need help with a wild bird.

I'm usually over on the dog forum, but I found a baby bird on the ground while I was working out at the barn this evening with a badly broken leg, there was a barn cat poised over it, but I don;t think it touch the bird, it was otherwise ok, i think it just fell from it's nest. I scooped it up and took it home since I couldn't watch the cat eat it,even thought I know they do this quite often. So, if it lives through tonight, i'll take it in to the vet tomorrow and see what they can do and if they know any wildlife rehabilitators. But, what do I do with it tonight? I have it is a small box full of tissue with a heating pad set on low under it, and read somewhere that they will eat bread soaked in water or milk...I tried bread soaked in water and it didn't really eat the bread, but drank the water dripping off of it readily. Anyone have any experience saving wild birds?

 

I've always every year, it has never failed, found baby birds on the ground. Birds are lactose intolerant and can't have milk but once in a while. Does the bird have all of it's feathers? Are it's eyes open? What I have done to raise these babies is mix 2 cups of puppy chow with lots of protein softened in some hot water, when it is soft enough ground it up in a mixer with: 1/4 cup applesauce, 1/2 cup meat and veggie baby food (about 1 can), 2 tablespoons mashed hard boiled egg, enough water to make the food soft but not too watery because it is very easy to drown them. You can feed them this mixture with an eyedropper or a spoon with the sides bent in (kind of like a scoop). This mixture can be kept in the fridge but you need to warm it at each feeding and depending on the birds age it may be every half hour-hour or every 3-4 hours. You may also give them a drop of warm water after feeding with the eye dropper if you watch it carefully to make sure it can breathe. I don't know if you plan to raise the baby bird or not but that is what I did and advise you to do if you plan on raising it. I don't know about the poor guys leg though but I wish you Good Luck.

Ashley

 

I have never raised a wild bird before, My cousin found a little bird that fell from its nest and he took it home and got some worms and held them to the birds mouth and it ate them no problem, You could try that see how it goes.

As for the leg a vet would be the best person to deal with that.

Good luck and i hope all turns out well.

Mike

 

Did a little more reading online, and found out that it is indeed a nestling, not a flegling..only has a couple feathers on its wings, the rest is down or bald. The eyes are open. I also found a better site for food that said in a pinch you can mix boiled egg yolk and water and feed with a syringe..so I did that all night and it loves it, it seems to have gained a bit of strength and is quite vocal this morning when it was ready to eat. Unfortunately...I was thinking of running it in to the vet this morning, but it's Sunday, duh. So, I've got it another day so I'll run to the store and get the stuff they listed for a better recipie to feed it. Hopefully 2 days won't make a big difference with the leg, although I don't know if the break will ever heal well, so it may be lame anyways. but I just can't pay emergeny fees right now. I can afford to probably get it treated, but the emergency fees are rediculous. But all other parts on the bird seem to be in working order.

 

Glad it took to handfeeding this well, Hopefully its leg will heal itself with no lasting effects.

good luck and please keep us posted on how its doing....

Mike

 

feeding baby birds worms can be dangerous. The mother feeds them a diet based on bugs. Worms can give them a disease that is only dangerous for the babies. The name doesn't come to me right now though. Even feeding them straight jarred baby food, mostly chickens and other meats high in protein and maybe eggs mixed with it would be good. Hopefully all goes well but you know you might not be able to release it after you've handraised it. It probably wouldn't survive. Here is the link I got my recipe from.

http://www.starlingtalk.com/diet.htm

It is for Starlings but I don't know if it makes a difference but I would try it. there are 2 recipes, wet dog food mixture and dry dog food mixture. Explore and I hope you figure something out.

 

thanks! I actually ran across that site last night. I have the bird on a similar mixture..
Just a little update. I named it Captain Jack Sparrow(hope it's a boy!), because, well, it's a sparrow. not too creative..hehe.
I took him to the vet today, and his leg is indeed broken, and unfortunately at the joint, so they splinted it anyways and are hoping for the best, he has to go in weekly to get it reset. If it gets to be too much of a bother though, they said amputation is an option down the road. So, we're crossing our fingers that he heals up ok! And unfortunately, if his leg does not end up somewhat viable, he'll have to be a pet, as he wouldn't be able to feed and perch safely in the wild. He's eating up a storm though, and the vet said he looks pretty good otherwise and felt good ild, and well nourished...so..looks like i'm raising a baby bird since they couldn't refer me to any wildlife rehabilitators...and potentially a new bird owner depending on that leg..

but..i thought i'd show some pics of the little guy..these first three are they day I found him




and these three are tonight after he's all fixed up(I think he's grown more feathers in a day!)

 

Well I'm glad he is doing okay and I hope his leg heals okay. Amputation would be bad. They do grow feathers really fast. Like one week they can be little pink ugly things and have down the next week. Thats cool that you are willing to keep the little guy. I like his name thats cute. All the baby birds I have ever found were starlings. Glad you already found that site. Hope it helped you out. I was a day late and a dollar short though. You were ahead of me on that one. I still have that site saved on my comp in case I end up a serrogate mother again this year. Hope I helped you out at least a little. Again Good luck!

 

Looks like your doing a great job its nice to see tehre is still people out there that will still help wild animals, Most people would either have left the bird or had it killed.

I hope his leg heals as i agree amputation would be bad.
Also if it ever came to you letting him back out in the wild chances are he will keep coming back to where he was raised.

Good luck with him i love the name and the pics.

Mike

 

Well, i'm just a softie for all animals..that's why my house is again turning into a zoo, and I'm constantly checking doors to make sure the cat is seperated from the bird, the dog is seperated from the bird when not supervised and everyone gets time out to roam and get attention, all while feeding the bird every 30 minutes...ack!
But good news on Captain Jack, he's holding his leg at a much more natural angle today and actually propping himself on the leg, still no movement in those toes, but i'm hoping he's starting to heal...he certainly looks much happier and more comfortable today.

 

What a little cutie! My canary is named Captain Jack Sparrow. I thought it would be fun to name all my little birds names of other birds (especially big ones, like Hawk and Falcon), but we only ended up with Captain Jack and Wren (who is a finch).

Your case with the baby bird is different since it was about to be eaten and was injured, but for other people out there you are generally NOT supposed to take a baby bird home that you think has fallen from the nest. If you can see the nest and get him back in, that's okay. If not, you are supposed to fashion your own nest and nail it to the tree - like a little butter tub works well - and put the bird in that. Then you watch to make sure mommy is still caring for it. Most of them time, they manage to make it back to the nest on their own.

I guess if it's somewhere you can't watch it then you have to make a decision. We found a baby bird in our front yard one day, flopping around by one of the trees. We called the wildlife rescue people and they told us to nail a margarine tub to the tree and put some grass in it and put the baby inside. We did it and checked on him a bunch and he was gone in a day or so. I assume he made it back home.

 

Yes, I agree, baby birds do often wiggle their way out of nests and should be returned, or the fleglings will often be on the ground while they are learning to fly and are perfectly ok there, but this little fellow was pretty seriously injured with the broken leg and with 10 barn cats, didn't really stand a chance since they were on to him already. Of course, his barn is usually only patrolled by Pixie, one of the cats, but Pixie was certainly ready to take care of him. Also, these birds often build nests in the big sliding barn doors or on top of them, and they fall out when the door is opened and since I found him in front of the door, I assume this is what happened, I saw no evidence of a nest, but it could have fallen in the track of the door, but I did see some feathers around him, so apparently he was the lucky one.