I was wondering if anyone knew about this subject at all because I think my Ricky may have developed arthritis from a past injury. About a year ago, I think she injured her leg by flying into the screen of the pigeon room, getting her foot caught and/or falling hard on it. At that time, she was definitely injured and limped on her leg for about 2 weeks and then it seemed fine. I noticed nothing out of the ordinary in regards to swelling, redness, broken skin etc. And after this she seemed to be mostly fine and began walking on her leg again without limping.

Over the last several months though, she has started limping on that same leg again and it can be pretty bad at times. Since she spends the majority of her day sitting on her own infertile eggs, I'm wondering if this old injury is getting stiff and arthritis is setting in.

I also thought that perhaps it was a calcium deficiency over this time as well but I have been giving her liquid calcium regularly for about this same amount of time since the injury.

Anyone have any thoughts, suggestions or ideas?

I dont have any advice for you Brad but I do know that pigeons can get arthritis.
I had a breeder pair that was loaned to me from a local club member and he told me the hen had arthritis in her left ankle.
She would limp around on it most of the time.
Lemme call him and see what he suggests.
Ill get back to you in a few

I had to leave a message.
When i hear back from him Brad Ill let you know what he says

Thanks Ed for checking on this....I appreciate it because it's not something I'm familiar with. Of course too, this situation is exacerbated by the fact that Ricky is a runt and quite a heavy bird. I'm sure this is only complicating matters for her and making putting weight on this leg, that much harder for her.

I noticed in another forum that Plamenh and Becky (Mary of Exeter) mentioned a few things about arthritis...namely, Arnica Oil, Chamomile and Cinnamon with honey.

Perhaps you could PM or e-mail them, Brad?

Love and Hugs and Scritches - with special attention to Ricky!

Shi

I don't know anything about this but will ask Jude if she does. I would also be interested in finding out about this as Paddy could also be at risk with having a slight 'bandy' leg now after a previous bad fracture.

I know that calcium deficiency can make them weak in the legs but if it is just one leg that is affected, it sounds more like an arthritic problem. I'll see what I can find out for you.

Scritches to Ricky from me too.

Thanks Shi....will keep those things in mind.

I talked to my buddy Brad.
he said theres really not much you can do for the bird as far as meds.
he did say that you dont want it to be around any bully birds as they will tend to pick on the bird in that condition.
He also suggested giving the bird its own nest box with food bowl and water in it so it doesnt have to fight the other bids to eat and drink.
I'll do some more research for you and see if theres something you can give the bird to maybe ease the stiffness.

I would like to comment for your sake that I am sorry to hear this....but naturally I do not know, but it would not surprise me that birds could get arthritis after an injury, but probably even without one. Maybe keeping him warmer might also help too.

You can try Arnica pills 1 a day reduces swelling.
Cinnamon tea - 1 teaspoon cinnamon with 1 liter of water. Boil it, cool it down mix with 1 teaspoon of honey and give it instead of water for two days in a row, every week. (If it is too concentrated, you can dilute it with water. (you can’t overdose)
Chamomile tea also helps with pain and reduces swelling in joints.
Heating pad will also help.
Keep in mind that you may have a case of post egg laying paralysis (or partial paralysis)

plamenh wrote:You can try Arnica pills 1 a day reduces swelling.
Cinnamon tea - 1 teaspoon cinnamon with 1 liter of water. Boil it, cool it down mix with 1 teaspoon of honey and give it instead of water for two days in a row, every week. (If it is too concentrated, you can dilute it with water. (you can’t overdose)
Chamomile tea also helps with pain and reduces swelling in joints.
Heating pad will also help.
Keep in mind that you may have a case of post egg laying paralysis (or partial paralysis)

I want to try giving honey to my Young Birds next year.
How much honey per gallon of water would you recommend?

Thank you Lindi, Ed and Carol for the well wishes and suggestions. Plamenh, can you tell me more about post egg laying paralysis? I have thought about this as well and maybe it is the case here. Ricky lays eggs regularly about once a month so this could be a possibility but how would I help her if this was the case and because of the constant egg laying.

