Help! Injured racing pigeon from Belgium

So today I came back from a long walk only to find an injured racing pigeon in my back garden. It clearly had a neck injury of some sort and this is what happened next in the following order;

1. I had some bird seed so I gave it some seed and gained its trust somewhat. It came up to me and I observed it for a bit as it ate.

2. I'm very certain that its been injured by being attacked by a bird of prey of some sort- not only is a great chunk of feathers missing from around its neck, but it has a bloody injury there too.

3. So I then gave it some water. But to my horror as it drank the water, water poured out of its neck :O ! The hawk seems to have torn a small hole in the pigeons throat.

4. So I then tried to catch the pigeon with a large pond fish net. However the pigeon had no problems flying and flew up onto the roof of my house.

5. A little while later it came back down for more bird seed and water. This time I stalked the bird and successfully caught it in one fell swoop.

6. I checked the underside of its wings for any identification- there was none. However the pigeon was tagged on both legs (a pink tag and a blue tag). my husband took down the details (which are as follows);

Blue tag: BE16 611 286
Pink tag: 19

7. My husband called the number but it was a Belgium one. But we only got through to an automated machine (and neither of us could understand the language).

8. So I borrowed a cat carrier box from the next door neighbour, put a towel in the bottom of it, fixed a perch inside, put the pigeon inside and put a soufflé dish full of water and a dish full of bird seed at one end of the carrier (away from the perch). I then partially covered the carrier with a towel and have left the whole thing (pigeon inside) on a garden table outside (which is out of the reach of rats & cats etc) in shady area of the garden. Since then I have not touched the pigeon (its been through an ordeal and I want to let it rest).

9. I wanted to get this pigeon to its owner but it looks like that's going to be very challenging. This pigeon however clearly needs medical attention. I'm not sure if its injuries are survivable or not but even its to be put down, I'm taking it to a private vet rather than the RSPCA. However there are no vets open in the area on a Sunday.


IF it survives the night and IF its treatable, what do you recommend I do? The pigeon comes from Belgium- I am not sure how it got here or whether the owner is interested in having it back. Do people care about racing pigeons much? What if the pigeon survives but I can't trace the owner- can I rehome it to a pigeon enthusiast here? How robust are pigeons?

(BTW I live in Southampton)

your husband called the number, which number...? did you say there was no stamp on the wing...?

There was no stamp on the wing. He somehow tracked down a phone number based on the identification tags/rings on the birds legs;

Blue tag: BE16 611 286
Pink tag: 19

My guy said that he got the Belgium phone number from a website which he typed the birds identification number into. A guy said to him that someone from Belgium might have brought the bird over for a race here in the UK.

It sounds like the crop needs to be stitched by a vet urgently.

Here are the contact details to report a lost pigeon from Belgium

Royale federation colombophile belge.
52-54 gaasbeeksesteenweg
1500 Halle
Belgium

Tel: 0032 2537 6211
Fax:0032 2538 5721
Email: nationaal@kbdb.be
Website: http://www.kbdb.be/

Good luck, let us know how you get on.
Regards

probably a british fancier has bought pigeons from Belgium and it has got lost and attacked by bird of prey the rpra which is our governing body tells us to register foreign rings at £2 per bird so we can race birds bought from foreign countries ...however the rpra does not give out owners details if reported so you will have to contact original owner unless it has a wing stamp their may be a telephone number on one of the legs in the form of a sticker on one of the rings or maybe a plastic coil around one of the legs with a phone number on it or a stamp on one of its wing flights....most fanciers want them back I certainly do but sadly theirs an element of the hobby who are all to quick to dispose of such birds and usually these are the glory hunters some of us race pigeons for a hobby whether they come first or last they still love their birds ...well done to you for showing great compassion towards the bird

Any updates on the bird, did it survive the night, they are unbelievably hardy creatures.

Yes would be nice to know if you had any luck with the bird

not been online since

oldstrain wrote:

not been online since

Frustrating

Probably got help on another site and forgot to tell us lol

possibly an rspb spy...

Well at least we gave them good advice.
Probably got eaten by a fox during the night, they can get into most things, a girl at work had a fox break the padlock off of her rabbit hutch, she found the rabbit in the garden in the morning, with its head detached from its body. Not eaten just beheaded.
Never under estimate a fox, cunning little buggers.

I often smell foxes early mornings near my loft.....they have never given my birds any problems so far, but I always make sure the loft is secure and there`s nowhere a fox or cat can get in.

you cant be too careful...