I need pigeon help...

[ann]

hey guys, so i still have my pigeon. I can't keep him, but I have named him Lawrence Howard (i felt he deserved a fancy name ). I found him in a parking lot covered in feather lice and at the point of starvation. I caught him with a towel and took him home. his leg band indicates he is under a year old, and i believe he is a male. The feather lice is gone, and he has put on weight. He is a very sweet bird, not tame, but could easily tame down with some time. the problem is, I'm stuck. I have no where to keep him but in the basement. He is in a small cage, the cleanest one i have available, and he's still battling a respiratory illness (so i cant put him upstairs or near my other birds). i feel so bad, i want him to be in a roomy cage with sunshine and other birds, but i'm out of options. I have had him for 4 months, and though I've had offers, I have not been able to find a home for him. If anyone here wants him or knows someone who does, he's free to a good home and comes with a bag of pigeon food and grit, I might even be able to provide a cage. I will treat him for his respiratory illness before he goes. Thanks for any help~
ps- just getting the word out to other bird people would help!

 

[MikeyTN]

Were you not able to locate his home by the leg band???

 

[crimson]

if you go to a farm supply store, see if they have Gallimycin. It's not expensive and is used for upper respiratory infections in doves, pigeons, and chickens.
that is what I used on Puff,( I thought it was Doxicycline) ...I currently have my 3 rescued canaries on Gallimycin as well. Only add a pinch to their drinking water.

An upper respiratory infection will eventually kill a bird, due to the stress of them not feeling well for a prolonged period of time. good luck Ann!!

 

[ann]

Were you not able to locate his home by the leg band???

we're trying, but the band also indicated he was from a pet store, so i don't know if they keep track. i did get a guys email, and he said he could look up registered band numbers for me. fingers crossed !

 

[MikeyTN]

I hope you find his owner! Hope everything goes well for you.

 

[ann]

i think i'll put up a flier for him, no picture, just a band number. i'm hoping the owner will recognize the number. i don't want people to think "free bird!" and just take him.

 

[ann]

So it turns out, Lawrence is a female roller pigeon, about 90% sure. I found a new home for her with a pigeon racer who told me she was a female roller. He said he won't race her, he'll set her up as a breeder instead or try to look up the band number to find the owner. Now she's in a good home with a whole flock of pigeons, and will never be raced again .
Btw, since she's probably a female, Lawrence has become Lauren

 

[MikeyTN]

I'm glad Lauren got to be with her kind once again!!!

 

[Betrisher]

Oh! That's lovely! Well done you for all your hard work and diligence in helping poor Lauren!

Pigeons really *need* to be with a flock. I started out with one, who kept nicking off to be with the big flock from the next block. I got her a mate and they bred, but I still had a path worn to the bloke's place who owned the big flock: my pair kept absconding whenever he let his lot out to fly! (Mine were not caged: they just hung around at my place). Eventually, I was *forced* to invest in a bloody big flock of my own, just so I could keep the original pair at home! LOL! Best time of my life, that was: there's nothing quite like the sensation of having your own flock flying inches above your head and knowing they'll all come home to you! Anyway, that's when I learned that a solitary pigeon is a very unnatural, unhappy one: they really, really need that flock for stability. I hope Lauren lays many eggs in her new flock and raises gorgeous babies.