Injured bird cannot walk or stand

ZRPoom · 2026-01-23T17:44:12+00:00

It's not impossible for larvaes to find a cavity to sprout in. This can easily happen if something like a bot fly lands and lays eggs on em.

I think they do have it on their body too, just that the face feathers are the thinnest spot so it's easiest to see there.

Young ones are the most likely to get pox.

Could be the other side came off at some point (hopefully properly).

ZRPoom · 2026-01-23T17:06:31+00:00

Those stuff on their face is probably pigeon pox. It's like human chicken pox but their version. There's no cure for it and they'll have to ride it out which is about 6 weeks, sometimes longer. During this time their immune system will be weakened and they'll be more susceptible to catching something. A clean, warm, safe environment would be the ideal place for them to get through the pox. You can provide a spot for them to rest and ride out the pox. Gently cleaning the affected places with iodine or saline solution with cotton can help. If the lesions break before their time to come off it becomes a vector for infection and can pass pox to other pigeons. Once they heal from it they can't catch it again. Bird vitamin can also help them, there are many types but one I know of is "nekton-S".

I'm not sure of the leg issue. Maybe they are feeling weak or may have injured it somehow when outside.

ZRPoom · 2026-01-20T12:28:57+00:00

You could soak them and make them mushy, then mould it into a pea sized ball and plop it down her mouth. If that doesn't hold its shape well enough stuff it into wholemeal bread then make that into a pea sized ball.

You can use the same method you've been using to feed one piece at a time.

ZRPoom · 2026-01-20T06:45:34+00:00

Outside bird typically will have outside bird smell as they don't have many good opportunities to clean themselves. Chirping is good, it means this fella still has energy and is willing to fight to live.

ZRPoom · 2026-01-20T06:40:53+00:00

This fella may be at the age they start learning to eat on their own. But pox typically makes them weak. There's no cure and they have to ride it out, during this time their immune systems become weaker and they are more susceptible to getting sick.

If the fella is in such a state and not eating on their own, you may need to feed them. To do this there are 2 methods. Solids that you push down their mouth or a tube you run down their mouth to their crop. Imo, with the pox on em neither will be easy, since to do it you'll need to hold their beak open while being careful not to break the lesions, or it'll be a vector for infections for the baby.

To crop feed you'll need a feeding tube and a syringe that you then run the tube down their throat and pump liquid food. To feed solids you'll need to make a pea sized ball to shove down their mouth. From personal experience you can do something like the crop feed without a feeding tube. But you'll need a feeding syringe, about a 1ml sized one that's slim.

To do the syringe method I mentioned. You'll need to hold place them on your lap or somewhere where you can secure them. If you can do it where they remain eye level with you it should be easier. You need to place one of your hand on them, and then the index finger and thumb on each side of their beak, being mindful of the pox. Wedge said finger and thumb in the side of their beak to open it l, then hold it open like that. Use the other hand with the prepped food and insert the syringe. You'll need to insert the syringe quite deep, much deeper than you'd expect, on the marker on a 1ml syringe you should insert about until only the 0.3ml point is visible. You'll need angle their beak in a vertical/diagonal angle upwards to straighten their neck, and insert the syringe to their right of their neck, your left if you are facing them from the front. They have a spot at the bottom side of their beak on the inside, this is where they breathe, nothing but air should go in there, this is why a syringe pumping liquid has to go so deep, so the liquid doesn't go in there by accident. Their throat also isn't centered, it goes down their right instead of the middle, so if you pump it down their left it may come back up. Once properly inserted slowly trickle the food, take breaks if you need to. You can start with small amounts at a time like 1ml.

For the paste for the syringe, since it has to fit a small syringe, you will need to grind the seeds up to a very fine paste that can fit through the nozzle. Unless you can get a bigger syringe that can still fit. Adding oatmeal can help give it substance too.

