I found a Morning Dove on my door step this morning UPDATE: pg2.. He died :(

I put Bear out to potty & as I was following Bear into the house I see something in the corner of my eye.

It was a Morning Dove. The poor thing was very cold & it let me pick it up with little fight. Its holding up both its wings just fine, but one of its tail feathers is damaged.

I carried it in one hand while I emptied out a box. I put a piece of paper on the bottom & pur 2" of Aspen shaving on the bottom to help keep the bird warm. I filled a bowl full of water & gave it a small dish of hamster seed as thats all I had & have no clue what they eat :confused:

I checked for a leg tag as the bird should have been more scared, but there wasn't any. I did pet it for a bit to calm it. It closed its eyes & nuzzled its beak on its chest. When I held it with 2 hands to gently put it into the box it coo'd.. I don't know if I hurt it or if I scared it... I was prepaired for it to freak out in the box... But it just layed where i built it a nest of shavings.

So the info I need asap is what do they eat(I'll google it as well). I'll do a body check when I get home as I really think the poor thing was just super cold. But the bird was still too tame, so I'm also thinking it just might be a lost bird, as Morning Doves are popular pet store birds.

So I don't know if I should keep it or not, if it survives. I'm gonna try to go home for lunch time & try to get it to eat. If its still cold, I'm gonna turn on a heater & warm up my room, as my room is cool cause of the other pets I have & I like fresh air.

I also cannot keep it in a box for too long, as I'm sure it wont be happy in there. Does anyone in the area have a cage I can borrow in a day or so (I wanna make sure its gonna live)...

I hope it lives. I've had good luck in the past with baby birds, but never this kind of bird.

aw how sweet of you to do that! Sorry I can't offer any advice or help, but just wanted to wish you good luck :)

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Originally Posted by JenBKR

aw how sweet of you to do that! Sorry I can't offer any advice or help, but just wanted to wish you good luck :)

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Thanks :)

Wiki was a little bit of help. They are veggie eatters & I think some of the seeds in the hamster mix is the right kind of seeds, so it can atleast get something into its belly.

I wonder if a gatorade type drink would help the bird out, like it does to dehydrated dogs & people (I wont give it any until I know it wont kill the bird!).

The hamster seeds should do for the day, the mourning doves in my yard like the "birdseed" I throw down on the ground. Such a sweet sound they make. Be sure sure sure sure sure to wash your hands and keep it away from your other animals, I don't know if doves carry West Nile, but it is better to be safe than sorry.

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Originally Posted by Karen

The hamster seeds should do for the day, the mourning doves in my yard like the "birdseed" I throw down on the ground. Such a sweet sound they make. Be sure sure sure sure sure to wash your hands and keep it away from your other animals, I don't know if doves carry West Nile, but it is better to be safe than sorry.

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I'll go to the bulk barn tonight to get a couple scoops of bird seed.

I use that no water hand wash.

I wasn't thinking about west nile, but more so lice, which isn't a biggie as I use lice stuff to shoo lice & fleas away from my rats (its for birds, but it works for any small animal, as long as they cannot chew on the can).

Now I need to look up west nile to see how its transmitted :(

I rescued alot of doves there beautiful birds lol,

Just keep it warm, feed it dove seeds or some regulare budgie mix for now,

Keep water near this bird at all times and watch the water stays clean.

It was probably attacked from a hawk if the tail feathers are scruffy, I had the same thing happen to a homming pigeon, her back tail feathers where gone and she was not flying but her wings where fine, she just had a small twist her in back probably but after a few days she was fine and flew off.

Watch this dove and do not relase it till you know for sure it can fly.

Wish I was closer otherwise I could take a look at her/him lol, but if you find you won't have time to look after the bird you can give it to a wild life rescue or bring it to me lol.

Keep a warm watter bottle near the bird, also feed it a tiny choped up piece of garlic to kill any bad bacteria inside the bird, trust me it's works magic for pigeons and doves lol, a hampster cage is fine but watch it does not freak out otherwise it can break both wings or kill it's self against a cage.

Actualy to be safe I would keep it in a box.

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Now I need to look up west nile to see how its transmitted

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Hahaha you don't have to worry about that lol, I have kissed so many wild birds and never got sick in my hole life, of course wash your hands all the time but trust me your not going to get sick from this bird.

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Originally Posted by Argranade

I rescued alot of doves there beautiful birds lol,

Just keep it warm, feed it dove seeds or some regulare budgie mix for now,

Keep water near this bird at all times and watch the water stays clean.

It was probably attcked from a hawk if the tail feathers are scruffy, I had the same thing happen to a homming pigeon, her back tail feathers where gone and she was not flying but her wings where fine, she just had a small twist her in back probably but after a few days she was fine and flew off.

Watch this dove and do not relase it till you know for sure it can fly.

Wish I was closer otherwise I could take a look at her/him lol.

