Baby Birds?

[Seren]

Has anyone ever rescued a robin before? My siblings found a juvenile robin who can't fully fly yet, they've been giving him worms but I'm trying to find anything else he might eat?

If he survives until tomorrow, my mom can take him to a wildlife center that cares for birds about an hour away. However, he just almost got eaten by dogs, so I'm worried about shock....

[Jennalyn]

We used to rehabilitate baby birds when I was very young. Robins, specifically.

Get a can of wet cat food and a ball point pen with a cap - the kind of cap with one of those long stems, the cheap ones. Feet it wet cat food on the tip of the pen cap. It gets it better down their throats. Don't be afraid to stick it in there a bit.

[Seren]

Okay, thank you so much- I'll try that, ask my mom to pick some up.

I really hope he makes it, we already lost an adult robin a few months back, my siblings were really upset by it.

[Raitalle]

Jennalyn's advice sounds pretty good. I volunteer in the wildlife clinic here at school and we do take care of orphans but I haven't personally had much experience with baby birds. So since she's actually rehabilitated baby birds, I'd say she definitely knows more there XD

I'm glad you have a wildlife center you can take him to, that was the advice I was definitely going to give.

[Seren]

Thank Raitalle. <3

I wish we could take him today, but both cars are gone and my mom is working way past the closing time. I'll just have to hope he can make it through the night... originally I was going to re-release him where he'd be safe and his parents could aid him, but after he was attacked by dogs and with cats on the loose, I think the center may be his only chance of getting medical care if he needs any (I don't really want to move him more than I have to.)

[Raitalle]

I texted a friend who's way more involved in the clinic than I am, and specifically into birds, and she replied with: "It it hurt? If not, just stick it in a box (with holes) with a towel or paper towel and stick it in a dark quiet room. Don't feed it. If they have a very shallow bowl like a jar top they can put some water in."

And yeah, if it wasn't for your mention of the dogs I would have said to just put him back, but it seems like that might not be the safest for him >.>

[Seren]

It's in a dark container (with holes) and in a quiet withdrawn area. I have been giving him water, but haven't given him any more food since this morning. As for being hurt, I tried to check him over. His wings don't seem broken, I'm more worried about his chest area.

I've got the dogs inside- it's our barn cats I'm most worried about now. I think he can go to a center tomorrow, hopefully they can help him... the hardest part is telling my sister, because she doesn't know about the dog attack (she had him set up in a container and he got out into the backyard, I have a golden retriever who was trained by a former owner to retrieve birds, so she tried to do that.) Of course the second I saw it I started yelling to drop him, I smacked her (which I'm not proud about) and she dropped him, so I got him back quickly in a new safe container. *sigh* I get attached to animals, I'm afraid.

My dog was looking guilty, but I felt bad and cuddled her, and she's now sleeping on my foot...animals are so forgiving.

[Echos]

First thing - does he have all his feathers or does he still have mostly fluffy down? If he has feathers he is a fledgling and was probably out on his first flight. Find a bush or a tree off the ground and leave him there. He will be fine.

If it has no feathers the first thing to do is make sure it's warm. place it in a blanket and/or on a heating pad set to the lowest setting. Don't give it water or food that is 'dripping' wet. If water gets in the lungs baby birds and cause pulmonary aspiration and death.

For a robin food choices are pretty large. You can try wet dog or cat food preferably beef for robins. For one night I recommend wet dog food with egg yolk crumbled in it. Add a little bit of water to loosen it up but not enough to make it runny so that the bird doesn't dehydrate. You should feed the bird every 20 minutes if it is featherless, every hour if fledged. Tap on the side of his beak to signal feeding. Make sure to use dull tweezers.

[Seren]

Well, he was a fledgling. I have returned him to where we found him (after we found and detained all of our barn cats.) I hope he's okay. I tried at least. I just wish I had been quicker to stop the dogs from scaring him so. But he wouldn't eat and well, I think his best hope is with his parents. He wouldn't get to a wildlife center for another two days, and I don't think he'll make it that long, so this is his best shot.

Thank you guys for all the advice. Since we live out in the country, and this is the second robin in a month, I will keep all of this advice in case of a future issue.