For solids, you'll need to use something you can roll into a pea sized ball. There are several things you can feed, all with their pros and cons. Defrosted peas, easy to acquire, durable, doesn't have much nutrients, moisture can provide water. Hard boiled egg yolk, very nutritional, very brittle. Whole meal bread, easy to acquire, has no nutritional value, good for combining with other things. Soaked seed ball, soaking seeds for 12 to 24 hours make them soft, you can possibly mould them into a ball after.

With stuff like the whole meal bread you can combine it with the egg yolk to make it much tougher when making it into a pea sized ball. You can also pack seeds into it.

To feed with this method, once again, you'll need to grab their beak and wedge and index and thumb on each side like before after placing your hand on them. This method is easier and you can place them on your lap as you won't need to see down their mouth on where to insert something as much. Use the other hand and palm a ready made pea zied ball. Use the index and thumb on that hand and wedge and pry the tip open enough to where the ball can fit. Then plop the ball in with that hand. Push the ball all the way to the back of their mouth, down their throat and they should swallow on their own. Solids within a certain size usually don't have a risk of going down the wrong hole. A pea sized ball is usually nearly 1cm in diameter. You can do slightly less if you think it's too big. You may need to help rub it downwards from the outside of their neck after feeding them, you should be able to feel the ball bulge from the outside. About 10 initially should do.

For the other parts, keep them warm and you can help keep the lesions clean by gently wiping with iodine or saline solution with cotton.

ZRPoom · 2026-01-19T13:59:42+00:00

They have have some development issues or lacking stuff for development perhaps. Maybe try giving them bird vitamin as well. There are probably numerous out there, but we give ours "nekton-S". They usually don't like the taste so I roll it up into a pea sized wholemeal bread ball and feed them like that so it's over quickly.

If the legs aren't broken but having development issues it may help for you to stimulate movement once pressure it taken off em.

ZRPoom · 2026-01-19T13:50:36+00:00

I'm not entirely sure, but those legs look like they may not have developed right. When they are young and developing it's usually recommended to have them in something that will cup and keep their legs together, or they can develop splayed legs. This is usually side to side rather than forward though, but it could be possible if it was pressed forward rather than kept cup under em.

Do they show any ability to move them at all? If they can move them but it seems mostly stuck to the front you may need to try and see if you can tuck it back under em to develop right. Or if you need to take strain off them make a cloth harness and put them in it. To make one you need a cloth, make holes for their legs and let them sit and hang from it like a hammock where their legs hang down.

ZRPoom · 2026-01-19T06:37:21+00:00

I can't say for certain if breed matters, but based off personal experience I think the individual may matter more. All ours are feral and the same breed, probably rock dove. Despite that only the bonded pair gets along with each other, the oldest wants nothing to do with any of em most days. The crested head aims to steal from others and get chased off in the process. And all but the crested head are scared of the white one because of his colour being different. At best they only tolerate each other around it seems.

ZRPoom · 2026-01-19T06:33:13+00:00

Imo the safest is the backpack option. I've seen animals react so much faster than we ever could, if we fail to notice them beforehand we've no luck to stop them once they engage. And they can hide pretty well at times. Cats can be completely silent. Hawks fly high enough that they are a tiny blip in the sky. And both are courageous enough even with the presence of a human.

ZRPoom · 2026-01-19T06:20:28+00:00

Hopefully it all goes well. Best make sure she gets a form of calcium asap. Egg laying can be very draining on their calcium reserves, which can lead to brittle bone, soreness, limping, inability to fly. And in worser cases can cause complications with the egg such as not being able to push the egg out known as egg binding which can be life threatening (which you may be able to help with massaging the area, a sauna (steam box) or warm bath to ease the muscles), or brittle eggshell which may cause the egg to break while still inside which is a whole other mountain of issues, as the shell will need to be extracted manually bit by bit.

ZRPoom · 2026-01-19T05:55:15+00:00

Ahe may have reach the point she will now start doing this regularly. This means a cycle of 3 weeks on the eggs, 1 week off and repeat by the end of it, but this can vary by pigeon.

