I'm in a bit of a pickle here. Apparently an injured dove got in my pasture and I noticed my horse pushing something along on the ground all over the place and following it. Yes, my horse is very much a goofball! My boys ran out there and scooped up the dove from him. I dont know what happened to the poor thing but 1 eye is closed and it has some feathers missing near its chest and I feel like maybe its wing is messed up. Not certain it's broken. I told my youngest son we had better put it out of its misery humanely. The tears started flowing... hes got a huge heart for critters yet this is the boy that will slay during dove season. My heart broke for him when he was crying holding the poor thing in his hands. The bird seems to be ok other than the few things. It tries to fly away but cant quite get there yet. I've got 4 very curious cats eyeballing this thing. He put it in a box and I let him keep it in the horse trailer last night out of harm's way. He ran out this morning and honestly it's a little more peppy and trying to fly but still cant. He begged me to let it try 1 more night to get better. ... I have parakeets so I'm wondering if this thing will eat their seeds ?? I'd like to give it a chance to heal but i know the chances are grim. I always teach my kids to be kind to animals and if we hunt we do it quick and painless as possible! Hes just insisted we give this little thing a chance. Vets out of the question, a wildlife rehab is over 3 hours from us so I dont know what to do! it will miraculously get better and fly away! 

I bet it would eat some cracked corn too if it does decide to turn down the parakeet food. They love millet as well! 

Good luck with your new pet, lol keep us posted. 

I have chickens too so I can try scratch. I always see them eating the scratch when the chickens run off.. I need this bird to get well and fly away!

It couldn't hurt to have your son try to nurse it back to health and then let it go.  It would be a good lesson in responsibility!  I'm sure it will eat any kind of bird seed, or maybe even bread crumbs?

I looked at it when I got home and its definitely more alert today. Theres poop in the box so at least that part is working right. I put some of the scratch mix I have for the hens in the box with some spray millet. I also dug out our chicken waterer I had when they were little chicks. Other than that, that's all I can offer him or her now. It was trying to fly to get away from me in the trailer so thats a good sign. At least it's safe in there. We are supposed to get some crazy storms tomorrow. 

Keep us posted and praying  he is flying by the weekend

I checked on him tonight and he was laying by the waterer so hopefully he drinks! Cant really tell if he ate anything but I did notice his eye that was closed is starting to slowly open up and looks less swollen. I'm hoping that's more progress for the little fella. My daughter who is a self proclaimed expert on pretty much everything thinks its wing is maybe dislocated not broken but theres really no telling. I was reading while sitting at the boys baseball practice how to set a wing for a bird if it's broken so it will heal... I dont think hes completely out of the woods just yet but fingers crossed he will get stronger everyday and be able to fly sooner than later! We have to leave for the weekend for a tournament so I dont know what to do! 

Most vets, atleast ours do, will take an injured animal like a dove, etc & help it & then will take it to wildlife conservation to re locate it. I found an injured hawk & thank God my husband knows how to handle wildlife, but he got in & we took it to our local vet. Vet kept it, got it better & then wildlife people took it & released it back in to the wild. No charge to us. We were happy the vet got it better so it could be released back into it's world. 

What a great idea! Hopefully there is a vet nearby that will take it in so it doesnt have to travel with you this weekend, lol

It got itself out of the box and was hoping around in the trailer,  it got out when I opened the door. I had to chase it down to get it back lol! It's getting faster but still not able to fly ... lots of flopping around. 

How are things today?

I have a sad update, he peacefully passed away last night. I found him this morning. All I can say is at least he wasnt killed by a predator out there. I was really hoping hed make a comeback. Oh well... rest in peace little dove. :-(