No rest for the wicked

Fancyfeathers wrote:

It sounds like Lillith had a mission in mind.
You did a , Teresa.

[color=black]Here's a little revision of the Pigeon's Prayer for sweet Lillith.

Please watch over me while I fly,
Keep me safe from the predators that share the sky.

If I have any problems in any way,
Please lead me back to Teresa's where I am welcome to stay.

Oh, that's lovely!
I took this photo today of the building she came to land on. She's probably one of the little pin-pricks up on the ledge!

Yep! I bet Lillith IS one of those pijjies on the ledge.
Happy, content and grateful for your help, enabling her to rejoin her flock.

Ouch! Those poor pigeon feet! Amazing they can still go on with such severe injuries. With the string removed, will Paul's toes improve at all?

Jenaka wrote:

Ouch! Those poor pigeon feet! Amazing they can still go on with such severe injuries. With the string removed, will Paul's toes improve at all?

Yes, poor Paul, he was really brave and patient while I treated him, but it will be worth it. I am very confident that he is feeling much more comfortable now, without all that string and the callous that formed around it effectively strangling his toes. He had already lost two but it looks like the others are safe now.
Even during the course of the treatment I could see the colour of his toes improving. And by removing all the debris and the old dried blood and dead skin, all that was left was healthy skin, and eventually flesh and skin will grow and fill up the gaps. My heart leapt for joy when I saw him standing on the scaffolding, as he hadn't been able to stand before.

Meanwhile, in the 'hospital' cage, Penny is improving visibly. The swelling on her knee looks just a little less, but more importantly, the colour is much, much better, there's none of that nasty yellow left!

She's very fidgety, very alert, and very wingslappy, and she has stood up several times today.

You are just full of good news tonight!

I am Soooo glad to hear Penny is improving.

Teresa - between all these sad stories this is wonderful to hear. I am so happy about this

good for penny.

on Lilth!!! Way to go --- Good for her... The smile you feel from their hearts is just amazing, isn't it! I know she stopped up there to properly Thank you!

With Penny; I don't know if the others would recommend this ... But Willow came to us with a bummed foot, swollen etc... and we soaked her foot 2x's day in Epsom Salts... She didn't mind it, and of course she is a homer not a feral- but maybe that would help??? It did help us tremdously.

AZJourney wrote:

on Lilth!!! Way to go --- Good for her... The smile you feel from their hearts is just amazing, isn't it! I know she stopped up there to properly Thank you!

With Penny; I don't know if the others would recommend this ... But Willow came to us with a bummed foot, swollen etc... and we soaked her foot 2x's day in Epsom Salts... She didn't mind it, and of course she is a homer not a feral- but maybe that would help??? It did help us tremdously.

That's very interesting, I hadn't heard that suggested before. Do you know the reason for Willow's swollen foot? Was it Salmonella too?
I gave her a bath on Sunday, because no matter how often I remove the poops, she always manages to drag herself over one or more of them, and she was getting mucky. After the bath she was happy enough, preening herself. But DURING the bath it was a war zone! :eek: She fought me all the way and made sure I got as much of a bath as she did!
I got covered in poopy water from head to toe...

By comparison, getting covered in Epsom salts sounds a lot better!

On a sadder note, in one of my visits to the park today to fill the pigeons' water bowls, I picked up a pretty little red hen, no more than 4 monts old, who I found staggering on the ground. I hoped it was PMV, but unfortunately she was just the latest victim of Young Bird Sickness, and in less than 2 minutes she passed away in my hands. There were no visible signs of sickness except that she was quite thin, with a prominent keel. I hate this illness, and the way it kills apparently healthy birds so quickly that there's nothing we can do.
RIP, little one, pray for your flock when you get there.

What a shame. I'm so sorry.

I'm sorry to hear about the little hen, Teresa.

It's incredible how they sometimes hang on long enough to be cradled in the hands of a caring soul, then they move on.
It's almost as if she knew you would be coming by.

Bless both of you s.

"May you now fly free over the Rainbow Bridge sweet little red hen"

Friday was a bad day.
I got a phone call from a student saying there was a pigeon at the park who couldn't fly, so I grabbed the carrier and was there in 5 minutes. The pigeon was unaware of his surroundings and stargazing, but when I picked him up he was so light I knew it couldn't just be PMV. He died a minute later.
A few metres away another one was lying on the grass, already dead, victim of predator attack. (I wish people were civilised enough to walk their dogs on a leash! )

Yesterday I took in two more.
One is a very young adult with the biggest Salmonella lump on her right elbow I have ver seen. She was dehydrated and too weak to fly. After stabilising her temperature, I gave her hydrating solution and then put her on Baytril.
A couple of hours later she readily accepted some small seeds and shelled peas and corn, but had some difficulty swallowing, so I put her on Flagyl too.
All day today she's been able to eat and drink by herself, but her poops look like text-book Coccidiosis poops, and I haven't got anything for that in the house. I'll get it first thing tomorrow.
Can I give her all 3, Baytril, Flagyl and Coccilyse at the same time?

