"Hi Everyone, I have a problem with my DD hen she is all fluffed up sitting on the floor. She is eating and drinking ( I am assisting her with her drinking). I dont know what is wrong. Last night she was fine, she was sitting on her rung next to her mate nice and smooth and fine. I went out there this morning and I found her like that. Please help dont want to loose her. Anyone that can help me please do so. ASAP Thanks [Keith]

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• Doves are closely related to pigeons, a good place to look for vet info on the birds is: "http://www.pigeon.org/" The American Racing Pigeon Union, and go to the vet tip area.Hope this helps. [Ronnie]
• Speaking of egg bound birds, I've never had this happen to me but if it does, is there a preferred cured. I've spoken to a local pet store owner and she says to dip back end of the bird in vegetable oil. Works sort of like an enema but that sounds a little cruel and crude to me not to mention the mess it must create. [Dave]
• You could use a cotton swab instead of dipping the whole back end in the oil. [Laurie]
• I have never run into eggbinding in my doves, but I have run into with my finches.Rule of thumb has always always been put them into a small cage with a light (I use an okd crooked neck desk lamp and a 40 watt bulb) as a heat source. I also provide an easily digestable food such as my handfeeding formula mixed with some seed or millet and some Gatorade to replace the electrolytes being lost by the bird.A drop of liquid calcium - I usually butcher the spelling of this, but it is close to neocalglucamon - on the beak is the only other thing I have ever done. You can get the liquid calcium from your pharmacist.If teh hen is eggbound, the egg will pass a short time later.I have been told to stay away from using oil on the vent for several reasons, the mess being one, the fact that the bird will preen and in doing so will injest the oil and it is not good for them and the possibility of harming the bird by putting the oil in places it doesn't belong. Add to that - stressing the bird even more than she is already. [denise]
• Daniel's Eggbinding Remedy:
  • Use a plastic terrarium with a 3 volt light on top from Wal-Mart Pets section.
  • Put a electric blanket underneath and around the terrarium which can be put in a white plastic covered wire basket also from Wal-Mart.
  • The terrarium fits perfectly inside the basket and put a wet thin towel inside the terrarium.
  • I put a shallow small water dish and seeds in a seperate bowl for the munchies...
  • In no time the egg will pass with the moist humidity inside if you find the egg bound hen in time.
  • She passed sqeshy shelless egg within 30 minutes of putting her in the moist hospital and I left her in allnight for observation. Today she is fine and sitting on the nest, she may have laid another egg? I have used olive oil in the vent and the feathers are greasy afterwards, bad method.
  • The soaking the bird in hot water could put her in shock and kill her also, bad idea...
  • Please give my method a chance, it would be the best investment you ever made for small doves. Not sure how you can do this with large doves like ringnecks or larger?
  • A ten gallon aquarium with a electric blanket inside and moist towel on top, be carefuln not to electricute the dove...
  • Buy the $15.00 electric blanket, $6.00 terr. and $5.00 light, $5.00 basket, it could save a hens life when you least suspect a problem.
    [Daniel ]
• Antibiotics, Can doves be given plain ole antibiotics like tetracycline that the doctor might prescribe a human for infection? What is the dosage? Any kind that can't be given? Thanks.
