Nature has come up with natural selection for a reason, but sometimes you really want to help! We caught all the chicks (1) that fell out of the nest (2) and (3) put a ladder (4) carefully back into the nest All the chicks that fell out of the nest were caught

With the arrival of warm days, parks, forests and gardens are filled with bird noise and songs, which eventually give way to the squeak of the young generation of birds. While walking through park complexes or working in their garden, people quite often find newly fledgling chicks and, with all their hearts regretting the crumbs, begin to think over measures to save them.

However, this is not as simple as it seems (and, as practice shows, it is not always necessary). In order not to cause more irreparable harm than tangible benefit, let's first figure out how you can help the bird, and in what cases it is worth doing it.

Saving a chick is not as easy as it looks at first glance.

Do I need to save a fallen chick?

A person who finds a chick immediately thinks that the baby fell out, was accidentally lost, or was left to fend for itself by cruel parents. A kid who screams loudly and clearly cannot fly evokes a lot of sympathy in our hearts. It seems that if you do not provide all possible help, he will immediately become an easy prey for a cat or die of hunger and cold.

But in most cases, the chicks do not need any help at all! Firstly, many birds (first of all, representatives of the order of passerines) are arranged in such a way that they leave the nest as soon as they have the first feathers. They have not yet learned to fly, but they master the world around them quite deftly - fledglings quite confidently flutter from branch to branch and climb the bushes perfectly.

It is these chicks that are often perceived by people as "lost things". It is not difficult to recognize them - the chicks have embryonic plumage, are slightly inferior in size to an adult sparrow, are active, constantly open their mouths in the hope that some food will get there. If you have met such a baby, you don't have to worry - no one left him to the will of fate.

Most likely, adult birds just went in search of food for their swallowing. Well, you do not see them because the birds will wait until the danger (and this is how they perceive a person) disappears from the field of vision. It is better to get away from the chick as soon as possible so that worried parents do not actually abandon him due to severe stress.

Don't worry if you find an active chick with rudimentary plumage.

Secondly, even if the chick looks very small and fledgling, don't jump to conclusions. Warblers, warblers, larks, wagtails and some other small birds nest on the ground, so the chicks, as soon as they grow up, begin to walk in the grass in anticipation of their parents. A person who is close to a baby for a long time only attracts danger.

Sly representatives of the corvid family know how to track people's behavior. Curiosity will send them to check what caught your attention, and that could end badly for the chicks. The conclusion is quite simple: you don't need to save every chick you see! Dry, warm, active babies with good plumage do not need human care at all.

It's another matter if the baby is clearly weakened or it is clear that there is a nest with other chicks high in the tree. The kid could well fall out of the house, where he cannot get on his own. Well, if you can't fit it, try to save the baby. True, you must immediately warn that it will take a lot of time and effort.

First steps to rescue chicks

The initial procedure includes the following steps:

• Look carefully at the location where the lost chick was found, and try to get a good look at the nest. Then experts will be able to suggest the type of birdie in order to determine what to feed the baby.
• Take the chick in your hands, without squeezing the fragile body, and go home.
• See if the baby is damaged. If it is noticeable that he has a broken wing or leg, the further path lies in the veterinary clinic. Of course, it is advisable to find a bird specialist, but, unfortunately, such specialized clinics are not available in all cities. If the birdie looks normal, create the right conditions for it, and Mother Nature will do its job.
• Provide your baby with food as soon as possible. This step is even more important than the house.

If the chick has injuries - urgently take it to the veterinary clinic

How to tell if a chick is injured?

A chick can get a serious concussion if it hits the ground. To determine it, carefully examine the beak for bleeding. In shell-shocked birds, paralysis of the legs or one half of the body is often observed, one eye is closed, or irregular dilatation of the pupils is observed. Fractures of the legs and wings are determined visually by the unnatural angle of flexion.

What do chicks eat?

Most people think that bread crumbs are better food for birds. However, this is a widespread misconception. Birds - even those that eat grains - do not eat dry food in the form of crumbs, grains, seeds, or cereals at an early age.

A young body needs exclusively protein food for proper formation, so parents bring insects, larvae and other soft foods to babies. An exception to this rule is pigeons feeding their chicks with so-called bird milk, which is released from the goiter.

