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Post by buff1mob on Dec 6, 2010 10:22:18 GMT 10
Can anyone help me as I know next to nothing about baby birds and our local wildlife carer is going away for Christmas holidays. Im not sure what to feed it or how often I should feed it.
It fell out of its nest while its parents were fighting off a Miner bird attack, I saw this as I was out feeding my other animals. I cant put it back up in its next as it is a high way up. Mum and Dad are still hanging around but the baby I think is in shock. I have put it in a shoe box with a hot water bottle covered in a pillow case. The baby is still breathing, but not making any noises. It has been about 2 hours since it happened. The baby has some feathers, but most of them are all stubby and it just lay on the ground unmoving. I had to remove it from the paddock otherwise the horses and goats would of trampled it.
Can anyone give me any suggestions on raising this young bird?
Cheers
Tiana
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Post by buff1mob on Dec 7, 2010 6:37:39 GMT 10
PLEASE!! I really need to know what I am doing is alright... I have taken some advice from previous posts about Pee Wee's, but he seems to be in decline... someone... anyone... can I have some advice.
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Post by vankarhi on Dec 7, 2010 7:02:51 GMT 10
The baby by now will need to be fed. That is a long time for a chick to go without food. Can you put it outside in the box and see if the parents will come and feed it???
If they do come and feed it can you then maybe put it in a safe place for them to be able to look after it??? Other wise are there wild life carers in your area?? Or a vet?? Vets usually know where the wildlife carers are.
Sorry for no reply.......I was busy all day yesterday and did not see this post last night when I came on.
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Post by Laraine on Dec 7, 2010 9:06:13 GMT 10
I don't think Pee Wees are seed eaters (but could be wrong). What about trying small pieces of mince meat.
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Post by avinet on Dec 7, 2010 9:21:18 GMT 10
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Post by jusdeb on Dec 7, 2010 11:40:11 GMT 10
It doesnt say where you are located ....if you find you cant help the baby then try vets , RSPCA , Wires , wildlife refuges if any are about ...I take any birds I cant deal with the Taronga Zoo here in Dubbo where the vets will see to them.
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Post by buff1mob on Dec 7, 2010 17:55:13 GMT 10
Thank you to everyone who respondeed...I took the advice from some earlier posts about Pee Wee's and got some Insecta-Pro from Vetafarm. All yesterday he wouldn't eat or drink and I put him outside on the table in the shoe box but his parents never came close... but he was pretty out of in all day and making no noise... then this morning he woke up all bright eyed and bushy tailed and is eating quite well. I put him back out on the table in the shoe box and he was making heaps of noise but his parents still didnt come and see him.
I'm just a little confused about how much I should be feeding him and how often. I have also been giving him water from an eye dropper and he seems to be taking this well. Some posts suggested that mince should be given also, but I would of thought that mince would have been to fatty for him. Every time I walk past him he screams at me to be fed, but Im unsure if this is because he is hungry or if he is just being a pig. He also seems to have a drooping wing, it dosnt appear to be broken but he may have strained it falling from the tree. We live in rural Queensland and our closest vet is about an hour away... also the local carer has gone on Christmas holidays and the lady who is looking after the carers animals dosnt have a clue about baby Pee Wee's.
Any ideas anyone???
Again thank you for your help and suggestions.
Cheers
Tiana
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Post by vankarhi on Dec 7, 2010 19:06:15 GMT 10
are you able to post a pic here for us to see him??
I have never raised a pee wee......so I am guessing here but this is what I would do (I have raised other birds though)
You have the formula for him....I am guessing he is about 2 weeks from your description......I would be feeding him every 4 hours....say 6am, 10am, 2pm, 6pm and then around 10pm ...... just see how he goes. I would only be giving him around 5 mls per feed or what he takes willingly from a spoon or syringe. Try to make sure his crop is full but not overfull......just so it is still nice and spongy to feel. Make his formula not too thick......they absorb their moisture from their formula so if it is too thick they will dehydrate. If it is too thin they will not put on much weight. I also weigh mine regularly just to keep an eye on them......
With my alexandrine I am raising at the moment I am keeping very close records of him just so i can see exactly what is going on and for my own records too......just to refer back to if I need to and I am realising so many things this time around.
I have noticed he doesn't like his food too thick......but not too thin either. I use my wrist to guage temp and thickness of his formula......it has to be warm not hot.......but it has to still run off my wrist but not too thin........probably confusing you hey lol
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Post by vankarhi on Dec 7, 2010 19:09:30 GMT 10
I would just see how his crop empties etc and if he is empting quickly then he might need more formula or a little bit thicker formula...remembering not to have it too thick. If he is emptying slowly then he might need bigger breaks between feeds. After a week I would be trying to get him onto 3 feeds a day......say 7am.....2pm and 9 or 10pm. then gradually get him onto 2 feeds then 1 feed by the time he is around 9 weeks. We had a pair of pee wees nesting in our yard and I think they fledged around 8 weeks?  I didn't take "that" much notice of dates......but it was nice to see and hear them. |
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Post by vankarhi on Dec 7, 2010 19:10:59 GMT 10
oh and once he starts to fly......he will still need formula for a couple more weeks. Fledging (flying ) doesn't mean "weaned" ........ the parents still feed their babies for a couple of weeks (sometimes with the cocktoo and crows around here I have noticed ........ months) after they have fledged.
