Rescued crow, just a few questions :)

[Neke]

Heya, got an injured crow on my hands and not much of a clue as to what to do

Some background: my sister and some of her friends found a juvenile crow on the sidewalk a couple days back. His leg was injured and he was being swarmed by ants. The ants cut up his back and legs pretty badly and he still can't quite walk properly They took him to a vet who cleaned him up and prescribed antibiotics and some supplements.

I'm from Singapore and crows are considered to be bad luck around here by the more traditional families.. none of my sis's friends' parents wanted a crow in their house, so i volunteered to look after him. He's not gonna make it out in the wild by itself at his current age and in his current condition

I've been feeding him a mash of canned dog food and moistened whole meal bread with a tiny sprinkling of quaker oats for the past 2 days. I know that crows are omnivorous so i've tried to duplicate this in the diet, but i've run into two major problems.

Firstly, none of the pet stores here seem to stock food for large birds.. so i'm kinda worried about the lack of grains and seeds in his diet. The stuff sold in the supermarket all seems to be for human consumption and has already been oiled and salted. Could i feed those to him anyway, or are there any other alternatives you might recommend?

Secondly, I am concerned about the weaning process. I can't quite place his age. He still has some down on his head and on his wings, but also a large number of fully formed feathers. He still has to be hand-fed though and doesn't have an innate fear of humans so i'm guessing he's around 3-4 weeks old. Will he wean off hand-feeding soon? Is it instinctive, or do i have to encourage him to pick it up by limiting his feeding till he gets the idea and helps himself?

A third problem is that when he perches on the cardboard perch i made for him and dozes off.. sometimes he ends up sleeping with his head hanging below his body. First time i saw this i thought he died Does anyone know if this is natural, or is something wrong with him?

Any help/advice is greatly appreciated

[Pigeonpal2002]

Hi Neke,

Thank you very much for rescuing this needy crow even though it is considered an ill omen in your culture.

What you are feeding the crow sounds pretty good so far but I'd just like to add a few sugggestions. I'd skip the bread however, it's not really nutritious and full of empty calories. You can use either canned dog food or dry (purina beneful is best)and mix in some hard boiled or scrambled egg, frozen but defrosted peas or corn served at room temp, some chicken (minced), crickets or mealworms (purchased from most pet stores and dead), then add a sprinkle of avian vitamins and some powdered calcium. Use a food processor to mix into a moist mash (add some water if needed) and feed in small portions to the bird. Feed about every 45 minutes or so.

As for it's age, can you post a picture for us? Sounds like you might be correct in his age of about 3-4 weeks old. Crows should learn on their own when they are able and at the right age for weaning but they will beg for a long time. I'm not sure on exact weaning ages though.

And about him drooping his head while he sleeps...I'm not sure if it's "normal" but I don't think there is anything to worry about. I had a crow youngster a few years ago in my care briefly and he did something similar and he turned out just fine.

Thanks again for taking care of this beautiful young crow. If you have anything other questions one of our members will try to assist you. Keep us posted!

[Neke]

Thanks for the quick response PP

Alrighty, that diet sounds easy enough to piece together. Hmm, its alright for him to have the whole of the egg? Whites and all? Actually, there shouldn't be too much trouble feeding him since crow's eat almost anything, right? Like maybe i could substitute ground beef for the chicken cause i have a ton of that left over from pasta day :P

Here's the picture. The feathers on his wing and tail are almost completely developed, but his head, neck and small of his back are still covered in fuzzy down. This back itself has been defeathered due to the ant attack, you can see a bit of the raw patch from the photo.

Once again, thanks for the help!

[Pigeonpal2002]

Yes, the whole egg is good, the yolk is what is important but the whole egg is nutritious. You can also substitute chicken with ground beef as well. The whole point is, crows need a lot of protein in their diet to grow strong feathers and they need the calcium as well. The dog food can be chicken then and that would do better for the protein and you're right, they eat almost anything It is very important though you you add the avian powdered vitamins and the powdered calcium as well for proper feather and bone growth.

I do see the bald patch on his back, poor thing...ants can be terrible. The age looks about right what you said...3-4 weeks as well.

Just curious, how come the picture you posted has a date of September 28, 2004 on it?

Well, hope that helps

[cyro51]

Hi Brad,

Thanks for the timely information! Coincidentally Karen in the UK has just found a juvenile rook with a leg injury so I have sent her a link to this thread.

Cynthia

[Karen 210773]

Hi its Karen, well done for taking him in considering supposed to bring bad luck. Well the dropping of the head I have noticed mine done that too and I also thought he was dead, so think we can take that as quiet natural I'm having to crop feed mine although couldn't find the crop and told that they don't have one? but he's been doing really well otherwise apart from the foot injury. He weighs 250g and I'm feeding him 4 times a day about 15-20ml, not sure if this is right, but will see his weight tomorrow Mine doesn't have as many feathers as yours. Will have to get a pic sorted and posted. xx

[Neke]

Oh, i think my camera's date and time isn't set properly =P

I have a bottle of liquid multivites for small animals. Any danger in using this for the crow? Doc gave a Vit D supplement so thats covered at least.

[Pigeonpal2002]

Hi Neke,

I don't think these vitamins for small animals are appropriate for birds. Birds need their own specific vitamins. You should be able to find them at a pet shop though