As the chicks grow, they begin to feed them with semi-digested grain. If you come across a small pigeon, you can feed it with unsalted cereals, first boiled to a state of soft mass, and then with food of a firmer consistency. The rest of the kids need mealworms, crickets, darkling beetle larvae, which can be purchased at large pet stores.

Small pigeons can be fed with unsalted cereals

You can collect caterpillars (not hairy), earthworms and sometimes give finely chopped boiled eggs. To provide a varied diet, chicks need mosquitoes, beetles, flies and moths. The weakest babies in the first 2-3 hours need to be given water with a small addition of glucose (namely glucose, and not sugar diluted with water!)

What shouldn't be given to chicks?

Let's figure out which feeds are harmful to fledglings. Bird watchers are strongly advised to follow several guidelines.

• Never give babies dead insects that you find in the park or garden! The laws of nature are such that few of them live to a natural death. Usually, each bug or moth has its own bird mouth. If the insect is dead, in 99% of cases this means that it died from the action of insecticidal solutions, which farmers and gardeners use to process the plantings. Chicks will not withstand poisonous food and may get sick or die.
• Do not collect Colorado potato beetles for chicks. These insects are poisonous at any stage of development - from eggs to adults. Therefore, in natural conditions, birds bypass such food.
• Do not feed ladybugs to fledglings, which produce toxic yellow liquid. Observations show that birds, having caught a ladybird, immediately spit out a bug. A hungry chick that you feed at home can eat the offering, but it will definitely be poisoned.
• Do not give your bird hairy caterpillars, as they can be toxic. In addition, long villi clog the baby's delicate goiter;
• Bright bugs are dangerous for chicks. Birds sometimes eat these insects, choosing nondescriptly colored individuals, but bright stripes or spots signal poisonousness. It is better to play it safe and bypass bugs when feeding chicks.

You cannot feed the chicks with ladybirds - they can be poisoned

When and how to give food correctly?

The first rule is that birds have a very high metabolic rate. That is why birdies are forced to get food from dawn to dusk, practically making no breaks for rest. People often think that chicks are some kind of swallow with an irrepressible appetite, but the fact is that babies simply have an incredibly fast metabolism.

It seems that the chick did not have time to swallow food, as it requires a new portion. Rapid digestion of food leads to the fact that the parents of birdies feed them from 100 to 500 times a day, depending on the species and age of the bird. You will not be able to retrain your baby. Only 3-4 hours without food will lead to a weakening of the body, and a longer time without food may well end in death.

Chicks need constant care, so initially you will need to feed your pet every 10-15 minutes. After a week, you can increase the interval to 20 minutes, and after two - to half an hour. At night, the chicks sleep, so you can take a break from feeding, but at six in the morning the insatiable mouth will already demand food. And so on until the sun goes down.

You need to feed the birdie with tweezers, limiting tactile contact. Too frequent touching will be stressful for the bird. In addition, this negatively affects the condition of the fluff and the growing feather cover. The smallest chicks should not be given whole insects - divide them into pieces and give pieces of soft parts (without wings and hard legs).

You need to feed the chick with tweezers, without using your fingers

Often the chick refuses to eat due to stress and weakness. You will have to crush the food, dilute it with a drop of water, and dispense the food with a syringe. The baby is taken with the left hand, the beak is opened with the fingers and the gruel is gradually brought in (no more than 1 cube per feeding). An unformed beak is easy to break! To make it easier to give food, place a piece of flexible tubing over the tip of the syringe.

Do I need to water the chicks?

Under natural conditions, chicks from the passerine order practically do not drink, as they receive the necessary moisture with feed. If you provide the baby with wet food in the form of worms or caterpillars, you do not need to water the bird. When the feed is mostly cockroaches or crickets, it is considered dry, so chicks need to be pipetted several times a day. The exception is shell-shocked birds. The doctor will warn you that such a baby cannot be given to drink.

How to equip a chick?

The chick needs his own corner in which he will feel safe. Take a bowl with high sides or a tall box (at least 10-12 cm high). Put sawdust, clean dry sand, straw, shreds in the future nest, and in the middle press down the mass a little, making a cozy depression. Place a couple of napkins in the hole to provide a toilet for the bird.

