Here is a short list of what can and cannot be given to our birds as food. Separately, you can read about each product in separate articles on this site. So let's list:
It is forbidden:
- salty;
- fried;
- smoked;
- fatty;
- spoiled;
- sweet;
- milk;
— sausage and finished meat and fish products;
- canned products;
— exotic vegetables and fruits;
- shop juices;
- alcoholic and carbonated drinks;

Feeding crow chick..

It is convenient to feed healthy chicks with small lumps of feed mixture - mash, moistened on the outside for easy swallowing. Food is laid deep into the open beak of the chick, which causes a swallowing reflex.

Feeding of weakened and sick chicks that refuse to feed should be done using a syringe with a rubber nozzle (adapter from the system) so as not to injure its throat when the bird jerks. All food should be heated to 36-37 * C. Check the temperature by applying a syringe with the mixture to the back of the wrist - if the temperature is the same, or slightly higher than the person’s temperature,

then you can feed.

Chicks are fed easily digestible food, such as:
— baby food (without salt and sugar): children's dairy-free cereals from buckwheat, vegetable purees (carrots, pumpkin, apple);
- children's pate from turkey, chicken or beef;
- chopped boiled chicken offal: heart, liver;
- boiled minced chicken, turkey and veal;
- crushed cereal mixtures of flakes that require cooking (oatmeal, wheat, millet, barley, rye, corn), filled with boiling water to the state of liquid porridge and cooled to the desired temperature;
- not sour fat-free cottage cheese, a good feed additive, rich in nitrogenous substances;
- hard-boiled egg;
- feed of animal origin: meat and bone, fish meal, pharmacy yeast without additives (no more than 5% of the diet);
- as natural vitamins and minerals - finely chopped germinated grain;
- from a week old, grated on a fine grater and squeezed carrots and an apple are mixed.

Approximate main mash for chicks:
- a steamed mixture of flakes (the more items, the better) - 30%,
- non-sour fat-free cottage cheese - 10%,
- children's pate, minced meat or offal - 40%,
- crushed germinated grain - 10%,
- squeezed finely grated fruit and vegetable mixture (apple, carrot,
beets) - 10%.
The mixture must always be freshly prepared. It is desirable to include such
additives, like a finely chopped boiled egg (no more than 10% of the total
the volume of the mixer), yeast or meat and bone meal (no more than 5% of the mixer).

Feeding fledglings.

For fledglings (after 8 weeks), all foods suitable for adult corvids can be used, but they must be crushed.

Feeding adult birds.

Approximate main mix:
- boiled buckwheat, brown rice (or steamed cereal flakes) - 30%;
- finely chopped boiled low-fat offal (or minced meat) - 30%;
- non-sour fat-free cottage cheese - 20%;
– crushed germinated grain – 10%
- squeezed grated fruit and vegetable mixture - 10%.

Nutrition during molting.

During the period of feather replacement, 5-8% of oilseeds are included in the diet, which maintains the brightness and brilliance of plumage.

Drinking water..

Certain requirements are also needed for tap water, which after neutralization contains a small amount of chlorine. Drinking such water for a long period of time is dangerous for the chicks. To remove chlorine, the water is settled for two days in an open container. Water should be given in sufficient quantity and appropriate temperature - 28-20*C, and for chicks and sick animals - 24-26*C.
Of course, filtered water is welcome, which should have the same temperature standards. It is also recommended to use bottled baby water or good table water such as Nutrilak.

A standard mash is the main element of poultry feeding.

The foundation:
- Buckwheat
- Brown rice
- Oatmeal with bran, requiring cooking
- Other cereals, but not instant and not rye
pour boiling water and boil. Leave covered.
Can add:
— Perlovka
— Millet

Fruit and vegetable puree:
- Apple
- Carrot
clean, scald and grate on a fine grater.

Protein Sources:
- Beef
— Poultry meat
- lean fish
Add boiled and better in the form of minced meat - it is more difficult for the bird to choose. These products should make up about 20% of the volume of the entire mixer.
Also:
— chicken eggs
1/2 twice a week.
— Cottage cheese 0%, not sour
one spoon two to three times a week.
— Dry dog ​​food class "Premium"
About 10% of the volume of the mash. Pre-crushed or soaked.

In addition to the main food for corvids, you can offer:

- Lenten cookies - without salt, butter and sugar
- Cereal bread - without the same.
- Quail eggs 2-3 per week, including raw
- Shrimp or a piece of squid, boiled without salt
- Bones from meat or chicken, cooked without salt and not chopped
- Peelless fruits - peach, apricot, banana, pear
Just do not give them in large quantities to avoid diarrhea.

Required Diet Supplements:

- Sepia - a source of calcium with high bioavailability,
Don't let the bird chew on it. Again, everything can end with diarrhea and salivation.
It is better to grind a little into the mash.

