I’m still in shock that I did it. I know this isn’t baby related but it’s health and lifestyle. And I did something really freaking cool.

Someone I know said a storm had knocked over a nest of baby birds, the dogs got ahold of them and they asked me to pick one up. So I did.

These are starlings, an invasive species like sparrows. The wildlife center would have put them down. But I’d also raise a sparrow. I know that I’m not a mom bird and can’t teach this bird how to survive in the wild, I do not plan on releasing him.

Luckily I had an incubator

He was always full of energy, he ate really well and was spunky.

Like 48 hours later he called and said he had found another baby bird under the bushes. It was definitely different from mine. I didn’t know much about baby birds, I raise poultry and people don’t understand that wild birds and poultry are completely different worlds but I had to legitimately research everything.

I knew he was just not looking good compared to mine, who had been fed and hydrated.

You can’t tell here but he wasn’t as pink, or as plump. He was just shrunk down.

Even as the days went on he didn’t catch up.

He made it a couple days. They were both fed at the same time, every 45 mins, the same amounts. I didn’t have to force feed him, he willingly ate good. To be honest, I don’t understand why he died. I guess those few days being lost were irreparable no matter what I did. He never looked as good as the original baby even though he ate well. I was actually devastated by this. I considered every possible thing and learned from it.

But I kept going

And now I have this sweet, incredibly smart little starling. His name is jimmy. They make good pets and can live 15+ years. They can mimic words like parrots and bond with their caregivers (very much so)