In natural conditions, the parents clean the nest of droppings, but you will have to deal with changing napkins after you have fed the chick. You do not need to use fresh grass - the baby can be overcooled from dampness. Hazardous materials for the nest include pieces of cotton wool and fabrics that have too rarely intertwined threads.

Your baby's feet can become tangled, and the stiff thread will injure his toes. But small thermal mats, which can be purchased at pet supermarkets, are very convenient. They successfully imitate mother's warmth. The container with the nest should be placed in an aquarium or cage, covered with gauze on top to protect it from children, cats and dogs, if you have one.

The chick can be placed in a box lined with soft cloth

Place the chick's house not too high. As soon as he gets stronger, curiosity will prompt the bird to go on research. If it falls from the cabinet, it will end badly - there will not be moss and grass at the bottom, but a hard surface of the floor. Do not put the cage in the sun and check the selected place for drafts - sunstroke and colds are deadly for babies.

What to do with a grown bird?

Small birds grow just before our eyes, so before you have time to look back, in two weeks the baby will get stronger and will be curious to explore the world around him. Do not forget that the chick must be gradually accustomed to adult food. Grain-eating birdies should be given porridge without salt, millet, rice and other mixtures. Insectivorous chicks continue to feed on insects.

And remember: no matter how hard you put in, a captive-fed chick will be weaker than wild birds. This is especially true for chicks that feed on insects - you will not teach them to hunt bugs or butterflies, hide from cats and trust people less. It is better to leave the chick in its usual conditions - the bird will soon get used to you and will deliver many pleasant minutes.

Note also that the above tips apply to passerine chicks and small pigeons. It is better to give nestlings of larger species to the care of professionals and take them to the nearest zoo.

Falling out of the nest, newborn chicks usually die. Fortunately, this newborn songbird was miraculously discovered by the vet's brother, who was just out for a run.
The veterinarian himself recorded every step of the bird's amazing recovery.

Day 1
This is the baby's first day with us. My brother found her on the sidewalk while jogging. She had just hatched and the pieces of shell were still on her. The nest fell apart completely, so we could not place it on the neighboring trees.

Day 2
Despite their not particularly attractive appearance, the little chicks are cute in their own way. We kept the bird in an incubator, controlling temperature and humidity. We decided that this was a girl (although, to be honest, I had no idea how to determine the sex of the chick), and named her Kletska.

Day 3
Little birds eat a lot! We fed Dumplings with crickets, worms, caught insects and special inexpensive essence for chicks. We gave her food every 30 minutes 14 hours a day. Just imagine how many insects a chick's parents need to catch in their natural environment to feed their offspring!

Day 4
Today you can see the wonderful transformation of the feathers on the wings. And she also has a funny fluffy mohawk on her head.

Day 5
Kletska learned to sit confidently. See how her feathers have changed in just 24 hours! And her eyes began to open!

Day 6
Here's a nice shot showing how great her feathers are developing. You can see them in the cornea. When the wings grow to the correct size, this shell will collapse and allow them to expand.

Day 7
During the night, the whole shell fell, and here it is, our bird! Here you can also see the bent toe on the foot, but don't worry, it didn't interfere with it in any way.

Day 8
"Feed me!!!"

Day 9
We stopped using the incubator because the bird was already covered in feathers and learned to regulate its body temperature. However, this did not make her any less funny.

Day 10
We gave her a new cage. She was happy despite the expression on her face.

Day 17
We found a bigger cage for her and put many different branches there. Who would have thought, she flies and jumps from branch to branch like a real professional!

Day 23
This is one of my favorite pictures of Klecki. Here you can see how her feathers have changed. We decided that it most likely belongs to the species of White-headed Zonotrichia or Common Sparrow Bunting. Both species are migratory, and we hoped that our bird would be able to adapt.

Day 29
She was delighted when we placed some branches with leaves in the cage! Birds of her kind love tree buds, so she immediately began looking for them.

Day 36
Here it is - Freedom Day! All conditions were perfect for the release of our little Kletska, so we decided that this day was perfect for such an event.

