baby robin found

I was walking to the hole in the fence & I just happened to kick a baby robin in the beak. I know there r tons of cats in that ally, so I decided to give him a chance at life & take him home. But I'm gonna see if the wild bird place will take him in, because I don't have the funds to care for him at this moment. If the bird place says no due to being full, I'm gonna beg my parents for money, all I need is $20.00 & I can feed & care for him for a very very long time (several months).

the only thing I don't remember from my past baby pirds is how often do they need to eat??

& this is my first robin, so I need to know how much he needs to eat per meal.

So far he is eating, I can just get him to open his mouth & slop a bit of food down there, its runny, but not soupy! I even got to see him swallow it, that was cool.

& today I was thinking about Peetree, hes the starling I raised from a naked chick to a young adult, then he was hit by a car :(

I was remembering him beging for food by sticking his beak between my fingers & opening his mouth, & him dive bombing me while I opened the fridge to get his food. Damn I miss him :(

First of all, glad you could save this bird. :)

I have no clue how often baby robins should be fed, but I believe it also depends on its age. You can get a handfeeding kit for baby parrots at most pet stores. Perhaps, if you ask them, they may have one for wild baby birds too. I know that baby parrots need to be fed every 2 hours until they are weaned (yes, even at night), so I would assume its the same with the robin. Good luck and let us know how it goes!

so far I've fed him 3 times, in the past 20 mins, I want him to eat as much as he can, he is slightly weak.

u can see the hard part of the feathers comming out of his wings & he has black spots all over the top of him... I will take photos

Good for you :)

I'd suggest buying some meal worms (If that's too much money, maybe just find some? I know how much the worms cost here, it's ghastly) and blending them or atleast mushing them up, cuz I know that robins regurgitate thier food, and just feed him that ;)

My aunt has a bunch of baby robins where she lives, and I've watched them being fed. It didn't take much, they are always hungry :rolleyes:

no meal worms here, but there r dew worms, I will hunt for those a bit later, right now hes enjoying his waterdown cat food, yum. This is what I have been told to feed him before, but it needs to be mixed with scrambled eggs, but I don't have eggs right now, but this is very pricy & good cat food so it'll be ok for the time I have him tonight.

Its good that you are feeding him, but be sure you don't over-feed him. From what I've heard, its better to slightly underfeed than to overfeed. Baby birds don't know when to stop, so if they eat too much, it can be hard on their crop. I'm sure you're doing great though. Maybe you can call the vet and ask how often you should be feeding it. They would probably know. Good luck!

How about finding the nest he fell out of, putting on a pair of rubber gloves and putting him back in his nest???

the vets r closed during the weekends & the only vet that is opened to calls doesn't have their # in the book, so I have no idea what it is... the vets out here kinda suck after hrs

there were no trees near by, only 1 bush, & I didn't see anything, & if I left him there the cats would have eaten/killed him. I don't even know how he got there, my friends dog could have picked it up & moved it without harming it, but I really don't know where its nest is. & its not like I don't have a clue how to care for him, hes just a smaller breed of bird I'm use too.

I found this on the net:
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Don't give them water except as part of the food as they drown easily, don't use milk, birds can't tolerate lactic acid, nor worms as most birds cannot tolerate the parasites associated with them, (not even Robins eat them all the time.). Don't use sugar (except dextrose) or salt, birds have no use for them.
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I guess I wont be giving him worms yet.

Should I put dog fur in its nest? would it help keep him warm & be softer for him?

Hes just so tiny, I want him to be super comfy.


OH!!! & one of his eyes is opening up!!!!!! theres a tiny tiny gap in his right eyelid... I missed Peetrees eye opening, but I wont miss this ones if he gets to stay here. In a way, I hope they can't take him, I love being a mother bird, its a blast & soooooo rewarding.

well in the mean time, I want to name him, can u guys help me name him???

Can you tell how old he is? In the wild they are fed every 8 minutes, but in captivity that can rarely be duplicated. About every 15 minutes at the least, during the day is sufficient.


