How do I get a bird from out the chimney 'cheeply'(Pardon the pun!!). Its about half way up, still alive, and we have a gas fire blocking its escape route. Someone suggested turning the fire on!!??!! Who do you call out to get it? Gas, Rentokil, chimney sweep........................
HELP!! Theres a bird down the chimney
- Thread starter lisap
- Start date
Nightmare!!!!!!
You don't want to let the bird into your room otherwise you're going to have soot all over the place as it flaps around.
I expect your gas fire has a built in flue and removing it would not give you sufficient space to get a chimney sweep brush up there.
I hate to say it, but after a while this problem will go away on its own as nature takes its course. It's worth giving a sweep a call to see what they say.
For the future I would recommend capping the chimney with a wire mesh to prevent this happening again.
You don't want to let the bird into your room otherwise you're going to have soot all over the place as it flaps around.
I expect your gas fire has a built in flue and removing it would not give you sufficient space to get a chimney sweep brush up there.
I hate to say it, but after a while this problem will go away on its own as nature takes its course. It's worth giving a sweep a call to see what they say.
For the future I would recommend capping the chimney with a wire mesh to prevent this happening again.
Is there possibly any danger from this?
I mean, after a while the poor blighters going to dessecate, so you will get a load of debris falling down the flue. Will this cause a problem, with blockages perhaps? What usually happens with leaves if the cap is left off the flue?
This will sound pretty gruesome, but if you want to avoid the smell then give a good few hours blast from the fire. This will dry it out, burn anything useful to bacteria out of it and hopefully avoid the decaying process. Any smells you get later on could probably be taken care of with another few hours from the fire. Before long, no more smells.
I mean, after a while the poor blighters going to dessecate, so you will get a load of debris falling down the flue. Will this cause a problem, with blockages perhaps? What usually happens with leaves if the cap is left off the flue?
This will sound pretty gruesome, but if you want to avoid the smell then give a good few hours blast from the fire. This will dry it out, burn anything useful to bacteria out of it and hopefully avoid the decaying process. Any smells you get later on could probably be taken care of with another few hours from the fire. Before long, no more smells.
A few years back I opened my parents' garage door to find a young starling sitting on my motorbike. It got spooked and started flapping about, landing in a big bucket of used motor oil (my dad had left it there, he kept on meaning to get it down to the tip).
I washed it as best as I could and hand-reared it for a few weeks, seemed pretty healthy but then it just suddenly died, possibly slowly poisoned from swallowing oil.
Birds do silly things, like building nests in completely unsafe places but then they do have a brain the size of a pea! This is why there are millions of them, survival through numbers.
I am still concerned about the blockage in the flue though, if the bird is stuck halfway up then what is stopping it falling down to the bottom? Anyone have some thoughts on this?
I washed it as best as I could and hand-reared it for a few weeks, seemed pretty healthy but then it just suddenly died, possibly slowly poisoned from swallowing oil.
Birds do silly things, like building nests in completely unsafe places but then they do have a brain the size of a pea! This is why there are millions of them, survival through numbers.
I am still concerned about the blockage in the flue though, if the bird is stuck halfway up then what is stopping it falling down to the bottom? Anyone have some thoughts on this?
The bird is free!!!!!!! It was still alive and had come all the way down the chimney!! It was a pidgeon, a big fat one! The man from transco came for free to disconnect the fire and free the bird!! You do have to pay to have the fire reconnected but we are planning to have a new one so its saved us some money!!!!
Just wondering about the legality of this: I heard that by law you have to kill any vermin you find, and I have also read that pigeons (rock doves) are vermin. Thus, that would mean that you would have been breaking the law by letting the pigeon go! 
However, I do suspect that the "vermin killing responsibility" bit is one of those urban myths which rely on interpreting a particular law in the wrong way. I doubt anyone has ever been charged on a count of "failing to stamp on a rat".
Funny how no-one ever complains about white doves, when they are almost exactly the same bird.
I am glad to hear your bird is free and alive! Perhaps he will persuade his friends not to poo on your car now!
However, I do suspect that the "vermin killing responsibility" bit is one of those urban myths which rely on interpreting a particular law in the wrong way. I doubt anyone has ever been charged on a count of "failing to stamp on a rat".
Funny how no-one ever complains about white doves, when they are almost exactly the same bird.
I am glad to hear your bird is free and alive! Perhaps he will persuade his friends not to poo on your car now!
Im not sure I did it any favours releasing it as the next morning there was a pile of grey feathers on the lawn!!! Obviously it was his time to go!!
I hate the blinkin pigeons they are so thick! Problem is the neighbours feed them and has given them all names!!??!!
We havent had time to ask whether it was 'Percy' or 'Pamela' that went missing for a few days!
Pigeon feathers come out very easily, it is quite possible that it got in a flap after a cat pounced on it, but got away still. There is a bird (I think it is a housemartin?) that actually lines its nest by plucking feathers from live pigeons... thanks again for that RSPB link
aren't birds great
i've had to release 2 swifts from my loft room this weekend - the first got him/herself into a carboard box so it was an easy case of taking the box to the window and tipping it out - whoosh jobs a good un
yesterday we found another one on the stairs - i tried to pick it up but it's claws we're entwined in the fibres of the carpet - try as i might (gentle like) i couldn't get it off the carpet - long story short i cut out 1/2 sq foot of carpet around the bird and as soon as i got to the window hey presto it let go and was off.
luckily for us the loft room is going to be the last room to be sorted so it didn't matter about the carpet don't know what we would have done if it was new - what did take the time was making the room secure from the crawl space so they can't see the light from the window (good ol' gaffer tape and carboard)
all very exciting... until i found out i'd burnt my dinner
i've had to release 2 swifts from my loft room this weekend - the first got him/herself into a carboard box so it was an easy case of taking the box to the window and tipping it out - whoosh jobs a good un
yesterday we found another one on the stairs - i tried to pick it up but it's claws we're entwined in the fibres of the carpet - try as i might (gentle like) i couldn't get it off the carpet - long story short i cut out 1/2 sq foot of carpet around the bird and as soon as i got to the window hey presto it let go and was off.
luckily for us the loft room is going to be the last room to be sorted so it didn't matter about the carpet don't know what we would have done if it was new - what did take the time was making the room secure from the crawl space so they can't see the light from the window (good ol' gaffer tape and carboard)
all very exciting... until i found out i'd burnt my dinner
lisap said:
Sure it wasn't just the remains of a KFC family bucket? (sick joke!)
You could well be right Lisa!
King, in such circumstances I usually find a pair of wire cutters comes in handy
(and to think I used to be a vegetarian )