Hand feeding Magpie fledgling (1 Viewer)

[Rio]

Hi, can anybody give me some advise on what is the best food to hand raise a magpie i have a maggpie chick which is the only one alive after a grey squirrel raided the nest and killed the other 4 chicks any advise would be appreciated :bounce:

 

[selene]

Feeding magpies

Hi, can anybody give me some advise on what is the best food to hand raise a magpie i have a maggpie chick which is the only one alive after a grey squirrel raided the nest and killed the other 4 chicks any advise would be appreciated :bounce:

I am rearing a Jackdaw at the mo. As Magpies and Jackdaws are both members of the crow family, i would imagine that the feeding would be roughly the same? If so, then good quality tinned catfood of the rabbit kind, and special baby bird food from your local pet shop. You mix this stuff with water and then syringe feed the bird. Bird breeders use it and it (apparently) works quite well. Hope this helps.

 

[IanF]

Hi Rio,

I can't help with the advice, but on behalf of Admin and the Moderators, welcome to Bird Forum :t:

Hopefully some more members will be along with suggestions shortly.

 

[Rio]

Reply

I am rearing a Jackdaw at the mo. As Magpies and Jackdaws are both members of the crow family, i would imagine that the feeding would be roughly the same? If so, then good quality tinned catfood of the rabbit kind, and special baby bird food from your local pet shop. You mix this stuff with water and then syringe feed the bird. Bird breeders use it and it (apparently) works quite well. Hope this helps.

Hi thanks for your response @ the moment im feeding it dog food called butchers tripe which it totally loves and so far is growing well on i will also try the rabbit cat food. Many, many thanks for your timely reply. o

 

[pog the dog]

Hi, can anybody give me some advise on what is the best food to hand raise a magpie i have a maggpie chick which is the only one alive after a grey squirrel raided the nest and killed the other 4 chicks any advise would be appreciated :bounce:

I have hand reared a magpie .i still have him now i fed him on bread and water at first with tweezers. now he will eat almost anything

 

[wroughtiron]

Stop Squirrels from raiding bird nests (only applicable to birds which use nestboxes)

Hi, can anybody give me some advise on what is the best food to hand raise a magpie i have a maggpie chick which is the only one alive after a grey squirrel raided the nest and killed the other 4 chicks any advise would be appreciated :bounce:

I have some advice on stopping squirrels from raiding nests. If its a bird that doesnt nest in a nestbox, what you can do is apply sheet metal 2 the base of the tree which would create difficulty for the squirrels to climb. If its a tree next to another tree, then you could put a piece of sheet metal around the main part of the tree above the nest to prevent the squirrel from jumping over from another tree and climbing down. (this is an extreme effort and most people wouldnt do it, but I have done it and it protects the birds until they can fledge) As far as birds that use nestbox, you can use an entrance hole guard and this will eliminate raids from squirrels. I have a pick of a bird house I have equipped with a nestbox entrance hole guard below. As far as what to feed a baby magpie, I suggest going to a local petstore and buying mealworms (you can also buy them online much cheaper), but I just mentioned the petstore because that way you can have mealworms right away.

 

[Elizabeth Bigg]

As far as birds that use nestbox, you can use an entrance hole guard and this will eliminate raids from squirrels. I have a pick of a bird house I have equipped with a nestbox entrance hole guard below. As far as what to feed a baby magpie, I suggest going to a local petstore and buying mealworms (you can also buy them online much cheaper), but I just mentioned the petstore because that way you can have mealworms right away.

Did the birds still use the box with this guard in place? Last year a great spotted woodpecker took three of the five bluetit chicks in one of our boxes. I bought a couple of these nest guards this year - but they looked so big that I wondered if the birds would go into the box. In fact I had left it too late anyway, because the birds were already inspecting the boxes - I'm sure if a guard had been attached at this stage, it would have scared them off. I still have to decide whether to put them on now, ready for next year!

Has anyone else tried these guards - and if so, what was the result?

 

[david2004]

I was thinking that too Elizabeth. I have bought one but with the stuff that comes with it, it says Bluebirds may not take to it. Maybe European Blue Tits won't either (i'm pretty sure they aren't related though).

