poorly dove

[heidi]

hi im new to this but hoping that someone can advise me on my poorly dove. yesterday i found it on the floor outside the coup and assumed that it had flown into something and was winded. however when i picked it up clear liquid came out of its mouth and it couldnt fly. i isolated it and checked an hr later and more liquid came out of its mouth and its neck wa sorted of lolling about and when it tried to fly it sort of nose dives and cant get up. this morning it seems to have picked up slightly ie not closing its eyes as much and abit more alert but still cant fly.(wings flap etc but just keeps falling on its chest.) no more liquid is coming out of its mouth but now when i open its beak its slightly sticky inside. i also found another dove dead this morning in the cope but dont know if this is coincidental as they all appear to be sound and healthy.( i have about 35 adults and 4/5 babies) :-/

[Guest shadow]

I think you need to take to a vet to get a proper diagnosis

[heidi]

before i take the vet route is there anything that i could maybe try first. i have just had another look and it is trying to fly but like i said just nosedives and ends up on its face with its bottom in the air!! the sticky stuff isnt present in its mouth anymore and its troat isnt discoloured in any way. they are housed with my chickens (which are all healthy) so cld it have picked up anything from them?

[jimmy white]

with one dying previous to this [maybe coincidental] i should really take shadows advice and take it to the vet ,,as you have all your other birds to think about and off course your chickens as well.

[Guest]

Agree with previous posts: the condition sounds serious and symptoms sound like (one) of two serious diseases, one viral, the other bacterial.

 

Make sure you have the sick bird isolated. You may wish to try something from the household in the water to protect the other birds, for example cider vinegar, or crushed garlic cloves, (and for the sick bird too) or you may have a specific brand which sanitises the birds drinking water..

 

But get the bird to a vet as soon as you can.

 

 

[heidi]

ok will do. i can prob get an appointment tomorrow hopefully.. what does garlic do though and is this something that i should do on a regular basis? i regulary check for louse and i douse them if need be, only ever had long louse though and they breed really often (i started with 7and must have lost at least 10 to a hawk!!) so generally they are lovely and healthy and have plenty of free flight and back in at night. should i be doing anything else health wise with them?

[Guest]

Heidi

 

I know you would like to give your birds free flight, personally I don't think that's advisable being that you have lost several already to hawks.  The Hawks can see a buffett and will hand around and you may loose more.

 

Let them out whilst you are there and teach them to come back in before you go indoors

[heidi]

oh i know but im realy careful with them now. we tried lots of differnet things to try and prevent them being attacked (some quite expensive gadgets!) and have now found something that works. we made a kite, actually a shape of a butterfly with two gr8big red circles on it and put it on a very very long bamboo stick and fly it off the barn roof. the hawks thinks its another bird of prey, the red eyes frighten it and although they sometimes hover high above they wont come down anymore. we havent lost a single one for months, touch wood!!! whereas before we lost one every other day. this was a relatively inexpensive way of protecting them and it really does work if anyone has a problem with hawks etc. i cant leave them inside as they are used to being free and i hate to see anything caged or restricted, these are pets to me not competion pigeons. they do follow me back into their house when they see me though as they expect food!!

[heidi]

i cant believe it !! i am sooooooo happy, i have just been in to see my poorly dove and its absolutly fine, its standing and its neck is straight and its desperate to get back with its friends.( i am going to keep it isolated for another day though) its funny really cos im very superstitious and last night i was out wiv friends and went into my bag for a pen, instead pulled out a dove feather, which has never happened before. i went on a real downer as ithought oh its a sign my dove has died!! i didnt want to go into them on my return as it was dark and they fluster when disturbed at night so waited till this morning. it must have been a sign but the other way round!!! thanx for all your advice and i am off to put garlic in their water (do i do this all the time?) i wil continue to look at this website as i think it will be extremly helpfull for me to pick up advice and ideas, so thanx again.   :) :)o

[storm rollers]

hi heidi do you put any thing in there drinking water ?

[heidi]

no i dont. they live with chickens (chickens ground level and the doves have perches and nest boxes high up) so they all share the same water, i must admit it does get grubby quickly and i am forever changing it. they do have access to a trough outside which they love to bath in but no i dont put anything in their water at all.

[Guest]

Ouch Heidi,

 

I would consider it a definate No No keeping the doves in with poultry. Poutlry carry diseases especially respiratory that could wipe your Doves out as they have no immunity to diseases carried by chickens etc and these diseases can spread very rapidly though a common drinker.

[Guest]

Yep, agree with Hyacinth. Asking for trouble there.

 

1. NEVER leave water outside. You've no idea what's visiting, and what is being left behind in the water. And that includes the invisible stuff like virus and bacteria.

 

2. Keep your poultry drinking water inside ('their home') in their own drinker for their use only, and your doves drinking water inside ('their home') in their own drinker for their use only. And feed each in their own home too, each home with its own feeder too.

 

3. Ditch the bath water as soon as the birds have finished bathing. Again, seperate bath for poultry, and for doves. If its done outside, only poultry or doves out (not both) depending on whose bathday it is.  

 

 

WELL DONE on your Hawk deterrent, Heidi!!!  ;D

 

Another one that works is shiny, reflector discs, like CDs, hanging on the front of the dovecote.

 

And if you do get a hawk attack Heidi, hold the birds in for at least the next day .. hawks are said to come back to the same place at the same time after a kill or near miss.

 

Because of the nature of your set-up, I'd have crushed fresh garlic in all the birds' drinking water (poultry & doves)  three days a week, say Mon Wed  & Fri. Try half a bulb to 2 or 3-pint drinker. You can make it stronger if you see that there's something amiss with either group of birds, but be careful not to put the birds off drinking it.

 

 

 

 

[jimmy white]

hi heidi  i was just wondering if your dove that was poorly may have flown against something being frightened by a hawk , but whatever it was its good to know its better now

and as bruno said garlic has some geat qualities to it and would certainly do no harm in their water,a few times a week

[storm rollers]

heidi try milton baby fluid in there drinking water to help stop desiese spreading i use 1 tea spoon per galon  ;D