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He just goes mad for defrosted peas after he's has some Kaytee, so I top him up with some of those. A lady who takes in birds from our vets gave me some kitten teets yesterday to try, they fit on the end of a small syringe, so is a bit more like tube feeding. ( I was a little worried when she said she had one come off once and get stuck in the bird's throat). Janet 
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Have managed to feed with syringe and ballon as long as I fill the wounds with Hypercal cream first, this seems to stop it getting bunged up with Kaytee.
I am still worried as to how this beak is going to end up. Phoned the rescue centre to ask if they knew if the fleshy top would regrow over but they didn't know. There's a bit of the flesh hanging loose on the top but I daren't take it off as it bleeds underneath. Still on anti-biotics and doing well as far as development. One query here. As I'm going to be out all of Saturday, I decided to set out to get him self feeding today so I wouldn't have to take him with me to feed. What a star, he got it in one minute, and drinking too !!  The trouble is he doesn't know when to stop. I think it was such a novelty he kept popping them in. I left him for a while and went back later to give him some Kaytee but his crop is stuffed full of seeds, so didn't give him any. I just gave him a few drops of water with enzymes in to try and help him digest all these. Should I stop giving him any seeds for a while to see if his crop empties or will he just self regulate his intake? The others I reared weren't so quick to take to the seeds so it was a more gentle weaning process. Janet
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Hi Janet,
Take his seeds out overnight and check whether his crop has emptied. Some woodies are amazing at learning how to eat on their own. I had one that I was hand feeding because he was so young, so I hadn't put seeds in his cage. On the first day I did, he ate them all, even though he was a baby still. Be patient about the beak. Les had a pigeon that had been scalped so badly it had lost its eyelid and the vet recommended euthanasia. He refused and under his care the pigeon started using its third eyelid instead. She is with me now, and it is very difficult to see that her eye isn't quite normal. And within days of arriving here she had bagged a mate and a nesting spot. Cynthia
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...while all the time your dear full-throated pigeons will be heard, and the turtledove high in the elm will never bring her cooing to an end. (Virgil)
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Lovely story about Les' bird just shows they deserve every chance.  I was just worried about him imprinting as I may have to keep him longer than normal. I'd like to know the beak is ok before he goes anywhere. It would be tragic if he was released for it to go and break or become deformed out there. I'll see how it looks after the weekend. Janet
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Once he started feeding himself I left him to it because he absolutely hated being hand fed. But he didn't have any disability.
Yes, I think it is better if you keep him in, as long as you don't spend time stroking him etc he should be OK, but he should go to a sanctuary and spend time with other woodies before he is released. Cynthia
__________________
...while all the time your dear full-throated pigeons will be heard, and the turtledove high in the elm will never bring her cooing to an end. (Virgil)
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Weirdest thing.
I was just standing over him while he had a drink. Water was coming up through the puncture hole in his beak, so still a hole there. Janet
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Poor little thing, I wonder what on earth happened to him. Is the lower part of the beak free from injury?
Do you have any vitalzym (I never remember how to spell that!) Cynthia
__________________
...while all the time your dear full-throated pigeons will be heard, and the turtledove high in the elm will never bring her cooing to an end. (Virgil)
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Hi Janet, you sure sound like you have your hand's full looking after this little one, keep up the good work though and let's all hope he pulls thru, he looks like a little trooper.
