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

[king2005]

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 )... 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

[king2005]

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 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

[Genny]

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

[king2005]

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 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

[Genny]

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

[StarbrightSB]

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

[king2005]

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

[Genny]

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

[Kalei]

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