- Seaweed (dried kelp) - only pet store
Natural source of vitamins, iodine and other trace elements. A small pinch in the mixer, according to the instructions on the package, or two to three times a week all the time.

- Harvesting seaweed - too, only better. The composition is even richer, but not found in all pet stores.
(These supplements will especially appeal to opponents of synthetic vitamins.)

Jackdaws and rooks eat fodder insects well, which can be found in pet stores.

Ravens need to add meat on the bones or carcasses of forage animals (from trusted suppliers) to the diet, because. in nature, the crow's diet is more "meat",

than other corvids.

Perhaps it makes sense to use imported quality food for insectivorous birds as an additive to the diet of corvids.

Taken from http://ptic.ru//

Somewhere God sent a piece of cheese to a crow

What can you feed a crow? how to feed a crow how to properly feed a crow how to feed a crow

With all due respect to Ivan Andreevich Krylov, it is worth noting that his fable made a significant contribution to ornithology, but, unfortunately, not a positive one. After all, people now, as they see a crow, strive to treat it with cheese, which a hungry bird enjoys eating. So can crows be fed cheese? And how to properly feed a bird that, by chance, got into trouble and ended up under the care of people. The main principle - do no harm, here we are talking about the same. Based on our practice, feeding birds with foods high in fat causes serious pathologies of internal organs - hepatitis, fatty degeneration of the liver, pancreatitis, coronary artery disease, cholecystitis, cancer, immunodeficiencies, arthritis, arthrosis. Getting this set of chronic diseases is difficult to restore the health of the bird again. And what can we say about the flight, where you need lightness and a healthy heart, not to mention the joints.

Let's figure out how to properly feed the corvids. We remind you that the corvid or raven family includes not only the gray crow, but also the black crow, jackdaw, rook, common raven, magpie, kuksha, common and blue jay.

The basis of the diet of these birds is lean meat - beef, turkey, chicken.

From offal, corvids can be given:

chicken hearts

stomachs

necks (feeding with chicken heads and necks refers to ravens, ravens and rooks, sometimes jackdaws and jays also like such products very much).

Fat-free cottage cheese is also included in the diet of corvids

boiled river fish (it is undesirable to feed it raw because of the risk of infecting the bird with helminthiases, for the same reason it is impossible to feed earthworms to corvids, as this can cause the development of a serious disease in birds - syngamosis).

The crow's diet contains more meat than other corvids. The question of what to feed a crow can be answered as follows: it is best if thawed mice and day-old chickens prevail in the crow's diet, and not just meat and offal.

As a mandatory top dressing, corvids need insects in the diet.

These are the insects:

flour worm

crickets

locust

ant eggs.

What to pamper, than to treat a crow?

This is what the bird feeds on in nature, and our task is to bring the conditions of keeping and feeding the bird closer to its natural ones. Therefore, treat your corvid pet not only with meat, but also with insects, berries, fruits, and vegetables. Berries, vegetables and fruits can be given any, you just need to be sure that they are not treated with insecticides.

As a supplement, corvids can be fed boiled eggs, but in small quantities. You can also give boiled buckwheat, rice, millet, corn grits. But, of course, the main percentage in the diet is still occupied by meat. Of the treats, birds can be offered drying, white bread crackers, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, gammarus. As a mineral supplement for birds, egg shells can be ground into powder and placed in a separate feeder.

What can't you feed a crow? What should not be given to birds?

Now let's designate what exactly cannot be given to birds. The list of prohibited foods includes: salty, fatty, sweet, fried foods, sausages, milk, bread, canned food, alcohol, crackers, chips, juices, peanuts (here we mean the entire list of what is harmful to humans), citrus fruits (there is little information about this, someone feeds birds citrus fruits for a long time and this does not cause any pathologies, and in some birds the intake of citrus fruits causes severe allergic reactions).

What vitamins and supplements do crows need?

Now about vitamins. If the bird is provided with a complete diet, which includes insects and mineral supplements, then the need for vitamins is reduced to a minimum. But still, we recommend fortification twice a year - in early spring and late autumn, that is, in courses of 2 weeks. From well-proven vitamins, German Beaphar Mauser Tropfen, Lebensvitamine can be used, from domestic ones - Chiktonik. A complete, well-balanced diet is the basis of the health of any living being.

Veterinary ornithologist Elena Pavlova

There are always 2 bowls in the cage for constant food (about 100 g) and mineral supplements. As a drinker, it is good to use a 0.5 l jar, which must be tied to the cage grate. It is also necessary to firmly fix the feeders, otherwise the crow will turn them over.

To grind the beak and claws, the crow needs to have access to a block of wood (better - birch, linden). Growing nails can be trimmed with clippers or a nail cutter. Beak - it is better to "shoot" with a nail file. If the floor (it is better to use hay, lignin as a coating) or the perch is hard (they can be wrapped with lignin, flannel, but this is not very hygienic), then the so-called "namins" will appear on the bird's paws. Every day, a bowl with bait is placed in the cage and a large container of water for bathing.

soft food. Squeeze low-fat cottage cheese or dry in the oven. Mix with semolina, oatmeal or millet (about 1/3 of the cottage cheese). Sprinkle the mixture with grass seeds (dandelion, nettle, etc.), chopped "hay" (clover, nettle leaf), dry gammarus.

