How long should I quarantine my new pigeon?

Kleonaptra

Songster
7 Years
Oct 3, 2012
800
60
158
Western Sydney, Australia
Ok, I have navigated the murky waters of the meat factories and rescued one - hopefully female - pigeon.




She looks like a young healthy bird to me, plenty in the cage did not look healthy and one looked positively about to drop. They had adequete food water and space - it was a very big cage with only a few birds in it - but a vast majority of them were fluffed up and looking depressed. I zeroed in on this little girl right away because she looked like a girl and seemed young, sleek and healthy. So -

How long should I quarantine for? My partner said how devastating it would be to have all my pigeons die from one mistake.

Does she look like a girl to you?

What kind of pigeon is she? She's bigger than my birds but then she is a meat pigeon.

Does she look healthy?

Does she look young?

Im calling her Donna Noble for Doctor Who. "Donna Noble has been saved" Mike is already doing shy little dances. They can see each other but her cage is apart from the others.
 
Ok, I have navigated the murky waters of the meat factories and rescued one - hopefully female - pigeon.





How long should I quarantine for? My partner said how devastating it would be to have all my pigeons die from one mistake.
At least 6 weeks...maybe 2 months.. because you suspect the other birds with here seemed to be ill.
Does she look like a girl to you?
You can not sex a pigeon accurately visually. Only time will tell. If she has an egg.. then you will know. If you put a mirror next to the cage and it starts to display bowing and cooing and fanning the tail then you will know it is probably a male..
What kind of pigeon is she? She's bigger than my birds but then she is a meat pigeon.
If it was bought as a meat bird.. then I would say she is a utility king pigeon... the same as I keep.
Does she look healthy?
Yes....... but appearances can be deceptive.
Check her poops over the next week.... if they seem firm and normal, and she is acting alert and active.. eating well, etc, then you can be more relaxed.
Watery or strange coloured / sized poops will be a warning that she has a disease.

Does she look young?
Can not tell from the photo. My old birds look the same as my young ones! (except the young that have just left the nest).
Look closely at its legs. If they are smooth and shiny then it will be a young bird. They get a bit more scaly and dull as they age.

Im calling her Donna Noble for Doctor Who. "Donna Noble has been saved" Mike is already doing shy little dances. They can see each other but her cage is apart from the others.
Please don't tell me you have the new bird in the same room as the others!
Many disease are highly contagious and spread through the AIR.


Keep this bird in a different room. Tend to you birds first.. then this one last. Never swap anything about like food / water containers or perches. And never use the same cleaning stuff with this bird and your others.
 
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Does she look like a girl to you? Yes (Every fancier has made mistakes on this question)

What kind of pigeon is she? She's bigger than my birds but then she is a meat pigeon. Good guess and observation on your part and you may be bang on (it maybe a white utility king pigeon).

Does she look healthy? Yes

Does she look young? Yes. Tell tale areas to inspect for age are feet bills and around the eyes. It comes with experience compare birds of assorted ages and look for the differences and you can make an educated guess if they are not banded with the year of birth.

Im calling her Donna Noble for Doctor Who. "Donna Noble has been saved" Mike is already doing shy little dances. They can see each other but her cage is apart from the others.
 
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I usually do 3 days. Her beak, eyes, vent and feet are clean and smooth looking. Ive noticed several normal poops and she has been eating and preening. She is obviously never been in such close contact with humans.She's very alert. I chose her because as I walked into the area she had 2 boys cooing for her attention so she instantly looked girlish.

The place had literally hundreds of pigeons, not far from the enclosure I was at, with about 10 birds were rows of small cages. All the birds had nice looking feathers so I dont think they were disease ridden. I would have been taking a similar if not worse risk getting one at the auctions. I suppose whenever you see lots of animals together some always look worse than others. They also had chickens and a rooster pecking about that looked happy and healthy. It was just so obviously a meat farm. I caused quite a disturbance asking for a 'live, young female'. They had to call someone to help catch and identify. He also thought it was a girl and had a few tries getting her in the net.
 

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