HELP Something is WRONG with my PIGEON

[Rabi Gabriel]

Last month I got Fancy Pigeons (Full grown Adult) for my father's birthday ..

(Everything was good, eating well, running around making happy noises)

Today in the Morning my dad found the male pigeon siting in a corner not moving to eat or drink. Dad took him out of the cage Pearl's (male) head is bending sideways and isn't able to hold his head up nor able walk properly in a straight line.

WHAT SHOULD WE DO NOW ?
Gave 3 drops of antibiotics (used for poultry) .. PLEASE HELP

 

[Liz Birdlover]

PMV & Paratyphoid (salmonella) have similar symptoms so it could be either. There are vaccines for both, but even so, no vaccine is 100%. When Enrofloxicin is available, it's good to keep powder or pill form, or Baytril injectable, on hand for such times, but that medicine is hard to find now.
I have inoculated AND given oral meds, because there is no way to really determine which illness the bird has for sure. I vaccinate so it's rare that it happens, yet it still can. When it happens, it is usually when conditions are stressful, such as drastic weather change (heat wave summer, freezing winter). Try to keep loft clean, but even so, it can still happen, a wild bird or mouse can bring it. If it happens, hopefully it's only a bird or 2, but if it is happening to several, you need to inoculate & treat Everyone asap. Most illnesses are spread via drinking water. All it takes is 1 mouse to get a drik from the pigeon water at night, and there you go. When it happens & a few birds are affected, I have brought the ones displaying symptoms indoors, set them up in their own cages & if necessary hand fed, so they weren't dealing with weather extremes or getting picked on while ill. Some pull through, some will always have a neck bending tick & won't be able to fly again, but some will do OK & be able to eat & hang in the loft, some will never be able to make it back into the loft as they have too many bent neck tick events, to be able to sucessfully eat along with everyone else & plus they get picked on, some just won't survive to make it through. I have 2 pigeons that pulled through this summer, they were just babies when I saw bent necks, as they scooted backwards in circles, like they couldn't get balance. I brought both in, set up in brooder, hand fed baby bird formula by feeding syringe, & gave Enrofloxicin. They're 6 mos old now. One also had gotten pecked on the head. He is fine, just has a bald spot, but he acts a little skittish & goofy, but no bent neck & he can fly. The other can walk & run, eat & survive in the loft but cannot fly & has a neck bending tick every so often. Both are in the senior & fancy section with only 20 birds total, so they won't have to fight for food. There are 3 others that don't fly in there, 2 with wing injuries & 1 old gal. So they have company & no one picks on anyone else in there. All I can say is, do your best, but be prepared, the bird may not make it, and if he does, he may be a special needs bird after this ordeal. Best of luck to you!

BTW, if no other birds are becoming ill, there is a chance this might be something else. I had a hawk fly into their wire, I saw it happen, hawk hit the wire mesh so he couldn't get in, but it sent my pigeons into a frenzy trying to get into the loft. One pigeon flew right smack into another pigeon & hit the side of the loft hard. He injured himself & was acting like this. If I hadn't seen it happen with my own eyes, I would've thought he had illness.

 

[Rabi Gabriel]

Probably PMV, but is it possible there was an injury? I had a pigeon hen suffer an injury during a hawk attack that left her neck twisted like that, she did not make it.

In my case the pigeon was not attacked nor left unattended when taken out of the cage but had been responding a bit slower than usual..

We finally found a vet after searching for one who is able to treat birds. He said that it is paramyxo virus gave injection even gave us one injection / syringe filled with antibiotics to inject in water or give that directly (i guess) at home, feed cerealac thru a tube and only 50% chance of survival.

 

[Old_Strain_Lover]

sorry for seeing this late. As others have said it could be paramyxovirus, but could be other things as well. Is it just holding the head like that, or doing a twisting motion? What do the droppings look like? is it able to eat on it's own? If it is paramyxovirus, then there really is no medicine for it as it's a virus and has to pass on it's own... however it's very contagious and needs to be kept isolated from any other birds. Plus you should wash your hands as well to keep any possible chances of transmission down ( I also seem to remember something about it possibly causing pink eye or conjuctivitis in people... don't hold me on that part though, as it's just something that I seem to have in my memory). Supportive care is about all you can do for PMV, and they don't always recover to a normal state even if they do recover.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Sorry about the pigeon, I know nothing about them. You may want to post on the pigeons forums so you get more answers, but I'll tag in someone for you too.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forums/pigeons-and-doves.52/

@backyard pigeons are you able to help?

 

[backyard pigeons]

Last month I got Fancy Pigeons (Full grown Adult) for my father's birthday ..
View attachment 2507329
View attachment 2507330
View attachment 2507332
(Everything was good, eating well, running around making happy noises)

Today in the Morning my dad found the male pigeon siting in a corner not moving to eat or drink. Dad took him out of the cage Pearl's (male) head is bending sideways and isn't able to hold his head up nor able walk properly in a straight line.

WHAT SHOULD WE DO NOW ?
Gave 3 drops of antibiotics (used for poultry) .. PLEASE HELP

I'm so sorry.

To me it sounds like PMV:

Please check out his other health videos, as they are always beneficial.

I do not feel I am the best at diagnosing illness, as many of them have similar symptoms. I will tag some wise pigeon fanciers for you!

@biophiliac
@Qwerty3159
@Old_Strain_Lover
@Liz Birdlover

Sorry about the pigeon, I know nothing about them. You may want to post on the pigeons forums so you get more answers, but I'll tag in someone for you too.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forums/pigeons-and-doves.52/

@backyard pigeons are you able to help?

thanks for the tag!

 

[biophiliac]

Last month I got Fancy Pigeons (Full grown Adult) for my father's birthday ..
View attachment 2507329
View attachment 2507330
View attachment 2507332
(Everything was good, eating well, running around making happy noises)

Today in the Morning my dad found the male pigeon siting in a corner not moving to eat or drink. Dad took him out of the cage Pearl's (male) head is bending sideways and isn't able to hold his head up nor able walk properly in a straight line.

WHAT SHOULD WE DO NOW ?
Gave 3 drops of antibiotics (used for poultry) .. PLEASE HELP

I think it sounds most like PMV.
http://www.pigeon-aid.org.uk/pa/html/paramyxovirus__pmv_.php
I have no personal experience with this in my birds. It is a virus so there is really no treatment other than supportive care.
@Old_Strain_Lover has more experience than most of us so I would defer to his advice.
PS That is such a pretty bird. I hope he recovers.

 

[biophiliac]

@Rabi Gabriel - Where are u located? U.K.? US? Is it winter or summer where you are?
Also, I just noticed that the link I posted gives 3 homeopathic remedies that may help with the symptoms. If you want to try meds I suggest the homeopathic remedies over the antibiotics. Antibiotics do not help with viruses.

 

[Qwerty3159]

Probably PMV, but is it possible there was an injury? I had a pigeon hen suffer an injury during a hawk attack that left her neck twisted like that, she did not make it.

 

[sourland]

Make sure that the bird keeps eating and drinking (tube feed if necessary) - vitamin supplementation may help. PMV in my experience has been a strange disease with some birds remaining asymptomatic while others become severely debilitated. Good luck with him and the other bird.