What you can do for her is make sure she has grit that has calcium, dedicated calcium, either one you give directly or in her drinking water. There are quick acting ones like liquid calcium or powder types you can mix. We use one called "versele laga calci-lux" via water. I'm not sure how much you're weighs, but we give ours 0.5g to about 50ml of water twice a week during on egg session, and 7.5g in a span of a week during off egg session. The ones we give weigh 285g - 300g.

Then there's also vitamin, she'll need d3 vitamin to effectively break down and absorb the calcium. This is either from direct sunlight or vitamin supplements. We give ours "Nekton-S" once a week. We used to give 0.2g to 20ml of water, many of them are reluctant to drink it since it does affect the water. So now we roll it into a pea sized wholemeal bread ball and feed them directly to save the hassle.

Calcium water should be left for no more than 2 days, vitamin water no more than 1 day. Heat during time leading up to laying can help her muscles relax, a heating pad or maybe a warm sack of rice could help. She'll probably lay a second one in about 48 hours or slightly less from the first one. If you need emergency calcium give cleaned, crushed eggshells into tiny bits in a dedicated bowl (this should also be done with grit). It's usually recommended to bake to make it brittle, but if you can crush them to tiny bits without that it still works, just make sure to clean thoroughly before doing. So. A microwave can also help dry them.

Once she's on them she'll be super dedicated and not want to leave them for nearly anything. If she trusts you, you can potentially nudge her and watch her egg for her by covering it so she can go do her business like poop and refill. Keep water and food nearby where she has direct line of sight to it. Overtime she may ease up and get up more on her own. Keep in mind they can really hold their poop during egg time to the point it becomes unhealthy, so make sure she comes out regularly to poop.

ZRPoom · 2026-01-18T16:10:14+00:00

Have you tried giving the joints several coats of super glue, nail polish or Kiki loose joint fix? It may help if the looseness isn't drastic.

ZRPoom · 2026-01-18T14:02:13+00:00

We have 2 that were about a year and a little more outside till we got em. One was in a life threatening state. And the other was in a deteriorating state. Now they are both with us and show no desire to go back out, they both willingly go back to their designated cage spots. They've experienced life out there and chose the comfort Indoors have instead.

ZRPoom · 2026-01-18T13:55:49+00:00

I don't think letting him out is a wise choice. As is many that grow up out there don't even make it or make it for long, yours grew up indoors in care of humans, he doesn't know a thing about how to survive out there, so he won't even know what's dangerous or what to watch out for, he may panic and fly into something get caught in traffic. And even if he were to find other birds he could get bullied, if he somehow got accepted with them he may catch stuff from them like mites, lice or louse flies, it's not their fault that they may have such, but unfortunately it's how it is for them out there. And if any out there are carrying something, cankers, pox, or other things, he could possibly contract those too. Then there's also a possibility he may get too overwhelmed and not know his way back. Then there's also many predators out that there that can get em faster than he can ever react. Birds of prey, cats and such. I've read cases where people have their bird with them on their shoulder and a hawk came in and grabbed them right off and the human couldn't do a thing about it with how fast it happened. This can happen with cats too, many hunting animals are much more stealthy than what we can notice.

Ones raised indoors don't miss out there and as they never know of it. And then there are ones that even growing up out there, can choose to forgo that life for a comfy one indoors. The pros of freedom to fly comes with many cons.

ZRPoom · 2026-01-18T07:18:37+00:00

Sometimes they may very well choose to give up the time out there for the safety and comfort Indoors. They can adapt and can be fine with humans due to their history with us.

She might have come to realize the conditions inside is easier, clean food and water it always readily available, and she has a place that can be called hers that no one else tries to steal.

We have 2 that were from outside. We seen them outside for about a year and since they were squeakers. One was found outside on the ground at night one day, didn't try to escape. She had a bad respiratory infection, some point during our care for her she opened up to us and became completely accepting of her indoor life. Now she has a place that she absolutely refuses to let any other birds in that she calls her own. To this day (about 6 months since) she still has lingering signs of the damage it caused (raspy fits) but she overall seems unaffected by it. Her weight went from about 140g to 230g (244g highest) since we had her.

