Squab injured wings.

[jak2002003]

Yesterday I came home to a bit of a disaster. A pigeon squab has been badly injured by another pigeon trying to take over the nest box. Its father is top of the pecking order and boss of the coop, but somehow managed to get out the trap door and locked out while I was at work, so could not defend his young.

Anyway, strangely it's not got scalped, but instead the pigeon pecked at both its wings near the top near its neck, and one side is down to the bone, the other is all skin ripped off. Feathers are missing and it looked really nasty with lots of blood, and the squab was panting and flat out with exhaustion.

I have had to keep it out now because, even with the father back, the pecking order seems to have changed and he can't keep the other bird out of his nest, and the other bird is determined to kill the squab, even if I place it on the floor or in a small cage in the coop.

It is at the stage when its just starting to eat on its own, so that is not too much of a problem, and the dad is still feeding it when I let them out of the coop (squab is now kept in a cage outside and let out when its dad is there to feed it).

The squab also has pigeon pox... a huge lump on its beak, and lots around its bottom area and some on the wings. It's not had a nice start to life.

Good news is that today it's very strong and seems happy enough, and is even exercising and flapping its wings about. But I am worried it wont' be able to fly in the future as the worse injured wing is not able to fully stretch out because of the massive dried up scab over the wound on the joint.

As the bird is still growing I am thinking the bones might grow deformed. I tried gently stretching out the wing to the normal position, but its quite stiff.

I am not sure the best course of action here. I would have put it to sleep the nest day if it still seemed to be suffering. But it seems very happy and is very active and alert and strong. But, if it can't fly when its mature I worry its not going to have a happy life or be able to look after itself in the flock.

Any advise welcome from anyone who has had something like this happen to one of their pigeons. Thank you.

 

[biophiliac]

Yesterday I came home to a bit of a disaster. A pigeon squab has been badly injured by another pigeon trying to take over the nest box. Its father is top of the pecking order and boss of the coop, but somehow managed to get out the trap door and locked out while I was at work, so could not defend his young.

Anyway, strangely it's not got scalped, but instead the pigeon pecked at both its wings near the top near its neck, and one side is down to the bone, the other is all skin ripped off. Feathers are missing and it looked really nasty with lots of blood, and the squab was panting and flat out with exhaustion.

I have had to keep it out now because, even with the father back, the pecking order seems to have changed and he can't keep the other bird out of his nest, and the other bird is determined to kill the squab, even if I place it on the floor or in a small cage in the coop.

It is at the stage when its just starting to eat on its own, so that is not too much of a problem, and the dad is still feeding it when I let them out of the coop (squab is now kept in a cage outside and let out when its dad is there to feed it).

The squab also has pigeon pox... a huge lump on its beak, and lots around its bottom area and some on the wings. It's not had a nice start to life.

Good news is that today it's very strong and seems happy enough, and is even exercising and flapping its wings about. But I am worried it wont' be able to fly in the future as the worse injured wing is not able to fully stretch out because of the massive dried up scab over the wound on the joint.

As the bird is still growing I am thinking the bones might grow deformed. I tried gently stretching out the wing to the normal position, but its quite stiff.

I am not sure the best course of action here. I would have put it to sleep the nest day if it still seemed to be suffering. But it seems very happy and is very active and alert and strong. But, if it can't fly when its mature I worry its not going to have a happy life or be able to look after itself in the flock.

Any advise welcome from anyone who has had something like this happen to one of their pigeons. Thank you.

Sorry that happened. Our birds really challenge us sometimes!

The closest I've come to that is a hen Doba who was injured at the base of her neck(and more) ... long story short, I noticed after a month on cage rest that she couldn't fly, trouble extending the right wing and started carrying it higher than the uninjured wing. Vet exam revealed no obvious breaks but no x-rays done. Advised to try some pt, manually eztending the wing gently, etc. After another two months I was again considering euthanasia when she suddenly showed signs of improvement. She is back in the loft, flying, paired, on eggs, etc. When I first returned her to the loft, she could barely fly - she did the rest of her rehab on her own. I guess what I'm suggesting is that you take some time to make any decision as long as the bird is eating, drinking, alert, etc.

