Rescued woodpigeon advice please??

nell · July 6, 2009

Can anyone advise me re a woodpigeon?

I've been looking after a woodpigeon for a few weeks, since a cat got it and pulled out a lot of his tail and wingfeathers. He wasn't injured in any other way (apart from the mental scars!)

What I don't know is at what point I can let him go. At first he could only fly about 18" high, he's a lot stronger now, but still missing lots of feathers. I was hoping he'd moult and get new feathers, but there's no sign yet of that happening.

Can anyone advise me?

July 6, 2009

If he is strong enough to fly into a tree, I would release him in the countryside away from cats, he should be able to fend for himself and be with his own kind.

nell · July 6, 2009

I don't know how high he could get, because I have him in an adapted coalshed, with netting on the roof and door, and it's only about 4 feet high. He can easily get up to the roof of that, and cling on to the netting, but I don't know if he could get as high as a tree. He practically has a heart attack when anyone goes near him to feed him or anything, and he is clearly miserable, so the sooner I can let him out the better. We are in the middle of London, so cat free areas are a problem here. There are also loads of foxes.

He still has almost no tailfeathers, and very few of the long wingfeathers.

July 6, 2009

I think the "heart attack" is probably down to the fact that he is not used to being confined and humans being that close to him. All I can suggest if you are unhappy in releasing him back to his natural habitat is to take him to an Animal Rescue centre for their advice.

nell · July 6, 2009

I tried the animal rescue when he was first injured, and they said he was vermin and they couldn't help. They wanted me to leave him running about the garden for the cats to play with!

Tony C · July 6, 2009

I tried the animal rescue when he was first injured, and they said he was vermin and they couldn't help. They wanted me to leave him running about the garden for the cats to play with!

Try another, follow this link http://britishwildlifehelpline.com/centres%20_%20England.html

nell · July 6, 2009

Thanks for that link Tony C, I just rang the Wood Green animal shelter and spoke to a guy there. He said to keep him until he moults which could be months. He also advised me about feeding him, so that's what I needed to know. He said if he was caught by a cat when he had all his feathers he won't last long without his tail, because he needs it for twisting and turning.

Thanks again!

pigeonpete · July 6, 2009

I tried the animal rescue when he was first injured, and they said he was vermin and they couldn't help. They wanted me to leave him running about the garden for the cats to play with!

Thats shocking! and whoever told you thats should be reported. :-(

The feathers will take to long to grow back, does he eat and drink o.k? what do you feed him on? as i honestly think he will be better fending for himself, as he will most probably die in captivity if not eating and drinking correctly. He will be able to fly into a tree if he can get on top of the shed with ease.

good luck with it :-)

nell · July 6, 2009

oops, sorry I repeated myself by accident!

He eats like a horse frankly, I give him a wild bird mix, bread and breakfast cereal. I've tried to get him to eat some sort of fruit, greens etc. I just gave him my lettuce seedlings. But he treats all that with utter contempt, and pigs himself on the seed and bread. The shelter guy said to give him something called squeaker? Or mixed corn. He said he doesnt need veggies. I thought they did because of the way they beat up my vegetables I'm growing.

He has found a few mates here, they come and sit by him and coo at him.

I agree about the initial advice about his being vermin, I was stunned by that!

pigeonpete · July 6, 2009

Well if he is eating o.k, and got a few friends and your prepared to keep it, then go for it, you might come to like him. then we can sort you out with a few racers then you will be hooked for life :-)

nell · July 6, 2009

hehe, I love him to bits already, I just wish he liked me a bit more! Years ago I had a smalholding and I had a white dove there that was the craziest animal I ever met. He insisted on living in the house, and he used to sit on the beam in the ceiling and sh** on whoever was sat on the sofa. Had some very strange reactions from guests who didn't know he was there. He used to break into the house by squeezing through a broken window pane, or creeping past when the front door was open. Howerver often I threw him out he always got back in. I love pigeons, they are great animals, and not as thick as they look!

July 6, 2009

I'm glad you got it sorted Nell. Pigeons are not thick, they are very intelligent as they know how to navigate their way home from hundreds of miles away, and Humans can't even tell you how they do it for certain. One up to the Pigeon ;) I have to say that I was disgusted from the response from the Animal Rescue when you first reported him. I would suggest that the person who told you is vermin, not the pigeon. Good luck with your friend and enjoy.

July 6, 2009

typical rescue centre attitude tho it happens all the time

nell · July 6, 2009

I know they aren't thick, I shouldn't have said that. It's what people say to me I'm afraid. No-one I know seems to understand that I don't want him to get killed, like he doesn't matter he's only a pigeon.

July 6, 2009

Sadly that is the Public's perception of Pigeons, be it Racing or Wild, If only they could be educated, it isn't for the want of trying. :o

nell · July 6, 2009

Well I've converted my old dad! He's been sitting up all night to watch out the window in case a fox tries to get him (the pigeon that is). He said I was crazy when I first brought the pigeon home, the same as everyone else. Then the first night he I put him out in the coal shed (after I ripped the roof and door off and put mesh on instead) my dad woke me up at 4.30 in the morning and said the fox was trying to get in. He'd been sat up watching! A strange thing about human nature then is we spent all the next day trying to rig up a bare copper wire to a car battery around the coal shed to give that fox a belt if he tried it again. I didn't care if I electrocuted the fox. We didn't get as far as connecting the thing up, and the fox hasn't been back thankfully. I know foxes have to eat, but this one had better confine himself to the contents of my dustbin, he isn't having that pigeon.