Magpie?

[Diane]

Just had a message from my daughter in law, she has found a young "magpie" and wants to know how best to care for it. Dont know much more than that at the moment.

A driver where she works found it at the side of the road being attacked, no parents or nest that he could see. Its taking mincemeat no problem. Think its a hen.

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[Mortisha]

mince meat can be too rich long term.
here is one version of a recipe but there are probably others out there

http://www.birdcare.asn.au/pdf/magpies.pdf

if she is going to keep it definitely set up a big light trap as it will eat a megaton of moths, crickets, cockroaches, mealworms ,etc.
Found having them trail after me while I am weeding & gardening is the best way to teach them to hunt for soil insects themselves.

Or get some good quality dog biscuits – ones with added vitamin & minerals, soak handful in a little bit of water each day until they are soft. These are easy to feed to them without all the fuss, can dab them in insectivore & calcium mix before feeding.

[Tintola]

One of the best foods to raise insectivorous birds is crickets. These can be live , (just killed) or frozen and thawed. At the moment I am hand rearing three baby Brown Thornbills on basically frozen crickets with the occasional white mealworm. Frozen crickets are very economical compared to live ones. Frozen cost about $8 for a large rectangular take away container. (18 cm X 12 cm X 6 cm deep) or (7 X 5 X 2 inches) They can be bought from Personal Pet Services Nth of Brisbane and they will post anywhere in Aus. They are packed in a polystyrene box and arrive still frozen in good condition. Good for mealworms etc. also. See link below.

http://personalpetservices.vpweb.com.au/default.html

[Diane]

The bird has lost about half its head feathers in the attack. Is seems quite calm and quite happy to take food from anyone and can perch very securely. Its now in a large cage with a good sized perch and a made up nest and happily sits in or on either.

Crickets are no problem for my son and daughter in law to get as they always have them on hand to feed the lizards, geckos and frogs they have.
Sarah said she has already been out in the garden and caught a few bugs to give to the bird and sourced some online food ideas such as Weetabix and puppy biscuits, she is going to get some of the packaged Insectivore food too. Knowing her she will give the bird a wide range of food and try all the recipes.

I have given Sarah some egg and biscuit mix and Biocal, but I said to wait until I hear from you if would these be any use for the bird.
About water, will there be enough moisture in the food given? Sarah has put drops of water on the beak via a syringe that were taken.

[Tintola]

Pellets of mince (not too fatty) and egg and biscuit mix combined together (about half and half) would be great. I ve reared quite a few large insectivores on this mix with added crickets etc. The biocal could be used sparingly. Maggies are tough little creatures.

[Diane]

Sarah asked me to thank you all for your advice. Im sure I will get pics sent to me so I will update this later.

[Diane]

As predicted here is a pic of the bird in an enclosure they have in the back garden, its big enough for her to get some flying done, when she is ready. The bird was in here while Sarah was bug hunting!

[Tintola]

BB regarding your signature, "The way some people find fault you would think there was a reward." There is a reward, their egos and the "Better than thou" syndrome.

[Diane]

There is a reward, their egos and the "Better than thou" syndrome.

Oh and isnt it sweet!

That reminds me I must change that signature, been there for a while now.

[JCBabe]

Hi Diane,

Magpies make great pets. I Saved a male a few years ago and everyone is correct about the insects, but I found they will almost eat anything