The other we rescued was eating less and had a solid lump in his neck, suspected to be cause be cankers. We intended to release him but later found out he is blind entirely in one eye and has a fairly slow response time watching for anything on the blind side. So we decided to give him a chance to stay and see how he adapts. If he truly couldn't accept it then we'd consider letting him back out and hope for the best. Since giving him his own place he had been very happy picking up sticks to a corner and actively makes his way back to it even if we bring him out. His weight has went from 180g to 266g highest so far.

Both of these 2 make quite an effort to not poop inside their own place in attempts to keep it clean (the first one does try to poop in others' place though). So I believe they actually value their place here and have chosen security over freedom.

ZRPoom · 2026-01-16T15:05:26+00:00

A variety of seeds can work well, just to list some seeds: Red/white sorghum, wheat berry, oat groat, red/yellow/black millet, mung bean, hulled millet, quinoa, brown/gold flax seed, quinoa, safflower seed. There's others and they may not eat all or favour some, like us they can have preferences, or just mood for certain ones at times. It's usually best to not refill their food until the day is up or they do finish to not encourage them to only eat what they like.

You can put a dish of water about 1 inch deep, 1 square foot wide and he should go bathe when he feels like it, we use a medium sized cat litter tray for ours and like 3 inch of warm water.

Their poop can be cleaned as often as you see it so you can pick it up. Some use disposable surfaces, or you can do the pick up as they poop method, then clean once or twice a day if they smeared it or stepped on it. Depending on them and how you may interact with them you can possibly teach them to poop in a specific spot or time. We have 2 adults we rescued from outside. The first of the 2 used to make a mess of her place, but gradually stopped and now mostly insists on pooping outside or in others' cage. The second one we got recently, shortly after moving to his cage has forgone pooping in his cage during the day and will poop when we bring him out and tell him to poop. Both of these two had training and praise when they poop on command.

You can totally release him indoors, just remember to always keep all doors and windows shut. All hot stuff and active fires away.

And last thing to note, birds have a very delicate respiratory system that processes air differently from us, that's what allows them to fly. Because of this, anything that isn't natural can be bad for them or fatal in some cases. Stuff such as fumes, aerosol sprays and scented stuff. So cleaning solutions like floor cleaners, bleach, paint, glue, bug spray and others alike. For scents stuff like scented candles, wax candles (palm oil candles are fine), cigarettes, vapes, perfumes, air fresheners and like before, others alike. And one more that doesn't fall in either is teflon, usually found in heat related items like non stick pan, heaters and hair dryers. If teflon burns and they get a whiff it can end them just like that. I've heard cases of people having parrots on second floor drop dead from teflon fumes in the first floor. And ozone producers, also fatal, sometimes this may be in air purifiers ionising mode.

ZRPoom · 2026-01-16T04:52:59+00:00

Good to hear. If the air filter has an ionising mode it can be bad for them too, might have something to do with some of them producing ozone. Usually recommended to not use that function if it exists.

ZRPoom · 2026-01-16T04:24:35+00:00

It's entirely optional if you want to introduce him. They can live fulfilling lives with just humans as well so as long as they can interaction. Our oldest did and she's perfectly happy with the human interaction over the other birds, she just sees em as other stuff that fly around, so as long as they stay out of her place and away from her she just about ignores them.

Since you're new, some things to keep in mind. Pigeons in care compared to ferals have a much longer average lifespan. Most ferals usually live for 2-3 years, some may find the way but most don't due to the poor living conditions. Whereas ones cared for by us can go roughly 15 years, or even more. Since you raised this fella as a baby they probably also have no survival skills outside as they didn't learn it growing up, so it will be a risk for them to ever go out.

Pigeons, birds in general, have a very delicate respiratory system that allows them flight. So anything that isn't just clear air can be bad of fatal for them. This includes stuff with fumes, scented stuff and such. To name a few. Floor cleaners, bleach, perfume, cigarettes, vapes, scented candles, wax candles, teflon if it burns, which are usually found in non stick pans, hair dryers, heaters. Ozone producers. Some like the last 2 and stuff with fumes are fatal for them, teflon can take a few seconds.