Keep a warm watter bottle near the bird, also feed it a tiny choped up piece of garlic to kill any bad bacteria inside the bird, trust me it's works magic for pigeons and doves lol, a hampster cage is fine but watch it does not freak out otherwise it can break both wings or kill it's self against a cage.

Actualy to be safe I would keep it in a box.



Hahaha you don't have to worry about that lol, I have kissed so many wild birds and never got sick in my hole life, of course wash your hands all the time but trust me your not going to get sick from this bird.

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I thought you were in Toronto? I'm NE of Pearson Airport, near Derry & Goreway (Malton/Mississauga)... It takes me 20-30 mins to get to the CN Tower on the 427S-QEW (depending on traffic & how much I speed lol).

How do I feed it garlic? force feed or will it eat it on its own? The garlic will also get rid of lice & fleas right? I remember feeding my old dog garlic pills for fleas.

I keep it in the box... I'll try to find it a larger box tonight, so it can fully spread out its wings. Then I can use the old dog bowl to hold the water & food. the bird can sit on it & not have to worry about tipping it over.

How do I tell if its male or female?

Oh and be careful with hampster feed,

Some of it may have minerals & vitamines inside the pellet mix which can make a dove even more sick,

Please don't give it anything more to drink than clean water,

I'm not sure if west nile has not been reported in doves and pigeons,

There very strong birds and don't get sick very often, there actualy cleaner than the average human.

Oh ya I forgot your not too far away from Toronto lol,

If you want you can bring the dove here but if you think you can handle it go ahead, :)

You have to be careful while putting garlic down the birds throat, make sure it does not go down the air passage .. it's hard to explain how to do this since you have not done it before.

Umm .. try chopping the garlic in tiny tiny bits and see if the dove will eat the garlic on it's own.

Take a photo of the dove and I should be able to tell if if it's a boy or girl.

Boys have a light blue/grey colour on there head and some pinkish on there cheeks lol.

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Originally Posted by Argranade

Oh and be careful with hampster feed,

Some of it may have minerals & vitamines inside the pellet mix which can make a dove even more sick,

Please don't give it anything more to drink than clean water,

I'm not sure if west nile has not been reported in doves and pigeons,

There very strong birds and don't get sick very often, there actualy cleaner than the average human.

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This is just a mix of seeds from the bulk bard. Its ubber cheap... But I will pick up a scoop or 2 of bird feed...

I just told Chad about the bird.. hes kinda creeped out by it hehehe
This is kinda how the convo went.

Me: Chad can you close my window, cause ummm *I explained the story*
Chad: What a morning Dove?
Me: its a bird that makes a cool noise when they fly & the coo kinda like a pidgon, but nicer.
Chad: Its in the house?
Me: ya but its in a box in my room.
Chad: its in the house?
Me: Yes its in the house, but it can't get near you.
Chad: Its in the house?
Me: Chad its only a temp thing as I think its just too cold & needs time to recover.
Chad: ummmm ok... but its in the house?
Me: I think you need to take a shower before your late for work.
Chad: ok I'll get up now, YAWN...

He was 1/2 a sleep :P

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Originally Posted by Argranade

Oh ya I forgot your not too far away from Toronto lol,

If you want you can bring the dove here but if you think you can handle it go ahead, :)

You have to be careful while putting garlic down the birds throat, make sure it does not go down the air passage .. it's hard to explain how to do this since you have not done it before.

Umm .. try chopping the garlic in tiny tiny bits and see if the dove will eat the garlic on it's own.

Take a photo of the dove and I should be able to tell if if it's a boy or girl.

Boys have a light blue/grey colour on there head and some pinkish on there cheeks lol.

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I'll try to care for the bird, if I'm not able to, I'll drive it to your place. BUT when its release day I wanna be there.. If for some reason it cannot be released, then I'll leave it with you until I can set it up a proper home in my room (a couple of weeks, so I can either build it a home or buy it one), as the bird is my responsibility as I chose to take it in.

LMAO!

''Is it in the house''?

Hahaha ...

Make sure he does not throw it out lol, J/K hehe,

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Me: its a bird that makes a cool noise when they fly & the coo kinda like a pidgon, but nicer.

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Let me re - phrase that lol,

Me: its a bird that makes a cool noise when they fly & the coo kinda like a pidgon, there just not as beautiful and smart as the one and only pigeon that can fly faster than a big hawk being able to fly to africa in 1 second and poop on 2 million lions in a blink of an eye.

Sorry Windspirit got mad at me from reading that LOL,

BEFORE --
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h2...Picture016.jpg






AFTER -- :eek: Bad Look!
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h2...Picture015.jpg

HAHAHAHAHA sorry Windspirit

I've decided to go home for lunch. I cannot afford the gas, but oh well.. I'll take photos of the bird & hopefully it wont freak on me & poke out my eyes lol j/k

Another thing that could cause him to be weak is Pigeon Pox. Watch him too be sure he's eating. Does he look or feel thin? Pigeon pox affects both pigeons as well as doves, it closes off a birds throat causing it to become weak and eventually starve. I don't know if pigeon pox are found in some places more than others, but I've seen many many pigeon and doves with it. It wouldn't be a bad idea to take the dove to the vet, most vets won't charge for wildlife (you could call ahead to ask). If he does have pigeon pox the best thing for him would to have the vet put him to sleep. The pigeon pox can be removed, but that's only a temporary solution as they will return.