Mineral top dressing. Mix in equal proportions the crushed shell of a hard-boiled egg, crushed brick, crushed charcoal, steamed earth, calcined river sand, burnt bone. The crow will feel better if it also receives some small gastrolith stones, like all granivorous birds. Once a week, a few salt crystals can be dissolved in a drinking bowl. Ready-made mineral supplements are now on sale.

If there is confidence that chicken eggs are not affected by salmonella, then it is better to give the egg whole and raw. The bird will gently break it and "drink it", carefully collecting it with its beak, like a scoop. (Even better if it is a quail egg). She uses the shell as a toy, which she then pecks and eats. If a little "smeared" egg remains in the feeder, white bread can be crumbled there. A hard-boiled egg must be chopped, mixed with pounded white crackers, squeezed grated carrots or cabbage (may be puffy), rose hips passed through a coffee grinder, dry blueberries, raspberries, etc. If the bird does not like this mixture, then it is enough to lightly sprinkle it with granulated sugar. True, the crow likes just the egg yolk more ...

live food. The crow really likes to "catch" woodlice and ground beetles collected at the dacha in a jar (if you are sure that the beetle is not poisonous). She will not refuse grasshoppers, soft green caterpillars, maggots or bloodworms, ant eggs. However, bloodworms can be poisoned. She most often rejects earthworms.

It is better to give boiled meat (lamb beef), poultry meat, "ventricle" - half-boiled. From offal, even boiled (lung), the crow can have diarrhea. Fish is also better not to give. As a delicacy, you can please the bird with a herring head; it is better not to abuse smoked meats. As a delicacy, my Path perceived the protruding eyes from chicken heads and fish.

She eats any crumbly cereals, boiled pasta or vermicelli - with dandelion greens, wood lice, sprouted oats, stewed vegetables. Without abuse - white bread soaked in sweet tea or milk, mashed potatoes.

"Seasonal Treat". In winter, once a week, a little (on the tip of a knife) honey or 2-3 grains of pollen are dissolved in a drinking bowl. Sprouted to white sprout grains of wheat. He won’t, eat - they need to be cranked in a meat grinder, sweetened with honey, granulated sugar. Offer the bird grated squeezed carrots or boiled grated beets with hercules and vegetable oil. It is very good to add crushed walnut kernel. In the spring - the greenery of larch that has appeared along with a twig. Or this greens will have to be chopped and added to any porridge, mash, etc. In summer-autumn - berries, wormy porcini mushrooms, boletus, watermelon (without peel), melon, grapes. You can give peas and young beans, preferably in pods. It would be nice to please the bird with a rotten rotten one captured from the forest. At the same time, it is necessary to prepare seeds of dandelion, plantain, wood lice for the winter, dry meadow clover and nettle.

You can simply alternate the chicken egg, meat, porridge, vegetables, not forgetting the forgiven grain and greens. (During the molting period, food should be especially enriched with calcium, vitamins. A few drops of fish oil, tocopherol are given. Dried gammarus is also added).

Since the crow is an exceptionally active bird, it needs a lot of toys when kept in a cage. Puzzle toys. A half-empty and ajar matchbox (matches should be better burnt or without a sulfuric head). Or firmly tie a rubber band with one end to the cage. To the other end - with a "bow" drying or dry crust of black bread. Or in a handkerchief or sock "knot" to tie a piece of sugar, a matchbox. Or - an old boot with laces. Victim toys. Hair share comb, rubber squeaker are ideal for "chasing". The bird will drive such objects around the apartment to the point of complete exhaustion. You can also give it dry or bread crust, but with each peck, do not forget to "whoop!". Useful toys. These are the aforementioned "slice" vegetables. Also, the crow will be happy to solve logical problems, for example, to extract a ball hidden there from a large box. True, the crow is a very touchy bird, it can consider a delicacy or a feeder hidden from it as a mockery. Then she will go into a corner and sit there, crested and unfriendly. It is very useful to walk with a bird on the street. She will not leave or fly away from you. But she will find something edible for herself, communicate with the surrounding crows and jackdaws (which will then desperately scold you), take the sun and air baths that are so necessary for her. In summer, bathing in anthills will be very useful for her health. There is no need to protect the crow from cats - after 1-2 meetings, the surrounding "purrs" will avoid the bird, having become acquainted with its powerful beak, but it is better to drive away large dogs yourself.

In summer, it is better to put the cage on the balcony, covering it from direct sunlight, rain and drafts. I would like to note that the crow is a very tender and sensitive bird. My flightless crow lived almost freely. She had to buy a cage when she began to go blind in her old age, so that she would not get lost in the apartment and easily find food and water.

