Baby Chickadee

[Chiknsrcool]

I fond this chickadee on the ground and all of my chickens were crowding around it. I made the mistake of picking it up having never seen a chickadee I thought it was full grown. It is 3 and a half inches long so I think it is a baby. I don’t know what to do now. I want to put it back but I’m afraid if I don’t watch it it will get eaten by a predator. I have it under a heat lamp and I fed it wet dog food. It took one bite but didn’t want anymore and it has just been staring at me and I don’t know what to do. Please help!

 

[Peppercorngal]

You might try to give it some dried meal worms and/or bird seed! Offer water and put the box on your front porch or back deck so when it feels ok, it will fly away. If it is a baby and you know where the nest is, put it back in the nest. It is not true that the parents will abandon a baby bird touched by a human. Good Luck!

 

[Eggstatic ChickyDoo]

It's a fledgling and should be put back where you found it. If the chickens were a threat, put it somewhere in sight of there where it will be protected. Mom and dad are probably hiding but watching for it, the sooner you return it and the more space you give it (so they don't worry about you eating them) the faster they can guide it to safety and the better its odds of survival.

 

[Chiknsrcool]

I don’t know if it can get back to its nest because the tree it was under was the tallest in our yard, taller than our two story house and it can’t fly.

 

[Eggstatic ChickyDoo]

I don’t know if it can get back to its nest because the tree it was under was the tallest in our yard, taller than our two story house and it can’t fly.

That's fine because it doesn't need to get back to the nest. It takes them a day or two to go from flappy little messes to solid fliers, then a couple of days to figure out how to find food and water on their own. Mom and dad will keep an eye on them until then.

 

[Chiknsrcool]

I was going through some old posts and I realized I never responded to this one so if y’all wanted to know we took it to the local animal rescue the next day and it turns out it’s an adult and they said something must be wrong with it if it isn’t flying and that’s all we heard