Hi and welcome to "Fairy Castle Farm" I hope you enjoy your stay! I should introduce myself, my name is Sweetie and I am a resident of Fairy Castle Farm. Well it's not actually a farm, but a suburban home in the southern suburbs of South Australia. I am a rare Old English Spot Bunny, and absolutely love life here with all my family and some good friends too... let me take you on a tour ....
Hello buntastic Furiends! Sweetie here, can you see me?
Yes, here I am, eating fresh grass in my FairyCastle 🏰 I hope this finds you well.... I am very excited to share with you that Eli, our injured little Magpie patient is recovering beautifully well. His wing is still injured, he has to keep it supported until he can hold it up in the correct position. Eli doesn’t understand this though and it’s a bit of an effort to keep him from removing the tape from his good wing.... it makes me giggle to see Yollie patiently re apply the tape over and over again... personally, I think that Eli has turned it into a game...
This is Leroy, he loves Eli and has lots to say about it! Overall he is looking much better! He is alert, gaining weight, heartily gobbling all his food, he’s active and very vocal! Eli likes to sit and chatter away with Leroy, I think they sound like an old married couple *giggles*.. it’s buntadtic to see his strength and vigor for life is growing by the day!
Yollie and I are very thankful that Eli is getting stronger, all this TLC for Eli does make us feel tired though!
Below you’ll find links to watch his very first bath, playtime and the most magical, his parents close by keeping an eye over their baby as he spends some time outside...
Just before I go, we reached a bunderful milestone earlier today, 84,444 visitors have hopped over to read our blog! Thank you all so very much, we can’t believe how far and wide our Kingdom travels each day, it simply would not be possible without you! *soft whisker tickles* As always, please, don’t be shy to hop by and say hi! Sweetie xoxo 🐰💕
Thanks for your support and encouragement. I’ve received many messages asking about Eli... FB restricts our posts so here is the best way to keep up with updates, subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow our blog www.fairycastlefarm.blogspot.com THE RECOVERY : Book Eli 📖 🐦💕 Please keep Eli, the wild 🇦🇺 Australian Baby Magpie in your thoughts. He still has a long road to recovery ahead.
Hi Friends, I’m helping Yollie take care of Eli 💕🐰~Sweetie
Here is a summary of his remarkable story so far...
Just before last light, on 22nd October 2017, I found Eli with an injured wing, hiding in the long grass in our garden, he’d only been out of the nest for 3 days.
At this stage of his development, Eli is called a fledgling, not yet able to fly or survive on his own. These vital lessons are taught by his devoted parents who share this responsibility. Sadly due to his injury, Eli’s parents sense that he is unable to learn these lessons. So their instinct is to reject him and start the life cycle again. Letting nature take its course meant that Eli would not have survived the night. I am so glad I found him! The next 24 hrs were critical. I brought him inside, administered first aid, warmed him, hydrated and fed him. The next morning I rushed him to the vet, where he was xrayed. The vet clinic agreed to release him to my care and I contacted a lady with extensive experience rehabilitating Wild Birds. That same day she visited my home and taught me how to properly hand rear Eli and keep records with the hope to release him back to the wild once he recovers. Things are going well, but with any wild animal containment and human intervention does not always go to plan. Stress alone easily kills animals. Luckily for Eli, I know who his parents are and they consider our yard their territory. I’ve been able to encourage them to continue to spend time with their baby while he heals. I’ve created this playlist to journal his recovery and I hope it has a happy ending, when I’m able to successfully release him from my care and back to his parents. Wish us luck 💕 http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbzOt6I-z46c6ONT1AyAYI0EVbRYctp6Q
Eli is looking so much better today. He gained 13g in 24 hours and ate 44mls of Isectavore.
His mum is still visiting him and they appear to have retained a connection, which is wonderful.
I have taken video of their reunion, and will share tomorrow. Thanks for your caring and support. Eli has a long road ahead, but we will do everything to help him return to the wild.
To clarify something before I share yesterday’s events. I don’t actually know Eli’s gender. I refer to Eli as ‘he’ and this is purely because I don’t see animals where we don’t know their genders as ‘it’- so I'll take a 50/50 chance and refer to Eli as ‘he’. The only way to know his gender at this stage of his development is with a DNA test. Baby Magpies all have female colouring (speckled grey feathers on their backs).
When Eli has a full molt and his baby feathers are replaced by adult ones we will know his gender. If his back feathers retain their speckled grey then he’s a girl, if they are replaced by all white, then Eli is a boy.
Eli Before his Wing was Strapped
I’ve recorded a video this morning about what happened yesterday, it’s a summary covering many details and I’ll share as soon as it’s ready.
Most importantly, Eli’s condition is unchanged, however it’s clear his parents see his injury as too serious to recover from . So after a positive reintroduction, they stopped feeding him and distanced themselves from him again. Without their proper care he won’t survive.
