Wild Wood Pigeon. Urgent help needed! (1 Viewer)

Firstly sorry for posting this here, just getting quite concerned and am trying to find help where I can.

So, a couple of weeks back I found a young wild pigeon (wood pigeon I believe) in my local park field, sitting by the bottom of a tree; it was unable to fly and could barely even walk. This particular field is a hot spot for foxes and the like so I decided to take the little fella home with me to be on the safe side; I have pigeon lofts in my back garden, hand-built by my step dad (he would breed and race pigeons, and usually win ) so I have been able to provide a nice safe living environment.

The little fella has been coming along nicely and is now feeding and drinking on it's own. It has also learnt to fly as I have seen it swooping around in the pigeon loft a few times now, thus it looks like the time has come to release it back into the wild.

My only reservation is that the pigeon has slowly been developing a strange growth on it's head, by it's right eye; I first noticed it a day or two after taking the little fella in, and it has slowly been getting larger and larger. I want to let the pigeon go but I would first like to find out what this strange growth is, and more importantly if there is any way I can treat it.

Attached some pictures. Would really appreciate it if anyone could give me for information ||

http://imgur.com/a/hjiyO

Hi sbarra and a warm welcome to you from all the Staff and Moderators.

I wonder if this is a tic? If so you could wait for it to drop off, or take it to a vet for professional help to remove it. If it isn't a tic, you probably still need to get professional advice on what the cause is.

We have some general guidelines here for the care of injured birds.

Good luck and please let us know the outcome.

Hey, thanks for the response.

I have not examined it too closely as the pigeon is extremely nervous and I don't want to cause any undue stress, but I am confident that it is not a tick, though I wish it was.

Hopefully it is nothing serious. At the moment I suspect it could either be Pigeon Pox, or a benign tumour of the face, though I am just going by what I have been reading these last couple of days so I could be wrong.

Nonetheless I'll be sure to update this thread when I find out more.

In the meantime if anyone has any ideas please feel free to share.

Thanks!

It doesn't look like a Tic from your pictures, but you need to get it checked out by a Vet. Don't guess or believe what you're told (or read) online; it doesn't work for birds or Humans when it comes to health |=)|

Vets swear an oath, which means they cannot let an animal suffer. Just turn up at your nearest Vets with the bird, don't phone first or the receptionist/secretary will try to discourage you from bringing the bird. But once there the bird will be examined, and without charge if you say that it's wild.

(I've done what I'm suggesting myself a few times. Treatment has ranged from antibiotic injections to euthanasia, but it's always been free)

ChrisKten said:

It doesn't look like a Tic from your pictures,

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agree

ChrisKten said:

[...] Don't guess or believe what you're told (or read) online;|

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I never read such a idiosyncratic recommendation in the web before.

ChrisKten said:

Vets swear an oath,

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Are you sure? In Austria and Germany for example they don´t swear a hypocratical oath.

ChrisKten said:

But once there the bird will be examined, and without charge if you say that it's wild.

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That means that you recomend to lie. You know thats the pigeon since weeks in sbarra1x pigeon loft.


According to your suggestion I don´t believe your post.

I'm unsure whether you're having difficulty with the English language, or whether you're just trying to be a troll? I'll assume it's the language and reply.

I repeat: Don't guess or believe what you're told (or read) online We are (or I was, as it was the subject of this thread) taking about health. Always seek professional help with regards to health, Animal or Human. (Making sense yet?)

Am I sure Vets swear an Oath? No, that's why I check before I make a post:

During the ceremony of admission to the RCVS, members make a declaration:

"In as much as the privilege of membership of The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons is about to be conferred upon me, I promise and solemnly declare that I will abide in all due loyalty to The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and will do all in my power to maintain and promote its interests. I promise above all that I will pursue the work of my profession with uprightness of conduct and that my constant endeavour will be to ensure the welfare of animals committed to my care".

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This is not the only Oath, there's others, or maybe I've just made that up.

This is a forum for Wild Birds only; not Captive. This thread hasn't been deleted by Mods, so I trust that the OP is telling the truth, and will release the bird into the "Wild".

How we doing now? Any clearer?