I didn't have time to take a photo as I was running 30 mins late :S

I picked him up & checked out his wings. they look perfect & he can move them. I looked closer to his tail & its just the 1 feather thats damaged... the rest are perfect.

However I think hes having issues with his feet. I couldn't get him to grab onto anything. he woulf just lean over a bit & sit... I think he can walk cause he was eatting as there are sunflower seeds all over the box.

I'm thinking frost bite on his feet. I'm also thinking hes a young bird cause hes really dark compaired to all the morning dove photos I looked at.

So I'm thinking hes a result from that hot weather back in Jan (remember how the trees were budding & the grass was green :eek:)... Chances are his parents mated then & because its so cold out & hes a young fella, he cannot fly perfectly yet & got frost bite on his feet... His feet do look really flakey & super dry.

I did a little test with his feet.. i put him on my finger & he nearly fell off.. he flapped his wings, but would have fallen if I wasn't ready to catch him.


So thats all the info I have for now... but he seemed to really enjoy being cuddled. I scared him & he flapped his wings making that cool noise... I held him close & he closed his eyes awwwww... hes so sweet... I'm gonna name him Coo cause it works for male & female & fits him lol

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Originally Posted by KBlaix

Another thing that could cause him to be weak is Pigeon Pox. Watch him too be sure he's eating. Does he look or feel thin? Pigeon pox affects both pigeons as well as doves, it closes off a birds throat causing it to become weak and eventually starve. I don't know if pigeon pox are found in some places more than others, but I've seen many many pigeon and doves with it. It wouldn't be a bad idea to take the dove to the vet, most vets won't charge for wildlife (you could call ahead to ask). If he does have pigeon pox the best thing for him would to have the vet put him to sleep. The pigeon pox can be removed, but that's only a temporary solution as they will return.

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I don't know how much they are suppose to eat, but there was sunflowers all over the box.. Can they open the shells or was he just playing with ones that were already opened? I know hes been in the dish as its clearly been moved

I found a pigeon last year at the river. It couldn't fly, so I brought him home. I put him in a cage that my great uncle made for me about 2-3 years ago for some baby ducks I had. It was plenty big for him. I named him Luke and fed and watered him every day, and cleaned out his paper towels. Everyday I also held him and talked to him, and I would put him on the grass and stay and watch him for a while so he could peck around and enjoy the sunshine. I had him a little over a week, and one day when I went to clean his cage I got him out and sat him on my lap. (The cage was a very big one so it was on my back porch!) He hopped off my lap and wlaked to the edge of the porch, then he just took off flying! I watched him and he flew a few minutes over our house, and then he left. It looked like he was going towards the river where I found him, so I hope he made it. I;m sure he did.

So, just take care of your dove and maybe he'll be strong enough to take care of himself again one day!

Genny

such a sweet story...

I found a drowning pidgion many years ago. I was too short to reach him, so my friend reached down & pulled him out of the water. I took him home & nursed him back to health & gave his wings a long work out daily so he would be strong enough to fly away.

I was almost ready to set him free, when a cat got to him grrr :mad: He survived as I did a good job on building his pen & the cat was only able to disslocate his hip... I pondered over what to do with him... i decided to reset his hip.. I knew it was gonna be a horrible pain for him.. but its better then death... So i took a breath, reset his hip.. poor fella wasn't happy at all :( I had him a few more months & then I opened the box & let him free. I saw him for many months after that, cause he was the only pidgion that had bum foot.. his leg worked fine for balance, but he couldn't always open his toes.. so I'd see him standing with his toes curled... I named him Turkey cause he was smelly & oh so ugly when i got him out of the water.. hehe

Your story about the 'drowning' pigeon is sweet too. I'm glad that cat didn't hurt him too bad! What a nightmare I bet that was!!! It's a good thing you found him :)

wow, thats so sweet of you! Good luck, i hope everything works out well! I'd love to see pictures if you get any!

I'm so sorry guys, when I got home after work (about 6pm) he was stiff as a board (dead)... I felt horrible, but atleast I gave him a 2ed chance at survival & a safe warm place to pass on.

RIP little fella

OH NO! I'm so sorry; that's sad. I was hoping he would make it. Well, you did your best and tried to help him. It is a good thing that he was safe and warm while he died. I'm real sorry to hear that though.

Genny

Aww poor little guy, but one good thing is that he did experience the love that a human being can bring and got to cuddle with you too. I bet he will be waiting at the Rainbow Bridge:)