  • They can, but tetra isnt going to be very effective. Baytril, from the vet, is better. I have only had to dose finches so far. Baby food with a little Baytril in it (0.1 cc per 3 oz) or 1cc per 3 oz. of water. Some people dose 1 drop on the beak of a finch twice a day. [Ingrid]
  • I have given Tetracycline to my doves and it has worked well. If you get it from your pharmacy it is a lot cheaper. 40 250mg capsules for approx $5.00. 1 capsule opened up and mixed with 8 oz water.Be sure to change the medicated water every 12 hours. use for no more than 10-12 days.If you buy tetracycline in a pet store,the same strength but a much smaller amount, the price is OUTRAGIOUS.If tetracycline does not do the trick, then talk to a good country vet as there are other forms of tetracycline available. the vet writes a prescription that you take to your pharmacy. [Laurie]
  • Foys's 612-537-4242, Global 1-800-562-2295 or 1-912-356-1320. Both of these places sell Baytril-but it is very expensive. Pills are cheapest @ 25 for $30 or 60cc 10% at $50. They will ship it overnight, but that costs too. [Dina]
• Atibiotics!! To anyone who is interested here is something I just reciently found out. Avoid having grit or pellets available when treating with the Tetracycline family of antibiotics. The calcium in the grit or pellets can bind the drug making it unusable in the body, resulting in severe underdosing. The Tetracycline family includes Terramycin, Aureomycin, Tetracycline, and Doxycyline.When you medicate your birds during warm weather change the medicated water every 12 hours.Just though you guys would like to know what I just found out if you didnt
  already know. [Keith]
• I have another problam for you. My friend has a DD hen that is about a year old. She eats, drinks, and flies but has no control of her legs. Prior to this she was perfect. She has tried antibiotics, vitamins, extra calcium, and special feed. Nothing Helps. She has been light and then fat and is now going light again. She put her in a hospital cage for 10 days an there was no change in the paralisis. The weather were she lives has been in the 30's and 40's at night and in the 60's and 70's during the day she has her in a outside aviary that is inclosed in plastic and keeps it about 10 degrees warmer than it is outside. I told her to bring her back in and put her back in the hospital cage and keep her warm until I get back to her. Hope you can help. [Keith]
  • Whenever I have had a pigeon go down with almost paralized legs, I have suspected salmonella,(have never had a dove lose leg control) I have treated the bird with a medication (albon) and the bird has usually responded. also my experience with "going light", birds dont usually get better on their own, I have never had any get better on their own from going light. The condition that caused it needs to be determined and treated. heat and electrolites help the bird fight but not beat the disease or parasite that is pulling it down. I am not a medical person, THESE ARE JUST SOME OF MY EXPERIENCES WITH MY OWN BIRDS. Your
    problems may be something completely different, I just thought I would throw this out for whatever it was worth. [Pat]
• Put a bit of antibiotic ointment or preparation H on the wound. It will help heal it & hopefully prevent infection.Get a magnifying glass & be sure you got all of the wire -- hair from around the leg. If not it can tighten & cut off circulation to the foot.
• Have you wormed the birds? I use piperzine in the water for two days. You can use "ivermectin" also. Both piperzine & ivermectin can be gotten from the feed store. You can also mix a "capful" of bleach in a gallon of water & give it to the doves. I recently found that "vet tip" on one of the pigeon web sites. I have been using the bleach for years.
• I must agree with John. The only "justifiable" loose, puddly stool that a hen lays, that I know about, are their pre-lay stools which can occur right before, (1 day), laying. Otherwise they should have a normal stool just like the male. Sounds like it might be worms or coccidiosis to me, although nobody can give you a correct diagnosis, just from your description of the bird's clinical signs. Testing is required. [Monte]
• Follow the recommendations for using bleach in the water. This was from somebody else's message:
  "I recently had a bird get very sick at 6 weeks old. The best I could determine it was a virus. This included very runny stools. His two bothers died before I could save them. The main reason for writting is to pass on what I did to save the bird. I put one drop of bleach in 1 oz of water. I saw improvement over night. In two days the bird was back to normal." Also put some gatorade in the water to act as electrolytes to make up for the ones she has lot already. I would also feed a nutritious mash of some kind, instant whole wheat with cooked eggs chopped in just in case she isnt eating well. And maybe some yogurt in the food. for good bacteria. [Ingrid]
• Hi Stacy, I know we give Cipro as a flock treatment to racing pigeons at a rate of 500 mg tablet per gallon for 10 days as cure, but it is water soluble and a lot of other antibiotics on the market for human consumption is not
  water soluble, so I would check with a vet or you can get some vet tips from our web site at : "http://hometown.aol.com/marpigeonclub/myhomepage/club.html" Mid Atlantic Racing Pigeon Club. [Ronnie]
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