A couple of weeks ago two baby pigeons were brought into the practise after being found out of their nest. They were unable to fly or eat on their own. Garth and Rhian hand fed the pigeons until the began to eat seed and maize on their own. Their flying feathers have now grown and they have lost most of their baby fluffy feathers. The two pigeons have been flying around the practice to allow them to use their wings. We are hoping to release the two birds today near the practice so we wish them luck!!!

Today Harriett the pheasant which we released at the beginning of the month was spotted. She seemed to be doing very well and managing on her leg with just slight lameness.

It was nice to see her and know she is doing well. If any one is every in the Lilleshall area- please keep an eye out for her, she is wearing a pink leg ring- let us know if you see her. 

Harriett the Pheasant who was involved in a car accident about a month ago was released today. She went very cautiously and stayed in the garden for most of the day.

As the early evening approached she decided it was time to leave the security of the garden and go and find other pheasants. We all hope she is doing well- we wish her luck!!

I have some bad news to report. Today we had to put the little Moorhen to sleep. There had been no imprvement in her leg, there was no feeling or circulation and she was becoming depressed being in captivity. Therefore we decided that this was the best course of action for her.

This afternoon a Moorhen was brought into us after being found in the Stirchley area unable to walk. On closer examination, the Moorhen was found to have fishing line wrapped around both legs. Once we removed the fishing line it became apparent that one of her legs had poor blood circulation due to the tension of the fishing line.

We decided to give her a chance by allowing her to rest in our warm kennels and administering physio to her leg to try and improve circulation- only time will tell. We will keep you updated with her progress.

            The Fishing line has caused a deep                 As you can see the right leg

            wound when restricting the blood flow                is much more swollen

The dreaded fishing line

The pheasant now named Harriett is doing very well. Her leg is healing nicely in the splint. She is becoming very bossy and hopefully a couple more weeks and we can release her. Keep your fingers crossed!!

Yesterday Rhian our Veterinary Nurse rescued a female pheasant from the A5. The pheasant has been clipped by a car. On initial examination she seemed concussed but on a closer examination it revealed she had broken her leg.

Rhian brought her into work today for her leg to be placed in a splint and hopefully this will help heal the fracture. We will keep you updated on her progress.

This week Abby, our part time nurse, adopted a rabbit and 2 guinea pigs from the RSPCA.

The rabbit- named Roger- is only 8 months old. Abby fell in love with him straight away. He is very friendly and is currently living in the house (trained to a litter tray) bossing the cats and dogs. He will  eventually be living with Abby's other rabbit as a companion. Abby brought him to us for a full health check and castration. He is a very healthy rabbit and very adorable. 

The 2 guinea pigs which are suspected to be pregnant are not so friendly and live with Abby's other two guinea pigs, but I am sure with plenty of TLC from Abby they will soon be happy to be handled.

At the moment there are so many little furries like these looking for homes. As Abby found out when only looking for rabbit, she came home with three new pets. People are always talking about cats and dogs which are looking for homes, but they never consider the possibility that these little animals need homes.

If you would like to offer a loving home to a rabbit or a guinea pig or two please call the RSPCA volunteer on 01952 250129

A rather sad follow up to the story of the little cygnet we rescued...

Having taken it to the wildlife sanctuary on Monday evening, the cygnet was put in with 5 much smaller cygnets also recently rescued. The older cygnet at the centre was still too ill to be introduced to a friend at this stage. The centre owner felt that "our" little one would be fine with the others due to its size. The following morning when the owner went in to feed them, "our" little one was dead with signs that the 5 smaller ones had attacked it.

Obviously this was very sad for us, but it does show how strong instincts in the wild can be as the family of 5 appeared to decide that the bigger bird was a threat and ganged up on it and despite their smaller size managed to overcome it.

Having spoken to others at Priorslee Lake, it seems that from a start of 9 hatchlings, only 1 now remains. It is thought that the others were taken at various ages by a mink which lives in the area- again nature in its most natural form I suppose. 

Today we had a call from clients out walking their dogs near Priorslee Lake. A young cygnet had been caught in some wooden boarding on a jetty and when released was completely collapsed. As the RSPCA could not attend, our nurse – Rhian – went to the rescue and returned to the surgery with the bird.

The bird was lifeless when brought in to the surgery- to the extent that it could not lift its head and made no effort to move its limbs. It appeared to be about 5 weeks old as all the down feathers were still present. The bird was suffering from a combination of heat exhaustion and over exertion and had damaged the muscles in its neck. We immediately cooled it down and started treatment for shock. With support of its neck it was able to start taking oral fluids as well. This continued into the night.

On Saturday the cygnet was slightly stronger although could still not eat or drink unassisted. Further injections to stimulate the appetite and reduce inflammation were given. Sunday saw it beginning to try to raise its neck and attempt to get up on its legs – we still had to assist feeding and drinking at this stage. We gave more injections during the day as well.

On Monday the bird started to hold its head up by itself for short periods and could paddle in the bath for a short time before tiring again. It started feeding and drinking by itself as well.

On Tuesday it was much stronger and could walk short distances as well as coping well when allowed to swim. It was now strong enough to fend for itself but on the advice of experts who have attempted to reintroduce young swans back to their parents, we decided it had been away from the family for too long and that the parents may well try to drown it on return. We therefore took the bird to a sanctuary in Much Wenlock to introduce it to another rescued cygnet of a similar age for later introduction to the wild together.

Collapsed cygnet day 1	Day 2 - propping head up with beak
Day 4 - Swimming	Day 4 - Standing well