Got 4 new squeakers, and one may be sick--please advise

[barn206]

I HOPE my loft numbers stay at 8 and only increase! Fingers crossed. She isn't listless though, she scrambles around when I put my hands near her, but, different from the others, when I pick her up, she chills completely and lets me sort of soothe pet her head, etc, so I'm hoping that's only because she's tame and sweet and not because she is sick.

I have so many headlamps.... because every time I need one I cannot find one, so I just buy a new one and keep them in all my handy spots--one hanging from a coat hook in the mud room, one in my truck, one in my go bag, one in my duck hunting bag, the list goes on lol) And because of that, I always just buy the cheapo ones....

Smiling!

 

[rdcowman]

I hope she gets better!!

 

[barn206]

I spoke with my mom this morning. She said the ointment I used will help with everything EXCEPT an ulceric lesion, which if that is the case it will make it worse since it has steroids in it. She also said she doesn't like giving young animals steroids. That said, she said one dose won't be a problem. She is giving me anti-biotic drops today. I will ask her about the terramycin as well.

She is isolated in my garage in a small kennel. I sort of feel bad she has to be alone, but I think it's for the best until I see improvement. I put food and grit in the bottom saucer part of a waterer, but I found her laying in it this morning seemingly thinking it was a nest bowl maybe lol? Anyways, since she laid in it and got some of the food outside of it, I can't tell if she has been eating or not. I put some peanuts in with the food, so I would imagine if those disappear it means she is eating....

Here is a picture of her eye:

View attachment 1034188

Lamarsh, your mom knows way more than I do so I'm sure she's going to keep after it . I just want to say that I've never given a bird ointment for their eye more than once a day . I've had birds with worse Conditions then your squeaker and I only gave the bird the ointment once a day . One treatment might help the infection I think you may have caught it in time . Check her tomorrow
Good luck. It's nice to see that people really care about their pets

 

[LamarshFish]

Lamarsh, your mom knows way more than I do so I'm sure she's going to keep after it . I just want to say that I've never given a bird ointment for their eye more than once a day . I've had birds with worse Conditions then your squeaker and I only gave the bird the ointment once a day . One treatment might help the infection I think you may have caught it in time . Check her tomorrow
Good luck. It's nice to see that people really care about their pets

She told me it's best to do twice a day, but she did tell me to do it for 2 weeks, and I told her I will have to put her back in the loft soon because I don't want to keep her cooped up in this small kennel for too much longer, and once I put her in the loft she will be hard to catch, at least during the day, but I would be able to easily grab her at night, so it looks like I'll have to apply it once a day in any event.

Here are a few better photos of her eye

:

Here is a pic of the hospital setup I made for her. I cut a feeder out of an old Pedialyte bottle and zip tied it to the inside of the door since she was stepping and laying in the bowl of food I had in there for her (must have thought it was a nest bowl she's used to being comfy in), and put her water in a spare gravity waterer I had (taped a cutoff 2L bottle top on the top of it so she won't stand on it and crap in her water). Sprinkled a little grit on the floor as well. I have the door facing my chukars' cage so she sort of has some company and doesn't feel alone, cause I know pigeons are pretty gregarious. I am hoping to move her to the loft by Friday evening.

 

[biophiliac]

Pretty girl. She has white flights?

 

[jak2002003]

I would guess that this bird got pecked in the eye by one of the others when they were getting transported to your place.

The injury looks very mild.. and with all the care and treatment you are giving her I think she will recover fine.

These birds are so hardy.. I have had some with sever injuries and it always amazes me how quickly and completely they recover!

 

[barn206]

I would guess that this bird got pecked in the eye by one of the others when they were getting transported to your place.

The injury looks very mild.. and with all the care and treatment you are giving her I think she will recover fine.

These birds are so hardy.. I have had some with sever injuries and it always amazes me how quickly and completely they recover!

I agree with jak ...The eye looks better than it did. Still your mom is a vet and I would follow her instructions. Your young one will be fine. The bird looks better already

 

[LamarshFish]

Unfortunately she is not improving. Her eye now remains shut most of the time. She still looks sick as well, holding her feathers sort of puffed up, with her head tucked down. I put her in the loft to join the others last night. Not sure if it was a good idea, but I thought the confinement was stressing her and I wanted to see if this would improve her condition. Not sure if it's worth the risk or not. She came in a carrier with my four other new ones, so if she has something bad, they were already exposed.

I sent a close up pic to a vet I know who is an eye specialist, and he said it looks like a cataract and other issues. He said it is likely something that will not respond to medications.

The other birds are sort of bullying her around, but I actually think that is because of her color (they are doing it to my only other non-blue bird, and that bird is completely healthy). I will post another thread on that...

 

[biophiliac]

Unfortunately she is not improving. Her eye now remains shut most of the time. She still looks sick as well, holding her feathers sort of puffed up, with her head tucked down. I put her in the loft to join the others last night. Not sure if it was a good idea, but I thought the confinement was stressing her and I wanted to see if this would improve her condition. Not sure if it's worth the risk or not. She came in a carrier with my four other new ones, so if she has something bad, they were already exposed.

I sent a close up pic to a vet I know who is an eye specialist, and he said it looks like a cataract and other issues. He said it is likely something that will not respond to medications.

The other birds are sort of bullying her around, but I actually think that is because of her color (they are doing it to my only other non-blue bird, and that bird is completely healthy). I will post another thread on that...

FWIW I would get a fecal exam under microscope to check levels of coccidia and to rule out internal parasites. Especially in view of her thin condition. Some individuals will be more vulnerable than others to these problems.
http://www.pigeonracingpigeon.com/m...eight-most-common-health-problems-in-pigeons/

 

[LamarshFish]

I went north fishing this weekend, so I left all my animals in the care of my fiancé. She knows what she's doing with them. Anyways, right before I left Friday evening I was checking on the loft and she really didn't look good. She was puffed up with her head tucked down, and when she would try to move around she wobbled about. My fiancé said she was worse on Saturday, then reported she had passed today.

So, RIP #8. I buried her in my yard. Some animals just weren't born strong enough to make it, or caught something too early on.

Hope my others don't get sick. I scraped out the loft and spread diametaceous earth all over each of the next boxes. Water is still treated with apple cider vinegar and garlic. Keeping an eye on them.