Goodbye, Kletska! We opened the cage, stepped back, and the bird immediately flew out and sat on the nearest branch. She did not hesitate for a second and immediately began to explore the world around her. We soon lost sight of her.

With the onset of warm days, the air is filled with birdsong (find out). So I want to spend more time outdoors. It is not surprising that many people rest in parks, squares and woodlands. Often on vacation, they find fallen chicks from the nest. Looking at a defenseless creature, there is a desire to help him. But, by your wrong actions, you can fail the rescue operation, and only harm the bird.

Today we will tell you about is it worth saving the chicks that have fallen out of the nest, how to help them correctly, and how to care for the bird if you did bring it home.

Why did the chick end up on the ground

When we look at a chick that has not fledged properly in the grass, we think that it has fallen out of the nest, is lost, or its parents have simply forgotten about it ... There really is no one around. The chick is screaming, and you are at a loss and, of course, your hands reach out to pick it up from the ground and take it home. But, do not rush to do this. 95% !!! in this case, you will only destroy the bird. Why?

In many birds, especially from the order of small passerines, chicks leave their nests when they are not yet fully fledged. They cannot fly, but they can climb branches without problems and can flip over short distances. As a rule, you see such half-fledged fledglings. Chicks are so large in size, active, open their mouths and ask for food. And the longer you are with them, the longer their parents cannot fly up to them to feed. Moreover, parents may be frightened by such close human attention and, indeed, in order to preserve their lives, throw a fledgling.

And some species of chicks even spend time in nests in the grass. And while you are looking at your fledgling find, they are closely watching you and. They will definitely "visit" the chick and kill him when you leave. So, you should not save the first chicks that come across on the ground, stay close to them for a long time, attracting the attention of other birds.

If you find a chick, it has dry plumage, it is warm to the touch, active, it has the rudiments of plumage - it does not need your help.

When, if the chick you found does not fit this description, and you are sure that it will die without you - once again weigh the burden of responsibility that you place on your shoulders and save the baby. I want to say right away that it will not be easy to leave the chick you found and raise it.

First aid to a chick that has fallen out of the nest

The fallen chick from the nest is threatened by hypothermia, hunger and predators. You will have to protect him from all this. Take the chick gently in your arms and try not to hurt him - the bones of chicks are very fragile. Better to wrap it up in a scarf or scarf so that it can keep warm. Now you will need to find him food and a home.

If the chick's condition causes you concern, it has blood from its nostrils, its legs do not move, or one part of its body is paralyzed - the bird has a concussion from hitting the ground. In this case, you will need to visit a veterinarian, and the sooner the better, since in this state the chick does not need food as badly as it does for medication and support. A good specialist can help him.

If there is no way to go to the veterinarian, take the bird home and hope that it will be able to get out.

How to feed a chick that has fallen out of the nest

Many people mistakenly think that in order to feed the chick, it will be enough to crumble the bread and the bird itself will bite it. If everything were so simple ... In fact, little chicks do not eat crackers, bread, porridge, seeds and cereals. They need protein foods and soft foods. The exception is pigeons - they feed their chicks with bird milk, half-digested grains. If you find a small pigeon, you can feed it unsalted porridge, gradually cooking it less and less. All other chicks found young need to be fed with mealworms, cockroaches, larvae, zoofobus - fortunately, it is sold in pet stores, earthworms, grasshoppers, butterflies, flies, mosquitoes ... The more varied the diet of the bird, the healthier and stronger it will grow.

If the chick is very weak, it is imperative for the first days, instead of solid food, you need to give water with glucose, but not sugar syrup.

What should not be given to foundlings

• Dead insects
• Colorado beetles,
• Ladybirds
• Hairy caterpillars
• Bedbugs are brightly colored.

How to feed a foundling chick correctly

Well, we figured out what to feed the chicks with. Now an equally difficult question is how to feed them. Let's start with the most important thing. Metabolic processes in the body of chicks proceed very quickly, which means that they almost instantly digest food and want to eat again. Believe it or not, in Nature, a mother bird feeds a chick up to 250-300 times a day. Every 15-20 minutes you need to throw something into its beak. A few hours of hunger are enough for the chick to weaken and may die. You will have to become such a caring mother for him and feed him in 15-20 minutes, and when he gets older, slightly increase the intervals between feedings to 30 minutes. At night, you can feed the chick less often, but it is important that the last evening feeding is not earlier than 10 pm, and the first one - no later than 6 am.

