Help! Answer Quick, Please!

[bblynn_chicken]

Yesterday afternoon, I was walking outside to check on my chickens. I noticed very alarming and loud squawks from the two robins making a family on the side of my house. I knew that their nest was small, and certainly it was too small for their three babies. One had fallen out. These guys are still pink and growing in feathers, so I knew this was one to put back in. So, with the robins watching, a placed the baby back in. Later that night another baby fell out. So I put it back in.
Earlier this morning, two of the three babies were out of the nest. The third was nowhere to be seen. I assumed it had been eaten by one of the many nighttime predators. I didn't return the babies to the nest, and instead grabbed a plastic container and set the babies in there with grasses and such padding. I left the container on the ground, under the nest. What should I do now?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Put the babies back in the nest, hopefully Mom/Dad will return.

 

[bblynn_chicken]

Put the babies back in the nest, hopefully Mom/Dad will return.

The thing is, the nest that they have is much too small, even for one chick. Mom and Dad have been watching, they are good parents. They are still feeding the babies.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

If Mom and Dad are coming to feed them, then see if you can gradually move/transfer them to a sheltered area? The babies will still need heat at night from one of the parents since they are not fully feathered. I would worry about leaving them on the ground and what would happen if it rains, they would get wet and the plastic container would fill with water.

 

[chickens really]

If you can make a nest out of a plastic margarine container and fix it to what ever the nest was in. Fill it with nesting material. Then they won't fall out. Put drain holes in the bottom.

 

[townchicks]

An appropriate size basket with a handle could be hung in the tree to keep the babies off the ground, and would drain well in case of rain.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

If you can make a nest out of a plastic margarine container and fix it to what ever the nest was in. Fill it with nesting material. Then they won't fall out. Put drain holes in the bottom.

An appropriate size basket with a handle could be hung in the tree to keep the babies off the ground, and would drain well in case of rain.

Both good ideas!

 

[bblynn_chicken]

If Mom and Dad are coming to feed them, then see if you can gradually move/transfer them to a sheltered area? The babies will still need heat at night from one of the parents since they are not fully feathered. I would worry about leaving them on the ground and what would happen if it rains, they would get wet and the plastic container would fill with water.

I live in Oklahoma, it is very hot right now and I don't think rain is something to worry about just yet. So I am going to see if I can complete the idea of putting their nest into something. Their nest was on an electricity box on the side of my home. They are sheltered on the ground currently by shade and such. Thank you!

 

[rebrascora]

If the nest was big enough for the mother to incubate the eggs in then it is big enough for the chicks. My guess would be that they are being targeted by a predator and that is why the parents were squawking, probably a crow or jackdaw. It will likely have been at the nest and dropped the chicks trying to get them away and may have partially collapsed the nest in the process if it really appears too small.... only you will know. Or they could be cuckoo chicks that have been laid into a robin's nest and are too large for it. How does the chick size compare to the adult robin? If they are unfeathered then they would not be much bigger than a robin's egg and should be fine in the nest.
Is there cover from predators above the nest or is it in a vulnerable spot? Can you post a photo? Is it in a hedge or scrub that has been cut back recently? Can you put the nest inside a container with drainage holes and return it to the same location and provide some additional foliage cover to protect from predators if that may be the problem.

 

[FishMtFarm]

Keep us posted! Would like to know if what you do works!