarantine, I will be very careful about where to put the birds... If Eva is actually Adam, I'll put him in the cage of the lesbians. I won't separate the lesbians, but if Adam manages to win the attention of one of them and they become a couple, I will give one of the single males to the other lesbian female, so in this way 4 birds will be paired and happy. I will give Agapi to another single male. The only problem is that Aggelos and Neraitha need a cage of their own and one of the 4 single males will remain alone... If any birds in any cage don't get on well together, I will separate them. In fact, yesterday I separated temporarily Tenoros and Mikroola because Tenoros started to attack her... I put Tenoros in the cage of Lignos and Lignos, who is desparate for a companion, started flirting with Tenoros, although he is a male...! Tenoros is flattered by Lignos's attention and doesn't attack him either, but soon I will put Tenoros back with Mikroola, his wife, and poor Lignos will be left alone again... But I hope he will be happy when I present him Agapi... Let's see...

I just got the results of the feces analysis: the poor birds are full of internal parasites, especially Coccidia and roundworms (especially Trichuridi and Ascarida -if I'm pronouncing them correctly...). The vet told me to give them Baycox for Coccidiasis and Panacur for roundworms. She advised me to put 3ml of Baycox in 1 litre of water and give it to the birds to drink it, changing their water every day, for 5 days. As for Panacur, I have to give them 0,05ml with a syringe, directly into their beaks, once a day for 3 days. What do you think? Will these medicines be effective or would it be better to give them Ivermectin instead of Panacur? At least they don't seem to have any other diseases, so let's hope that with the medicines they will recover soon!

DON'T GIVE THEM THE PANACUR (FENBENDAZOLE), IT'S KILLED SO MANY PIGEONS ALREADY, EVEN WHEN GIVEN IN THE RIGHT DOSES!!! Surely, we'd talked about this before, didn't we?
Give them the Ivermectin instead!

http://www.pigeonangels.com/t1137-wormstreatment

Also, I know you don't have much room and are trying to do the best you can for the pigeons, but it's really frustrating to see you put a single pigeon in with a mated couple 'to see if it works' -- again... Remember they have feelings.

Unfortunately it's too late because I already gave Panacur to the birds... I don't remember if we had talked about this before... I have written so many posts about so many different things...! I gave Panacur to the birds for 3 days as the vet had suggested, but now that I read what you wrote I'm really worried! The birds seem to be fine so far but could they have side effects in the following weeks...?? I won't give them Panacur again if you think it is dangerous and I'll treat the other birds with Ivermectin (if the feces tests show that they have worms too)!

I'm not willing to put the single pigeon with the couple either, but I don't have any other free cage where I could put it, as they are all occupied... unless of course I try to build another cage for the new birds. Now I keep them in small cages temporarily but they would not be happy to live in them for all their lives...

I noticed that the birds have wart-like tiny white stains in their throats and I suspect that they have Canker as well... Should I give them Flagyl immediately or should I wait for a while so as not to overwhelm them with medicines (because the previous days I gave them Baycox and Panacur)?

Hi Irene,

The white dots may not be canker. In fact it's more likely they're this: "In adult pigeons, white dots appearing towards the back of the throat are not trichomonas foci. These firm, white or yellowish-grey nodules are, in fact, salivary calculi (sialoliths), formed from the hardened secretions of the mucous glands." These are harmless, so I wouldn't medicate them at this point, but it's good to keep checking the pigeons for any other signs.

You don't have to wait for evidence of worms to give your birds Ivermectin. It's so mild that I just worm them routinely twice a year, even if I see no worms. I'm glad to hear that yor birds are showing no ill effect from the Panacur, but you wouldn't believe the horror stories related to it, even people who lost ALL of their birds! But if they got over the first week OK, they should be safe.

I hope you're managing to house all your pigeons successfully. It's a hard choice, between ensuring the wellbeing of the ones you have and wanting to save one more...

Dear Teresa, thank you for explaining to me that the white dots I had seen in the throats of my new birds were not Canker, I felt relieved after I read your message. As for the worms, I gave to all my birds the medicine you had sent me, Ivermectin (2 drops to each adult bird as you had advised me) and they all seem fine now! Thank you once again for sending me that precious medicine which I cannot find in any Pharmacy here! In fact I wanted to ask you if the medicine (after it has been opened) lasts until its expiry date or only for a few weeks... (Some medicines, like for example Sulfac for Coccidia, last only for 3 months once you open them...). If Ivermectin lasts for longer, then I could use it again (after some months) because there is still some liquid left in the bottle and it would be useful!

My 4 new birds Aggelos and Neraitha, Agapi and Adam have recovered completely and I put them together with my other birds! I gave Agapi to Lignos as his wife and they became a wonderful couple! They are both very happy! They had eggs immediately, which of course I replaced with fake ones.

I moved Aggelos and Neraitha to a bigger cage so they have more space to move and they are very happy to see the other birds in the cages next to their own! Aggelos has become very lively and noisy and this is a good sign because in the shop he was very passive and miserable...

As for Adam, I had to put him with the lesbian couple Kirki and Arapina because I didn't know where else to put him... I couldn't put him with one of the single males because I was afraid that they would fight... So I put him with the 2 ladies... He fell in love with Kirki at first sight and he started chasing her, flirting with her... Arapina, her companion, was jealous and she attacked him but I put her in the cage of Thethalos (one of the single males) who liked her for a long time... As soon as Thethalos started flirting with her, Arapina forgot Kirki and mated with him!! When Kirki saw that Arapina had found another companion, she also mated with Adam! So in the end they were all happy! I'm really sorry that I had to separate Kirki and Arapina but in this way 4 birds found love and happiness and the 2 Lesbians don't seem to miss each other... In fact Kirki is really crazy for Adam and she is much more affectionate with him than she was with Arapina... And Arapina had eggs with Thethalos and she is busy making her nest... Thethalos and Arapina's cage is next to the cage of Adam and Kirki, so Arapina and Kirki can still see each other and be close... But now each of them has her own husband and nest and they seem happy like that... :-)

Here are some photos of them:

Agapi and Lignos sitting on their eggs...


Aggelos and Neraitha



Adam and Kirki


Adam leaning his head on Kirki's chest


Arapina and Thethalos sitting on their eggs...


Irene

Thanks for sharing the photos, Irene!
They look very contented, and I'm glad it all worked out for the best.
As for the Ivomec, it lasts for a very long time! I'm still using the same bottle that I gave you a part of, and it's as effective as ever. When I replace mine, I'll sen you some more!

Thank you for your help and your kindness, Teresa! I cannot thank you enough for the medicine!! I'm also glad that my birds are getting on well with the new ones and are all fine and happy now! :-)

Irene