You need to feed the chick with tweezers.

If you feed a small chick with large insects, they can be divided into parts with tweezers and given in parts. Hard elytra are best removed, as are the long legs of locusts and grasshoppers.

Sometimes chicks refuse to eat with tweezers voluntarily. In this case, you will have to force feed them. The feed is pounded and filled into a syringe without a needle. To make the mixture a convenient consistency for feeding, it can be slightly diluted with water. The chick is taken in hand, its beak gently moves apart and with your right hand you carefully insert a syringe into its throat and squeeze out a little of the mixture. It is important not to overdo it, because if you do not calculate the strength and break the chick's beak, it will die. For more convenience, you can put a small flexible tube on the end of the syringe.

Do I need to give the chick water

In Nature, birds do not need additional water, since all the necessary moisture is taken from soft feed. If you have provided the chick with a varied and correct diet, you do not need to additionally water it. But, if you feed him dry food - flies, cockroaches or crickets, you will additionally need to give water from a pipette, not every time you feed the bird, but after 2-3 times. By the way,

if you picked up a shell-shocked chick, it is strictly forbidden to give it water for the first days.

This is the baby's first day with us. My brother found her on the sidewalk while jogging. She had just hatched and the pieces of shell were still on her. The nest fell apart completely, so we could not place it on the neighboring trees.

Despite their not particularly attractive appearance, the little chicks are cute in their own way. We kept the bird in an incubator, controlling temperature and humidity. We decided that this was a girl (although, to be honest, I had no idea how to determine the sex of the chick), and named her Kletska.

Little birds eat a lot! We fed Dumplings with crickets, worms, caught insects and special inexpensive essence for chicks. We gave her food every 30 minutes 14 hours a day. Just imagine how many insects a chick's parents need to catch in their natural environment to feed their offspring!

Here you can see the wonderful transformation of the feathers on the wings. And she also has a funny fluffy mohawk on her head.

Kletska learned to sit confidently. See how her feathers have changed in just 24 hours! And her eyes began to open!

Here's a nice shot showing how great her feathers are developing. You can see them in the cornea. When the wings grow to the correct size, this shell will collapse and allow them to expand.

During the night, the whole shell fell, and here it is, our bird! Here you can also see the bent toe on the foot, but don't worry, it didn't interfere with it in any way.

We stopped using the incubator because the bird was already covered in feathers and learned to regulate its body temperature. However, this did not make her any less funny.

We gave her a new cage. She was happy despite the expression on her face.

We found a bigger cage for her and put many different branches there. Who would have thought, she flies and jumps from branch to branch like a real professional!

This is one of my favorite pictures of Klecki. Here you can see how her feathers have changed. We decided that it most likely belongs to the species of White-headed Zonotrichia or Common Sparrow Bunting. Both species are migratory, and we hoped that our bird would be able to adapt.

She was delighted when we placed some branches with leaves in the cage! Birds of her kind love tree buds, so she immediately began looking for them.

Here it is - Freedom Day! All conditions were perfect for the release of our little Klecka, so we decided that this day was perfect for such an event. Goodbye, Kletska! We opened the cage, stepped back, and the bird immediately flew out and sat on the nearest branch. She did not hesitate for a second and immediately began to explore the world around her. We soon lost sight of her. Of course, nature did not come up with natural selection in vain, but sometimes it is so nice to help a helpless creature!

With the arrival of the long-awaited spring, parks, forests and gardens are filled with bird songs, eventually replaced by the squeak of their offspring. While walking through city parks, people quite often find newly fledged chicks and with all their hearts pity the babies, they begin to figure out how to help them.

However, this matter is not as simple as it might seem at first glance (and, as experts say, it is far from always necessary, but rather harmful).

In order not to cause more irreparable harm to the birds than any real help, let's first figure out how you can help a small bird that has fallen out of the nest and in what case it is possible to save the fallen chicks.

