Help...wild pigeon with injured wing!

[BarkerChickens]

Ok..first, I'll apologize for this not being directly about my chickens, but I need help! We have a feral Rock Pigeon that adopted our front yard. He (assuming gender to make life easy for now) can't fly and when he tries, he goes a couple inches and falls...clearly while struggling. We put food and water out and a dog kennel cage, but have had NO luck catching him. I did get close enough, however, to see that his right wing is bloody. It was fresh so I don't know if it isn't closed or if he further injured the wing today. Either way, we need to help him before the neighbors cat eats him! We have a separate coop and run that we used when our chickens were babies and we've considered putting him in there. But..it is close to our chickens and I don't know what this little guy carries. Plus, we want to use that coop/run for future chickens. What can we do for this pigeon?!?! Please help!

 

[Ang]

Do you have a wildlife center or a vet that specializes in wildlife nearby? I would contact them for help in getting him caught. Good luck!

 

[BarkerChickens]

There is a wildlife rescue about 45 minutes away in Big Bear (I live in Southern California), but they generally take in Eagles, owls, bears, coyotes, deer, wolves, etc. I can call them to see if they'd take in a pigeon. As for a wildlife vet...I doubt it, but it is definitely worth looking! Thanks for the great suggestion!

 

[Sylvia]

The kennel would be better--more restricted space. You could also cover it more easily to keep him calmer. Could you throw a towel over him to catch him?
Be sure the blood's not from bone poking through. When I worked at the vet school wildlife ward, that was a death sentence, as bones could get infected easily.

 

[tiki244]

Do you have a net to catch your chickens? Or a fishing net? Catch him with that and put him in the cage. He cant hurt you. I would bring him inside in the cage and let him warm up and only give him water. Food could hurt him at this time. He may not be as badly hurt as you think, but he should be some place where he can rest and warm up. Its dark out now so you should be able to catch him. write back and update me. I will do a search for my pigeon care and will be right back. You can give him luke warm water to drink. maybe a old towel to stand on in tha cage.

 

[Wildsky]

I don't think they'd take a pigeon!

But they might give some advice... I've never had to deal with that - but I'd try catch him, at least to keep him safe and warm and fed...... till tomorrow... ?
A vet would probably charge a fortune.. not sure if you have the spare $$$

Can you block him off if in that spare coop area? You can always disinfect afterward.

I think keeping him in the dark or very little light would help him remain calm - as its getting night now for you = I bet you could catch him easier...

GOOD LUCK!

 

[tiki244]

This site has emergency care of pigeons

http://pigeon-life.net/resources.html

I have also given my pigeons terymiacin in their water which you could-it works well to clean up some infections

 

[BarkerChickens]

Ouch! I never thought about a bone poking through. I was thinking he got poked by something or bit somehow (ok..so if something bit him, he'd probably have more injuries or he'd be dead..but I hadn't really thought that out much at the time). If it were a bone sticking through, is there any way to reset it, or do we just let nature take its course?

Assuming we can catch him, we can put him in the dog kennel and keep him in the back spare room where he'll be warm and safe from the dogs and cat. I wish we had a net...I thought of that. I was thinking about being very patient sitting outside with bread and hoping he'll eventually come up to me. I just checked on him and he is staying warm under my car. He ran under there earlier when we tried to coax him into the cage. Even the most ornery chickens are SO much easier to catch then this guy! He won't let us come close to him whatsoever! We put food (chicken mash) and water on the porch next to the dog kennel (which we place a "nest" of wood mulch hoping he'll go in there to stay warm). We figured if he's eating "something" in the planter bed, he must feel ok enough to each mash. He's been going after it for the past couple days. I'll feel so bad for him. He's beautiful too...dark blackish gray with the blue-green-purple iridescent color on his neck. Most beautiful pigeon I have ever seen!

 

[tiki244]

You should be able to catch him when it gets dark, especially
with two people. That site does tell you how to fix a broken wing too. He may just need a few days to rest. Good luck

 

[BarkerChickens]

Tiki..thanks for the site! It has a great tutorial on how to treat and wrap an injured wing! Now if I can just catch him. My guess is he is pretty healthy besides the injury. His feathers are bright and shiny, his eyes are alert and healthy, no snot or anything in the nose and the scales on his legs look healthy. He can run pretty darn fast too! Maybe tomorrow morning we can improvise with a large cardboard box since we don't have a net. I don't think there will be anyway to get him tonight with him under the car. He's realized that the middle of the car is a "safe zone". Last night he came onto the porch when it got cold, so hopefully he'll do that again. I think we scared him too much earlier. He's too alert right now.

Thanks everyone for your advice.