Yulia Grigoryeva, Veliky Novgorod, "Cat and Dog" newspaper 1999 - 10

Not yet able to fly, the chicks of crows and magpies leave the nest, and therefore they often end up in human hands. Remember, if you meet a crow or a baby crow on the ground, do not rush to save him, and you should not even try to plant a chick on a tree, because by frightening a fledgling you can provoke him to flee towards the roadway under the wheels of cars, you can also draw attention to the chick dogs and cats, and as a result of your intervention, the chick will die. Watch, most likely, his parents are next to the chick, they will provide him with protection, and the chick will climb into the bushes or tree branches by itself. Taking a crow or magpie chick home, you doom yourself to hard work - keeping a crow or magpie at home is a very difficult task. Do not meddle in the affairs of nature; your interference will most likely lead to the suffering of the one you decided to save.

This article is written for those who, for one reason or another, became the owner of a corvid bird chick and do not know how to properly feed the fledglings of these birds, as well as for rehabilitation centers involved in saving wild birds. There are only a few such centers in the CIS, but their number is gradually growing.

Gallchats, rooks and crows leave their nests already knowing how to fly well and rarely fall into human hands, however, often the chicks of these corvids find themselves outside the nests due to natural disasters or destruction of nests by humans.

Is it possible to keep corvids at home?

crows

Raven chicks are often sold by poachers in bird markets. If you were visited by the idea of ​​having a tame raven, having fed a chick, then think - what are you dooming yourself and the bird to? A raven at home is a destroyed apartment, crippled family members, a disturbed psyche of a bird that does not know where to go. Do not expect that you will cope with the task of growing a healthy tame crow - without experience and proper knowledge, you will not succeed.

Magpies, jays

Magpies and jays also require a large space for keeping, they cannot live in indoor aviaries or cages; in an aviary, these birds will break their beaks and fluff up their plumage. They need at least a room to keep them. And do not forget that magpies, jays, crows and crows are active predators, and if you have other pets, they will definitely become objects of constant hunting for these birds.

Jackdaws

Jackdaws are often kept in large enclosures; with proper arrangement of the aviary, these birds can live in an apartment, but they also require a lot of attention and care from the owner.

Gray and black crows

Keeping a crow at home is extremely difficult. Crows are no less destructive than their older Crow cousins. To keep them in an apartment, at least an aviary or bird room is required. They produce a lot of fetid droppings, so you need to clean up several times a day. As they age, they become jealous, which means that they will attack anyone they deem unnecessarily.

Any corvid in captivity is a very difficult animal to keep; ranging from complex feeding to the fact that in order to fully communicate with a bird, you will have to become an expert in teaching birds commands. Unless jackdaws can live in an apartment in a large aviary without active efforts on the part of a person. Therefore, you should not reassure yourself with the thought that you will raise a tame talking crow from a chick if you do not have the necessary experience, time and money to keep, feed and treat a corvid bird.

Is it possible to help a rook, crow, chemise or jackdaw that has fallen out of the nest to return to the nest?

If you find a rook or jackdaw chick that is not feathered or cannot fly, you can return them only to the same nest from which they fell out. Non-parental pairs of rooks and jackdaws do not feed other people's chicks (at least this is not known); at the same time, cases are known when gray crows finished feeding chicks in nests where the parent birds died. However, we must remember that just like that, the chicks do not fall out of the nests.

Most often, weak or sick chicks are found outside the nest; they are thrown out by adult birds; less often, chicks are thrown out by accident, when chicks of different ages in the nest and older chicks, warming up, accidentally push younger ones together. However, an attempt to return the chick to the nest may cause other chicks to jump out of it in fear, and then the entire brood will be in danger. Therefore, it makes sense to do this only if the dropped chick is not feathered, then there is a greater chance that other chicks are not yet feathered; if you do not know the age of other chicks in the nest of a crow, jackdaw, magpie or rook, it is better not to try to return the chick to the nest.

If one of the crows at this age accidentally ends up on the ground and kind passers-by decide to return the chick to the nest, then all the other chicks, frightened by the person, will jump out of the nest. Leaving the nest early, the chicks are in danger.

The biggest danger for a chick outside the nest is overheating. Under the rays of the sun, an unfeathered chick dies within a few minutes, feathered chicks can hold out for several hours. Therefore, the first thing to do, even if you see the nest from where the chick fell out (crows' nests, for example, can be located low) is to give the chick water to drink. To do this, you can use a syringe without a needle, a pipette, or even just a cotton swab moistened with water. A drop of water should be placed in the corner of the chick's beak and it will be absorbed by itself.

A hooded crow chick opens its beak in hot weather.Such chicks cannot drink on their own.Parents not only feed the chicks, but also water them.

In this video, fledgling jay chicks are in the nest. If you find such a naked chick on the ground and do not see a nest nearby, you must act quickly; in the heat and in the rain, such a chick will quickly die.

