Is there a vet here?! Hurt Swallow.

[weaksauce]

:smile:

Crashed in into someones garage when trying to fly and they found it a good idea to take it here so here it is. The damaged wing is a little out of line and you can see where it's red and so on. There's also some yellow stuff under the wing, don't know what that is. The stuff that's red is supposed to be covered by that black thing sticking out under, I don't know if it's a bone or a hard feather. It can move and stretch both wings fully though and it've tried flying some times, didn't succeed at all.

Right now it's in an open shoe box on the balcony, not far from it's nest (on the roof top at the house next side). We've also got some mosquitoes.

So what would you recommend? What does it take for it to be able to fly?

 

[Dresden]

It depends on the severity of the injury. Most birds regain the ability to fly after a little while. When you say "they took it here," where's "here?" If someone is capable of taking care of it while it's wing heals, then that's what I would suggest. Throwing it back into the wild would make it the easiest prey ever for predators. That shoe box seems fitting though. Just continue to feed it and eventually it will fly away.



It's lucky though. A lot of birds tend to kill themselves when they crash into surfaces.

 

[nutball]

Well I'm not a vet but to me it looks like it's got a broken wing.

Alas my experience rescuing birds with broken bones hasn't been positive, it seems that Nature's way to heal a broken baby swallow is to make a new baby swallow next year.

Bear in mind also that even if it were to fly away tomorrow it'd still be reliant on it's parents for food, and they'd quite likely reject it (having the scent of human on it, etc.).

So yeah maybe continue to feed it and hope for the best. You might have to teach it how to catch flies before releasing it though, 'cos it ain't gonna learn from Mum & Dad.

 

[weaksauce]

When you say "they took it here," where's "here?"

Here: (it's sleeping or something)

And if it flies this far:

it's free!

So yeah maybe continue to feed it and hope for the best. You might have to teach it how to catch flies before releasing it though, 'cos it ain't gonna learn from Mum & Dad.

That's too bad. Do you think it will work if we put food into the box instead of feeding it directly, and it will just "get it"?

 

[Davros]

they all tend to die by morning

 

[Arwin]

This one does look sprightly. I think you might have a chance that if it doesn't get to the point where it can fly (and a swallow's flight for food is pretty demanding), it may become tame, since it apparently already sits on your finger. It likes to sleep in the dark I think, so you may want to provide something it can crawl into and stay warm. I think these birds need a fair bit of food, though not sure what's on their diet.

Any cats in the area that can jump in? Might want to watch out for those.

Me and a friend raised two little sparrows all the way, for six weeks or so, but they weren't injured. We even took them to the field to practice flying. First they flew down from our arms, and then sometimes from one to the other, and finally they just took off and never came back. It was great fun, but I was 8-9 or so at the time and I had my parents to tell me what to do and who build little closed boxes for them to sleep in (filled with hay).

 

[Davros]

a friend of mine raised a baby finch and he had to feed it every 3 hours (yes every 3) looks like its a couple of weeks of sleepless nights for you weeksauce

 

[soylent]

Birds typically have offspring FAR above replacement levels. I'm not sure there's any point in helping it as you'll just increase the misery of other swallows.

 

[weaksauce]

Birds typically have offspring FAR above replacement levels. I'm not sure there's any point in helping it as you'll just increase the misery of other swallows.

What do you mean, they're over populating?

Me and a friend raised two little sparrows all the way, for six weeks or so,

I've got to keep it for weeks?

It would be kind of cool though to have it tamed, as long as it doesn't shit all over the house.

Also how long can it be without food, and what counts as a serving? Haven't fed it since I started the thread. (It's still sleeping though, all curled up)

 

[RussSchultz]

Also how long can it be without food, and what counts as a serving? Haven't fed it since I started the thread. (It's still sleeping though, all curled up)

If it keeps sleeping, then you don't have to worry about feeding it.

 

[weaksauce]

If it keeps sleeping, then you don't have to worry about feeding it.

