Found a Sick Bird - Please Help!

[Beatriz Cazeneuve]

Gary is correct. Do try slippery elm, it's great for soothing irritated mucosa and it's completely safe to give regardless of the animal's condition. I would still wait a couple of days until she is stronger to give her the parasiticide.

 

[Prince Toasty Buns]

Another suggestion for anyone who wants to purchase pedialyte in the future: I suggest you buy the pedialyte or similar name brand freezer pops. Sixteen of them I believe in a box. This way you just use one or part of one as needed. Better than buying a bottle of pedialyte or similar, as I believe once opened the bottle/container is only good for 3 days approx. = too much waste there. The pops are fruit flavored and colored but I don't think the artificial coloring will be a problem.

Also great to have on hand a bag of LRS (electrolyte solution, also known as Lactated Ringers Solution). Your vet can supply you with this while you are in his/her office next time but be careful they don't sock-it-to-ya as the bag of solution only costs them about $2.50. Some vets may try to charge you way way more than that if they will even sell it to you. If you can't get it from the vets, try your local breeders as some of them have contacts.

And again, next time you go to your avian vets, try to get them to show you how to give a shot of LRS into the right spots. Soemtimes a sick or severly dehydrated bird will just not drink and the ability to do this procedure can be life-saving. The only other alternative would be to get your bird to the A.V. for him/her to do it and then you will be paying for the office visit and etc. .... If you have a local breeder contact, they might be willing to give the shot(s) - make sure though that you know they are experienced at this procedure.

 

[chompie_puppy]

What do you guys think of this poop?

At least there has been no sign of blood for the last 24 hours. However, this is the only type of poop he does now. It's very small, isn't it? Notice all the urine?

I only have one photo of his mangled foot, and it's not very good. I'll take some more tomorrow when I take him out of the cage for feeding.

I removed a lot of hair that was tangled in that foot. With the help of tweezers and sewing scissors I think I've managed to remove all the hair. Do you think the hair would have caused his foot to look like that?

He had a walk around the garage today. He didn't want to fly at all (How common is it for these guys to fly? I only ever see them walking around) but he did have a bit of a stroll. He was a little unbalanced when I first put him down (possibly because he's missing a toe?), but he seems to be able to walk perfectly fine once he gets into it.

He's a cutie though!

 

[Billie Faye]

Looking better and YES hair could cause the toes/foot to look like that and the toe missing also could have been because of the tightness of the hair around it to cut off the blood to the toe....
Keep doing what ever it is you are doing!...
Here is another site about how to mix your own grains for them...
How to Make Pigeon Feed | eHow.com

 

[Beatriz Cazeneuve]

The foot is nothing, most pigeons are missing toes by the time they are two years old. The poop, on the other hand, although it has gotten much, much better, is still not good enough (not enough feces and too much urine with no ureates) but there is improvement so keep on trying and see what happens.

 

[WingedVictory]

Did you look for slippery elm in the (herb) section of the health food store? It does a very good job of firming up the feces. You should also see some improvement in the coming day from the use of ACV.

Thank you for your efforts.

gary

 

[Trice]

Can you give us an update ?

 

[chompie_puppy]

Wonka (yes, I've named him ) is doing very much the same.

But now I'm scared for him! His poop looks nothing at all like it should. This is what it looks like every morning in his cage:

I gave him a bath today as I noticed he had poop stuck to the feathers around his vent. I just gently soaked his vent in lukewarm water (with a dash of ACV). I've gotten most of the poop off.

I've also weighed him and he is 311g. What is the average weight of a pigeon like Wonka?

I'm currently treating him for Coccidia with Coccivet. It's just some drops that I put in his water. Today is the third day he has been on this medicine.

I've also given him a dose of Ivermectin today. So that means he is now wormed and treated for mites.

I'll look for slippery elm again. Actually, I'll phone around for it and see if someone could order it in for me if they don't stock it themselves. Sounds like this could be just what he needs.

I let him out every morning and afternoon so that he can have a bit of a walk around the garage. I've scattered some seed for him, but he will only peck at it once or twice and then go and sit in a corner.

I don't think he's eating enough at all! I'm still handfeeding him.

 

[Oknuma]

wonka is gorgeous, bless you for sticking by him and helping him out. I love pigeons.

 

[Renae]

Maybe the poop has something to do with what you're treating him for? (the medicine)

He's walking around which is good.. if he were worse he wouldn't be up and walking, but the poop sticking to his vent is a bit of worry.

You're doing such an awesome job though, you should be really proud.

 

[waterfaller1]

I agree, the meds might be making him not feel like eating and affecting his droppings.

 

[Billie Faye]

I agree it could be the meds causing the poops to look like this...
Can you tell if he is eating during the day while you are gone?
Love the pictures...

 

[chompie_puppy]

Good news! I found a tub of slippery elm! Hopefully it will help his poop to become more solid.

Tonight he weighed 318g. I also found some very thin white stringy stuff in his poop. Since I gave him the Ivermectin yesterday I would assume these are dead worms? There weren't a lot and I couldn't get it to show up on photos.

I also don't know how much food a pigeon should eat a day. When I come back from work in the afternoons I see that he has scattered some of his food around the bowl. I also sometimes find some of the food in his water. This must be an indication that he is eating at least some of it, right?

Since he is producing some poop (albeit watery and mushy) it must mean his crop is emptying as well, right? I haven't quite gotten the hang of feeling his crop to see if there is food in there.

Also guys... thank you so much for all the great advice and kind words! It really means the world to me. I'm sure Wonka appreciates it too!

 

[Billie Faye]

Sounds like he is starting to eat more while you are gone!
Keep up the good work...