Today will by my first day in ICU of what will be my month long training before I move to a month in both Rehab and Education. The ICU has a section of cages set up for the little seed eating birds, a section for the meat eating bigger birds and also some bins for the smaller / babies to be kept in. The animals stay in ICU until they are well enough to go to rehab. We start off the day with cleaning the newspaper trays for the birds in the metal cages. Luckily a bunch of them were fairly clean and you just had to roll up the newspaper and throw it away but some birds ( especially the Ravens) left some nice, wet surprises on the newspaper for you. After all the newspapers are clean its time to feed the birds. Some birds like doves are seed eaters and those are pretty easy to take care of, you just stick your hand in the cage and give them seed and water. The insect eaters like the cactus wrens and night hawks ( very cool bird by the way) get little meal worms in their food dishes along with water. Some of the more sickly and little birds require a little bit more extra attention and they will be tube feed. The tube feeding food is a mixture of water and some gritty seed like material. The birds are tube feed by inserting a tube into their crop and filling it up with this mix. ( This mix does have a name but I am blanking on it right now, I will get back to you). Birds have this crop to store food after they eat so they have some for later. Im still working on getting the knack of tube feeding because not only do you have to hold the bird in one hand but you have to make sure to stick the tube into the crop and not down the throat to the lungs. Getting food in the lungs, just like us will make the bird choke. The seed and insect eaters are fairly easy and calm to take care of and get down the quickest usually. I forgot to mention while the ICU team is at work a specialized medical services personnel is working hands on with the animals that require medical attention. The med services will administer pills, shots, force feed, stitch, bandage etc.
The bigger, meat eating birds are next and a lot of them are grumpy from being bandaged up. In the ICU today we have barn owls, great horned owls, peregrine falcons, ravens, hawks and kestrels. Its a party and everyone is invited. For these birds you have to pick up any scraps in their cages and weigh them, this allows you to see how much the bird is eating compared to what is being given to them. Any time an animal is fed it is recorded onto a chart the day and how much the food weighed. You can tell if a bird is getting better or worse by the amount of food they eat. Some birds are picky and will leave just the tails of the mice or the wings and legs of the quails we give them. Some might not finish their food because they do not feel well or they are just getting too much food. Once the scraps are picked up you weigh new food and give water as well. Anytime you stick your hand in the cage it is recommended that you where gloves. Most of the time the birds will back into a corner and just watch you as you change their water and food but some will try to bite you or foot you with their talons. The peregrine falcons and kestrels love to eat chicken and quail while the owls, hawks and ravens usually like mice. The barn owls are particularly aggressive when it comes to being around their cage. They will hiss at you , open up their wings and bob at you back and forth while you clean their cage. The meat eating birds go without a hitch and then its time to start handling the birds for the medical services. The trainees have to suit up in some gloves and grab the birds out of their cage to hold them while med services checks them over and gives any medicine that is needed. I am asked at first if I wanna grab an owl but I decline because I wanted to watch some people do it first because I just shot my hands in there. The first guy pulled out was a barn owl and all he did was SCREAM while being held. This scream was raspy and loud and just incredible to hear. Its hard to believe a bird can make such noise. Here is the guy that made so much noise.
This was taken just after he was fed some mice so his face is a little messy. Next up is me and I start off easy with a little Kestrel. He was small enough to be held in my hands but I still had to wear gloves to watch out for his talons and beak. He is given some food and medicine then put back in his cage. Yay, for me I grabbed my first bird! No one was hurt in the making of this bird grab. The day goes on successfully and after all the animals are fed and full the first day in ICU is wrapped up at Liberty Wildlife.
P.S. feel free to ask any questions.
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