How do you offer and prepare the chamomile tea for the pigeons?

Ed wrote:

plamenh wrote:You can try Arnica pills 1 a day reduces swelling.
Cinnamon tea - 1 teaspoon cinnamon with 1 liter of water. Boil it, cool it down mix with 1 teaspoon of honey and give it instead of water for two days in a row, every week. (If it is too concentrated, you can dilute it with water. (you can’t overdose)
Chamomile tea also helps with pain and reduces swelling in joints.
Heating pad will also help.
Keep in mind that you may have a case of post egg laying paralysis (or partial paralysis)

I want to try giving honey to my Young Birds next year.
How much honey per gallon of water would you recommend?

1 Tablespoon to a gallon of water every Monday all year......GEORGE

Thank you George

Calcium deficiency is main reason of paresis in hens. Calcium required for egg formation is derived from the blood stream and skeletal system. It needs to be replaced by diet, but sometime due the lack of sunlight and vitamins D and E, calcium is not absorbed. This results leg paresis. Condition can be corrected by administration of vitamins and easy digestible Calcium (cal-C-vita). Magnesium supplements are reported to be effective too.

gsimon wrote: 1 Tablespoon to a gallon of water every Monday all year......GEORGE

As vitamin suplement and for strenght it is enough. If you want to stimulate growth and after illness, you can go to two tablespoons. No more than that because, too sweet and pigeons will not drink it.

plamenh wrote:Calcium deficiency is main reason of paresis in hens. Calcium required for egg formation is derived from the blood stream and skeletal system. It needs to be replaced by diet, but sometime due the lack of sunlight and vitamins D and E, calcium is not absorbed. This results leg paresis. Condition can be corrected by administration of vitamins and easy digestible Calcium (cal-C-vita). Magnesium supplements are reported to be effective too.

Thanks Plamenh,

This is been an ongoing problem with my hens, insufficient calcium uptake and assimilation. I am currently using a product called calcivet that I purchased from Foy's Pigeon supply and have been using it for nearly a year. When I first started them on this however, I was giving it a few times a week and what I found was that it was actually constipating the birds. They began to have a hard time pooping, it would get stuck to their bums (really bad) and they would be very hard and dry poops. So, I tapered down to once a week after seeing this and this has been their regiment for the last several months. In addition to the calcivet, they get their grit and an oyster shell tablet popped down the throat once a month. Here's the link to the calcivet:

http://www.fabulousfinch.com/CALCIVET-Liquid-Calcium-Supplement_p_20-57.html

My pigeons are indoor birds so there is nothing to be done about natural sunlight and especially now that winter is coming here in Canada. Can you recommend a regiment that won't cause these poop bricks and constipation, maybe another, better product?

Thanks!

Try occasionally giving them some greens and soaking some bread in water and giving it to them.
Also six pellets of nux vomica dissolved in a cup of water might help.

http://www.abchomeopathy.com/shop.php

Yes, calcium tends to constipate birds but only if it is not absorbed by body. Chamomile tea may regulate their poops if mixed with calcium supplement. In addition oily seeds or just couple of drops of olive oil on seeds will also keep them regular.

As for the sunlight, you may use full spectrum light for reptiles to help your birds in calcium absorption.

Thanks for the suggestions Ed and Plamenh.

Unfortunately my birds won't eat greens, they simply do not recognize them as food and are unwilling to try them...I've tried! Thanks for the suggestion about the oil and oily seeds to help Plamenh, makes sense.

As for the full spectrum lighting, it's my understanding that these type of lights are only beneficial to birds if they are within a certain distance from the lights and that distance is very short. 2 feet or less. I think it would be hard to have a lighting setup that would work for birds in this way and so they would benefit from the full spectrum.

I used to buy full spectrum fluorescent lights for my birds, but the lights are up near the ceiling of the room so they were likely not doing any good at all.