 

[wroughtiron]

Did the birds still use the box with this guard in place? Last year a great spotted woodpecker took three of the five bluetit chicks in one of our boxes. I bought a couple of these nest guards this year - but they looked so big that I wondered if the birds would go into the box. In fact I had left it too late anyway, because the birds were already inspecting the boxes - I'm sure if a guard had been attached at this stage, it would have scared them off. I still have to decide whether to put them on now, ready for next year!

Has anyone else tried these guards - and if so, what was the result?

These guards will work and these are some birds that definetly will use them with the guard attached, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, Carolina Chicadee. Blue birds should be allowed to accept a bird house first, then go attach it. (I suggest drilling tiny pilot holes and attaching it, then unscrewing it, so as to be able to re-install it very quickly after you notice the blue birds have accepted the house) Also, important note, they are only 3 tiny woodscrews holding this on and there is not much force applied to them in use so there is no reason to overtighten the screws as they are wood screws and if you overtighten them they will strip out, so just bottom them out and then maybe a little more turn with the screwdriver and thats it. Don't worry that birds may not use the house because they will and if your doubtful, again, you can always wait til they accept a house first. Bottom line, do you really want a bird house that a raccoon can simply reach in and get to whats inside it? Its all up to you and what your needs are. I live near undeveloped pine woods and raccoons are a major issue for me here. I have attached some photos of the "hole guard" below for you to look at. If anyone else has any experience with these guards, please feel free to post a message.

 

[davedorsey]

I am rearing a Jackdaw at the mo. As Magpies and Jackdaws are both members of the crow family, i would imagine that the feeding would be roughly the same? If so, then good quality tinned catfood of the rabbit kind, and special baby bird food from your local pet shop. You mix this stuff with water and then syringe feed the bird. Bird breeders use it and it (apparently) works quite well. Hope this helps.

They also love meal worms!!!

 

[birdlover 1117]

help hand raising magpie issue

hey im hand raising a bird i thing is a magpie or at least in the magpie family im feeding em water and cat food he is only a few days old maybe 5 or 6 every once in a while i'll be feeding rm with an eyedropper and when he is finish he seems to have somthing like the hippups does anyone know anything about that cuz im getting almost afraid to feed him and am now feeding him cat food that is so wet its baisiallywater with flavor and it still happenes it seems like hes almost choking anyone able to help ??? |8.|

 

[ChrisKten]

hey im hand raising a bird i thing is a magpie or at least in the magpie family im feeding em water and cat food he is only a few days old maybe 5 or 6 every once in a while i'll be feeding rm with an eyedropper and when he is finish he seems to have somthing like the hippups does anyone know anything about that cuz im getting almost afraid to feed him and am now feeding him cat food that is so wet its baisiallywater with flavor and it still happenes it seems like hes almost choking anyone able to help ??? |8.|

Welcome to the forum,

Click the link in my signature and scroll down to Feeding of Casualty Crows, Jay, Magpie etc..

 

[birdlover 1117]

okay thanks

 

[Taylah]

Hi, can anybody give me some advise on what is the best food to hand raise a magpie i have a maggpie chick which is the only one alive after a grey squirrel raided the nest and killed the other 4 chicks any advise would be appreciated :bounce:

Hi my name is Taylah and I am new to this forum anyway maybe you could try feeding the magpie worms........But do try and mash them up as much as possible. ummm if that dont work i can look into it for you

Taylah=)

 

[Taylah]

hey im hand raising a bird i thing is a magpie or at least in the magpie family im feeding em water and cat food he is only a few days old maybe 5 or 6 every once in a while i'll be feeding rm with an eyedropper and when he is finish he seems to have somthing like the hippups does anyone know anything about that cuz im getting almost afraid to feed him and am now feeding him cat food that is so wet its baisiallywater with flavor and it still happenes it seems like hes almost choking anyone able to help ??? |8.|

Hi

i have a few ideers ............

maybe try and feeed it milk you could mybe use a baby bottle with the water and mabe when it is a little older you could buy some bird seed or you could feed it worms


good luck and i hope i have helped
Taylah=)