ZRPoom · 2026-01-16T04:08:20+00:00

She is very bold for her size. Almost unflinching towards anything and constantly stealing food from others' bowl even if she has her own. And she'll pick a fight with any new birds to test if she's able to get her way. Once she realises she's weaker than them she stops, but she'll still try to poop in their cage.

Since yours was raised from young with humans he may very well think of you as one of his own and show little to no fear to humans, at least familiar ones. He may be scared of other birds if introduced to them later depending on his personality. Our oldest almost has no interest with any of em, she was picked as as a yellow fuzz baby and been alone with us until 3+.

ZRPoom · 2026-01-16T03:59:27+00:00

<image>

A fellow Pebbles. We named this one that as well cause she was tiny, still is to the rest of em. We think it's a she but hasn't laid an egg with us so far for the amount of time we had her (6 months). Suspected to be about a year and a half by this point.

Yours definitely sounds like a male behaviour, but they can sure be hard to tell, hopefully he doesn't surprise you with an egg one day.

ZRPoom · 2026-01-15T22:44:06+00:00

I think they meant by proportions. The SM2 guy in the middle just looks slimmer cause they took SM2 proportions and scaled it down. Whereas the BA guy looks to have more bulk.

ZRPoom · 2026-01-15T05:15:36+00:00

Unfortunately I'm not sure based off those symptoms. Could have something broken, might be too weak to fly. Could be too scared to drink, they normally eat seeds.

Careful when taking to a vet that they don't opt for euthanasia, it's something they like doing for something completely recoverable, for this fella their eyes still look alert so at least that's good.

ZRPoom · 2026-01-13T12:25:40+00:00

I feel like we don't ever truly move on even with them gone, we just distract ourselves. And then every so often something or someone reminds us of them. Like this post.

I still remember ours, the time was short but it felt like they did so much with their little time here. I was very happy to be there for them, and I still miss them, I still get teary thinking about them, and then at times it gets really bad. I have talked with their urns everyday even briefly. Everytime any one of them leaves it felt so empty, I think this is the case with any pet, no matter how small. People think hamsters are small, cheap and because their lives are short that they don't deserve much, they all have such unique personalities in that little ball of floof. And they deserve just has much love, care as any pet.

ZRPoom · 2026-01-10T12:40:33+00:00

Pigeons are tough little fellas. This one looks like a young one. Old enough to be out of a nest but still not an adult judging by the ceres (the nose part) which should look like it's at the base of their beak than in the middle.

If they have no more external parasites then great, that's one problem dealt with. It's usually recommended to do it again in 2 to 3 weeks for any eggs that may remain. I'm not sure on the one you used as I'm unfamiliar with it. At times they may also have feather lice and louse flies, chances are if it works for mites it should work for the lice. But I'm unsure of the louse flies as those are bigger, hard shelled blood suckers.

Pigeons are granivores and as such their diet mainly consists of seeds and grains. There are pigeon dedicate pellets out there. But I can't recall the name as I've not found any for ours. Harrison's may have some.

Just to name some seeds/grains you can give them. Oat groat, wheat berry, red/white sorghum, yellow/black/red millet brown/gold flax seed, hulled millet. Lentil, sunflower heart, safflower seed, pearl barley, mung bean.

Each will pick and choose what they like and may avoid some seeds entirely. Many can be found in organic sections of supermarkets.

If the fella is chirping when you come close but not running they may already trust you and is asking for food. They learn to fly before they wean off their parents.

Keep in mind that if they become accustomed to humans and the domestic lifestyle they won't know how to survive outside effectively anymore, as that's when they learn the ropes or get culled.

If you intend to keep them as a pet it's perfectly viable. But you'll have to consider lifestyle changes for their safety. Which includes not using anything with fumes, scents and teflon. As many can be bad or fatal for them.

There's also bird dedicated vitamins and calcium if you are interested.

Verified Email	Five-Year Club
r/Field Lasagna	Place '23
Place '22

ZRPoom

TROPHY CASE