Need an advice - crow broke a wing (1 Viewer)

[Hanna_Shevchenko]

Hello! I am sorry if this question is not in a right thread, but i need help...
I am from Ukraine (Kyiv city - the capital). Last autumn i was walking with my dog and found a grey crow with a broken wing. I took crow to vets - they said crow's wing was broken a long time ago, so it is impossible to improve. I decided to take care of this poor bird, cause I thought winter could kill it.
So, crow's name is Shakespeare and he is a member of our family for now.
BUT!!!
I think he is getting worse with every day. OWhen i took him from wild nature, he was beautifull - shiny feathers, glossy legs... And just few weeks after, his eyes started to lose feather around, and his shiny body became dim.
At first I fed him with meat and vegetables. Then I read at our ukrainian ornithology forum that I've a mistake with a meal. They suggested me to cook a special dish for Shakespeare: boild rice (35%), boiled buckwheat (35%), boiled meat (10%), cottage cheese (10%) and a grated apple without peel (10%).
I cooked it every day, bought him a calcium for birds, vitamins for birds... But Shakespeare still looks bad...
Then someone suggested me to by an ultraviolet lamp for birds. I bought it. But all is vain.
Poor crow... I feel myself responsible for him... For his life... It is spring now (+20 by Celsium)... I thought i would let him go... But how can I? Shakespeare will become a tasty lunch (easy to catch) to every cat.
PLEASE HELP US!
We are waiting for your advices. Thank you.
Hanna and Shakespeare.
http://annyzoo.com/wp-content/uploads/IMG_6331.jpg - FIRST DAY AT HOME
- NOW

 

[AlfArbuthnot]

Does he have access to water to bathe?

Crows bathe every day in the wild. In winter they even bathe in snow. Give him access to a large flat-bottomed container (perhaps 40 cm across, and 5-10 cm deep) with 2 cm of water in it. It will be quite messy, as they splash around a lot. But it helps keep their feathers in good condition.

 

[Hanna_Shevchenko]

Thank you so much!!! I give a bowl with a clean water every day. But it's a bowl for spaniels, you know... Deep, but not wide (therewhy spaniels can keep their long ears clean). And I find feathers at the bowl every day when I change water. But really - this bowl is not comfortable for birds bathing. So - I am running to the shop right now to buy a swimming pool for Shakespeare! ))))
Would you be so kind to tell me about food for crow. Is that truth what I wrote 1 massege higher? Only boild food? But in wild nature crows eat fresh bloody meat, nuts and even rubbish... Maybe smth wrong with feeding? Thank you from me and Shakespeare.
Oh! And what about walking (moving)? Maybe crow needs to walk every day in openair? But I affraid he can run away... Maybe I should make some kind of leash? If someone knows how could it look - please write to us. Thank you.

 

[AlfArbuthnot]

Crows eat a very varied diet - almost anything.

Meat is important, but I think that boiled meat may remove some nutrients. I would suggest meaty dog food, or cat food, fed straight from the can. Also live food (worms, crickets, spiders), if you can get them. Raw meat too (chopped liver is good). And chopped boiled egg. Variety is important. I wouldn't boil the seeds, I would feed natural wheat or oats, and make sure he has access to grit (very very small stones, or large grains of sand) as this is important for digestion. Grinding up some egg shell (like fine sand) and mixing with the food will help with calcium.

Also give him access to natural light, outdoors. You can maybe build a large cage that he can use for a few hours each day. A simple wooden frame with wire sides, perhaps 1 metre long and tall, and 1 metre wide, with a roof in one corner (to hide from the sun) and several perches. Letting him bathe outside, in the cage, and then having one hour to preen and oil his feathers from the gland above his tail, in the sunlight, will do him good. But not when temperature is below zero Celius! But he needs sunlight in winter too.

 

[Hanna_Shevchenko]

Well... Okay... It is rather complicated for me to make a cage in open air... I live in the city (Kyiv) so i live not in my own house - i live in apartment in a building with 27 floors... But I have a balcony and I will put poor crow there. Sun, water, meat, eggs... I understood! THANK YOU! Wish us luck!
Oh, and here is a link to my video, when Shakespeare ran away... It looks a bit cruel... lol... But I just was affraid to hurt him.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Xba-B1SIoiY#!

