rearing a baby bird

[zoewally04]

i have found a baby bird in the garden and need to know what i can feed it

[burnhal]

how old? leave it alone if its old enough to get about. Too many young fledglings die because well meaning people think they are abandoned. If its just left the nest the parents will be around and will be looking after it.

[zoewally04]

We found a nest and put the bird back in it but its mum never came back for it its quite young it doesn't have all its feathers

[burnhal]

in that case- do you know what species of bird it is? I would imagine if its an open nest it would be starling, blackbird or something of the kind. I once raised a starling brought to the door by well meaning kids who had found it. We paid a visit to the local fishing shop and got a load of plain maggots- not the coloured ones! Feed them with a pair of tweezers. If you are going to try this be aware you are going to be feeding from dawn onwards! If you cant get maggots on a sunday dont try bread or seeds or anything like that- insects are best for all baby birds- at a pinch you can try mince. Feeding rate- try to imagine how often a parent would return to the nest with an insect- probably not more than every fifteen minutes. But be very sure it is abandoned!

[zoewally04]

Thank You for your help very much appreciated we think it might be a wood pigeon but not too sure

[burnhal]

If its a wood pigeon I would have expected a scrappy nest near the top of a tree- surely you didnt put it back there? If it is a wood pigeon then you are a bit in the cack as for feeding. Pigeons are seed eaters and the parents secrete a thing called 'pigeons milk' in the crop which they feed the young. Dont know how you can simulate that! Try the maggots- thats all you can do

[spudqueen]

Don't touch it, just leave it for the parents to come back to.

[fat rascal]

good luck zoewally,my cat brought one in with quite a lot of feathers on it..we managed to feed it meal worms throught the day,and i did think it would be ok... but sadly it died.. so your one sounds even younger, so you've got your work cut out for you.

hope it goes ok
xx

[zoewally04]

It seems to be doing fine at the moment i've been feeding it some bread soaked in milk and its taking it really well and it's pooing well too! I'm not very optimistic though i know how difficult it is to do this but i'll give it my best shot

[fat rascal]

hows it going?.. is the little bird still doing ok?

fingers crossed
xx

[zoewally04]

Hello

The little birdie seems to be doing ok at the moment - i did think he was going to die because he was very twitchy and his head was all floppy but he seems to be a bit stronger today. I'm feeding him bread and milk at the moment until i can get some maggots tomorrow from the fishing shop fingers crossed he'll pull through

[fat rascal]

hi zoe,

thats brillaint news ... the little bundle is lucky t hat you found him/her.

xxx

[ashleigh22]

haya
Im not that experience but i found a baby pigeon about 4 months ago and i phoned the vets to ask what i could feed it ,and thay said cat food i did this for three months she now eats bread on her own and has come along really well as the cat food had all the vitamins and nutrience they need
hope this helps
xx

[sandray]

just bread and milk very mashed up