Second, for severe wounds and to prevent infection @CCUK and others have used pure raw honey to dress the wound. Ccuk is a pretty fair bird medic and I hope he will chime in here.

Third, if the injury/recovery period prevents use of the wing it may take awhile afterward to get full or maximum use back.
If the bones aren't broken I doubt they will grow deformed. Tendon damage may be an issue. Doba did end up with some permanent damage to the wing but she has compensated 95%.

Personally, I use homeopathic remedies for trauma, especially Arnica Montana...
https://www.boironusa.com/products/arnica-montana/

and for bone trauma specifically...
https://www.boironusa.com/products/symphytum-officinale/

Pox can be more serious in youngsters but your little guy seems to have a strong will to live.
I'll wish you best of luck with this.

 

[CCUK]

Hi jak. Sorry to hear about the squab. I used manuka honey to heal one of mine when it got scalped. It took a couple of weeks to clear up but healed without a trace. It may be better to use a antibiotic cream if it is on the wing especially if it's near a joint. If it gets infected you will not have many options. If I were you I would isolate/remove the male that attacked it and leave this one and its parents in the loft. It may knock it down a peg or two. It will also give the little one chance to heal in a near normal setting. Just keep the wound as clean as possible. Hopefully it doesn't have any tendon damage. I've never had to treat pigeon pox but I found this site and it's seems pretty straight to the point.
http://www.pigeon-aid.org.uk/pa/html/pigeon_pox.php
Hopefully it will make a full recovery, they can be tough little things. But I would definately isolate the male until this one is a bit bigger and healed.

 

[jak2002003]

Sorry that happened. Our birds really challenge us sometimes!

The closest I've come to that is a hen Doba who was injured at the base of her neck(and more) ... long story short, I noticed after a month on cage rest that she couldn't fly, trouble extending the right wing and started carrying it higher than the uninjured wing. Vet exam revealed no obvious breaks but no x-rays done. Advised to try some pt, manually eztending the wing gently, etc. After another two months I was again considering euthanasia when she suddenly showed signs of improvement. She is back in the loft, flying, paired, on eggs, etc. When I first returned her to the loft, she could barely fly - she did the rest of her rehab on her own. I guess what I'm suggesting is that you take some time to make any decision as long as the bird is eating, drinking, alert, etc.

Second, for severe wounds and to prevent infection @CCUK and others have used pure raw honey to dress the wound. Ccuk is a pretty fair bird medic and I hope he will chime in here.

Third, if the injury/recovery period prevents use of the wing it may take awhile afterward to get full or maximum use back.
If the bones aren't broken I doubt they will grow deformed. Tendon damage may be an issue. Doba did end up with some permanent damage to the wing but she has compensated 95%.

Personally, I use homeopathic remedies for trauma, especially Arnica Montana...
https://www.boironusa.com/products/arnica-montana/

and for bone trauma specifically...
https://www.boironusa.com/products/symphytum-officinale/

Pox can be more serious in youngsters but your little guy seems to have a strong will to live.
I'll wish you best of luck with this.

Thanks for that encouragement.

Its doing OK. No signs of infection. No broken bones. Just ripped up flesh (but now all scabbed over and dry).

It's flapping both wings about to get ready to fly soon. Hopefully that will act as massage for the wings. I am sure the less damages wing will be 100 percent. The other one is still not straightening out enough (but as you say it might just take time)

I have been gently stretching the wing out fully 2 or 3 times a day (when I get him out to let his Dad feed him).

 

[jak2002003]

Hi jak. Sorry to hear about the squab. I used manuka honey to heal one of mine when it got scalped. It took a couple of weeks to clear up but healed without a trace. It may be better to use a antibiotic cream if it is on the wing especially if it's near a joint. If it gets infected you will not have many options. If I were you I would isolate/remove the male that attacked it and leave this one and its parents in the loft. It may knock it down a peg or two. It will also give the little one chance to heal in a near normal setting. Just keep the wound as clean as possible. Hopefully it doesn't have any tendon damage. I've never had to treat pigeon pox but I found this site and it's seems pretty straight to the point.
http://www.pigeon-aid.org.uk/pa/html/pigeon_pox.php
Hopefully it will make a full recovery, they can be tough little things. But I would definately isolate the male until this one is a bit bigger and healed.