 

[devonsue]

After seeing your video and reading your posts I don't think that Shakespeare is very happy. He's a wild bird after all. Is there no wild animal hospital or aviary that you can take him to? He'll never be able to live in the wild again and although you have done lots for him and saved his life I think he needs to live in as natural a situation as possible. A wild bird hospital would have the aviaries to cope with him and give him some interaction with other birds. Good luck.

 

[AlfArbuthnot]

I agree with Sue, the bird is too wild to be kept indoors in his cage. He is clearly terrified. Crows are extremely intelligent - not only one of the most intelligent birds, but one of the kost intelligent of all animals. They are more intelligent than most monkeys. You need to think of his welfare as if he was a primate, as he has a 'primate brain'. The dog, especially will be very scary for him.

I think you have three options:

1. As Sue suggests, try and find a zoo or someone with an aviary who could take him permanantly, so that he can live a semi-natural life in a large aviary.

2. Spend lots of time trying to tame him, talking softly, offering food with your fingers in a quiet situation. And perhaps he may slowly become more relaxed, but I suspect that he is too old for this.

3. Your final option, if 2 does not work, is to ask the vet to end his life. This may sound more cruel than keeping him alive, but he is likely spending every day being terrified, which means that he is suffering. And because crows are so intelligent, then their capacity to suffer is very great - similar to an ape. It is not fair to keep an animal alive if its needs cannot be met.

I can see that you are trying very hard and that you care deeply, but after all this time that you have had him, he is still very frightened of you and his situation in the flat. That is probably not a life worth living, so I would urge you to find a solution such as number 1 (above), or consider number 3.

 

[owlsgomoo]

I agree with devonsue, this is wild bird and really should go somewhere more suitable, somewhere without a dog for a start! There must be a wild animal rescue place somewhere near you. It's hard as you want to do the right thing and help, but in this case I really think the right and most helpful thing to do is give him to a centre that can care for him and give him and space and environment he quite clearly needs.

 

[Hanna_Shevchenko]

I know he is a wild creature. And understanding that he will never be able to fly as another crows do makes me cry. But we don't have birds hospitals where i can leave him. If he where an eagle, I could bring it our zoo... But a crow... We have some organizations who cares about dogs, cats or another mamals. But there is no place for birds. And I also understand he is not happy with me. I watch video on youtube with crows who live at home - they r wonderful, clever, kind... Shakespeare is not - he is wise, but not friendly. And I don't know what to do to become friends. But that is our destiny - I can't just throw him in park and go away. he will die there.
I even think about prosthesis wing... I know that is redicules... But Da Vinci also seemed to be redicules his time...
So... Thank you for your advices anyway... on this part of my life I will listen to AlfArbuthnot.

 

[Hanna_Shevchenko]

3. Your final option, if 2 does not work, is to ask the vet to end his life. This may sound more cruel than keeping him alive, but he is likely spending every day being terrified, which means that he is suffering. And because crows are so intelligent, then their capacity to suffer is very great - similar to an ape. It is not fair to keep an animal alive if its needs cannot be met.

I think I will try harder... Btw, my dog is Shakespeares best friend. When she (dog is female Kuzya (I took her from street 1 year ago, when she was 3 months old and hited by car)) enters a room with bird, Shakespeare trying to get closer to Kuzya. Dog is snuffing crow, anr a crow throw his food to dog threw the cage. They like each other. I have a rabbit also (very angry rabbit, but I love her (name is Waffle)). But rabbit and dog are also friends. We live very friendly... Honestly!
Sometimes i switch on a music to crow. He adores Ennio Maricone! I always talk to him quietly and softly... And know what? I dont think he is old... Because he is much smaller than crows at park. Maybe I am wrong...
About euthanasia... I always fight for animals living. Once my rabbit's doctor said i should mercy-kill her... She has an actinomicosis. But I said no. Another doctor made a surgery, i made injections to Waffle for 1 mounth after that, wash her wound in jaw... And she is still alive (for more than 3 years after). And she is happy and healthy.
Do not think that I am against of medical "killing"... No. I agree with euthanasia, abortion... But only for people. Animals are saint - I cant kill them. God and nature will decide when animal should die. And I will do my best to make their life long and happy.
Thank you very much for your attantion for my problem. It's a big pleasure to find partial men and women Thak you all! From me and Shakespeare.
And as he said once: "A peace is of the nature of a conquest; for then both parties nobly are subdued, and neither party loser".