Here's her picture, taken today. Isn't she beautiful? I've named her Firefly.

The other rescue was a string injury I'd been trying to catch for 3 days. The best thing about saturdays is that you have more time, and it paid off, I was able to catch him.
Easy job this time , thick string, so Bluey was soon free to go again!

Gosh Teresa you have been very busy!

I am so sorry about all the deaths, we had an episode like that in the white flock at River Green three years ago.

Good work on the string injury! String injuries can be sooo satisfying to help when there is no damage, you know that if you had left it there would have been significant damage and you get all the string off so the pigeon can go straight back home.

Oh my Teresa, I can feel your rage about certain people. I really hope you can save beautiful little Firefly. She IS a beauty. But no matter how pretty a bird is, each and everyone of them is a soul...

Teresa wrote:

Friday was a bad day.
I got a phone call from a student saying there was a pigeon at the park who couldn't fly, so I grabbed the carrier and was there in 5 minutes. The pigeon was unaware of his surroundings and stargazing, but when I picked him up he was so light I knew it couldn't just be PMV. He died a minute later.
A few metres away another one was lying on the grass, already dead, victim of predator attack. (I wish people were civilised enough to walk their dogs on a leash! )

Yesterday I took in two more.
One is a very young adult with the biggest Salmonella lump on her right elbow I have ver seen. She was dehydrated and too weak to fly. After stabilising her temperature, I gave her hydrating solution and then put her on Baytril.
A couple of hours later she readily accepted some small seeds and shelled peas and corn, but had some difficulty swallowing, so I put her on Flagyl too.
All day today she's been able to eat and drink by herself, but her poops look like text-book Coccidiosis poops, and I haven't got anything for that in the house. I'll get it first thing tomorrow.
Can I give her all 3, Baytril, Flagyl and Coccilyse at the same time?

Here's her picture, taken today. Isn't she beautiful? I've named her Firefly.

Teresa...I'm not familiar with Coccilyse ...is it a pill? What is the recommended treatment?

Matilda wrote:

Teresa...I'm not familiar with Coccilyse ...is it a pill? What is the recommended treatment?

It's sulphadimethoxine, in solution form. The manufacturers, Moureau of Chantilly, recommend 20 drops per litre of drinking water, but I don't know how many days for. It'll be in the info that comes with the bottle, I expect. They say it's so gentle on the kidneys that birds can take it at any time, even molt and racing season.
Last time, the cocci med they sold me came in a sachet, but I think they're only using this supplier now.

pigeonwriter wrote:

Oh my Teresa, I can feel your rage about certain people. I really hope you can save beautiful little Firefly. She IS a beauty. But no matter how pretty a bird is, each and everyone of them is a soul...

I totally agree, and I would add that no matter how hostile a bird is, each and every one of them is a soul. Dealing exclusively with ferals, I have no idea what it is like to have a pigeon coo at me, or being really friendly, but it doesn't matter! The peckier they are , the safer they will be when released.

WOW!! Your little wings are really getting a work out, Teresa.

I'm sorry to hear that a couple of the pijjies didn't make it.

Firefly is stunning. Sending positive thoughts that all goes well with her.

Glad to read that the sting injury pij didn't have any lasting affects.
It almost looks like someone tied that string on the foot.

Teresa wrote:

I have no idea what it is like to have a pigeon coo at me, or being really friendly, but it doesn't matter!
The peckier they are , the safer they will be when released.

That's exactly right!!

Fancyfeathers wrote:

WOW!! Your little wings are really getting a work out, Teresa.

I'm sorry to hear that a couple of the pijjies didn't make it.

Firefly is stunning. Sending positive thoughts that all goes well with her.

Glad to read that the sting injury pij didn't have any lasting affects.
It almost looks like someone tied that string on the foot.

for Teresa.

I hesitated to mention it, but yes, I think that's exactly what happened. There were knots that only a human could have tied.
Equally worrying were the two totally black pigeons whose strings I removed a few months ago. The strings were black, and clearly tied and knotted by someone. An African lady I know had told me last year that some pigeons were used in voodoo, tied with black string for some kind of binding spell, and that it was awfully bad luck to try to free them. I didn't believe her at the time, I mean, we're in Europe! But I've changed my mind after finding those two. As for bad luck, I don't really believe in it, but I said a prayer just in case...

And here is Bluey (centre) on the roof, about an hour ago.
You can see he's still favouring his right foot, but when I threw food he forgot the foot and RAN after the seeds!