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Post by buff1mob on Dec 7, 2010 21:33:11 GMT 10
Ok... what I may have forgotten to inform you of is that I know next to nothing about birds  ... crop??? What is that and where do I find it... all I know is that every time I walk past him he goes off his head looking for food... I think he is older than a couple of weeks as he has a short little stubby tail and wing feathers (although his feathers are not all out of his sheaths). I will take a photo of him and put it up in the morning. He will not eat the formula if it is too runny, he likes a firmer consistancy to it, but he seems happy to take the water from the eye dropper really well. Im just bumbling my way through this at the moment... I really wish the carer was here... I dont like the thought that I may well be causing more harm than good.  |
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Post by avinet on Dec 7, 2010 22:30:12 GMT 10
Where do you live? Maybe there is a member in your area who can help. The crop is part of the digestive system and is essentially a storage bag at the bottom of the oesophagus. It allows a bird to eat a lot of food quickly and then gradually pass that food down further into the stomach area for digestion while the bird rests. A bit like in cows where it would correspond to the first stomach. Parrots have a big crop and it noticeably swells when the feed - at the base of the neck/top of chest. Pee Wee's don't have a big crop, so that means they need feeding more often than a parrot. A parrot at the stage of your bird would need feeding 3 times a day - a Pee Wee maybe every couple of hours. So his crying is because he is hungry. Insecta-Pro is a good food to give him but if you can get some mealworms from your local pet shop. If they had Insecta-Pro then they may have mealworms. Otherwise try collecting live food to feed him - insects, grubs, maggots, even small worms etc that is what they would feed on in the wild. Als very lean mince can be used - minced beef heart is best and again in an emergency your local pet shop may have some frozen for feeding fish. Get him used to finding the food himself as he gets close to weaning - put some small worms, grubs etc in a dish in a thin layer of soil - let him pick through it to find the food himself, but also continue to supplement feed as well until he is ready to leave. Although the chanced are he will hang around and expect to get food from you as well as finding his own for quite a while. A site that may be useful. www.peewee-mafia.com/web_pages/meet_the_peewee_mafia.htmlcheers, Mike |
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Post by vankarhi on Dec 8, 2010 7:30:42 GMT 10
you said you live in rural Qld..........so do I........it all depends on which part of Qld you live in........I live in Calliope.......is that anywhere near you???
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Post by buff1mob on Dec 8, 2010 9:30:18 GMT 10
Ok... I tried to attach the image of Squirt (yes, I know, great name, talk to my daughter) but it says that file is too large, Im not exactly great with computers (or birds for that matter) and dont know what to do to resize it. Any suggestions?
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Post by avinet on Dec 8, 2010 10:31:10 GMT 10
Ok... I tried to attach the image of Squirt (yes, I know, great name, talk to my daughter) but it says that file is too large, Im not exactly great with computers (or birds for that matter) and dont know what to do to resize it. Any suggestions? Your camera probably came with a program to download and manipulate images from the camera. Those programs will have a function to resize the image. Most cameras these days produce images around 3000 x 2000 pixels - try to resize to around 750 pixels wide. Also when you save the image make sure it is being saved in .jpg format - the default format for most images on the Web. If it is a phone you are using then that also may have software that came with it otherwise there is free image editing software such as Picasa from Google picasa.google.com.au/intl/en/ available on the Net cheers, Mike |
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Post by vankarhi on Dec 8, 2010 11:17:41 GMT 10
or if you can email me the picture ....... to
birdielover60@yahoo.com.au
I can resize it and repost it here for you ;D
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Post by vince1080 on Oct 11, 2012 18:11:57 GMT 10
Ok... I tried to attach the image of Squirt (yes, I know, great name, talk to my daughter) but it says that file is too large, Im not exactly great with computers (or birds for that matter) and dont know what to do to resize it. Any suggestions? Try and save the picture as a jpeg (if it isn't already) and adjust the file size that way just know that on the web the file doesn't need to be too big to show enough detail anything above 72dpi for printing is wasted space when viewed on a web browser. I hope this helps. |
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I didn't take "that" much notice of dates......but it was nice to see and hear them.
... crop??? What is that and where do I find it... all I know is that every time I walk past him he goes off his head looking for food... I think he is older than a couple of weeks as he has a short little stubby tail and wing feathers (although his feathers are not all out of his sheaths). I will take a photo of him and put it up in the morning. He will not eat the formula if it is too runny, he likes a firmer consistancy to it, but he seems happy to take the water from the eye dropper really well.