i was reading about the aggressive Harris and thought that someone out there may be able to help with a slight problem i have. My male harris is a cracking all round bird with a fantastic appetite for hunting. The only thing i would change about him is that he is very, very animated about his flight, (shelter). i have tried to have him at a relatively high weight and drop it before hunting forays, and have tried to keep him tight on a flying weight but nothing appears to help. he is for ever flying about his flight and hitting things, flying at the mesh etc.
ive put up soft nylon mesh to save his feet and cere on the weldmesh, and ive put in foam to soften the blow on the wooden framework. this helps prevent injury but is only a precausion to a worse injury.
if anyone can suggest something which may help that would be great. he is free all the time and i would not want to change that, and also, even during the moult when at top weight he will still do this.
all this flaffing about has resulted in a damaged cere which is taking forever to heal and as soon as there is some improvement "bang" damaged again. as i mentioned, tethering him is the last thing i want to do. any advise or help would be much appreciated. cheers, colin.
I would say you have no choice but to Bow him down for a while and see if this helps once the "habit" has been broken. I am in a similar position but not nearly so bad, he has just started mashing his tail feathers thu the mesh looking for me when i come to take him out.
One thing i have been doing for a while and you do have to be careful is putting a long line, mine is only 5M long from a Bow perch in the garden to the top of his avery. Tie his leash on to a large ring that will slide along the line between the BP and avery. This allows him movement and exercise, mine quickly learnt the limitations, and he loves it. I dont use it if its very windy, and when i cant keep an eye out. Very inportant at first to be near at hand in case he gets caugtht up on somthing you have not forseen.
If you use this "Tip" and im no expert, it will be a copremise, untill you can try him free again in avery, Cheers Mark.
if you are having problems with birds bouncing off the wire the best way to stop it but keep your bird free is to use vertical bars on the inside,you can keep the mesh on the outside,i bought some plastic pipe witch is stronge will never rot and was only about £20 for 90 mtrs.
This sounds like a good idea. I did this in the early days about 125mm apart. I heard a sad story yesterday of a mates young bird getting caught up with its leash on a BP and ending up dead. Propably best to keep it free if possible.
thanks for all the advise and thoughts on the matter guys, its much appreciated.
one thing which has came to light is that the hawk knows the sound of my car )despite living off a busy street) and when he hears it reversing into the drive, he knows he is going to get out so thats when he starts his antics. only found out after the wife told me, apparently he is calm all day and starts going hyper when he knows i am comming. clever or what?
i have started to walk in front of his flight when i arrive home and then return to the house. this has helped a bit and he does not neccessarily think he is getting out right away, so therefore stays calmer longer.
