Found a sick pigeon, need advice

Needlebones

Hatching
May 12, 2021
3
9
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Hello, about a week ago I noticed a sick pigeon with the other pigeons that I normally feed on my porch- it was spinning, having troubles pecking the seed, it couldn't fly... so I decided I'd either save it or give it a nice safe warm place to pass. A couple of days ago, I managed to catch it- it was so weak that it was easily held and couldn't struggle away, so I placed it in a spare carrier I use to take my pets to the vet. I looked up how to care for a sick/dying pigeon, and I carefully warmed it with a warm water bottle wrapped in a towel and then gave it water, and then food. From there, I've moved it into my spare bathroom/bathtub, as I'm not worried about it flying/escaping, as the poor little thing can barely walk. I inspected it in short bursts over hours, as I didn't want to stress it too badly. I found no lice or bugs, surprisingly, however, the bird has a bald spot just above its tail on its rump, it's very thin, and it has obvious issues with motor control.

I have mostly only taken care of cats and dogs before, and while I grew up on a farm with chickens, I was too young to have participated in their husbandry. I need help to make sure I'm not accidentally harming this bird. Unfortunately, my city is very anti-pigeon and they will not rehabilitate pigeons, so I'm on my own.

Right now, I'm feeding it the same seed I give the other pigeons- it's the generic pigeon/dove mix from Walmart. I have also been giving it pedialyte to re-hydrate it. What things should I pick up for my little friend? Am I accidentally doing something to harm it? How do I tell if it's a boy or a girl without stressing it out by checking the cloaca? I've included some pictures of my setup- this is definitely temporary and thrown together, but it's the best I can do for right now. Apologies for the poor pictures, my phone's currently being repaired so I have to use my kindle's camera. I also didn't want to stress out small friend by getting too close with the camera.

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Both Paramyxovirus(PMV) and Paratyphoid(Salmonella) have the twisting neck(neurological) symptoms. There is not much you can do other than provide supportive care as you are doing. If the bird is able to eat and drink it may survive, but don't blame yourself if he doesn't.

Welcome @Needlebones to our pigeon forum!
 
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Apologies for the poor image quality. Little friend is definitely eating- they do have issues actually pecking the dish, so the seeds are in deep tupperwares I have. I'm glad that I'm doing okay so far. I took a picture of pigeon's droppings just in case. I keep trying to get a picture of the bald spot, but I don't want to stress friend out more than I already am.
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