sick pigeons

[kirky640]

ive noticed more and more sick and sad looking pigeons at the side of the roads near woods lately

they seem to be all hunched up and sad or sick looking you can drive up to a few inches from them and they dont take flight. any one else noticed this or is it just me being over observant??

 

cheers kirky

 

 

i am in south scotland by the way

[Catamong]

ive noticed more and more sick and sad looking pigeons at the side of the roads near woods lately

they seem to be all hunched up and sad or sick looking you can drive up to a few inches from them and they dont take flight. any one else noticed this or is it just me being over observant??

 

cheers kirky

 

 

i am in south scotland by the way

 

Could be acid poisoning from too many acorns, more likely the general malaise in the run up to Xmas.

 

Cat

[kirky640]

ive noticed more and more sick and sad looking pigeons at the side of the roads near woods lately

they seem to be all hunched up and sad or sick looking you can drive up to a few inches from them and they dont take flight. any one else noticed this or is it just me being over observant??

 

cheers kirky

 

 

i am in south scotland by the way

 

Could be acid poisoning from too many acorns, more likely the general malaise in the run up to Xmas.

 

Cat

the general what? malaise

 

 

dose this mean usual die off??

 

sorry if i sound thick but most of you know me by now :unsure:

thanks kirky

[stupidsalmon]

regarding the poisoning from acorns, can that effect us in anyway when we eat them?

[henry d]

Yes a die off,it is usually acorns or beechmast that causes it.

 

SS - No,unless you eat the acorns too :unsure:

[leeboy]

Saw quite a few in the woods along the path edges last year, you could even catch them. If they flew it was only a couple of inches of the ground. I wondered what caused it.

 

Leeboy

[Country Boy]

I wonder if they have got lead poisoning?

Is there a pheasant shoot close by??

Just a thought.

 

Ta, C.B.:~{

[Highlander]

I wonder if they have got lead poisoning?

Is there a pheasant shoot close by??

Just a thought.

 

Ta, C.B.:~{

 

Is that 'lead poisoning' as in ingested or injected

 

Could they be late fledged young birds that just can't make it this late in the year? Shot birds is another possibility. Not sure about toxicity from acorns or beech mast as there's a limit to how many of those the birds can eat.

[leeboy]

I wonder if they have got lead poisoning?

Is there a pheasant shoot close by??

Just a thought.

 

Ta, C.B.:~{

 

Is that 'lead poisoning' as in ingested or injected

 

Could they be late fledged young birds that just can't make it this late in the year? Shot birds is another possibility. Not sure about toxicity from acorns or beech mast as there's a limit to how many of those the birds can eat.

 

 

You could well be right about late fledged birds as we had pigeons still nesting on the farm in october.

 

Leeboy

[kirky640]

poisoning from to much beachmast or acorns

young bird late hatches

shot at

 

thanks lads for the food for thought

 

kirky

[Browning GTS]

I wonder if they have got lead poisoning?

Is there a pheasant shoot close by??

Just a thought.

 

Ta, C.B.:~{

 

Is that 'lead poisoning' as in ingested or injected :blink:

 

Could they be late fledged young birds that just can't make it this late in the year? Shot birds is another possibility. Not sure about toxicity from acorns or beech mast as there's a limit to how many of those the birds can eat.

 

 

You could well be right about late fledged birds as we had pigeons still nesting on the farm in october.

 

Leeboy

 

It is easy to tell if they are late young birds. No white flash on the neck.

[Highlander]

It is easy to tell if they are late young birds. No white flash on the neck.

 

 

Ah but did he observe :blink:

[leeboy]

Could be that polonium stuff the spy died of, seems they found the stuff everywhere !

 

Leeboy

[Noddy without Bigears]

They could be feeling a little under the weather after the office party

[kirky640]

They could be feeling a little under the weather after the office party :unsure:

you never know a party with plenty birds

[kirky640]

was out shooting today and the dog brought back a pigeon before a shot was fired

it was all swollen round the neck and had an empty crop

and i noticed it was very lite it was less than half the weight it shoud have been

on firthewr looking it was just skin and bone and seemed to be starving to death

dose this fit in with the beach maste and acorn theory???

 

cheers kirky

[kirky640]

was out shooting today and the dog brought back a pigeon before a shot was fired

it was all swollen round the neck and had an empty crop

and i noticed it was very lite it was less than half the weight it shoud have been

on firthewr looking it was just skin and bone and seemed to be starving to death

dose this fit in with the beach maste and acorn theory???

 

cheers kirky

??:lol:???????

[Finnclassic]

No, it sounds like Coccidiosis. Phone you vets surgery for advice as animals can catch this as well as birds. I used to get this amongst my racers and it wreaks havoc. Primary signs were always loss of breasmeat to the point where hardly anything could be felt and the bird looks generally dull and sick (or in your case dead).

