Blue Jay chick advice (wildlife & long, not pet or stock),

[Ducklove334]

how old when you found it?

were it's eyes open?

YOU ARE LUCKY, I knew someone who found a bluejay as a baby, it was pink, and eyes closed, when it was old enough they tryed to release it, it flew around looking for it's "flock",the people who raised it, someone else who knew they had her, called us about a week after they released the bird and said they they found "millie-blue" half starved and with a broken wing from a cat attack on their porch, so i called the person who'd raised her and they came got her, she died three weeks later from an infection in her wing from a scratch that they didn't see, but they said she was the happiest little bird on the planet to see them.

I had a pair of baby bluejays once, they both lived for a week, one had a broken leg, the other killed itself by flying into the window.

if you find a baby bluejay with it's eyes still closed, once they open, just like a crow,raven,grackle, or starling, they'll inprint on YOU because you're the flock.

you'll have this little guy for MONTHS, not weeks, I've seen parent jays feeding completely fledged chicks a YEAR later, who still would not eat on their own.

I'd wait til he's feeding himself for about 2 weeks before making any decisions, if he's too terribly tame, he may not be able to be released.

 

[CaGoatLady]

I'm feeding the Grosbeak, that my cats tried to eat, a mixture of cat food soaked in water until mushy, a hard-boiled egg, and applesauce. I put it in a little blender and mix until smooth and then I keep that in the fridge. Everytime I feed my baby bird, I take a little scoop of the mixture, warm it up and thin it out with some hot water and then mix some Exact powdered baby bird food in it. My bird was bloody, young without tail feathers, but had body feathers, so he got some antibiotics and then that mixture and he is over a month old now and living in my house in a cage because he is just too tame to be released. He recognizes, and hates my cats, but he lets my Border Collie sit right next to him at the side of his cage; he comes down to the dog's level to sit.
My wildlife rehab told me that it was illegal, but that I was doing everything right, so if I wanted, I could raise it.

 

[artsyrobin]

yes the applesauce, dogfood, egg mix is the best at this age- my little one was given to me by the original 'rescuer' - she never told me how he got injured when he was supposedly in an outside aviary during the day, but when he first came to us i began looking him over and realized just how extensive the damage was- so i immediately put him on antibiotics- anytime a cat or dog gets ahold of one, that is a must and cat saliva can kill a bird- even if you don't see any damage. RJ, our J, was very suspicious of little dogs, so i suspect that is what happened- he sits by the window and warns us of hawks, so he protects the chickens....

that gosbeak is a doll, whats his name?

 

[CaGoatLady]

Thanks; I still haven't given my little grosbeak a name; I just call it Good Bird because I still don't know if it's a boy or a girl; it looks like the female markings though. Also, it already knows Good Bird. My little guy's head was bloody when I found him, so I gave him anitbiotics; I guess that's what saved him, but I held him too much and he got tame really quick. Since he was too young to fly when I found him, I don't feel that bad about him being caged since he never knew what it was like to fly around in the open.

 

[Dipsy Doodle Doo]

Hi! That's neat! Grosbeaks aren't usually here, but I've glimpsed a flock passing through. A little flock of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks graced our goldfish pond one year. They swarmed the waterfall, took a drink and went on their way. Was way cool --- never saw them before or since. They are just beautiful.
Another unusual sighting was a small flock of Cedar Waxwings. They came in and hit the pond and went on, but just that one year.

Smart birds vs not-so-smart birds --- we have some Robins 'passing through' try to nest here every year.
They build lousy nests that crash in the first wind. The parents just leave and go on their route. It's sad to see them building nests and laying eggs, because they never stay around. I wouldn't even try to save eggs.

The 'Gullet' is doing great.