:smile:

Well it's awake now. It's eaten a big fucking red flying insect I cought yesterday in my room and put in the box.

It seems though to have a problem swollowing ants even though it is smaller than that red insect. It swallows it but throws it up again and holds in it it's beak and then swallows again and then throws up... Is there a problem with ants? Is it too big/too hard to divide?

It starts to shiver and squint at the same time once in a while, what's that?

Consider it fell from the roof becuase it tried to fly, all that would then be required is a little more training? It does seem to try getting out of the shoeboex by ramming and flaxing on the side.

 

[Davros]

could be ants are poisonous

 

[nutball]

t starts to shiver and squint at the same time once in a while, what's that?

Consider it fell from the roof becuase it tried to fly, all that would then be required is a little more training? It does seem to try getting out of the shoeboex by ramming and flaxing on the side.

Most birds don't like to be held captive, it can be very stressful for them (which could be what the shivvering is about, signs of stress). Trying to escape is inevitable, and unfortunately probably won't help its wing fix if it is properly broken. You could try putting the box in a dark place -- if it can see light through the crack of the box it'll try to escape toward it; it might settle down a bit if it can't see light.

 

[Color me Dan]

I've had a little experiance of birds crashing into windows, i put them in a shoebox that i've filled with cotton or something soft so it can have a pseudo nest. Then i put them outside (i live on the bottom floor though) on a table or under a bush so that they are in their environment and then i leave them to do what they do. a little bit of water and some seeds perhaps and then they usually work things out themselves one way or another.

Thing is, they either get well enough to fly away or they die, not much else you can do i'm affraid. But looking at how you're keeping it i'd say s/he is stressed. and not very comfy.

Keep us updated and i hope it works out for you.

 

[weaksauce]

Mother called the "Animal council", and they told her to feed it with grounded beef. They also said the shvering was because of lack of food, and that it should be fed with 4-5 pea sized balls of grounded beef every four hours. They were also surprised to hear that it could eat on it's on (for them it meant, eating food handed to it), and said should be forced feed by opening the beak and putting it in.

Feeding a bird meat seems absurd to me. I also don't like the idea of feeding it yourself, when it can catch for example the ants that are running around in the shoe box on it's own (and other insects floating in the water), it's like going back and unlearning it.

nutball, it isn't held captive. We had the box on a seat and it managed to get outside the box, but it just waited besides it since it can't fly.

also i don't think it's broken because i have seen no problem in it's wing movement. the wing is also closer to the body now.

 

[Color me Dan]

Usually they get stunned and disoriented from crashing/falling so there arn't always something wrong with them.

 

[Simon F]

Mother called the "Animal council", and they told her to feed it with grounded beef.

Grounded beef? Is there a risk of static electric shock?

To be honest though, stress is probably more likely to kill a small bird or mammal, so I'd avoid handling it if possible.

 

[weaksauce]

Grounded beef? Is there a risk of static electric shock?

To be honest though, stress is probably more likely to kill a small bird or mammal, so I'd avoid handling it if possible.

Ground beef. Excuse my grammar.

It eats whole lgrain bread as a motherfucker, but what annoys me is that it won't eat it unless it is handed to it. Other wise, bread, bad idea?

Well the reason we haven't left it outside is because it can't fly and there are some cats around.

 

[Arwin]

That's a good sign. Then it was young enough to bond with humans and see them as a parent. Young birds are always fed by their parents, so you shouldn't be surprised in that regard. In that respect it is indeed quite good that it can pick its own stuff from your hand, though they can do that from the mouth of their parents sometimes too. It's probably not too far from adulthood, from the looks of things. I do think it can't fly properly yet - wing may still be damaged too much, possible even that it will never fly, but you'll find out soon enough.

I guess beef is meant as a replacement for insects (including worms), which are basically meat.

 

[Davros]

whats the bets weaksause is not going to be getting up every 4 hours to feed it
(and yes weaksauce that does include nights)