Raccoon attacked pigeon /pictures of wounds

[ChickenTenderKesha]

There was a commotion in the horse shed and I had one of the young pigeons fall towards me. It has its adult feathers but still peeps. I’ve looked after pigeons before but never had to do any doctoring on them. It struggled to fly back up and it had some feathers missing so I grabbed it and saw some wounds. I investigated and there is a raccoon in the top part of the shed where the other 3 pigeons were also nesting. I saw 2 other pigeons (another young one and what is possibly the mother) while I was trying to scare the raccoon out, to no avail. I’m afraid it might be it for the rest of this one’s family if the coon is still hungry.. hopefully I can do something for this one.

I know it’s not my pet or anything but it is a young pigeon that’s grown up in the shed so I’m a little partial to the cuties and I want to help as much as possible. I can add a photo if needed but it looks to be nothing deeper than just under the skin from what I was able to tell initially. I was about to rinse it with warm salt water as I don’t have any antiseptic spray on me..

I’ve never had to nurse a bird back to health like this before so I need all the help I can get. A vet is not an option. I don’t have the best photos of it currently, when I clean it I can try and get more but it’s hard with only 2 hands. I’m not sure what else is needed. The raccoon looked plump and fat and healthy. Not sickly or anything but I’m still worried about infection and that leading to something else.

Any help is appreciated and thank you in advance.

 

[CCUK]

There was a commotion in the horse shed and I had one of the young pigeons fall towards me. It has its adult feathers but still peeps. I’ve looked after pigeons before but never had to do any doctoring on them. It struggled to fly back up and it had some feathers missing so I grabbed it and saw some wounds. I investigated and there is a raccoon in the top part of the shed where the other 3 pigeons were also nesting. I saw 2 other pigeons (another young one and what is possibly the mother) while I was trying to scare the raccoon out, to no avail. I’m afraid it might be it for the rest of this one’s family if the coon is still hungry.. hopefully I can do something for this one.

I know it’s not my pet or anything but it is a young pigeon that’s grown up in the shed so I’m a little partial to the cuties and I want to help as much as possible. I can add a photo if needed but it looks to be nothing deeper than just under the skin from what I was able to tell initially. I was about to rinse it with warm salt water as I don’t have any antiseptic spray on me..

I’ve never had to nurse a bird back to health like this before so I need all the help I can get. A vet is not an option. I don’t have the best photos of it currently, when I clean it I can try and get more but it’s hard with only 2 hands. I’m not sure what else is needed. The raccoon looked plump and fat and healthy. Not sickly or anything but I’m still worried about infection and that leading to something else.

Any help is appreciated and thank you in advance.

Have you checked it for any broken bones? Especially wings. If it has a broken wing it will be very difficult for it to fix and learn to fly. If it is fully feathered then it was on the verge of fledging. It will still be being fed by its parents. It should be trying to feed itself. Some people recommend feeding youngsters with frozen peas. They need warming up a little so they aren't actually frozen though!
Is there any way you can perminantly rid the barn from the raccoons? I know alot of people don't like doing this but sometimes it is necessary. If you could do this you could try putting the youngster back in the nest.

 

[ChickenTenderKesha]

Have you checked it for any broken bones? Especially wings. If it has a broken wing it will be very difficult for it to fix and learn to fly. If it is fully feathered then it was on the verge of fledging. It will still be being fed by its parents. It should be trying to feed itself. Some people recommend feeding youngsters with frozen peas. They need warming up a little so they aren't actually frozen though!
Is there any way you can perminantly rid the barn from the raccoons? I know alot of people don't like doing this but sometimes it is necessary. If you could do this you could try putting the youngster back in the nest.

I had looked it over and cleaned the wounds last night before making it a little home in our front mud room. Nothing seems broken, it was alert, pupils were the same size, it was walking and trying to get away from me as any normal wild pigeon would so I don’t believe the wounds are any deeper than I could see.

I might be portraying this pigeon as younger than it seems but I’m not really sure when the babies were born. It’s more than fledgling I’d think ?? Fledglings still have the yellow down feathers usually don’t they? I’ll try some peas later and see if they go for them. I’m at work for a few more hours but I've got conformation the pigeon has been active in the cage and ventured out of the cat carrier it had been in for the night!

