Down the Window Well

We kept hearing a chirping noise near the window downstairs.

Here's what we found!

Vet2Be got it out and set it on the grass. It quickly went through the fence and, hopefully, off to a long and happy life!

The cats are in the house for the night to give him/her a head start on life.

Baby Bird-update

The baby bird made it through the night. Prion (daughter #3) looked at it and said, "I wonder if it is a quail?"

Sure enough, we looked through some pictures on the internet and it is a quail!

We didn't have a lid on the box last night so this morning it was nowhere to be found. Vet2Be did end up finding it downstairs by the furnace. It was a bit chilled but as soon as he put it in the box under the light it perked up and is now doing fine.

I put a screen over the top of the box to keep it inside the box where it is a bit safer!

You can see the screen over the top and the clips that are holding it onto the box. It should be safe like this.

We don't have anymore turkey starter, so Vet2Be brought in some turkey grower. It has more protein in it than the poultry grower. The turkey grower is pelleted so he ground it up into a course powder for the quail to eat. I put in a 2-liter soda bottle lid for the water. I couldn't think of anything else to use that was low enough for it to drink out of without jumping into it.

I also took out the shredded paper so we could put the feed on the bottom of the box. I was concerned that the little quail might not be able to see the feed through the paper.

You can see the scratch (feed) on the bottom of the box and the bottle cap that it is using for a water dish. I think the shoe box will be roomy for quite some time!

It is a loud little thing! And it is fast! Prion held it for a moment, but then decided to put it back since it is so quick!

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!