I know that you’re supposed to leave fledglings be, but what if one is in a tough spot, like a stall? I don’t have room to move the horse. Can I put the bird back in the nest if he’s not able to unground himself by the time I need to bring in?
I’m surprised to see him out at all. He’s feathered, but these guys haven’t even left the nest to practice sitting on the rafters. He gets a little air when he flaps but not much. Maybe he just fell? Last count was six babies in there.
he might have left of his own accord… six siblings is a lot, and if he’s fully feathered he might be right at the stage where they “fly” (read:fall) out of the nest and get fed by the parents for a few days. in the wild they usually hop around from branch to branch until they master flying.
is it definitely a swallow fledgling? they tend to have really good parents, that are semi forgiving to having their children moved too… we used to have to deal with them every spring and the ones that were displaced in stalls, we’d usually put in a big bucket in the aisle (and away from horse hooves) for the parents to feed. eventually, they leave - doesn’t take longer than a few days.
if you can reach the nest, you could in theory put the fledgling back if you think he is too young. birds don’t have the same sense of smell that mammals do and generally, accept their offspring being put back where they belong… only thing to watch out for is upsetting the rest of the nest, you don’t want to have to deal with stuffing 6 of them back in a nest…
a good time to do it is generally right after the parents come in, deposit food, and then fly back outside. you can usually slip them in right before the parents come back that way.
Definitely a swallow. Parents have been by a lot with encouragement (and also told me to piss off when I took a closer look :lol:)
Just a standard five gallon bucket? Or something with shorter sides? Hay in the bottom good, or something else?
Thank you for the advice! Love these guys. Had one nest last year and the littles sat out on the rafters for awhile before trying their wings, but haven’t seen these guys out of the nest yet. Bit of a surprise to stumble across one in the stall!
If he is in danger from the horse stepping on him, I have put light weight gloves on and moved one or two up on a cross member without issue:)
my Mrs. swallow had four — their first flight was out of the barn and up to the house garage where they spent the night. Mtheir mother was livid, and so was the Wren whose kids are in a bowl inside a bag of sand we keep for ice on the garage apron in the winter, lollol.
The stall is empty during the day, so no danger until evening when I bring the horses in. I couldn’t stand the pressure anymore and put him back upstairs. The nest is on a cross member that’s about 18" long, so slipped him up there near the nest. Other bitties were not disturbed and after about 10 minutes he climbed back in. Momma is feeding the large crew and everything seems to be copacetic. Yay! Will keep the ladder in the barn for a few days just in case :lol:
BABIES 
This little one is a few days younger than your group pic–feathered but still has remnants of downy fluff on his head.
We had the one nest last year and two this year. Progress! The other nest just hatched this week.
I’d rather have them in the stalls crapping on the horses and stall bedding than in the aisle pooping on me and the aisle mats! :lol:
I can’t reach the nests from the loft, but I can from the top of my tallest ladder. Since it’s a pole building there aren’t really rafters, so if they fall they end up on the stall floors. Where the cats get them. So I usually put them back in the nest and all is well.
I have 40 lights in the indoor, and each light has 2-4 nests on it. I have HUNDREDS of swallows, and LOTS of fledgling (and smaller) casualties each year. The lights are on the ceiling, 15’ up in the air, so I have no way of getting the babies back in the nest. I just pick them up and set them on a rail or stringer, and hope for the best.
We have over 20 nests and falling babies happen a lot. We get on a small ladder and put them up high. One year, a whole nest came down in a horses stall - all 5. For those, we hung an Easter basket from the rafters with a bit of hay and the parents were cool with it. Pretty funny to see the basket swaying with the babies sitting on its edge. I did leave it up since I was curious to see if it would get used the following year, but its been there for 10 years now with no takers.
If you can’t fit it back in the nest, I have successfully used those plastic baskets that hanging flowers come in with the hook on top. Put hay down on the bottom and hang it close to the nest. Or, an Easter basket!
Lol Dotneko and I were both typing the same thought at the same time 
Barn swallows are my favorite bird! Last night I discovered a LARGE nest in my shelter. I thought perhaps it belonged to a bald eagle, based on it’s size. I sat and watched for a while to see what went in it. It apparently belongs to a robin that is an over-achiever when it comes to nest building!
These babies are all now airborne…kinda. They’re not very good at flying yet. :lol: Had to rescue one that landed in the barn trash can, and another that couldn’t figure his way out of a dark corner. But they can get back in the air once the way is clear! Progress!
Another installment in As the Nest Turns…
The babies are BACK IN THE NEST. It was vacant for 2-3 days, and is now full of little heads again! What gives?? :lol: :lol:
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