Today I found a wet, injured Norther Flicker. I aways seem to attract injured and lost animals!
The first thing I did was take it to our local audubon society and didn't get much help. They said if I wanted I could drive it to one of to places which are each at least a hour and a half away. So, the suggested I could try to rehab it here at my house and gave me some wild bird seed. I was actually a bit shocked that that was all they offered, they didn't seem to want to get involved.
Well, since having chickens (and I plan on keeping this bird far away from my girls and practicing biosecurity) I feel confident that I can help the little guy. After my examination, it looks like he has a wound on his head near his ear (just a surface wound with missing feathers) and a bit of wing damage on each wing. It looks mostly like surface blood however one wing looks worse than the other and he isn't balancing well on his feet which I think is because his wings are wet and sore.
So far, I have rinsed his wounds with hydogen pyroxide and applied a triple antibiotic to his wounds. It almost looks like the wounds are at least a day old. He is full of spunk and had drank water and he did have bird seed in his poop. (I found him under the bird feeder at a clients house but they have a dog and 3 cats, not a good combo.) I am hoping it wasn't attacked by a cat because I heard they could get an infection from the cat, that would not be good. After treating his wounds, I wrapped him up to keep him from injuring his wings anymore by placing a clean cotton cloth and the a cut kid sized tube sock around him. He is resting now in a cat sized pet crate.
Does anyone have any suggestions on housing for him? I am thinking if his wing is broken (although it doesn't apprear to be) and I guess they fly south for the winter, I might need a longer term temporary housing for him. Also, do you think I could add some poultry vitamins to his water? Any other helpful hints would be greatly appreciated!!!
Oh, and pictures right?
Coming soon!
The first thing I did was take it to our local audubon society and didn't get much help. They said if I wanted I could drive it to one of to places which are each at least a hour and a half away. So, the suggested I could try to rehab it here at my house and gave me some wild bird seed. I was actually a bit shocked that that was all they offered, they didn't seem to want to get involved.
Well, since having chickens (and I plan on keeping this bird far away from my girls and practicing biosecurity) I feel confident that I can help the little guy. After my examination, it looks like he has a wound on his head near his ear (just a surface wound with missing feathers) and a bit of wing damage on each wing. It looks mostly like surface blood however one wing looks worse than the other and he isn't balancing well on his feet which I think is because his wings are wet and sore.
So far, I have rinsed his wounds with hydogen pyroxide and applied a triple antibiotic to his wounds. It almost looks like the wounds are at least a day old. He is full of spunk and had drank water and he did have bird seed in his poop. (I found him under the bird feeder at a clients house but they have a dog and 3 cats, not a good combo.) I am hoping it wasn't attacked by a cat because I heard they could get an infection from the cat, that would not be good. After treating his wounds, I wrapped him up to keep him from injuring his wings anymore by placing a clean cotton cloth and the a cut kid sized tube sock around him. He is resting now in a cat sized pet crate.
Does anyone have any suggestions on housing for him? I am thinking if his wing is broken (although it doesn't apprear to be) and I guess they fly south for the winter, I might need a longer term temporary housing for him. Also, do you think I could add some poultry vitamins to his water? Any other helpful hints would be greatly appreciated!!!
Oh, and pictures right?
