What are the Symptoms of Sick Pigeon?

Pigeon breeders and fanciers are good at taking care of the pigeons; they know the symptoms of the sick pigeons. Therefore, they easily identify the disease by noticing the symptoms of sick pigeons. I knew some of the symptoms of sick pigeons, but there were loads of them which I wasn’t aware of, but I did manage to compile a shortlist of various symptoms of pigeon diseases.

If you’re a beginner pigeon fancier, you may not have a clear idea of how to find out whether or not your pigeons are healthy. So keeping that in mind, I decided to do my research on this and come up with a list of symptoms of various pigeon diseases.

As always, I sat with my pigeon expert who happens to be my Uncle, and I asked him about the sick pigeons’ symptoms. He explained a number of symptoms and diseases and I remember most of them. I have been asking him to start a YouTube channel and put out pigeons-related videos. He isn’t tech-savvy at all and doesn’t have time to start making pigeon videos. However, he graciously answers my queries when he comes over. 

Without any further ado, let’s get right into it.

What are the Symptoms of Sick Pigeon?

The Symptoms of Sick Pigeon

Here we go:

No Appetite

If your pigeon loses the appetite and gets weaker due to that, it might be suffering from a disease. You should consult a pigeon expert or vet to be 100% sure about this. What I learned so far is that a healthy pigeon doesn’t lose the appetite. Pigeons are busy creatures; they remain busy in pairing up or breeding or flying. So when they’re healthy, they feed quite well.  

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Laziness

One of the easiest ways to figure out whether or not the pigeon is sick is laziness. If your pigeon seems to be sleepy or the neck is touching his body due to laziness, it surely means your pigeon is sick. Laziness is a common symptom of sick pigeons. 

Loose Motion

Pigeon poop is neither solid nor liquid. If you see your pigeon is pooping loose motion, you must consult a vet or a pigeon expert. The loose motion in pigeons shouldn’t be taken easily as pigeons start to lose weight if the treatment isn’t given on time. 

Vomiting

Vomiting is a clear sign of sick pigeons as healthy pigeons don’t vomit. I can’t go deep into why pigeons vomit as I’m not a medical expert, but vomiting could happen because of digestive issues, cold weather, or a weak immune system. The easiest way to find out about vomiting is simply by keeping an eye on the pigeons and you may find the sick pigeons vomiting

Neck Twisting

Neck Twisting is a neck muscle disability that tightens the neck muscles and causes the neck to twist. However, the core reasons why neck twisting happens is still unclear, but pigeon fanciers and breeders have their home-remedies to cure the neck twisting disease. I highly recommend consulting a vet or pigeons expert for this problem. 

Eye Infection

Eye infection is quite common among pigeons. The pigeons’ eyes get swollen and you can see the pimples all over the eyes. At the time of writing this blog post, some of our baby pigeons are suffering from an eye infection. They usually happen due to viral, especially when pigeons fly or keep mixing up with new pigeons. Eye infections could be dangerous for pigeons if not taken seriously. Try to get some medication prescribed from the vet’s clinic if your pigeons have an eye infection.

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Marasmus

Marasmus is a disease that weakens the pigeon, and it may also be known as Sokra in South East Asian countries. It causes weight loss as the pigeon stops eating. Over time, the poor pigeon gets weaker and eventually dies. So if you’re noticing that your pigeon is getting thinner day by day, you better consult the vet’s clinic and get your pigeon checked up. 

Did You Find this Blog Post About Symptoms of Sick Pigeons Useful?

Pigeons’ health is essential to their growth, breeding, and flying. A lot of pigeon fanciers get the pigeons, but don’t spend time understanding the well-being of these lovely birds. 

One of the missions of this blog is to share real-life experiences about keeping pigeons at home, so that relatively newer pigeon fanciers could get benefit from this. 

Moreover, if you’re noticing any of the symptoms in any of your pigeon, don’t take lightly and consult your local vet’s clinic about it.

Kathy Gonzales

I'm an author of pigeonsmatter.com. I have kept pigeons as pets for over 20 years and have written several articles. Here in this blog, I cover topics such as how to care for pigeons, what to feed them, and how to keep them healthy.