Pigeon injury — Should I be worried? First aid?

[avjudge]

My female pigeons were out flying around when one apparently decided to make a close pass by me – unfortunately just as I leaned over to pick something up. She actually passed under my torso, I think correcting her flight as she did so in order not to hit me because beyond me she crash landed inside my barn aisle, I believe colliding with the miter/chop saw I had sitting there. The blade guard covered the blade, so it was just a solid obstacle she hit.

By the time I put down what I was holding and looked back up, she had disappeared. I couldn’t find her, but an hour or two later she reappeared inside the barn, close by and perched low to the ground, so I think she had found a dark corner to recover in. When I approached her she then flew up to the house roof, so I fed everyone supper and she returned to the aviary where I was able to catch her.

It doesn’t look like there’s a cut but a good bit of skin is scraped. Should I be worried? Treating her with something? Calling around for a vet?

I’ve been lucky to date and this is only my second injury. The previous one, though not severe, was from a cat so that time I did go immediately to a vet for antibiotics. This looks like something that should heal up but I’m not sure if there’s something I don’t know about it.

This photo shows there’s a flap of skin scraped off:

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I don't know a lot about pigeons, so will tag in @Qwerty3159 and @Old_Strain_Lover

That said, if it's just scraped the flesh, then I'd clean the wound with saline or Chlorhexidine, then apply triple antibiotic ointment. Check it daily.

 

[Qwerty3159]

I agree with the above. It’s a bit tough to tell from the pictures but is the crop torn (I.e. can the bird drink water and eat seed without it falling through the hole?) If not, that is a bit more concerning than just a flesh wound, but still something pigeons easily can recover from. From the looks of it the injury has avoided the crop but check just in case.

I would advise trimming some of the fluffy down from around the wound with scissors to keep the feathers from sticking in it. No flying for a week and potentially isolate her to prevent further injury and it should heal up quickly and nicely.

Good looking pigeon!

 

[avjudge]

Thanks guys! It doesn’t appear to have gone deeper than skin, though she did skin a bigger area than I first realized. When I pushed aside the overlapping feathers to treat it a bit more skin lifted up. Watching her walk around yesterday she seemed to be a little uneven, undoubtedly sore, and I think she looks a bit better today. And she is walking around or perching on the regular perches, flying to get to them, and looks alert; she is not hiding or fluffing. She took her overnight turn on the nest (and wing slapped me when I reached in to pull her out for treatment, which I take to be a good sign).

I just have four pairs of pigeons. They are all different colors except for two white, so this one is named Barbara because she is my only blue bar. I did take pictures a while ago which I meant to post in the pigeon thread and never got around to it! I will next time I am on my main computer.

Three of the four girls generally spend their days out flying circles around my backyard, and will fly over to me when they see me, probably because it often gets them a reward of peanuts. I assume that, plus maybe just the fun of flying, is why Barbara made her ill-advised close pass to me that led to her crash.

(The fourth girl is white with a slightly drooping wing, I assume an old injury - I got her and her mate from the Animal Rescue League - and chooses not to leave the aviary.)

Fingers crossed that recovery continues smoothly!

 

[avjudge]

I posted this as part of a post on the Pigeon Talk thread, and am repeating it here in case anyone is following this thread and not the other one:
Barbara appears to be continuing to mend without complication from Monday's crash landing. I did find a bit of a laceration hiding up under the feathers at the edge of the skinned area, and somehow she got a lot of dirt stuck into the ointment yesterday (it had been staying pretty clean before that), but as far as I can see her behavior is absolutely normal now. I just hope she doesn’t decide to hate me because she is clearly not a fan of the handling!

 

[avjudge]

Just a final (I hope) update — Barbara is looking great, aside from the blemish from the wound. I haven’t looked closely for a while, because her behavior has been absolutely normal so I saw no reason to disturb her. She is now once again out flying around with the other ladies during the day.

I do love having them circle the backyard — they seem to fly for the love of flying.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Glad to hear Barbara is doing well!
Thank you for the update