If I had access to someone with a gun last night that ‘coon would already be gone... you should have heard me yelling profanities at the darn thing It’s the first raccoon I’ve seen on our property actually so I’m worried with the construction going on around this wooded area next to us it got disturbed during the day because I would of seen it the night before when I was up there taking photos of the pigeons and baby field mice I found up there. Unless it was going for a snack but it was settled up there and there was a good portion of feathers on the ground already. The only way to rid the barn of it would be to trap it, with that we would have to wait for it to get caught in the cage. Hopefully it didn’t feast too much last night and there’s a parent to give this one back to.. thank you for your reply!

Edit: forgot to mention that the barn gets left open as it’s more of a shed/shelter but with a door wide enough for a horse to fit with a few inches on either side
Edit: I’ll also be removing the wooden boards they were nesting on as well since it’s just a spot for critters to nest in/on

 

[ChickenTenderKesha]

Here’s are some photos I got last night after rinsing with warm salt water. I’ll try to get some better shots of the flight feathers missing on the wings, one is way worse than the other. That’s probably the only reason I was able to catch it on the first place

 

[TexasWineGuy]

Antibiotic Ointment on the wounds daily. Keep wounds clean.

I would personally begin antibiotic injections, such as Oxytetracycline. About 5 days of injections should suffice.

TWG

 

[CCUK]

Here’s are some photos I got last night after rinsing with warm salt water. I’ll try to get some better shots of the flight feathers missing on the wings, one is way worse than the other. That’s probably the only reason I was able to catch it on the first place

That looks really nasty. Good job on cleaning it up. Can you get triple antibiotic cream? That would help stave of any infection. But I would be worried about tendon damage. Has it been able to fully extend its wing? I would want that raccoon gone. I'd be worried about it getting into the chickens too. If you want to try trapping it I can tag someone who is very good and can give excellent advice.

 

[ChickenTenderKesha]

Antibiotic Ointment on the wounds daily. Keep wounds clean.

I would personally begin antibiotic injections, such as Oxytetracycline. About 5 days of injections should suffice.

TWG

That looks really nasty. Good job on cleaning it up. Can you get triple antibiotic cream? That would help stave of any infection. But I would be worried about tendon damage. Has it been able to fully extend its wing? I would want that raccoon gone. I'd be worried about it getting into the chickens too. If you want to try trapping it I can tag someone who is very good and can give excellent advice.

I’ll be sure to pick up an antibiotic cream to put on it. Any specifics I should watch out for when buying? Stuff to avoid/look for?

Both wings extend and the pigeon can get lifted into the air but I don’t think I want to test just how well it can fly distances with nearly half the one wing missing.. It flew around the front porch when I tried to look at it just now so I’ll get some photos of the wing and the wounds in a little while. For now I’m going to try and see if I can convince them to eat some peas.. any other food suggestions as the place to get bird feed is closed for the evening?

 

[TexasWineGuy]

Any OTC "Triple Antibiotic Ointment" from your local pharmacy will work just fine.

TWG

 

[Tesumph]

I’m not too savvy on pigeon care, so I’ll leave that advice to others.

As for wound care, I’d pick up some betadine and antibiotic ointment. Clean the wounds very well with betadine, make sure you really scrub and get in there.
Thoroughly dry the pigeon afterwards as I’m sure the risk of chilling them is even greater than a chicken. Keep the wound moist with the ointment and clean it daily until it’s healed over. The wounds don’t look deep at all, but you’ll have to watch out for infection. I don’t know just how frail pigeons are but I think it will be fine.

In the meantime, perhaps try posting in the pigeon forum for advice on feeding and housing? I’m not sure if he’ll be able to be released for a long time, given his damaged flight feathers.

 

[glassdragonfly]

Hi! Great job saving them. I would make sure the antibiotic ointment did not say "with pain relief" on it. It's not good for chickens so I wouldn't think it would be for pigeons.Good luck with them!