Jay's semi-feathered chicks leave the nest at a very early age, and unlike other corvids, normally spend a lot of time on the ground. Adult jays are always nearby, and even if you do not hear them, this does not mean that the chick is lost or has fallen out of the nest. A photo

If you find a crow sitting on the ground with its beak open, and adult birds do not risk descending to the ground to water and feed it, and you are sure that they will not go down to the chick if there are no people nearby, water the chick, give 5 -10 ml of water, and plant it in bushes or on the lower branches of trees. Parent birds are not afraid of the "smell of a person" and there is a chance to return the chick even after a few hours if you take the chick home. But you need to return it to the same place where you got it from. Having planted a crow or a chemise in the bushes, watch it from a distance. Make sure adult birds have begun to feed him.

Partially feathered hooded crow. At this age, they should be in the nest, if you found such a chick on the ground, then the nest was ruined.

Only after making sure that the parent birds did not accept the fallen chick, or there are none at all, take the chick; but know that you will not be able to attach it in 99%. In most cities of the CIS there are no centers for the rehabilitation of wild birds, dragging a chick to the city zoo is a bad idea, most likely you will be refused. So either do not interfere in the course of biological processes, or take care of the bird entirely on yourself.

What to do if you find a chick?

If you find a chick lying by the window or on a glass surface, and the chick cannot sit on its own and does not orient itself in space (does not try to run away from you), then, perhaps, the fledgling, not yet able to fly, crashed into the glass surface. It is not uncommon for fledglings to fall under vehicles, and if the chick remains alive, then it needs an immediate examination by a veterinarian. In all other cases - just pass by, there is no danger to the chicks.

This is a jay chick. He is not lost, although he is on the ground, his parents are worried nearby. In such a situation, you don’t need to touch the chick, it will climb the trees on its own, and you don’t need to photograph it, since the pursuit of the picture turns into the detection of the chick by predators, and after the photo session the chick will most likely be eaten.

This is a fledgling of a black crow. He also doesn't need help. We met such a chick - go past.

This is a magpie fledgling. Parents are nearby and worried, you can hear it in the chirping. Even if such a shirt runs on the ground, do not touch it. You don't have to take pictures of it. Go past.

In this video, completely healthy fledglings of the gray crow. They do not need human help and do not need human attention and curiosity. You can clearly see how the parent birds get angry and protect the chicks. This is a classic situation in which "chicks of crows are saved." If you notice such a crow - go past, do not take it off, stroke it or somehow help it. Even the fact that you stop next to a chick is a danger to him and to other chicks. It is in this situation that adult crows will attack a person.

This video shows a typical picture of the rescue of a magpie chick. NEVER DO THIS!!!

It is important to know that a feathered chick of a magpie, crow, jackdaw, rook, jay, crow should normally sit on two legs and jump. If the chick does not stand on its paws or one paw is abnormally twisted or hanging, the bird must be urgently examined.

First aid after you bring the chick home

So, the chick ended up at your house. The first thing to do is contact your avian doctor. It is necessary to examine the chick as soon as possible and get the necessary advice on the treatment and feeding of the selected bird. Since you took the chick, now all the responsibility and material costs for the treatment of the bird are on you. For some reason, many people think that since they picked up a chick, veterinary care for such birds should be provided free of charge. This is not true. Examination and treatment costs for wild birds are exactly the same as for other pets.

First, if you don't see any bleeding, place the chick in a cardboard box and close it; give the bird 15 minutes of silence before examining the bird.

If you see fresh blood or dripping blood - determine the source of bleeding, pinch it with your finger, and call the bird doctor () as soon as possible.

Next, water the chick. For an accurate calculation of the amount of drinking, it is necessary to weigh the bird and give it 2% of body weight for 2-3 hours; do not try to feed the chick right away, as if the chick is dehydrated, it will not be able to swallow food and digest it normally. For example, with a crow weighing 200 grams, 2% is 4 ml. Give 0.5 ml of water for an hour. It is convenient to drink with an insulin syringe without a needle. The chick's beak gently opens and water is injected into the throat behind the tongue. At the base of the tongue is the entrance to the trachea, it is visible as a hole, limited by small rollers - it is important not to get into the trachea! If the chick is very small, then you can drink with a cotton swab dipped in water: drops of water hanging from a cotton swab are placed in the corner of the beak and are absorbed by themselves. Further, your veterinarian, to whom you contact, will give the necessary recommendations for further treatment.

Where to keep and how to warm the chicks?

Unfeathered chicks need to be kept warm. The best option is a brooder or incubator. In the absence of a brooder, you can use plastic bottles of warm water wrapped in a towel (important not to overheat the chick!). The chick itself can be kept in a plastic or cardboard bowl lined with several sheets of toilet paper. You can use large sawdust as a base on which sheets of toilet paper, paper or cotton towels are laid. However, cat litters and sawdust pellets should be avoided, as such litters are dangerous if the chick swallows the pellets. You can not keep the chick on a slippery surface, as this can lead to the development of "twine or helicopter" (this is when the fragile bones of the bird's paws are deformed).