Earthworms should not be given. Other worms are fine and a regular part of their diet. Wax worms are great because they are squishier than most other worms. Mealworms can be hard to swallow, especially for a tiny baby. We also offer berries and soaked Nutro dog food. We usually blend up the worms, berries and a little dog food and feed that to them in a syring. sp?

what kind of berries??

I have no idea how old he is. if u can find a growth chart I can try to figure out his age. I've looked on the net for more info, but I don't get anything useful.

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You can get a handfeeding kit for baby parrots at most pet stores. Perhaps, if you ask them, they may have one for wild baby birds too. I know that baby parrots need to be fed every 2 hours until they are weaned (yes, even at night), so I would assume its the same with the robin.

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A wild bird, especially a robin or starling or other insectivorious bird is nothing like a parrot. Parrots, finches, etc. are seed eaters. Robins, starlings, etc. are meat eaters. Big difference ... like the difference in raising a calf and a puppy. The parrot formula you buy at a pet store might be alright to raise some wild birds on (for example, pigeons and doves can survive on it), but it very wrong for robins. Robins should eat a mixture of soaked dog food, applesauce and poultry mash ... with a good portion of insects, if you can find or buy them. Crickets, moths, and grubs are good, as are waxworms. Mealworms are earthworms are not good.

You don't need to feed a baby robin at night. Mother birds sleep all night ... they aren't up feeding their babies. Feed your baby robin from first light in the morning until darkness, and he'll be fine.

I put all the baby birds I raise in a margarine dish wrapped in a dishtowel and lined with tissues. Make sure to pad the dish with tissues until the baby fits snugly with no extra room. If you keep a baby bird in too large a container for a "nest", his legs will spread and he will develop splay-leg and not be able to stand, walk or perch properly. Keep a heating pad on low under the box you have the bird in until it gets feathers. When birds get feathers or down, they are then able to regulate their own body temperature.

thanks alot twisterdog, I can go to sleep atlast..

When I had my baby Starling, I put him beside my bed so if he woke up during the night & started to chirp (which was bloody loud) it would wake me up & I would feed him, but sometimes he only wanted to know if I was still there. After a while I had to put him in the front room because he thought it was funny to wake me up throughout the night for nothing. My dad agreed to feed him just a bit when he got up at 6-9am so I could sleep. Peetree lived in a rabbit cage (that was all I had at the time).

Right now (for the robin) I have an inqubator type thing set up, I set the same thing up for Peetree when he was a baby. I take a container of some sort, fluf up the tissus at the bottom, then put a flat cuped piece of tissue ontop of the fluffed up stuff, I make a thick cuped tissue lid, then use a warm lamp to keep the tissues warm, & it works very very well, but it takes a very long time to set up, don't want it too hot or too cold. But I check his temp every feeding by setting him in my hand right after I feed him. he usualy poops in my hand :rolleyes:

If I'm not able to get him into the shelter tomorrow (well today) I'm gonna buy a couple of eggs & more tinned cat food.

I hope I get him in, cause taking him to work is gonna be fun.

I knew I shouldn't have gone to sleep :(
he just died in my hands

omg! :( im soooooo sorry! :(

Twisterdog, you repeated almost everything I said lol. :p Do you do wildlife rehab as well? I have one robin now, the first of the year. We don't commonly get robins in, but we do get sparrows, crows and others almost everyday now that spring is here. It seems that robins know how to escpae cats just a little more than the others do. :) Curious to know what type of dog food you use? We currently use Nutro....

I'm sorry you lost him. But, you did the best you could. :( :)

I have raised robins befor, two of then red brested robin babies that fell out of a tree. They were kept in a bowl with a towl under a lamp. they were fed earth worms, but you can feed them meal worms. they poop almost right after they eat so get a big spoon or paper towl ready lol..

I loved raising my baby robins, they were so sweet. they lived as well. Good luck

oh sorry you lost him, I didnt read your last post :(.

i am so sorry to hear about yoru loss. They are wonderful babies and I know you can get attached ot them very very quickly. I am so sorry again.

