need help

[tjmiddlemass]

11 day old pigeon parent abandoned him at 4 days been hand rearing since then I noticed his crop looked very full after just small amount of food then one morning it was badly swollen and hard, I rushed him to a vet he did tests and found he had 3 different infections as well as extended crop. Hes been on 3 different medicines, had to take him to vet yesterday again hes gained weight still on 3 medicines till the course is finished problem is hes pooed normally up till now but has only pooed 3 times in past 24 hours crop hangs badly even when empty, hes 11 days old now, hes kept warm with heat mat, hes on small feeds every 2 to 3 hours even through the night, its so expensive at vets and weve to travel so far to get a vet to treat him and I am worried how little hes pooed, I dont know if its because of small feeds but cannt give larger feeds incase I do damage crp more, or if theres another reason, really worried feel helpless because I know so little about this kind of thing help

 

[laughingdog]

I feel bad and applaud your effort!
i just fed ferals that had this, cheap layer pellets, and they did so well i started doing for all breeding (recently switched to layer crumbles as less wasted). they will get too much nutrition possibly, as they poop good n lots, n grow like weeds.
What are you feeding it, n is it a feral or from pet pigeons (fancy type if is)?
A red blue or black heat bulb may work better told, but I've used heat pads in ten gallon tanks and arched pads, babies seeming preferring to snuggle up to top n sides then be heated from bottom only.
chicks n ducks seem to love heat under as well as over too but ducks and some chicks had same prob. I stopped them being able to lay againt heat on bottom, added ACV (Apple Cider Vinager) to water of one to two table spoons per gallon of drinking water. probiotics to food good too. stopped prob, but two or three times had to palpate rotten etc feed from crop o pigeons ducks and couple chicks (all had as rescues). was told by vets n breeders etc that happens from not warm enough generally and feed too cool. good luck with your new baby, and if feral and your not into pigeons, its a great hobby for us and for the birds!

 

[Majd]

Thank you for caring so much for! Hope he does well :/

 

[tjmiddlemass]

She is from my own pigeons, they are pets and are grey look like homing pigeons, I am feeding baby on kaytee exact hand feeding formula the vet said feed small feeds every 2 hours or so, so thats what iam doing, shes growing but shes barely pooing despite having something from vet to do so I dont know if shes not getting enough food to poo regularily or not iam giving her 5ml ever 2to3 hour she always wants more but I dont want to make maters worse iam not sure what to do

 

[Majd]

Stick to what the doctors told you and hooe for the best... Sure she would want more but the idea is to give small proportions... And she's pooping so little because she already has difficulty doing it... Hope she recovers soon

 

[laughingdog]

A local vet when moved, told me i had to spend all this money, cause what i thought and tests supposedly done.. told nothing.
$5,000+ we will leave count at initial costs so i don't look too stoopid, but after even more.. found my cat was actually being literally bled out (literally), and much worse to keep him sick! too late, i took him to another vet to be put finally mercifully out of misery that had been kept in for months.. turns out originally my cat had simple two dollar first thing tested for, snap tested, treatable problem. vet here before that had skipped euthanasia solution n pumped colored water and air into a dog poisioned by antifreeze. was told by avian specialist, to just wrap neck around pencil and pull, to treat a sick pigeon rescued, unless i was willing to put down a thousand at least up front to walk in door (i had money before), and as was about to walk back, had watched him tell lil ol lady to just step on her pet budgie as was easy to get another.. many more stories true unfortunately, and finding aside from few, most people are only out for your money, as had seen n own doctors tell people have many crazy incurable n exotic diseases (east tn most joke of healthcare I've ever heard of!), as i myself found looking up and asking questions and more specific tests, that a few of bad probs turn out don't have are: LEUKEMIA, four types of stomach cologne rectal CANCER, HIV, MS, MD, etc (turns out bad allergies can cause syptoms of and auto immune probs and anti body response mimicking these few of many that were "cured" by maximum strength singular brand name (or its a magic cure all). Mojor contributing factors now shown to miraculously healed here, for me anyway (or the gods reeeally love me, hopefully all of.
sooo.. look up and ask a LOT of questions, as many docs can't stay pondering your case for longer than can reach next room. vets, well having been a vet assistant, and having known many.. aside from old boss n few others, mist openly said laughing (made my boss horribly upset) at conventions, that only reasons to be vet is cause you flunked that bad at med school or quite (it takes MUCH more knowledge to be decent vet n why many have specialties), and/or cause you can't get disbard or sued etc nearly as bad/much. so just don't even believe me, look more up and good luck.

