Rescued a wood pigeon last night that has had its flight feathers and a large percentage of body feathers torn out by a cat. How long will it take to regrow these well enough to fly?

It seems in relatively (!) good shape apart from the bad feather loss and quite a bad cut on the top of its head. I have successfully rescued pigeons before, so I am not worried about how to feed it, more interested in time scales.

I know they regrow feathers seasonally, but will this speed up given its been injured rather than gone through a natural moult?

I'd take the rest off

So predictable it barely raises a smirk. I reckon contact RSPB for the full lowdown, I think it will have partner thats missing it as the ones down my way come round in pairs. Nice looking birds but not very good at taking off, carry a big payload.

I knew someone who kept a rescued pheasant in with their chickens – oh well!

Quite a lot of bits of the bird look like that plate already.

Problem is housing such a big bird for such a possibly long time as its not fair to keep it in a smallish space (cage about 4x4x2 feet, though in a smaller one today while I wait so see how sick it is). I think I will try to find a bird rescue centre that might have 'runs' for the birds. I will have to wait a few days for it to calm down as its terrified if you go near it, though its already beginning to realise I am feeding it rather than hurting it. I have kept collared doves and town pigeons for a few weeks at a time, but its surprising how much smaller they are in comparison.

If it has been attacked by a cat it will need antibiotics immediately . It will almost certainly get what is sometimes called "cat scratch fever". Cat's claws and specially teeth, are teeming with bacteria, those bacteria are very likely to kill the bird.

Get 50mg Synulox from your vet today and give it half a tablet once a day for 5 days.

If the the feathers have been "pulled out" they will regrow immediately. If they have merely been broken, they will not regrow until the moult (it should have moulted most of it's flights for this year) so pull them out so that new ones can regrow.

HTH

pigeon plucking – lol

FFS it's a pigeon. There are millions of them and they are pests because they eat crops and therefore take money directly from farmers' pockets.

GrahamS and uplink have the right idea, albeit a little fancy

Midnighthour didn't ask your opinion CaptainMainwaring – other than how long it will take for the feathers to grow back.

But since we appear to be volunteering uncanvassed opinions, I'd like to point out that you sound like a complete prat to me, if you feel you have the right to pass judgement on whether or not an injured animal should be rescued. What Midnighthour does has **** all to do with you, so mind your own business and don't concern yourself about what other people do, or the animals they rescue/don't rescue, pets they keep/don't keep etc etc

HTH

More useful input into the thread GrahamS ? ……………….wan-ka

Sad. Poor ickle pigeon wivowt it's fevvers….ahhhhhhh….

FFS, it's vermin. Give it a good whack with a spade and cook what's left of it. Would you have bothered if it was a rat missing a bit of fur?

Shoot the **** thing! Each to his own and all that.

pigeon thread occupied by cocks!

If the cap fits

wood pigeons aren't vermin and they're not really like urban flying rats at all

To a farmer they are vermin. They can decimate
acres of crop in a short space of time, costing him money.
Hence why people shoot them in large quantities.
If a person wants to look after one then like I said each to their own.
Personally I shoot them, they taste lovelly too.

More useful input into the thread GrahamS ? ……………….wan-ka

Well if you need it explaining: the "handbags" were supposed to hint that your previous post sounded like you were having a massive girly hissyfit at CaptainMainwaring for no real apparent reason.

Which is further confirmed by you calling me a wan-ka for trying to introduce a little levity to such a deadly serious debate.

Ya bawsack!

CaptainFlashheart – Member

Sad. Poor ickle pigeon wivowt it's fevvers….ahhhhhhh….

FFS, it's vermin. Give it a good whack with a spade and cook what's left of it. Would you have bothered if it was a rat missing a bit of fur?

Ah Flashheart……..another one who thinks this is an appropriate thread to throw a few fux around, and of course, ridicule the OP.

A nice soft easy target, eh ? I notice that you haven't bothered throwing any fux around on the threads which have ridiculed the Tories, or the ones about posh toffs and public schools. No "For Fux Sake" over on those threads – and yet we know much you like to get stuck into "Gordon Broon" and "ZanuLabour"

But why have you avoided those 'political threads' and the opportunity to fly the Tory banner ? Or stuck up for the posh public school toffs ? Is it because you know that you would be well out of your depth ?

Is it that, despite your parents having spent vast amounts of money on their son's education, he has turned out to be a 'political literate' who is incapable of holding his ground against state educated members of the "lower classes" ?

So much easier to come on this thread, take the piss out of Midnighthour, and throw a few fux about.
It's a bit like blowing the brains out of defenceless wild animals, ie. "risk free", innit ?

Methinks that Flashheart just ain't got the bottle 😀

GrahamS ……..
: "Well if you need it explaining"
No I didn't need explaining. It was pretty clear to me that you're a wan-ka 8)

Jeeebus, you really need to lay of the hard liquor ernie. It's making you very angry. 😯

"It's making you very angry"

How can you tell ………..because I don't agree with you ?

Is that what you always assume – if anyone disagrees with you ?

(bearing in mind that I didn't even feel the need to swear)

No, because you're aggressive and assume I disagree with you when I haven't expressed an opinion?

