Chicken bald back

[SarahJo]

I know you will all think I am soft, BUT, returned from walking Tori to find a baby bird on the stone infront of the hens run.

 

I can hear the mum cheeping for it .. but it can't fly yet. So I have put it into a shoe box, open at one end, with some hay - and placed into a hutch. So far it has had some syringed water and chopped worms, fed via tweezers. .

 

Just thought I would ask if there is anything else I can do .... I am hoping to get it strong enough to release back into the garden - or am I wasting my time .

 

Ben and Joe have named him Ozzy, as he has this spikey feather thing going on .

 

Any suggestions much appreciated.

[Louise]

Do you have a wildlife hospital nearby Sarah

[SarahJo]

Not too sure Louise - thought I would try and keep it here, Ben and Joe hunt out all the bugs and worms for me

[Louise]

Lovely

 

What sort of bird is it

[SarahJo]

Not sure - think its a sparrow, quite cute really. Have just spoken to a woman from a wildlife rescue - she says to feed every 30 mins , and it can have bird seed as well as bugs. I could take it to the centre, but might try to get it strong enough here. They have blue tits in at the moment.

[AnnieP]

I think the best advice is to keep it VERY warm. Hot water bottle under the straw?

If its eating, that's a great sign!

[susanbb]

I would agree with keeping Ozzy warm. Hope his mum comes bak soon

 

Susan

[SarahJo]

did you know - no matter how many times you slice a worm, it still wriggles ... . I might take Ozzy to the wildlife place after lunch - they will be better equiped to look after him, and its only 15 mins away.

[Louise]

I think that would probably be best Sarah as they need such intensive care we have blue tits nesting just outside my office window (in the fag end box ) and mum and dad are past every couple of minutes feeding them

 

it is very cute though

[Egluntyne]

Poor little thing...I hope he makes it. Well done for trying!

[Looney]

We hand-reared a couple of canary chicks and they take such a lot of attention....we didn't have to feed them worms though just egg-food (comes dried, looks a bit like couscous and then you add water - smells lovely ). Good luck Sarah-Jo.

[SarahJo]

Feel really bad, as mummy sparrow is looking for Ozzy, and has located him in the hutch. I just think that he is too young to get back to the nest, and will perish, no matter how hard she tries. So, when the rain eases off ... one last feed from me, and off to the wildlife place.

[Lailapet]

That's the sort of thing I'd try to do too. I realy hope it works out and the little feathery thing will grow big and strong. The wildlife centre is, as you say, better equipped to look after the baby. Perhaps you'll be allowed to visit to check up on him.

Laila

[Lesley]

Do you know where the nest is Sarah? Perhaps you could pop it back in if you found the nest?

[SarahJo]

The nest I think is in one of the conifers - hence why I found him near the chooks. I reckon he'll only end up back out of the nest though and back to square one . Apparently there are some blue-tits being reared at the centre - so he won't be lonely.

[pepe]

See if mum goes back to feed him, we had an injured baby crow in the garden last year, we ended up taking him to the RSPCA, as the noise the parents made was awful, and a cat kept prowling good luck.

[SarahJo]

Have just come back from "Lower Moss Wood" animal reserve, near to Knutsford. Ozzy is now sharing mealworms with some other chicks - though the lady there thought he was either a Dunnock or a Robin . We will phone in a few days to see how he gets on.

 

Ben and Joe had a great time - looking at all the birds and animals there, including foxes. There was a very cute looking fox cub - then I reminded myself of the ladies that lay . One lady came in to rehome a hedgehog - just gave a donation and took it home .

 

Bit spooky too - as I am sure Joe is going there on a school trip next month wooohooohooooo

[susanbb]

Well done. I'm sure he'll be fine

 

Susan

[Kathy C]

Can you really rehome hedgehogs? We used to have a pair here, but the didn't come back last year and we really miss them. It would be lovely to rehome one...

[Egluntyne]

I'd love to offer a home to a hedgehog. I've got more than enough slugs to keep one happy.

[SarahJo]

The site I visited for the wildlife centre gives lots of info - to find originally, I just did a search for wildlife rescue centres. Although the adopt an animal section says £25 donation - the lady who re-homed the hedger just donated £5. I suppose if you ring your local centre they will advise as to what they have for rehoming.

 

Look at www.lowermosswood.org.uk

 

Also a good list on - www.britishwildlifehelpline.com

[AnnieP]

That's good news SarahJo! Well done and glad Ozzy is going to be well cared for! It sounds like a great place!

[Chocobo]

We have a massive tree full of rooks in our garden...sometimes rooks fall out of the trees and we have to care for them, last year there was one on the road, we named it Little Wing after the Jimi Hendrix song. It stayed around for a few months then returned to the wild when it grew up, it loved sitting on your arm and shoulder and squarked whenever I went past