 

[jak2002003]

Hope he is doing well.

I often hand rear rescued pigeons.. people keep bringing them to me as they know I love animals.

When I have one with crop problems I find the best thing to do is cook up some apples till they are all mushy.

Cool them down and then give the pigeon a couple of feeding of these.. the liquid should be warm but not hot.

When you start feeding normally again.. you can mix in some cooked mashed up apple with the feed.

That formula you are feeding should be very good. Make it more liquid if the crop is having trouble emptying until its got back to normal.

I just feed chick starter mash mixed with warm water.. then add seeds and grit to the mix when the squab is bigger.

TIPS TO HELP YOU.

NEVER feed the chick if its still got food in the crop from previous feeding.

Make the food warm to ease digestion.

Add cooked mashed up apple if crop slow to empty.

If has air in the crop.. gently stretch chicks neck upwards and massage the air out to 'burp' it. Air can come from digestive problems OR more from incorrect feeding and the chick swallows air with the food.

Feed as much as it will eat in one feeding.. until the crop is full... then no more food until the crop is empty again in a few hours.. when they are older they only need 2 or 3 feedings a day.

I found feeding with the plastic bag method was the easiest and most natural for the chick... but can be messy.. but easy to clean off spilt food with a damp paper towel. Fill clear small plastic bag with the formula.. cut small hole in corner just large enough to put chicks beak into.. Push chicks beak into the hold and hold over pigeons body.. squab should start swallowing food pumping his head up and down. It will pull its beak out when full.. Let it eat as much as it likes until its full.. then it will just stop eating.

Keep the squab warm but not let overheat as will dehydrate.

Hope this helps.

PS.. I too have had very bad experiences with some vets.... one actually knew what the problem was with one of my birds.. but treated with several different treatments that cost me a lot of money and I was so upset.. in the end he admitted I was right with what I wanted him to do in the first place.. but he would not order the medicine I needed as it cost so much money and it only came in bulk.. so he would make a loss on it1!! I went out crying and in the end my bird died as it had got so weak over the weeks and poisoned by the over medication.

Also had a vet forget to give me all the medication for my dog that got a disease from a tick. The got better.. then suddenly got very bad.. when I took it back they told me I did not give it all the medication.. told then I never got the particular pills.. they told I must have lost them1!!!! Then had to do all the treatment again, which they charged me for.. and were very nasty to me because I insisted that they did not give me all the medicines!!!

 

[laughingdog]

I've had normal med troubles too, from mixed wrong, spoiled, expired, leaky/cracked container that leaked some to most way out.
sorry for ranting, I've just had bad med experiences, knowing just enough to get me in trouble, but not enough to do any real damage.. as have heard from others.

 

[tjmiddlemass]

Baby pigeon who weve named orville really growing fast and is getting feathers through, still has extended crop but ive made her the little jacket(crop bra) thing for support, she still on small frequent meals I feed her ever 3 hours now day and night, I dont know if extended crop can ever get better.She has a vet appointment for a check up and weight check in 10 days, he says we are doing good but his biggest concern is when she goes on seeds, we are off on holiday on the 28th but orvilles coming too.

 

[jak2002003]

Baby pigeon who weve named orville really growing fast and is getting feathers through, still has extended crop but ive made her the little jacket(crop bra) thing for support, she still on small frequent meals I feed her ever 3 hours now day and night, I dont know if extended crop can ever get better.She has a vet appointment for a check up and weight check in 10 days, he says we are doing good but his biggest concern is when she goes on seeds, we are off on holiday on the 28th but orvilles coming too.

Can you post a photo of her crop?

Extended crop will heal The support can usually be removed in 2 weeks, after the crop muscle has regained its normal size.

Well done helping this little one. You will have a sweet and very tame pet when it grows up.