Baby Bird

Our neighbor just called. They weren't sure who to call, but Vet2Be's name came to mind first, so that is who they decided to call!

They found a baby bird in their window well. We don't do much with wild birds, but this one looks so much like a Banty Ameraucauna that we decided to try to help it through the night. If you look at the photo to the right (in the sidebar) you will see some real Ameraucauna chicks. These neighbors are some of the nicest people we know. We would probably help anyone, but it is especially nice to help folks like them.

See how small it is? It is so cute!

It looks like it hatched out today by the way it moves and acts.

I dipped it's beak in water and it drank a bit. It was chirping an 'alive' chirp, too. When we have tried to save other poultry like the turkey poults or chicks, they have a dry kind of forced chirp. I'll put a lamp on it to keep it warm through the night. We'll see how it does.

Most of the time we will leave baby birds for their parents to take care of. Often they are fledglings (you can tell because they can sit on your finger) and they are just starting their first flights.

Once in a while they are hatchlings like this and they don't make it. We don't know the specific nutritional needs of each breed of wild birds, so it is almost impossible to give them the diet they need to survive.

If it is a hatchling, and for some odd reason a banty chicken, then it may make it. It will do fine for a while without food since it's yolk sack was just absorbed. At this point it needs water and heat--if it is a chick!