# Help needed urgently! Please?



## caitlingibson (Feb 7, 2012)

I was at our horse yard and inside the stables are a few nests. One of which completely collapsed today and five babies fell out. Two had already died when I found out, but I have brought the remaining three home, I think that they are Swallows and they are still pretty young but have most of their feathers. One though looks like it has a broken neck so I don't think it will last long. 

Could someone give me some advice please on what to do with them, I just don't want them to die. Any links will be appreciated as I am not sure on what to do. 

Please contact me through here, e-mail: [email protected] or on facebook: caitlin gibson (profile picture of a yellow viper).


----------



## DAZWIDD (Feb 9, 2009)

Take them straight to the nearest vet, most will treat wild animals for free and they will know where the nearest rescue is


----------



## corvid2e1 (Jan 21, 2007)

Vet is a good start, as they will hopefully know a local rehabber, however most don't have the time or experience to care for wildlife long term so some will just put down wildlife that comes into them if they don't have contact with a rehab centre. worth looking on line for a local rehabber too. Swallows are actually not to difficult to hand rear as small birds go, they do very well on live mealworms dusted with nutrobal, however due to their active lifestyle and hunting methods, are quite specialist to house and rehabilitate after fledging as they just damage feathers in a small cage, which is disastrous for later release as they will not moult before migration. Because of this, if you cannot find anywhere straight away and end up rearing them yourself, make sure you have found somewhere for them to go by the time they reach that stage, they are not a species that can be easily catered for at home.


----------



## studley (Oct 3, 2010)

*swallows*

If the nest site is accessible then often the best course of action is to fix a suitable little open topped box/flowerpot etc in the same position as the old nest.
Pop the survivors in and the parents will carry on as normal.


----------



## duffey1 (Aug 24, 2012)

Mealworms are an ideal 'emergency' food, but remove the heads first. DO NOT USE LIVE MEALWORMS WITH THE HEADS ON! The gastric juices of chicks do not kill live mealworms - and they can stay alive long enough to chew their way out!

Dip the mealworm into a proprietary softfood (Beaphar /Bogena) and a vitamin supplement, open the chicks beak (once they start feathering-up they often refuse to gape voluntarily) and, using tweezers, pop in a mealworm. Hard-boiled egg yolk can also be used

Create an artificial nest using paper towels and remove any faecal sacs.

Whilst Swallows can be 'trained' to accept an artificial diet of softfood and livefood, the major stumbling block is training them to catch their own food and avoiding imprinting. An imprinted bird is not releasable! Many well-meaning individuals - and organisations that should know better - condemn hand-reared birds to a lingering death by releasing them!

Swallows have been kept and bred in captivity - the popular misconceptions that they cannot be kept are ill-concceived. Having kept both hand-reared House Martins and Swallows, the Swallow being more adaptable. 

MJD


----------



## corvid2e1 (Jan 21, 2007)

duffey1 said:


> Mealworms are an ideal 'emergency' food, but remove the heads first. DO NOT USE LIVE MEALWORMS WITH THE HEADS ON! The gastric juices of chicks do not kill live mealworms - and they can stay alive long enough to chew their way out!
> 
> Dip the mealworm into a proprietary softfood (Beaphar /Bogena) and a vitamin supplement, open the chicks beak (once they start feathering-up they often refuse to gape voluntarily) and, using tweezers, pop in a mealworm. Hard-boiled egg yolk can also be used
> 
> ...


Agreed. Crushing or removing the head also makes the mealworms easier to digest as the shell is very tough and they can sometimes just be passed straight through if the digestive juices cannot penetrate it.

imprinting can be a major problem, especially with swallows as they seem to be naturally more friendly than martins. Rearing in a group will help to avoid this, but it is very important that they are not handled, spoken too or generally humanised any more than is absolutely essential for their survival. Again, all the more reason to get them into a wildlife centre and out of a family home as quickly as possible.

We have kept both species long term on several occasions in order to over-winter them when injury, late hatch etc has meant they have missed their migration. If fed properly they are no more difficult to care for than any other small passerine, however they do need space in order to keep them in good feather condition. Whenever we have done it we simply keep them free in a specially set up room, again, not something that is easily done at home, especially if trying to avoid humanising.


----------