 

http://www.msstate.edu/dept/poultry/disproto.htm

 

With the bird flu in the background your LVI (local vet) may advise you to contact DEFRA or want to see the bird himself of you still have it. Es[ecially if you find more.

[monkey]

all through the summer we have ben finding ill/sick or dead pigeons with no signs of posssible cause apart from starvation. started then to notice a lot of sparrows etc that were in the same state found sme clippings in the paper about it apparently some sort of disease ad to keep an eye on the dog as he kept bringing me the pigeons

[kirky640]

No, it sounds like Coccidiosis. Phone you vets surgery for advice as animals can catch this as well as birds. I used to get this amongst my racers and it wreaks havoc. Primary signs were always loss of breasmeat to the point where hardly anything could be felt and the bird looks generally dull and sick (or in your case dead).

 

http://www.msstate.edu/dept/poultry/disproto.htm

 

With the bird flu in the background your LVI (local vet) may advise you to contact DEFRA or want to see the bird himself of you still have it. Es[ecially if you find more.

thanks for your reply finn the pigeon was alive when the dog fetched it but i quickly rung its neck

and checked its crop it was empty and next to no meet on the breasts

 

it was when i picked up a healthy pigeon which we shot i noticed the difference in wieght

half or less the wieght i would say

thanks colin

 

ps when im out over xmass hols i will try to get som pics of one

[Finnclassic]

all through the summer we have ben finding ill/sick or dead pigeons with no signs of posssible cause apart from starvation. started then to notice a lot of sparrows etc that were in the same state found sme clippings in the paper about it apparently some sort of disease ad to keep an eye on the dog as he kept bringing me the pigeons

 

 

Please take some (bagged) to your local DEFRA Animal Health Office - phone them first and ask to speak to the Senior Animal Health Officer (SAHO). He/she will advise you properly. If you find die offs involving 10 or more dead birds of the same species or from different species in the same place you should contact the Defra Helpline 08459 33 55 77 and choose the Avian Influenza option which will be open from 9am - 5pm, Monday - Friday.

 

If any of you notice numbers of dead birds with no obvious reason, then it is always adviseable to get in touch with the Animal Health Office.

[Will Beasley]

all through the summer we have ben finding ill/sick or dead pigeons with no signs of posssible cause apart from starvation. started then to notice a lot of sparrows etc that were in the same state found sme clippings in the paper about it apparently some sort of disease ad to keep an eye on the dog as he kept bringing me the pigeons

 

 

Please take some (bagged) to your local DEFRA Animal Health Office - phone them first and ask to speak to the Senior Animal Health Officer (SAHO). He/she will advise you properly. If you find die offs involving 10 or more dead birds of the same species or from different species in the same place you should contact the Defra Helpline 08459 33 55 77 and choose the Avian Influenza option which will be open from 9am - 5pm, Monday - Friday.

 

If any of you notice numbers of dead birds with no obvious reason, then it is always adviseable to get in touch with the Animal Health Office.

 

I sent some to the Vets the other day found dead in the woods. Verdict: Acorn poisoning.

[Fisherman Mike]

Acorns do indeed induce toxicicity in pigeons primarily because when there is a glut (as in this year) the birds gorge themselves on them and dont seem to know when to stop.

 

They can also become extremely bound up with them particularly young birds which dont have sufficient grit in the gullet to crush them up efficiently.

 

As far as I know beech mast is harmless and so is Ivy though Ivy is toxic to humans.

 

Ive seen several birds this year which have had acorn poisoning and put them out of their misery. one bird the dog picked out from the undergrowth I dispatched as it was so big I thought it must have a tumor or similar but when I parted the crop it had an amazing 87 acorns in it. I dont know whether it was poisoned or just couldnt get off the ground because of the weight. !

 

The flesh of pigeons will over a time take on the taint of the food stuffs it has been primarily feeding on. If you can shoot some feeding on sage & onion seeds you can stuff em straight in the oven. I suppose the same goes for acorns the meat would be Oak smoked.

 

FM.

[badgerman]

this summer i noticed a number of pigeons in very sorry states and i've never seen anything like it before. i'd be walking round where i live and on several occasions found a pigeon sat in the path not doing anything and looking pretty ill, i never inspected them but they did nothing to avoid me as i walked past them. a couple got up and then fell over sideways but they certainly couldn't fly and they were mature not young. first few times i thought they were just old and dying, but i must have seen a good few in this state and i don't know why that would be. any suggestions? BM

[starlight32]

ive noticed more and more sick and sad looking pigeons at the side of the roads near woods lately

they seem to be all hunched up and sad or sick looking you can drive up to a few inches from them and they dont take flight. any one else noticed this or is it just me being over observant??

 

cheers kirky

 

 

i am in south scotland by the way

 

I have noticed a lot down here in suffolk in a poor condition, I know the keeper on the nearby estate has sent some off for examination. Be interesting to know the results.