Sitemaps

Why do pigeons have manky feet2007-11-24 17:27:29

I've heard various tales about their poo being acidic and burning their toes off, getting them run over by trains or electrocuted on telegraph wires..

I'm not sure I believe any of them, but the fact remains that almost every pigeon I see has foot-damage -one I saw yesterday just had a stump where his foot used to be.

I find this gross and fascinating at the same time!! Why does it happen?

Answers:

There are five main reasons that most pigeons have awful feet, and I'm listing them in order of priority. Cause number one is the most common, two less common, and so on to 5, the least common:

1). Repellant poisons that damage foot tissue. In some cities where this isn't used, in fact, many pigeons have quite nice feet. In ones where it is used, the open sores it causes allow bacteria to get into the pigeon's skin, which leads to cause #2

2). Bacterial and viral infection transmitted mostly in droppings

3). Accident and/or subsequent infection

4). Parental overpreening of squabs -- very common in altrical (born dependent) chicks, this is where the parents preen helpless chicks overzealously and rip off nails, or even whole toes. Again, these wounds also open up the skin and allow bacterial and viral infection to enter.

5). Poor perching options. Even pet birds, like parrots, begin to have dry, scaly, cracked or bleeding feet when they only perch on wood or another dry surface.

---

Hey I think I saw the same pigeon. I guess its just cos of where they walk, they get their feet cut, or run over and they fall off.