Cold or something else

[Newbie2020]

My birds look dreadful. They have really loose feathering. I am not sure if it is due to the cold or if there is something more going on. They are lethagic and there feathering is puffed out. I have treated them for Canker and they are taking Parastop at the moment. Several are sneezing. The droppings are like marbles with white caps so not too concerned with that. I have had a draught blowing through my loft and I have covered the front up with plastic sheets now to stop this. I am not sure if all birds are like this in this cold weather or if mine have picked up a chill or something? If they have caught a chill or something what is the best thing I can do to get them back into condition?

[adam owen]

id say its the parastop mate

[Guest]

I would remove the plastic sheets

[Guest shippy]

2020 i have heard a lot of fanciers say that when using para it really knocks thier birds for a few days if they dont come right in a few days i would have them tested best of luck also i would not block vents off

[Newbie2020]

I have plenty of air flow through my loft its just the front of the loft I have covered up. I still have vents in the doors and a big vent at the top at the back of the loft.

[walterbmasson]

  

newbie has your loft always been the same now as it was last year and all was well dont block any thing unless its causing problems all your birds wont show that signs its caused by whatever your giving them once you stop they should come all right just make sure you give them vitimins after treatment or in between treatment

[adam owen]

also put sum yogurt on corn too

[Guest Owen]

I think you need to realise that a lot of the medications we give to pigeons can be very hard on them. Add to that the cold weather and you have a pretty bad cocktail. You know yourself that if you feel under the weather, you will feel the cold much more than normal.

And while I am on the subject, pigeons do not drink much in cold weather, so if you give medication in water the chances are that the doseage will be wrong. It is the same in very hot weather but obviously the doseage will be wrong in the opposite way because the birds drink a lot more.

Both under medication and over medication are dangerous. The worse being under medication because there is a real risk of building up the imunity of the bugs to the medications. That means that as the bugs reproduce, each one that carries the imunity will automatically pass it on to the offspring. The result is a very rapid build up of problem bugs.

This is why I favour vaccination for the control of Paratyphoid. That way the doseage is always correct so it is only the prevaccination antibiotic treatment that I have to worry about.

Regarding the cold, my hens live outside in an aviary, all through the winter, regardless of the weather. And take a bath on the coldest days. I do this to ensure that they are never short of fresh air and more imortantly oxygen. When I bring them inside to pair up, they will go down very quickly because they respond to the warmth. In any case I do not want weaklings as part of my team.

[Guest IB]

I'd say the sneezing might be linked to you putting sheets up. You have altered the airflow and you probably have made the loft more humid creating internal surfaces damp to the touch, especially on the inside of these sheets?

 

I'd say 'ruffled up miserable looking' might be down to something in the water they don't like thats putting them off drinking it. If they don't drink as much water you'll get droppings as firm as marbles, so maybe not as good as it looks.

 

Parastop has the opposite effect on salmonella that folk think. Bin it before you have to start binning birds.

[Newbie2020]

All my birds are looking like this, can someone help me please with any advice as I am fast becoming disheartened with them like this.

[Guest joshdonlan]

looks like just the feathering in the photo  :-/ Any more pics? What are the droppings like?

[Newbie2020]

Droppings are fine. Just all look like this.

[shweet]

Are they eating propelly or not interested?   After eating do they ruffle straight baack up or stay lively for a bit ?

[Newbie2020]

They are eating fine, they fly around for a short time to get there perches then back to looking like this.

[shweet]

I think the cold might be playing a big part in this and might not be too much to worry about.  I would stop the parastop though.

[Guest bigda]

is the pigeon going light,  if the droppings are fine,  then could be the medicine certainly looks  no well  

[walterbmasson]

 

CHECK TO SEE IF THE THROAT IS OPEN OR CLOSED THIS WILL RULE OUT RESPITORY IF OPEN

[Silverdale Lofts]

Why have medcines in the drinkers in this cold weather?

[pigeonscout]

Bring some birds into a warm room for an hour and if the feathers go tight then you know it is just the cold and nothing to worry about.

[Guest Owen]

Silverdale Lofts are right. It is a silly idea to put things in the drinking water this weather. A lot of pigeons hardly drink and then do not get the correct dose. And allowing your birds to be underdosed is very bad for them and every other pigeon they may be in contact with. You will be allowing the bugs to build up their imunity to ther effects of the drugs.

In my opinion vaccination is always better because there is no guessing about the doses and you are sure that all the birds have been done properly.

My own birds spend most of their time outside in aviaries these days and look good. I think the air and the weather helps them to become healthy. If I were you I would be concerned about this sneezing. Healthy pigeons should not sneeze. I would be willing to bet that your loft is damp and humid. You need to fix that.

[Newbie2020]

One of my club members has come to have a look at them and has suggested they could be suffering from a yeast infection and has suggested Nystatin. Could this be a possible cause?

[walterbmasson]

 

i dont think its yeast as last year my youngsters werent coming right got droppings tested it came back abnormal amount of yeast but the birds were looking very good but not homing with winning birds 10 +min behind

[Newbie2020]

I let mine out a few days ago and they exercised for about 1 hour. If you go up to them they look fine but come away and the feather go all puffy again.  I have ordered some Nystatin anyway to see if this  does solve my problem.

[walterbmasson]

I let mine out a few days ago and they exercised for about 1 hour. If you go up to them they look fine but come away and the feather go all puffy again.  I have ordered some Nystatin anyway to see if this  does solve my problem.

 

hope you get the back of it if there flying just now for an hour theres not much wrong cheers

[blackdog]

try them on probiotics for a few days mate