Ash

thanks everyone. I cried like a little baby. Next time I wont sleep through the night, I'll wakeup & feed it every hour (so I can atleast some sleep). i feel soooooooo guilty. I've never had something die on me so quickly. I'm trying to stick this into my head. Maybe he had internal bleeding or was sick & thats why he was not in his nest. I just don't want it to be becuase I did something wrong.

Oh & I had named him just before I went to sleep, Ren. Because I found hin in the Renald's yard (well just before their yard, its was really the ally.

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Next time I wont sleep through the night, I'll wakeup & feed it every hour (so I can atleast some sleep). i feel soooooooo guilty.

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I'm sorry the baby bird died. I had a baby sparrow die last week. It happens ... it happens a lot with baby birds, it seems. I promise you, the bird's death had nothing to do with you sleeping through the night. I've raised dozens and dozens of baby birds, and I've never once feed them during the night. And millions of birds in the wild sleep through every single night. More likely, the bird had some pre-existing injury that killed it. Even a tiny scratch from a cat or dog will kill a bird, due the the high sensitivity of birds to dog or cat saliva. Falling from nests is a hard landing as well, and sometimes internal injuries are present. Do not blame yourself!!

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Twisterdog, you repeated almost everything I said lol. Do you do wildlife rehab as well? I have one robin now, the first of the year. We don't commonly get robins in, but we do get sparrows, crows and others almost everyday now that spring is here. It seems that robins know how to escpae cats just a little more than the others do. Curious to know what type of dog food you use? We currently use Nutro....

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Oh, unofficially, I suppose ... I'm not a licensed rehabber, but I end up raising a lot of baby animals every spring, and getting sick and injured ones left in boxes on my doorstep all year long. I usually use Science Diet dog food.

ahhhh my little baby sparrow loves his soggy cat food and blended bannanas! he loves fruit mostly!:)

i was just reading this thread, as my kids just brought in a robin,and i was looking for information onhow to care for it, i know it can be hard to lose an animal that you try to save, i was looking for information on what to feed it, i am guessing from what i have read, that watered dog food is good, i am wondering, if it was dry dog food or wet,
my son has mashed up some worm for it, but i have only given it a few small bits,
sofar he is sleeping on my lap in a towel, and i am wondering how warm it needs to be, i have hand raised many animals but never a bird this young, its eyes are open, and it has feathers on its wings, head, and stomach, but it doesn have feathers under it wings, or on its back, any educated guesses on age?

You can soak a good quality dry dog food in warm water until it reaches a spongy consistency. He will need to be fed about every 2 hours.

thanks i was trying to do that, boy was it taking forever, we use iams, and that stuff seems to take forever to get soggy,
but anyway , even better news, i went back to the area where kids found bird, and had the baby in a box, and it
started calling for mama, and mama replied, so after searching for a tall enough ladder, we managed to get the baby back in the nest, and waited,.....
well mama and dada seemed to welcome the baby back into the nest, i have been goin back and checking every so often, and it is still in there with the others... i am guessing if they were gonna reject it , they would have kicked it out of the nest by now wouldnt they??

How old does it look? Mostly small adult-like feathers? Robins learn to fly down first and spend a few days being fed on the ground by their parents before the learn to fly up. It may not be safe with all the cats around but I'm sure the parents weren't far off. They usually have three to five eggs and may have to fly to many different places to feed each baby as they don't stick together once they hit the ground. The robin parents from our porch had to fly several houses to feed each baby, I don't know how they kept track of where each one was hiding.

the one i had found had some adult wings, it was still losing a lot of its downy feathers, but had no feathers under its wings, or back,
it is still in the nest, so i am guessing all is good now, and the parents are not goin to reject it, i think there are two other babies in the nest with it,

Birds won't reject a baby unless they sense there's something wrong with it. That's an "old wives tale" about them being rejected after humans handle them. It's better they raise the baby as it's a thankless and tedious job for us humans. ;) Glad you could get the baby back into the nest. :)