Before feeding, all chicks should be watered and warmed. It is impossible to feed a chick if it is dehydrated or if it is hypothermic. The chick must be active, give a voice, open its beak, asking for food. However, adult fledglings may be afraid of humans and may not ask for food at first. Such chicks must be force-fed at first, opening their beak to them. Forcibly opening the beak may also be necessary for weakened non-feathered chicks.

How to open a chick's beak?

When force-feeding, the beak is carefully opened with both hands, then a finger is used to prevent the chick from closing the beak, with the other finger gently holding the head. Small fledglings are fed with an insulin syringe by injecting food deep into the throat. After the first feedings, the chick, when hungry, begins to tear off its beak itself when a person approaches. For chicks weighing less than 25 grams or for weakened chicks, the volume of the food mixture should not exceed 0.5 ml. Feed in small portions, but often. Avoid choking the chick and getting food into the trachea, if the mixture gets into the trachea, the chick begins to sneeze and snort food - in this case, contact the avian doctor IMMEDIATELY.

Weighing

Weigh the chick every day. This will help to notice a decrease in the rate of weight gain in time and notify the doctor about problems in time, when they are not yet manifested by other signs. The normal weights of chicks of different species of corvids are very different, they may even differ in the same species living in different geographical areas. If you are a professional wildlife rehabilitator, over time you will have your own database of normal weights for corvid chicks on your diets, and you will be able to use this data to respond to problems more quickly.

rearing

unfeathered chicks

To feed the chicks from the first day, liquid mixtures are made from bananas and other fruits and berries, soaked puppy food, boiled eggs and ground calcium carbonate (chalk), probiotics.

In order to prepare this mixture, all components are ground together in a blender. Starting from the third day, insects should be given separately in whole form.

Feathered chicks and fledglings

For already grown chicks (which already have noticeable stumps of flight and tail feathers), the mixture is made thicker and raw vegetables are added, ground in a mixer or grated on a fine grater. This mixture can be stored ready in the refrigerator for 2 days, heating it in the microwave before feeding (but do not make the mixture hot, so as not to burn the esophagus). Or make it fresh every time.

If a fully feathered chick of a crow, magpie, crow, rook, jackdaw, jay has already come to you, then there is no longer any need for liquid mixtures to feed it. Such chicks should be fed with a solid mash, from which small balls roll down, convenient for laying in the beak, with whole insects, pieces of mice and quails. The most important components in this case are insects, pieces of mice and quails. The stirrer is only an addition and a convenient substrate for adding drugs and probiotics. Berries are given whole, vegetables, fruits are given in slices that are convenient in size.

Here in this video, he explains very popularly about the feathered fledgling of the gray crow, which got into the home. Even here it is clear that for home conditions, the crow is not a very convenient pet.

A stirrer for feeding chicks of all types of corvid birds is made on the basis of cottage cheese of an average fat content of 5-9%, to which carrots, beets, sprouted grains, grated on a fine grater, are added; all components are mixed in equal proportions, thoroughly mixed and balls or short sticks roll from the mixture. You can roll balls in advance in the morning to, for example, take the chick to work and feed it there.

During the day, feeding with a mash should be no more than 40% of the total diet of the chick, the rest of the volume is occupied by fresh insects (fodder or wild), chopped pieces of mice and quail.

Mice are necessary adults, it is impossible to use naked mice for feeding chicks. Chicks should be given bones, muscles, internal organs, including the intestines. Adult chicks and fledglings of black crows, big-billed crows and piebald crows of mice can and should be given whole. For chicks of the gray crow, jackdaws, magpies, rooks - mice should be cut into small pieces, and the internal organs and intestines should be given separately. I would like to draw your attention to the fact that since you have assumed the responsibility to feed the wild bird, the mice must be "humanely slaughtered" before they are fed to the birds.

Quails are also given as a whole, and bones, and internal organs. To do this, you can buy chilled quail carcasses in supermarkets. It is better not to give quail intestines to chicks in order to maintain a low bacterial contamination of the room (in other words, so that everything around is not contaminated with the contents of the quail intestine). Fledglings and adult corvids should be given a quail carcass as a whole.

A good and important addition to the diet of chicks of all ages is small freshwater fish. Fish should be given as a whole.

All vegetables, fruits are useful for growing chicks. They must be given raw.

It is not recommended to give earthworms and slugs, since these worms are intermediate hosts of lung helminths, singamus; for chicks, these worms can be deadly, as they clog the trachea.

It is important to remember that the chicks must not only be fed, but also watered. At high temperatures, a thirsty chick tears off its beak. But even if the chick does not open its beak, offer him water once an hour. You need to water the chicks while they themselves drink with pleasure, even if it seems to you that there is too much water.

