Emergency- I have a baby bird

[ann]

hi everyone, when i came home from school today, my friend gave me a shoe box with a baby bird in it. I know not to take in fledgling birds, I wasn't there when they took it. At this point, it was 10:00 pm (i had career night at school) so it was too late to put it back, and too late to give it to a wildlife rehabilitator. I am almost positive it is an english sparrow. it is almost fully feathered, there are areas of skin under its wings. However, its feathers are thin and messy. it can flap its wings and flutter a little and its alert and hops around. I was able to get it to eat a few seeds and drink some water mixed with egg food, from a spoon, but that's it. I don't know if it needs to be hand fed or if it's weaned. I think its weaning. I know a guy who has experience with this, but i have school tomorrow and cant get the bird to him until after school. I think i am capable of hand feeding it over night. I could set an alarm to go off every hour and a half and feed the baby through the night. It's old enough that it doesn't need night feedings, so what if i reversed night and day feedings until i can get him to a professional? i plan to use the formula mentioned on this website:https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...7r831vXfW6LrCWCyTBuOJsg&bvm=bv.46471029,d.dmQ
any help is greatly appreciated!

 

[ShellyBorg]

at this age feed it tonight and again in the morning, no need to feed every hour. leave seed and water out and it will be fine.

 

[ann]

here are some pictures:

 

[ShellyBorg]

Yes plenty old enough to go over night with out a feed. Nice looking little bird.

 

[ann]

that's such a relief, thank you. do you suggest i hand feed him in the morning and when i get home from school? he has seed, water, and dry egg mix. right now he is in a cage with paper towels over the grate, very low perches, and a make shift nest in the bottom corner. one of my other birds is using the heating pad, so i cant give it to the baby. in the morning, i was thinking of putting in hot water bottles wrapped in a towel in his cage. I will post updates tomorrow~

 

[ShellyBorg]

I would do it in the morning and when you get back. He will be fine other wise.

 

[MikeyTN]

Just be careful to keep the wild bird as far away from your other birds as possible. Mites is one of the major issue with a wild bird. Plus diseases and internal parasites....Wash your hands and do a change of clothing before you handle your other birds. As the baby sparrow matures he will lose those yellow sided soft beak. They're quite cute when they're babies. Good luck and keep us updated!!!

 

[Birdlover1]

Ive raised many wild baby birds from newly hatched to adults with out problems.Even at the size your baby is it should be feed atleast every hour!I would feed it every 30 minutes if you could.Of course it won't need fed at night.Ive never had a wold baby bird that had to be fed at night.
To feed mine I soak dog food in water and mix abit of cuddle bone in with it and feed it to the baby on a teeny tiny spoon I bought.
Best of luck to you!

 

[Remy]

I raised baby birds I found and let them go when I was little. I think it would be a good idea to offer food every couple hours or so. How long are you at school? If he can eat on his own, he'll probably be okay for a few hours without being hand fed, but I would definitely hand feed him in the morning. I'd leave some of the egg and/or oatmeal in case it has trouble eating enough solid food. Maybe put seeds on top of the mushy food in case it doesn't know the mushy food is food. Or you could do like soggy bread so it's easy to eat. It looks like it's getting close to being grown up though.

What a cutie! :-D

 

[ann]

thank you all for the help and replies. I am sad to report he has died. I tried to feed him in the morning before school, he refused to eat. I tried, but he wasn't having any of it. He would only drink a little water i dripped from my finger. Since i couldn't get him to eat soaked dog food, i asked my mom to buy veggie baby food and pedialyte. I told her to mix the baby food with a few drops of pedialyte and drip it on the sides of his beak. I figured that would be better than nothing until i could try to get him to eat the soaked dog food. My mom dropped me off at school and came home. When she went to feed him, he was already dead. I am burying him today. Thank you all for helping me out. I have decided to volunteer at a wildlife rehabilitation center nearby so i can be with animals and learn more about caring for them.

 

[Birdlover1]

Im so sorry

 

[MikeyTN]

I'm sorry to hear the news Ann, at least you've tried!!!!!

 

[ShellyBorg]

You did every thing you could. Its a great idea to vol.!

 

[ann]

thank you all for your kind words and knowledge. Next time i will be more prepared because of what you guys have shared. It's sad that this little guy passed, but it was also the last push in getting me to volunteer. I have wanted to for a while, but now i can get things going.