Is it worth saving a fallen chick?

If, while walking through the forest or park, you find a chick that has fallen out of the nest, do not rush to help him, experts do not advise doing this. A person who found a chick immediately decides that the baby fell out of the nest by accident, was lost, or was abandoned by cruel parents and he is certainly in danger of life.

A kid who screams and is clearly completely unable to fly evokes deep sympathy in our hearts. It seems that if urgent help is not provided, he will immediately become a light meal for a predator or die from lack of food and hypothermia.

However, this is not always the case. Many chicks, especially the order of passerines, leave the nest as soon as they have plumage. They are not yet capable of full-fledged flight, but they can flutter from bush to bush. It is these babies that are most often mistaken for lost chicks, but human help can shock them.

The fact is that if the chick is really lost, then the parents are looking for him, but they are afraid to fly up to him because of the person, since they perceive him as a threat.

Important! If you stay close to the chick for a long time or, worse, pick it up, then in this case, the parents can really leave him because of the stress experienced. Moreover, some species of bird breeds build their nests not on trees, but on the ground, and such chicks should not be surprising.

How to feed a chick that has fallen out of the nest

If, after all, you took the chick home, then get ready to solve a number of significant problems. A chick is not a puppy or a kitten, it needs special care and the main serious problem is nutrition. For good nutrition, young chicks need high-calorie protein foods.

Important! Their diet should include insect larvae, caterpillars and various midges, and parents give grains to chicks only previously soaked in a goiter. At home, they can be prepared by long boiling or soaking.

As you can see, feeding the chicks is not an easy task. And for those people who spend a lot of time at work, such a task becomes completely impossible. So think again - is it worth it to "save" the chick?

How to feed a found chick correctly

If it is clear how to feed the chicks, then an equally important question arises - how to feed them. It must be understood that the metabolic processes in a young organism proceed instantly and this means that the chicks digest food very quickly and soon again experience severe hunger.

It's hard to believe, but in nature, winged parents feed their offspring up to 100-200 times a day.... Restless and hardworking birds need to throw something into the chick's voracious beak every 15-20 minutes. Therefore, a few hours of hunger are enough for the chick to weaken and die.

If you brought a chick home, then you will have to become caring parents for him and feed him every 15-20 minutes, and when he gets a little older, you need to gradually increase the intervals between meals to 30-40 minutes.

At night, you can feed the chick less often, but it is important to follow one rule: the last feeding should not be earlier than 10 pm, and the first one should not be later than 6 am. Feed the chicks with tweezers. This will remind the chick of the parents' beak and will not frighten him.

What should not be given to found chicks

Many people think that grains, seeds or bread crumbs can be given to chicks - this is not the case, such food can kill the baby. If we talk about plant foods and specifically about cereals, then they must be cooked to a pasty state, after which they must be cooled. It is in this semi-digested form that birds give grains to their chicks.

Is it necessary to give water to the chick

Under natural conditions, chicks drink very little, as they receive the necessary moisture from food. If you can provide your pet with wet food in the form of worms or insect larvae, you do not need to water the bird. When the food is based on cockroaches or crickets, then it is considered dry, so your pet should be pipetted 3-4 times a day. Each breed of bird has its own characteristics, you can find out in more detail from your veterinarian. There are some birds that do not need to be watered at all.

Where to settle a chick that has fallen out of the nest

If you brought a chick home, then he needs to equip a separate place where he will feel comfortable. You can take a bowl with high sides or a box at least 10-12 cm high.

Important! In the resulting nest, you need to put sawdust, straw, a piece of cloth, and in the center you need to make a small depression. A couple of napkins should be placed in the hole to provide the chick with a toilet.

In natural conditions, both parents clean the nest, but you will have to clean the nest yourself after you have fed your new pet.

You should not use fresh grass, as dampness can cause your baby to get hypothermia, because there is no one to warm him - there are no parents nearby. It is not recommended to use synthetic materials as bedding. The little chick may be allergic to them and get sick.

Also, you can not use gauze, as the baby can get tangled in the threads and get hurt and even die.... The baby's nest should be kept in an inaccessible place so that the cat or dog, if they live in your house, could not get to it.