(If I've misinterpreted your meaning, and you are not attempting to be a troll (only the first part of your post could be considered helpful to the OP), then I apologise.)

I think what was meant was you said not to believe things you read on the net, but then you gave advice - on the net - so should anyone believe what you say?

Irony.

That's my interpretation of what was meant by that post...

JTweedie said:

I think what was meant was you said not to believe things you read on the net, but then you gave advice - on the net - so should anyone believe what you say?

Irony.

That's my interpretation of what was meant by that post...

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Yep, you could be right. Unfortunately there wasn't any smileys in the post, so it can be interpreted differently, depending on who reads it. I read it as having a dig at me, hence my reply |=)|

(It's almost impossible to discern how a post is meant by the poster, as it's just text on a monitor. Smileys and the like help to make the meaning clear. There's a big difference between the following:

Stop it

Stop it :C

Stop it 8-P
)

Hey, thanks for the responses. Would have gotten back sooner but been super hectic around here as of late.

Took the little fella to a local vet a few hours ago to have him examined. Turns out he has a fair few more lumps on him than first thought, mostly on his body and wings, hidden behind feathers (some a little bloody.)

The vet couldn't tell me what these lumps were for sure, though he suspected they could be tumours or cysts. I asked him whether they could be Pigeon Pox but he said he doesn't know what that is and thus he can't be sure.

The general verdict was that the poor fella is not in good shape and sadly he may not make it (vet also noticed poor breathing though this could have possibly been due to nerves/stress/shock.)

The vet has however provided me with some antibiotics ("Baytril 2.5 % Oral Solution") and I will be keeping the little fella in my loft, treating him once daily. Hopefully he will pull through as he is not acting unwell and seems to be active (flies around the loft whenever I go to change water etc.)

As a side note, when the vet was examining him he did tear the lump on his eye open so now it is just kind of hanging there and you can see the inside of it (I don't think it was intentional though I did not actually see; I noticed it just before leaving.) I know it is hard to say as we do not know for certain what these lumps are, but do you think there is a risk that it could get infected like this? I am sure the answer is no as you would think the vet would have mentioned that to me, though I do regret not asking now just in case. In any case I will get a photos of it tomorrow when I go to give him his antibiotics and I'll upload it here.

Cheers!

Thanks for keeping us informed sbarra; it's good you've had the professional help for him - I do so hope the treatment work.

Just noticed this thread and I'm pleased to hear you have sought professional advice and been given some antibiotics to treat the bird.

Initially I thought the bird might be a Stock Dove, but some of the features aren't quite right. Anyone else?

JTweedie said:

I think what was meant was you said not to believe things you read on the net, but then you gave advice - on the net - so should anyone believe what you say?

Irony.

That's my interpretation of what was meant by that post...

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Thanks JTweedie, that´s actualy what I meant!

sbarra1x said:

[...] vet also noticed poor breathing though this could have possibly been due to nerves/stress/shock .

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I assume your vet doesn´t have many birds/pigeons in his ordination. Stress and shock ALLWAYS produce a higher respiratory rate and not the opposite. Shock needs an additionaly treatment.

sbarra1x said:

The vet has however provided me with some antibiotics ("Baytril 2.5 % Oral Solution")

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That´s the agent of choice due to it´s broad spectrum of activity.

sbarra1x said:

As a side note, when the vet was examining him he did tear the lump on his eye open so now it is just kind of hanging there and you can see the inside of it

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Very unprofessional, normaly one disinfekt the grow, takes a scalpel and open it. Next step is to take a probe from the inside for further analyses. After cleaning the wound he should, at least (!), do another disinfection of it with antiseptic agents for wound/mucosa.

sbarra1x said:

[...] do you think there is a risk that it could get infected like this?

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Impossible to say, you didn´t see how the vet exactly did treat this grow, when I understand you correct. Also we don´t know of which kind this grow is and if it´s not a tumor which needs a perfect excision till into healthy tissue.
I´m not a vet but I don´t like that you have found this grows also on the body and wings.

Thank´s for keeping us updated, sbarra1x.

bongofury said:

Initially I thought the bird might be a Stock Dove, but some of the features aren't quite right. Anyone else?

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It's a young woodpigeon.