The older the chick gets, the more its diet begins to resemble that of adult corvids. You can read about how to feed adult crows, jackdaws, magpies, ravens, rooks, jays in this section "".

What tests should be done on selected corvid chicks?

As with all other wild animals, chicks can carry infectious diseases, so if you already have other birds and pets, or other chicks to feed, quarantine for at least 2 weeks.

Will it be possible to release a chick of a crow, a rook, a magpie, a raven, a jay, if it is fed?

Rehabilitate corvids, i.e. it is very difficult to return human-fed chicks to nature, since corvids are social birds and for life in nature, parents teach fledglings a lot of vital skills; human-fed chicks are completely devoid of this knowledge, so it’s impossible to simply take and release an already flying crow, crow, jackdaw, magpie or jay. This bird will die.

Where to go to attach crow chicks?

There are very few rehabilitation centers that take on the return of corvid chicks to nature. Here are the addresses of rehabilitation centers where you can attach the found chick of the gray crow, rook, jay, magpie, crow:
St. Petersburg -

This beautiful and proud bird can really become a true friend. Her intelligence exceeds the intelligence of a dog, a cat and is comparable to the abilities of a horse or a dolphin. A raven can, for example, use a stick to get food placed next to the cage. He will overpower and overdried bread, soaking it in water. This bird is able to guess and throw stones into a narrow vase until the water becomes available to it for drinking.

How not to confuse crow chicks and crows?

However, instead of the expected raven, you may have a bird from the same family with a consonant name - a crow. How to distinguish a raven chick from a crow? The raven is larger, it has a wedge-shaped tail (the crow has a flat one). The plumage on the goiter of the raven is disheveled, while that of the crow is smooth. The color of the crow chick is the same as that of an adult bird. The crow "croaks", articulating correctly, the raven makes a different sound - clicks.

And they also differ from each other purely in character: like a devoted knight and a miserable thief. It is no coincidence that we used the word “knight” in the context of the name of the bird “raven”, because the British have been honoring and keeping six ravens in the service of the sovereign ravens of the Tower Fortress for many centuries, since the time of King Charles II.

How to avoid misunderstanding by unexpectedly growing a crow? The answer is simple: either take a crow chick from a nursery, or buy from a reputable seller.

We are far from thinking that in May you will be able to personally get into the thicket of the forest and pick up a three-week-old chick from a crow's nest at a great height. Moreover, even if you do such a feat, you will inevitably be attacked by his parents. And an adult raven, having accelerated in flight, as you know, with a blow of its beak, it may well kill a fox. It is obvious that it is wiser for the future owner of the chick to avoid such injuries.

Therefore, we focus you on the purchase of a bird on the ad. The market price of a raven fledgling in the markets of Moscow is $100.

At what age is a crow chick taken to be raised?

Raven is immensely devoted to only one person, whom he considers the owner, while he simply resigns himself to other cohabitants. Does not like small children and pets, jealous of the owner.

For taming, it is best to take a two to three week old bird. Females are easier to train and less impulsive. We recommend them for beginners. The specialist distinguishes them at this age solely by external signs. Classes are carried out according to the classical method for birds of prey. If you are buying crow chicks from a breeder, the cut-off age for purchase is 2-3 months old.

Six months later, the chick is identical in size to an adult bird. At this age, he is already difficult to train. And an adult raven, starting from the age of one, is no longer suitable for living at home. By the way, the bird is considered to be finally formed only at the age of three.

A crow chick (you can see a photo of a three-week-old fledgling in the illustration) becomes a domestic bird through persistent taming and training. Unfortunately, most people who decide to raise this bird act recklessly, believing that a stylized likeness of a parrot will turn out from a proud bird chick.

What should the owner of a crow chick be prepared for?

A raven is two in one: a predator and a talking, intelligent bird that loves its owner. Yes, but only if you want to become its owner, it is not enough for a raven chick to formally settle in your home. The owner should love him actively, mess with him (i.e. train, train, communicate) daily for two to three hours a day.

Raven is a friend. If you manage to train him, he will give you a lot of positive, but also ask a lot of you. You, as the owner, will have to sacrifice for this friendship... at least one room in the apartment. Be sure that for a year of keeping a crow in it, it will be prepared by a bird for repairs.

A raven and a cage are incompatible things: an impulsive bird breaks feathers in it. If it is not possible to allocate a "private room" to the bird, you can equip an aviary (at least 2 x 2 m). It should provide a container for bathing birds and toys.

When is it undesirable to start a crow?

It is contraindicated to start this bird in families with small children! It is undesirable to have other animals (dogs, cats) in the house. An adult raven is a bird with character. He will be jealous of their owner and even attack "competitors".

It is not enough for the owner of the bird to proceed solely from mercy, thinking about how to get out the chick of a raven. It is equally important to ask yourself the second question: “Will I be able to raise a noble tame raven?”

