fledgling in the chicken run

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kitla
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fledgling in the chicken run

Post by kitla »

I lifted up a nestbox to check for ratholes & there was a blackbird baby crouched behind the box. This was about 7.30 this am so it had been in there all night. I've put him in blind Giblet's garden, in the long grass - safe from the other chooks & I can keep an eye out.(only a few yards from where I found it) But I havent seen any sign of a parent yet. It's about fully feathered, but still young enough to need feeding. I wonder if the parents gave up on it? & if they have, if it would take food from me?
"He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals."
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Meanqueen
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Re: fledgling in the chicken run

Post by Meanqueen »

I'll tell you my baby blackbird story. There was one wandering about on my lawn, I quickly got the cats in as I knew one of them would pounce on it if they saw it. I waited and hoped the mother would come for it, it looked a bit lost.

My cats wanted to go out so I build a cage to house the bird on the lawn, safe from the cats. Put a branch in it. Thought it might want food so I offered it some tiny pieces of wet cat food on a tooth pick, it eagerly gobbled it up. Then I dug some worms up and it scoffed those as well.

No sign of a mother bird. For the next week I alternated between keeping the cats in and removing the cage in case bird wanted to fly off. I don't think it had quite got the hang of flying. Then putting the cage back over it so the cats could come out.

The cats always come in at night so the blackbird was free to do as it liked. I went out in the mornings to see if it was still there, and blow me down, it would appear from the bottom of the hedgerow and would coming running towards me when I opened the back door. It thought I was it's mummy, so I had to dig for more worms.

It was tame enough to let me pick it up. I raised my hand by a couple of feet to try and encourage it to fly. It did for a few yards then came to rest on the ground again. I thought this can't go on for ever, it's got to find it's own food, so I found a wild life rescue at Lincoln, (70 mile round trip) they said they would take it in. So I put it in a cat carrier and delivered it there. They had big walk in pens with all kinds of wildlife. I looked at the signing in book, it was full of people bringing in blackbirds.

So beware Kitla, you will become it's surrogate mother. :-D

Ilona
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wendy
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Re: fledgling in the chicken run

Post by wendy »

Yes I was a surrogate Mother to a female blackbird....for years.
A cat pulled the nest down and killed both parents and I ended up with 3 babies.
I kept them in a spare bedroom, that we were decorating, in a hamster cage to start with, feeding Whiskas Turkey and what insects I could gather.. As they feathered up I left a window open and eventually 2 left home.
The 3rd didn't want to go. So we put the cage and her in the shed and cut a pop hole at the top. Eventually she would go out of a day and come back of an evening, we started to lessen the food until she lived in the wild. But came to see me.
Every year she would bring her babies and if I wasn't careful they would all be in the kitchen. We eventually moved and I wonder if she still did it once I went.
PS get it out of the run, otherwise the chooks will eat it
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HedgeHugger
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Re: fledgling in the chicken run

Post by HedgeHugger »

The blackbirds will live locally and probably know where it is. They do call out to each other.

Our local blackbirds are very trusting of us, and come to the window asking to be fed!
My chickens wouldn't eat a blackbird (too big maybe), but have been known to eat sparrow on occasion!
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wendy
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Re: fledgling in the chicken run

Post by wendy »

I have had to rescue a Wood Pigeon from mine once. He had lost a lot of feathers by the time I got there
So you never know
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kitla
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Re: fledgling in the chicken run

Post by kitla »

Well I wish my fledgling story had ended as nicely as yours MQ & Wendy. Sadly, after an hour no parent had appeared to feed it so I decided to try myself, but the perky little thing was now lying down, feet curled up & head twisted sideways. It may have been abandoned yesterday & I think it was probably dehydrated & seriously lacking nutrients. I sat nursing it most of the morning, trying to give it water with the chicken nutridrops, soaked mealworms, crushed sunflower seed, dog food. It perked up a little then went downhill & died. Such a shame, if I'd have found it earlier......
"He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals."
--Immanuel Kant
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Re: fledgling in the chicken run

Post by Gwenoakes »

You did your best, Kitla and nobody could ask any more of you. Fly free at Rainbow Bridge little Blackbird.
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wendy
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Re: fledgling in the chicken run

Post by wendy »

{cry}
As Gwen says you tried. Which is more than a lot would do. {hug&kiss}
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Meanqueen
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Re: fledgling in the chicken run

Post by Meanqueen »

It happens Kitla. Sometimes you can lend a helping hand but sometimes nature follows it's course. You cared, that's the main thing. {hug}

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Re: fledgling in the chicken run

Post by wildlifemad »

Only just read this Kitla. Such a shame but as everyone has said at least you tried, its a cruel world sometimes.
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