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Original poster

Abandoned/lost baby bird

8 replies

Mercy · 21/05/2008 17:40

Can anyone advise please?

See my thread here

I've given it some watered down, mashed up cat food which it seemed to appreciate and am about to feed it again.

Now what?

OP posts:

bamzooki · 21/05/2008 19:38

Hopefully beautifulgirls or someone similar will come along with some advice for you.
I guess the main criteria is how old the chick is. The younger it is the less chance it has I should think.
If you are sure that it is a bluetit, then it will need to wean on to insect food if it survives that far - greenfly/blackfly/fruitfly type things. (Have been consulting my St Tiggywinkles Wildcare Handbook!)
Their website here has a phone no you could maybe try for advice?
You will be in for some intensive work if you are to handrear the chick successfully though!
Good luck.

beautifulgirls · 21/05/2008 19:55

Is it injured? If not the best plan for most of these is to get them back outside and see if the parents are about. More often than not they are, though not a good plan this late in the evening unless you can get it out and get the parents about pretty much straight away. Try it out in a box so it can make noise but not get away for the moment and then make sure you are well out of the way but able to observe. If they come back pop out and release it and they will take it from there.

Other than that - if injured it needs to be seen by a vet - any vet should see it free of charge if you just drop it in. What happens from there though depends on who they have to look after it. If you are willing if they do not have a bird carer then they are more likely to try to help it. If you cant get parents about or you need to hand rear it then cat food is one of the obvious easy foods for it. You can also go to the petshop and get hold of mealworms which you feed live and are also great for teaching them to feed as the movement helps. A fine pair of tweezers is usually the easiest for hand feeding the baby. They feed during daylight hours, and once they are opening the beak demanding food just carefully feed until they quit feeding. Feed every 1-2 hours through the day. If they are not beak opening then try and gently tickle the sides of the beak up near the head - there are a few hairs there if you look. Sometimes this stimulates them to open up for you. If refusing to eat then you need a bit more vet help to show you how to force feed until they get stronger/pick up the idea. A small bowl of water should be in the box but not that they can bath in just yet, and some food on offer to pick at for itself too as sooner or later they will start.

They are hard work and even with the healthiest chicks they dont all make it. Alternatively of course your local vets may be able to give you the phone number of a local bird carer who could take it to look after....much easier!

Good luck.

Original poster

Mercy · 21/05/2008 20:31

Thank you bamboozi and beautfulgirls!

It's not injured thank goodness, just a longish way from home (we think).

I've been feeding it mushed up, watered down cat food which it seems to like every 40/50 minutes or so. I've fed it when it starts cheeping and have stroked the large yellow bits to the side of the beak (trying to remember what we did with baby birds when I was a child!)

If nothing else it has been an interesting experience for my 2 city kids!

Btw, is is free to contact a vet? (we are going away for half term just to add to the problem)

OP posts:

beautifulgirls · 21/05/2008 22:30

For wildlife yes they should take it without charging you.

umberella · 21/05/2008 22:35

Poor little thing - good luck at the vet.

My little sister found a baby jackdaw with an injured foot when she was in p7....he decided he liked it at our house and died last year aged 15!

Original poster

Mercy · 22/05/2008 12:16

Unfortunately the bird died a couple of hours ago.

It was very quick, I'm not sure what happened tbh. One minute it was cheeping away and then it went really quiet.

We've buried it in the garden - the children, especially ds, were too upsest to watch.

OP posts:

beautifulgirls · 22/05/2008 15:56

bella29 · 28/05/2008 10:13

Sorry to hear the news, Mercy. i know you meant well.

Baby chicks often appear to have been abandoned but in fact their parents are usually nearby and waiting till humans disappear before coming back to feed them.

In line with the RSPB's advice, please
leave baby birds alone, otherwise the parents really will abandon them.

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