I tried you suggestion, but sadly did not work out.

The squab kept getting left alone in the old nest (as its parents have eggs in a nest box above the old nest). So when the father bird is one the eggs in the other nest the other birds go in there are harass the squab (even though I put the bird that wounded the squab in a cage outside). So I decided to put the male back and keep the squab separate until its healed up..... but yours was a good idea, thank you!

I will wait a week or 2 and let you all know how the baby is doing.

 

[biophiliac]

I will wait a week or 2 and let you all know how the baby is doing.

Thanks, I have a good feeling about his recovery.

 

[jak2002003]

Here is a good news update.

He is now able to fly quite well and is happy to mix with the flock when I let them all outside. He is not yet strong enough to get up into the sky and fly about, but he can fly up and down to the house roof no problem.

One wind is completely healed. the other wing still has a massive red scab over the old wound and big area of missing feathers (that was the wing where the bones were showing). However, he has full function of the wing and its no longer stiff.

His pox disease had a massive relapse (maybe from the stress of the attack). He got one eye all closed up from the yellow warts, and his wings and bottom got a of the pox on them too... plus more on his beak. This has now almost all healed up, and his eyes are open and bright. The huge black wart growth of pox on his beak is wobbling and dry and I think it will fall off any day now.

He really is a fighter. He is funny when I got to feed and water him as he really defends his cage and attacks me!! So glad I gave him a chance. They are such strong birds compared to chickens it seems.

I will get a photo of him later to post on here. I should have got a before pix too.. because no one would believe the mess he was in at the beginning.

 

[CCUK]

Here is a good news update.

He is now able to fly quite well and is happy to mix with the flock when I let them all outside. He is not yet strong enough to get up into the sky and fly about, but he can fly up and down to the house roof no problem.

One wind is completely healed. the other wing still has a massive red scab over the old wound and big area of missing feathers (that was the wing where the bones were showing). However, he has full function of the wing and its no longer stiff.

His pox disease had a massive relapse (maybe from the stress of the attack). He got one eye all closed up from the yellow warts, and his wings and bottom got a of the pox on them too... plus more on his beak. This has now almost all healed up, and his eyes are open and bright. The huge black wart growth of pox on his beak is wobbling and dry and I think it will fall off any day now.

He really is a fighter. He is funny when I got to feed and water him as he really defends his cage and attacks me!! So glad I gave him a chance. They are such strong birds compared to chickens it seems.

I will get a photo of him later to post on here. I should have got a before pix too.. because no one would believe the mess he was in at the beginning.

This is really good news! Sound like he may become a bit of a handful now though!

 

[biophiliac]

Here is a good news update.

He is now able to fly quite well and is happy to mix with the flock when I let them all outside. He is not yet strong enough to get up into the sky and fly about, but he can fly up and down to the house roof no problem.

One wind is completely healed. the other wing still has a massive red scab over the old wound and big area of missing feathers (that was the wing where the bones were showing). However, he has full function of the wing and its no longer stiff.

His pox disease had a massive relapse (maybe from the stress of the attack). He got one eye all closed up from the yellow warts, and his wings and bottom got a of the pox on them too... plus more on his beak. This has now almost all healed up, and his eyes are open and bright. The huge black wart growth of pox on his beak is wobbling and dry and I think it will fall off any day now.

He really is a fighter. He is funny when I got to feed and water him as he really defends his cage and attacks me!! So glad I gave him a chance. They are such strong birds compared to chickens it seems.

I will get a photo of him later to post on here. I should have got a before pix too.. because no one would believe the mess he was in at the beginning.

What a satisfying result !! We know pox is more severe in younger birds with less experienced immune systems so he must have been born with a strong constitution. Your bird will now carry protection from further episodes of pox. I expect he will continue to improve in flying and I'd love to see a photo! As much effort as you have put into saving him - I think he needs a name.

They are such strong birds compared to chickens it seems

X2!! You don't see flocks of feral chickens populating both urban and rural areas worldwide.

 

[jak2002003]

Here are some photos of him. As you can see one wound still has a big scab, and some dry pox scabs are on his beak.