No, because you're aggressive….

I was giving the posh toff some stick ……… how did you expect me to do it ? Was I bit 'horrid' to him ?
If he doesn't like it, then he shouldn't have taken the piss out of Midnighthour – he didn't exactly pull any punches.

Besides, I meant what I said, the geezer ain't got the bottle to engage in proper debate.

"and assume I disagree with you when I haven't expressed an opinion"

I said that I disagreed with you. I think that I should know my own opinion.

Fine.

If those are the rules then I disagree with you. I don't think all black people are evil or that the age of consent should be lowered to 12. 🙄

I was talking about what you had posted on this thread, you dipstick.

So anyway, whaddya reckon …… how long before the feathers grow back ? I reckon about 3 weeks, but that's only a guess.

I was talking about what you had posted on this thread, you dipstick.

A jokey serving suggestion which the OP took in the spirit it was intended?
Not sure I deserved being called wan-ka for that, but ho-hum.

So anyway, whaddya reckon …… how long before the feathers grow back ?

I dunno. I've only ever saved one bird from a cat and that was when I was a kid. My dad spoke to a birdkeeping bloke for advice, then took it outside and despatched it humanely. So in my experience they don't do too well when rescued. 🙁

I sincerely hope the OPs bird fairs better, but if not I'd go with uplinks recipe.

Crikey, it's getting like Bike Magic on this thread; not a good thing.

Will take awhile if it's lucky enough to recover.

Wood Pigeons don't pair up they shag for England hence why there's millions of them.

Look after if you will, try the RSPB if you will me I'd dispose of it.

Oh and never ever pick a fight with GG he gets a little excited.

Thanks for the antibiotic advice and from the general support from caring people on here.

I know cats claws are bad news with infections for birds. I also knew a woman who had nine months of problems and eventually an op cos of being clawed by a cat.

I took the last cat attacked/infected bird to our local vet (a very caring/decent bloke) but with the best intentions in the world we had to scrap the antibiotics as I dont have enough handling skills to catch and control a relatively fit wild bird on my own. They are way stonger than they ever look, plus birds are very smooth and therefore slippery to hold, then give it pills, esp when it is in total panic. I grew up on a farm so I am not totally unskilled in handling things. With the last one we resorted to antibiotics in its drinking water, but had to give up on that too as it refused to drink then, and dehydration seemed a bigger problem. In the end we sat it out and waited to see if it lived or died. After several boughts of being off colour it was OK totally fine in the end and we were able to release it back into the wild.

I regret being limited to what I can do for it, but in proportion, if I had not picked it up it would have been tortured for several more hours and would be dead by now anyway. It least it has some hope this way, even if not much.

I dont mind what people say about 'its only a pigeon'. After all, why worry about any human death either? They are only individuals and there are millions of humans to replace them…

Some people are just cold and icy and its best to know who those are.

"STW occupied by who-gives-a-toss-about-sentient-beings?-I-dont-so-you-don't-have-the-right-to-either shock"

Midnighthour – sounds like you are doing the best you can.

They are way stonger than they ever look, plus birds are very smooth and therefore slippery to hold, then give it pills, esp when it is in total panic.

Midnighthour – have you tried to give a pill to a pigeon ? It really is a piece of p*ss. You just force the beak open, tilt the head right back, drop the pill in, and they will automatically swallow.

Passerines/songbirds are much more difficult if not impossible, due to the structure of their tongues and how they swallow (pigeons can suck water) If you try and drop a pill into a Passerine's mouth the tongue's automatic reflex action will spit it out – you need to push it in well beyond the tongue. Liquids aren't too bad if they are syringed in.

For a liquid antibiotic, Baytril works very well on birds, and it can be administered on wet food, in drinking water, or by injection.

.

never ever pick a fight with GG he gets a little excited.

But not as excited perhaps, as those who wade into threads screaming "FFS, it's vermin". Still, I assume that Flashheart thought it was safe to express his views without fear of contradiction. Unlike the threads on posh public school Tory toffs, subjects which he is admirably qualified to comment on, despite his obvious reticence to do so.

Clearly, the intellectually challenged political illiterate, prefers to avoid being humiliated by members of the lower classes. But I'm cool about that, and it contributes hugely to my general feelings of smugness and sense of superiority over posh toffs 8)

😛

LOL ! @ GrahamS – that's brillant ! ………. how do you think of them mate ? 😀

I'm just naturally hilarious. It's a gift.

I can tell…….

Although just for the record, I prefer 'inverted snobbery' ………. I think 'chip on the shoulder' might be something which Flashheart occasionally feels

Well I'll google "inverted snobbery" for you, but it's a much harder concept to represent in an amusing photo so I wouldn't get your hopes up.

Nah I got nothing. Sorry about that.

Here's a picture of a LEGO Karl Marx to keep you happy:

Thanks for more medical info. Its not so much giving the pill to the pigeon, its the holding the pigeon while doing it, its not weak, just featherless. There is only one of me. I cant contain it and medicate it at the same time as my flatmate just flat out panics and gets in a worse state than the bird. I will try to find a bird sanctuary for it or see if I can get the liquid stuff this pm.

Wrap it in a tea towel [or similar] to hold it