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If you have a vet who already performs regular checkups of your bird, deworm your bird according to their protocol and actual testing results. It’s always better to only deworm when parasites are actually detected instead of doing it preventatively. However, in absence of a vet, preventative deworming is a sensible option, as it is better than no deworming at all.
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Pigeons can—and, in absence of regular vet checkups, should—be preventatively dewormed every six months if housed completely indoors, or slightly more often if kept (or allowed supervised access) outdoors. This helps ensure that if the bird is ever exposed to parasites, they will ideally be noticed and eradicated before they can begin to burden the bird and make them ill.
Common symptoms of worms are loose liquidy droppings, increased appetite (the pigeon eats more food than it normally does) with no weight gain, sick posing and hunching uncomfortably, ruffled feathers and poor feather quality, and weight loss. Some worms can also be seen with a naked eye. However, due to how many different worm species there are and depending on how big of a worm burden the bird carries, often there may be little to no symptoms of worms, and they are only discovered after preventative deworming. The symptoms are also very non-specific and could indicate other conditions, so it’s better to rely on more concrete evidence, like fecal floats or noticing actual worms or worm eggs in poop.
To deworm a pigeon, the bird should receive the first dose of dewormer orally (either in tablet, paste, or in their drinking water) and then receive a second dose of a different type of dewormer 10-14 days later. When you use dewormers specifically formulated for birds, follow instructions as indicated instead.
<aside> 🪱 Administering two different dewormers may not be necessary in house pigeons unless you have strong evidence that the first type of dewormer did not work as intended.
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If your pigeon has had worms, they will usually be expelled in the poop a day or two after receiving the first dose of dewormer. Worms will look like small threads of fiber, grains of rice, or spaghetti-like strings, depending on the species. If there are no worms expelled in the pigeons droppings, it is safe to assume the pigeon was healthy and worm free! However, it is still recommended to give the bird the second dose after 10–14 days in case the worms were resistant to the type of dewormer you used or the bird threw up the dewormer.
If worms are discovered after deworming your pigeon the second time, it is recommended to deworm the pigeon again, two weeks after they receive the second dose. This is important so you can observe the feces and determine if the worms are still present or all eradicated, before they begin the cycle within your pet again.
<aside> 🚨 Fenbendazole, albendazole, and possibly other benzimidazoles are toxic to pigeons. These are common animal dewormers you may get from people who are unfamiliar with pigeons, but they will be highly harmful for your bird. Do not use.
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Recommended dewormers for pigeons: