will someone tell me whats involed when it comes to moulting the book i ve got isnt much help the birds about 9 months old thanks and a happy new year to you all
I WOULD ALSO LIKE SOME INFO ON THIS SUBJECT AS THE 2 BOOKS I HAVE READ ON THE KEEPING OF A HARRIS IT JUST FLIRTS WITH THE SUBJECT
MY OWN BIRD WILL BE HERE IN 12 DAYS AND AT 21 WEEKS I STILL DONT KNOW WHEN IT WILL START TO MOULT OR WHAT TO DO ONCE THE TIME IS HERE
ITS ALL VERY WELL READING ABOUT THE BIRD AND GOING ON COURSES BUT THE REAL THING IM SURE WILL BE A LOT DIFFERENT WHEN YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN AND THINGS GO WRONG
Not much to worry about really, "The Moult" is triggered mainly by climatic change i.e. Longer daylight hours and warmer temperatures. Food intake also plays a part, if you keep your bird at a tight flying weight it most likely wont moult at all. My birds will normally drop their first feathers around Mid April and be ready to take up at the end of August. The most important thing is to give your bird the best opportunity to grow a perfect set of new feathers. Feed the best quality food you can and keep it varied, a calcium suppliment is also a good idea. Feed your birds up and give them as much peace and quiet as possible, only disturb them to give health checks, change water etc.
One point to remember is that once fed up, your bird will not behave the way it has all flying season and some will even turn downright psyco! My avieries have open grill fronts all season but at moulting time I change them for solid fronts with a small vertical barred window, this prevents my birds clinging to the grill and turning their tails into something resembling a Christmas Tree Branch!!
something to look forward to a psyco harris carnt wait, so do you keep your birds wait down all the time, ive just got my bird down to 1lb 6 3/4 do i keep him at this all the time or aim for this weight when i know iam going to fly him up my shoot?what do you call a season thanks for the info happy hunting:
I keep my birds around their flying weight all season (flying/hunting season- when they're not moulting). If I know I wont be flying them for a couple of days I might let their weight creep up half an ounce or so and then cut it slightly and feed no casting the day before i go out. As i said before, food intake will have an effect on when your bird starts to moult, so as the days draw out and get warmer you'll have to keep him/her at a tight flying weight unless you want to start moulting early, in which case feed it up and let it get on with it.
dont worry bout it just keep flying till he drops a feather like someone has already said this is trigerd by the amount of sunlight hours. Wen he drops his first feather just stick him in a seclution avairy and feed him up gives us a nice break aswell as them just keep his food topped up and his water clean and he'll be as happy as a pig in sh*t,
It is also worth bearing in mind that you can hold up or bring on the moult.
If you fly your bind lean all of the time, he is unlikely to moult until very late (I did this last year with Fester as I wanted him to catch a pheasant in his first year, and put him into moult on May 15th), or if you want them to moult early, just feed the lots, and it will bring it on earlier.
what owen says is VERY true if you want your bird to moult just feed it up wen the hours start getting a bit longer I personally always give any falcon or hawk a good first moult ive seen people pull them out early just too get going again and start killing why bother wen this is a bird thats got maybe 20 years to put gear in the bag give um a good moult simple. some people fly them through the molt myself i cant see the point unless you have to, like wen i used to work at a centre theres nowt worth catching in the summer months unless you wanna catch babies or pregnant prey and if thats wat you after your in the wrong game just enjoy the rest of the season then both of you can have a well earned break.
bet your like a kid waiting for christmas aint you ?
remeber my first bird checking everything a thousand times making sure its right wen you get him aswell you'll check on him 24/7 but these are all the joys of falconry and make it that much more rewarding wen your baby does wat he's suppose to. I remeber ****ting it thinking my first was gonna be a little bastard and hate me the little **** ate in the car on the way home lol good memories kept him on the creance for about a month aswell lol
picking up abbey has been put back tii wed 21st due to breeders work schedule got the wethering done up like a treat
whats the best type of portible perch to get i need 1 that can be put on solid ground
got permission on 1100 acres of phesant keeperd shoot last week but only to be used during closed season for rabbits magpies and any other vermin i still have my own shoot of 680 acres to be used any time so that should keep me busy
as i am getting my bird at the end of the season and she is 21 weeks now how should i plan my manning and training program from wed 7 pm when she comes home thanks for the help
Picked up abbey at 7pm last night 2lb10oz she is massive ,my mate bill wilson and his mate peter had her out of the pen and anklets bells and jessed in 20 mins and safley in her new travelling box
The next thing i write no-one will belive at 10am i met up with Ben Potter from the bird of prey cntr thirsk he came to my house as arranged to show me how to go on when we 1st took her from the travelling box,
I kid you not after 25 mins she was up on my fist as calm as you like no disstress no heavey bating just the odd light bate
she was letting both of us touch her feet her wings and chest
After all i had read over the last 7 weeks about getting her home and leaving her alone for 5-10 days before manning her BOLLOCKS this lad was so clude up it was amazing to watch the way he touched her the way he spoke to her she was like a lump of putty in his hands after 1 hr she would bate a little and be back on my fist by her-self
This is the 1st bird i have ever owned i knew nothing at all about the practical side of keeping a bird of prey other than the 2 courses i had been on 1 @ kielder water & 1@ thirsk but this guy just talks so much common sense and puts it into practise after what i had read i could not belive what i was watching with my own eyes
To-night @ 7PM i put abbey away for the night in her new mews it was like i had done this a million times before not 1 bate not 1 foot and best of all not 1 SCREAM this was what i have been worried about for ages,
Ben left my house at 2pm he just said she;ll be fine and left me to get on with it
ps i dont tell lies and dont exaggerate this has been a great day
just keep his food topped up and his water clean and he'll be as happy as a pig in sh*t,