Lisa

 

[Dipsy Doodle Doo]

Hi! Hooray Hooraw! When I was feeding the Gullet, I noticed him tracking a cricket I'd dropped. I picked the cricket up and dropped it in his water (just so it wouldn't escape, he had never paid attention to his water previously). He pecked at the cricket and surprised himself with WATER and took an experimental beak-dip, but just shook it off. Not ready to drink yet...
He has been eating by himself today ( as opposed to 'being fed') and this afternoon --- picked up a cricket and ate it. Hopped back in the cage to his water, took a drink, and hopped back to his perch and asked for another cricket --- tilted his head sideways and grabbed that cricket and gulped it down.
My baby Jay is growing up!

Lisa

 

[wasatusay]

It is only against the law for Migratory birds. There is a rescue near your above Columbia. I know I drove a Great crested Flycatcher chick there, almost two hours from me, last year.
I admit I did not read all the posts since it is so late, but will tomorrow.
I love my Blue Jays. I have never had a problem with them hogging the feeders since I put up a cheap, beat up, rusted, old yard decoration windmill that a friend gave me a few years back...no windmill attached. But the top platform sets higher than any feeder in the yard and I put black sunflower seed on it and the Blue Jays never use any feeder that sets lower than it.
Sounds like my chickens..the higher up you are the bigger you feel??lol

 

[Reinbeau]

A friend of mine raised a starling from chickdom. That starling hung around her house for over five years, very friendly, would visit on the back deck, left in the fall and came back in the spring, until one year he didn't. Who knows why? Your blue jay may do the same, although with luck he won't migrate anywhere, just be your yard bird with the other local jays. Once he's out and about he'll find his kind, don't worry. But you will always be in his 'flock'.

 

[Dipsy Doodle Doo]

Yaaaay! Another milestone today for the Gullet.
Instead of me having to 'offer' food and him pecking it off my hand, I can put crickets / scrambled eggs in his bowl and he is FEEDING HIMSELF! If he loses a cricket the first try, he chases it around his cage til he catches it and picks it up (with me making excited talk that he did so good). And suddenly drinking up a storm --- and he is fascinated with the ripples he makes in the water bowl when he takes a drink. He tries to catch the ripples --- funny to watch.
I tried an experiment today and let him get a little hungry. Let Gull loose on the lawn with a cricket to chase --- no go. No interest in chasing the cricket. He turned back around and fluttered back to me, so it must be too soon to work on his 'hunting skills'. He'll get there, I'm sure now.

He'll be welcome as long as he wants to hang around.
We have Blue Jays here year-round, but there are a couple of months we don't see them as much.
We just saw our first Flycatchers of the year at the birdbaths today. They come through, but don't hang around.
I don't think we've ever seen any Starlings here.

I should mention, we tried the the dogfood/applesauce recipe and it was a bomb. Thankfully, I have access to fresh crickets and fresh scrambled eggs daily. He is thriving on a combination of that.

Lisa

 

[CollegeChicken]

Hi I am hoping someone can help...I work in the veterinary field and today someone brought in an injured Blue Jay. I took it home with me since we do not see birds or have an avian vet on staff. There was a small superficial wound underneath the wing. The bird was unphased by this and is active and alert. The bird is obviously young ( teenage stage ) but its DEFINITELY not a baby anymore..hes fast and strong and can bite HARD lol.. I x-rayed his wing and emailed the films to an avian vet from a diffferent hospital. She told me the bird had a common but serious fracture and would heal but be unreleasable...this was based soley on her interpretation of the xrays. She also advised me to start the bird on Baytril once daily. This means the bird must be medicated and handled at least once daily. There is ZERO dietary info for Blue Jays in captivity....He is so wild I dont know how to set him up in a way that he wont just be panicking and banging against the sides of a cage etc.......and I dont know what to feed him! ughhhhh...he is healthy and with the exception of stress his injury is not 'life threatening' as per the avian vet, but it will render the bird a poor flyer for life. I can you tell you anything you want to know about chickens but I am so clueless on how to help this little guy. I dont even know the best way to set him up for his recovery.... does anyone know anything that can help me???
p.s- already called raptor trust they told me to euthanize bird and I dont know if that is truly necessary at this point
and the nearest rehanber is two hours away and cant take any more birds at this time.....