baby seagulls

[eggcup5]

Our nextdoor nieghbour has a birdsnest onthe roof. The chicks are trying to fly.One has landed in the garden and has been there about 3 days. He can't fly out yet and there are quite a lot of trees so it's quite hemmed in. I've been throwing food over the fence and given it fresh water.Any ideas on what else to do and what sort of food it should be having. Thrown bread softened dried dog food and diced chicken Its mum keeps looking for it but can't see it probably because of the trees. Any suggestions would be appreciated

[Ethel]

Two years ago my friend up in Scotland 'adopted' a seagull chick in similar circumstances. Fed it dog food and gave it water.

It became quite tame and every day came to eat with her dogs - I've seen the photos.

This year it has become extremely aggressive - not only towards the dogs but also towards my friend. She is at her wits end and at times has trouble getting from her car to the house.

I would honestly let nature take its course and hope for the best.

[eggcup5]

thanks ethel will take your advice. I don't want it to rely on us. I have dogs myself one's quite small and would feel threathened if that should happen

[WendyS]

In the wild these gull chicks would be eating raw fish, so if you have a nearby fishmonger and can buy cheap herrings and chop them up, this would be their ideal food. However, if the parent re-discovers it, your garden will probably become a no-go zone because parent gulls are so aggressive and will attack if anybody goes near the infant. The risk is that if the parents don't find it, it may wander around your garden for ages, possibly trying to fly but also becoming dependent on you and you may get the worst of both worlds with it being a very aggressive but dependent "semi pet". Once these birds become adults and the breeding instinct takes over I suspect that any domesticity is left behind and they simply go into a defensive attack mode, with fond memories of being reared by humans left behind, so don't expect much gratitude. They're not like cats and dogs who really bond with humans.