I reached out to a wonderful lady (whom I’d made contact with before taking Eli to the vet) with extensive wildlife rehab experience (possums and native Australian birds are her expertise, but she works with any Aussie animal). She was able to visit my home and spent a few hours with me, teaching me the essentials to hand rear Eli.
She also strapped his wing (taped the injured wing to the healthy wing so that it can heal correctly) and showed me how to set up his cage correctly for warmth, security and comfort.
I am so grateful for her help and I am hopeful that I learned what I needed to rehabilitate Eli. I feel so much more confident in what to do and what to look out for. I’m keeping records of his food intake and daily weight so that we can see his progress.
The hope is that he’ll completely recover, learn to fly, retain a social connection with his family and when he is strong and healthy enough, return to the wild.
Alternatively, if he is rejected by his family-sadly this outcome is the most likely scenario that they’ll no longer recognize Eli and he’ll be harassed or bullied by his family who ‘own’ our yard. Magpies are very territorial birds and in nature, Eli will ultimately need to leave the nest and find his own flock to continue the next phase of his life. If this happens I have a couple of options:
1) I’ll reach out to wildlife sanctuaries where he can live a happy and healthy fulfilling (semi wild) life with his own kind in a large enclosure.
Or,
2) I’ll introduce him to a group of hand reared magpies via the Fauna Rescue Group, where he can join them then when the time is right, be released as a member of their ‘orphan’ flock.
Thanks again for your support and well wishes, he’s going to need all the love and care he can get.
Hi friends... Yollie here, Ive not had time to share all the details just yet, so here’s a quick video to catch you up...
I’ve had a wonderful lady with extensive experience in hand raising Magpies visit with me today. I’ve received a crash course in what to do for Eli and will ensure he has the very best chance at rehabilitating with the intention of releasing him to the wild when he is ready. Wish me luck, don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel, to follow Eli’s amazing journey. Thanks for all your positive encouragement and messages, I really appreciate your support. Yollie
Update: 1:15pm Tuesday 24th October 2017, ________________
Eli Update: Update... clinic just called... we can’t get ahead of ourselves just yet, but.... please, please keep on with whatever you’re currently doing to keep him in your thoughts/prayers etc etc!!!
Here’s what I know:
The vet is hesitantly/guardedly optimistic. The wound has begun to scab over and heal, however it is very swollen. It appears to be an impact trauma.
The vet is preparing to do an X-ray, he has one surgical procedure ahead of Eli. Depending on what the scan reveals, then they’ll decide the best course of action.....
Ideally, it’s just a bump and will heal and he’ll be a strong healthy wild magpie....
But if it’s beyond repair (which I was told statistically any open wing wound in this location has the odds of recovery stacked against him) and unlikely he’ll recover or have a degraded quality of life, we will discuss his options available (which unfortunately include euthanasia).
I’m so very, very thankful to the clinic as they are going above and beyond to assess Eli with the goal that he can return to MY care! (Earlier today this was not even an option, so for this alone I’m so grateful!)
There is a risk with any procedure involving sedation that he may not survive.. but I’ve given my consent and trust they will take care of him...
The vet says that he is remarkably strong and calm considering the location of his wound and the time he’s spent away from his parents... the receptionist says he is a real character and his antics are hilarious... so it seems he’s won his way onto their hearts too!
So again, thank you, please keep wishing, thinking and /or praying for our little fighter... Eli has made it this far, now we just need mild miracle!
Thanks,
Yollie ________________________________________ Hi friends, Yesterday I discovered Eli has sustained an injury to his left wing.
Here is Eli before his injury:
From what I can tell it’s the birds Thumb or, Alula*.
Hi dear friends, it’s Yollie here. My heart hurts 😢 Two days ago we finally met our little wild resident Eli, who left the nest to join us at ground level. He was thriving, learn to fly, chortle and grow into a gorgeous Magpie. Here’s a video I published yesterday :
I’m sad to share however, Eli has been rejected By his parents. Sometime between 3pm and 7pm today, Eli has sustained an injury to his left wing.
I’m under instructions from Fauna Rescue of South Australia Inc. to isolate him (he’s being kept warm in a covered cage) inside and take to the vet as soon as they open.
Once at the vet they will evaluate the injury and decide the best course of action for our precious little one.
Please, please keep Eli in your thoughts and send good vibes or prayers or whatever you think will help...
We’ve been waiting so long to meet him, I’m devastated at this has happened to our little guy. What’s worse was seeing his parents trying so hard to get him to respond to their calls...
I’ve successfully given him a feed and he eagerly took water from a syringe... I just hope he holds on through the night... we’ve only just met, it’s only been two days that Eli left the nest but I’m so worried and really care for him.