It is not recommended to keep a bird at home without taking the time to train it. In this case, the raven does not feel the owner and begins to compete with domestic ones in its own way, turning into a real punishment, practicing in all sorts of dirty tricks:

• he will consider not only his room, but the whole apartment as his territory (torn documents, pecked wallpaper, cornices, plinths, household utensils, furniture);
• he will not be trained to relieve himself locally;
• he will attack your guests.

To release a bird that has not been trained by adult ravens is a sure way to kill it. A domestic raven dies in the wild.

If, after reading our warning, you remained at your will and continue to solve the puzzle "How to find a crow chick?", Then the following information is for you.

Foundlings

However, the cases are different. Sometimes yellow-mouthed crow chicks are found in April-May that have fallen out of the nest. Despite the height of the fall, some of them remain unmutilated.

The crow chick is born in April. Being a week old, he even bears little resemblance to a bird: his eyes are not open, a naked body, only down on his neck and head. Only in the second week do tiny rods of future flight feathers appear and the eyes open.

He is weak, his body is not covered with feathers. He is unable to maintain the balance of his body heat. The period of nutrition for him during the first week is about an hour and a half during daylight hours. Defenseless and completely dependent on care, the crow chick (the photo at the beginning of the article caught this moment) periodically squeaks - this is how it extorts food.

However, the bird will begin to see only after three weeks.

Temperature regime of the first week

If such a bird fell out of the nest, and after weighing all the pros and cons, you made a desperate decision to raise it, then for this you will need to take a month's vacation. In the first week, you will have to equip an impromptu home incubator. The crow chick is placed in a shoe box, which is lined with a soft cloth at the bottom and covered with a thin cloth on top. An incandescent lamp is turned on above the canvas. For optimal heating, you need to monitor:

• increase it if the bird is trembling;
• ventilate the box if it gasps for air.

Temperature regulation in the second week

After the appearance of feathers (in the second week), the temperature regime is simplified. Just make sure during the day that the temperature in the room where the crow chick is located is maintained at about 20 degrees Celsius. At night, the home incubator should still be heated.

As the fluff covers the entire body of the bird, it will be possible to remove the top sheet. Next, we will briefly consider the organization of the nutrition of a crow chick, noting the importance of the presence of clean, non-chlorinated water in the aviary and the addition of calcium (ground shell) to its food for the formation of a full-fledged plumage.

Feeding a chick

The question of what to feed a crow chick at home has two different answers: for the yellowmouth and the fledgling.

Yellowmouth is fed with tweezers. Food is served from top to bottom. In this case, a reflex is triggered in him: he lifts his head and opens his beak. The food itself is a mess. If we are talking about nursing a sick chick, then it is fed from a syringe, on which a rubber nozzle is put on.

• meat offal (or pate, or minced meat) - 40%;
• steamed finely cut flakes (crushed - wheat, barley, millet, oatmeal, corn, rye) - 30%;
• fat-free cottage cheese - 10%;
• sprouted grain in finely chopped form - 10%;
• grated apple, beets, carrots - 10%.

Feeding the fledgling

Imagine one of the recipes showing how to feed a raven chick that has become a fledgling. This is also a mash, only of a slightly different consistency, also suitable for adult birds:

• cereal flakes, boiled buckwheat or boiled brown rice - 30%;
• meat by-products finely chopped - 30%;
• fat-free cottage cheese - 20%;
• grated squeezed apple, carrot, beetroot - 10%;
• sprouted grain finely chopped - 10%.

Flying

Let's shed some light on this complex issue.

1. Raven chicks are taught to fly according to the classics of training birds of prey in compliance with the necessary details (additive, glove, etc.). This technique is fully capable in our case.
2. During the training of a raven to fly, the probability of non-return should be minimized. Therefore, it is better to choose suburban fields as an area for the realization of the bird's natural needs. In a city with its traffic and noise, it is highly likely that an inexperienced raven will get lost.

Teaching a raven chick to speak

If the parrot perceives the female timbre of the voice better, then the raven practically does not react to it. But hoarse, creaky male overtones are his element. He repeats not only creaking, dog barking, hoarse male laughter, but also shows good speech abilities. Similar abilities of another raven bird - a rook - were described by Mikhail Mikhailovich Prishvin in the story of the same name.

Where to begin? Firstly, we recommend calling the raven so, he could easily call himself, for example, Karl. Secondly, when entering and leaving, say the standard phrases ("Hello", "Bye"). Start by teaching the raven to say these words, then you can move on to phrases.

He remembers whole sentences no worse than a parrot, but pronounces them (this is confirmed by experts) more consciously. To do this, the owner should talk to him.

Instead of a conclusion

Agree, there is something special, noble in the crow - one of the most difficult birds to keep at home.

A crow chick is not a spineless toy, it is a friend for an adult, making adjustments to the rhythm of his life. But if you really manage to grow a friend out of him, he will adequately answer you with love and devotion for many years.