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Sorry only just managed to get on, had the worst day for injuries, so this little chap has had to feed himself whether he likes it or not!! and he has.Yes his lower beak is ok thankfully. Whatever happened has just damaged the one side and the top. At least with less Kaytee feeds it's getting a chance to harden up and isn't so raw looking today. Still wonder if the gap will fill in or not. The damage still looks the same inside the mouth. Just hoping that will sort out and fill the puncture hole up eventually. I have some Vitalzym, I think that's the right spelling. I'll give him some when he's finished his ant-biotics tomorrow and see what that does to help the healing. Thanks for reminding me about that. Hi kbbigman, thanks for the note. Janet
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Hi,
Just managed to pull a small plug out of the hole in his mouth. It's quite a large hole under there right through the roof of his mouth. I hope now I have that out there might be a better chance of the hole healing up. The wound at the side of his beak is starting to look much better and even the section of beak that's missing seems to be filling up. I think the outcome for the beak as a whole will depend I feel on how well this puncture hole heals now. He's doing so well otherwise. Janet
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Hi,
I'm glad to say the gap in the beak and the puncture wound in the mouth did eventually heal over. I just kept taking off the scabs that formed after the plug came out of the mouth, and it had healed fine. The beak isn't perfect and it doesn't meet completely, but didn't seem to hamper his eating.    I took him and his little Blackbird friend to the rescue centre yesterday ( I cried all the way there and back).  I miss their antics, pinching each others food and sitting together in the plant pots, they were good company for each other while they recuperated! Janet
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They are just gorgous, I know how you feel, its hard to let them go but you've done such a great job. They're healing ability is so underestimated, so often a helping hand is all they need.
XxX
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That is good news, Janet, I am glad he is doing well.
You are becoming a great rehabber with experience of so many birds. The sanctuary that I take song birds to now started 5 years ago with the rehabilitation of three tiny tits! I will be taking my three releasable woodies there as they have release aviaries, it will break my heart to part with them. I am hoping that they will stick together as poppyfieldvet's Rosiewood is one of them and she was an adult when found, so she can show the other two the ropes...but the release pen is right next to a feeding station and they should be able to find that every day..the sanctuary is surrounded by conifers which will provide them with a good environment, no need to fly off. Cynthia
__________________
...while all the time your dear full-throated pigeons will be heard, and the turtledove high in the elm will never bring her cooing to an end. (Virgil)
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Hi,
Well I've just come back from another treck to take some more birds for rehab ! Not mine this time but a lady our vets hand injured wildlife to for tlc. If I thought I was busy she is amazing. She has a major hospital set-up going on in her home and garden. Usually she releases locally or straight from home but wanted to see where I go, so today we took two of her Woodies, a Collared Dove and two ducks she's reared so she could have a look. It was so funny watching her two ducks see water for the first time. The others will go into the release pen in a couple of days after being checked over. It gave me a chance to ask how my little ones were getting on. They are still in the 'hospital' area as Woodie is still having one feed a day and Blackbird has one wound to heal over, so they are ok. I'm afraid I was a real chicken though as I had meant to take Bonnie, a young feral I found injured in a town centre a while ago. I don't have the heart to release him back in a town centre to struggle. He's got used to the finer things in life now, like food on tap!! I wimped out and left him here but I think maybe he should go and see if he'd take to the open aviary life there so he can get to use his wing again now it's healed. Next trip maybe.  These rescue centres are such a Godsend aren't they, it does make the parting a little easier knowing these birds aren't going to be thrown out into the wild. A bit like going to college or uni for birds before they strike out on their own. Cynthia, this one sounds lovely, I don't envy you letting them go but they have the perfect set-up for a good life by the sounds of it. I did find one young Woodie today, wondering around the grounds at the centre pecking at the floor. It was still quite young and not afraid, and when I went over to it, it nuzzled my hands, so had obviously been hand reared and got imprinted. I hope it sticks around there as it certainly hadn't got the Woodie reserve it needs for the wild. This was a good reminder of the importance of getting them to mix with others before release. I wish yours well once they go. Janet
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Just a final PS on this story.
I had to take a badly injured Buzzard up there tonight and as the place was officially closed I got taken in the back door where the 'hospital' pens are. I scanned around the various little Woodies in their cages and suddenly spotted my youngster. He was recognisable by his deformed beak. The sweetest thing happened when I was looking through the glass, he turned and did a double take and stared at me with his head on one side as if to say, 'don't I know you from somewhere?' I quickly turned away as I was a bit choked and didn't want him to react to me again as he'd obviously moved on from needing hand feeding now. He had another little friend in with him who was more wild which was good, so when that one got spooked, so my little friend did too. So it looks as if he is 'wilding up' nicely. I blew him a kiss and wished him luck before I left. Sadly the little Blackbird hadn't made it after all. The one hole in his back was too deep apparently and didn't heal. He's flying free now. Janet
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