Should you ever rescue a fledgling Jackdaw (or any other member of the crow family) they love Felix AGAIL.
LONG story short, it was rescue him or let the cats get him. I (foolishly) thought that he was near enough to fledging that a day or two in an old budgie cage and he would be off, HA! He's too fond of the good life. I tried to feed him with worms etc but he prefers Felix AGAIL.
We call him Kavka (Czech for Jackdaw I believe) Don't know what we are going to do with him - cats can't believe their eyes.
Please note OH's poo-splattered top - it's worse now.
Aww bless him! i think you've got him for keeps now - he might leave you when he's old enough to mate but I wouldn't be surprised if he comes back after nesting season...
As for catfood, I've found everything likes it, from tadpoles to tortoises (though tortoises shouldn't have it - I was a kid and discovered my two had a craving for meat but modern advice is very different) but I reckon it must be as good as anything, with vitamins and all, for a young jackdaw
We put scraps of Felix AGAIL on the bird table for the birds. Saves binning unused food and they love it - Magpies, Starlings and Pigeons in our case... We had a really scruffy skinny Magpie frequenting the garden who waited for his AGAIL every day. He's now looking much healthier and has a mate
Kay wrote:Cat food can be a lifesaver for a sole parent bird with a nest full of hungry chicks
That's good to know, especially as Kafka likes the meat and leaves the jelly and the cats prefer the jelly - win-win, nothing goes to waste. Feed cats first then scraps to the birds. Thanks Kay.
Can't believe it but I had a water fight with a bird yesterday. Kafka decided to have a bath in a plant pot saucer, he was splashing so much we all got wet so I started squirting water at him with the syringe I used to feed him water.
I put tinned cat food out in winter for the blackbirds if the ground is frozen - they roost later than most other birds, so dusk is a good time - as soon I leave with the empty tin a good dozen or so blackbirds come hopping out of the bushes
I hadn't heard of using cat food for birds, but it does make sense for any that are omnivorous such as members of the crow family. I had heard of it being the best option for leaving out to feed hedgehogs thought.
We used to get hogs in our garden in England, but there are none here in this part of NI - unfortunately!
My Brother-in -Law always fed his dog with cat food - his reasoning - dogs will eat any old rubbish but a cat can't be fooled. So cat food has to be better quality. Kafka thinks so.
