Happy, Healthy Pigeons

This year I've tried a more natural approach to managing the pigeons with the goal of a happy and healthy colony. Birds that are happy and healthy will love their home and want to return to it.

However, in the last week I've had two pigeons get sick and die. It's been a long time since I lost any birds to illness (we lose quite a few to hawks), but I always seem to lose a couple each year. This year it was two of my cock birds that I raced in 2007; AU 2007 SMC 740 and AU 2007 SMC 705.

I had a couple of other pigeons that appeared sick, notably a very good hen AU 2007 SMC 754, she is recovering and doing better.

I suspect that this is a flare up of canker, which is something that all pigeons have. Canker organisms are usually kept in balance but can flare up when a bird is exposed to stuff or when a bird becomes stressed and their immune system is compromised.

The pigeons are in the midst of their annual feather molt (growing a new set of feathers), which introduces stress, so that may have been a factor. We've had a very wet season and pigeons like a very dry environment. Since I opened up all three lofts the pigeons have associated with some wild pigeons which can expose them to other germs. Opening up the lofts though is generally good because the pigeons get lots of sun and fresh air and exercise and can find greens on the ground etc.

Last week when I noticed a couple of birds that appeared ill I treated the entire flock with Multi-mix, a three way medicine mixed in the drinking water which treats for canker, coccidiosis, and worms. This was effective but did not work in time for the two birds that I lost.

Yesterday afternoon we examined #705 who had died earlier in the day. I was assisted by my capable junior vet techs John and Mary. We took cloaca and throat swab samples which we labeled and placed in ziplock baggies which then went into the freezer. We made up some slides and looked at them under the microscope. We examined the contents of the birds crop.

We have no local avian vet with which to work, and UT wants about $500 to post a bird with no guarantees. We've heard from others who did take birds to UT that it was expensive and the results were inconclusive.

In Europe pigeon racing is very popular and there are dedicated avian vets who specialize in homing pigeons. One of our goals is to learn about pigeon health and diseases and learn how to do proper diagnostics and treatment. Several pigeon fanciers are learning to do this themselves or in consultation with a knowledgeable avian vet.