Nice one, how did it go?

Its the one feeling you'll never forget, your first free flight!

All the best

Shaun

Sunday ! Well nearly a nightmare she is not keen enough and i belive too fat 

 I gave her 4 small bits 1@ 10 yds 1@ 15 yds and 2 @ 25 yds the 3rd and 4th bits she just lost intrest and tried to fly off twice

So no more food to-day i said back home more carefull manning but she had a real bad attitude flighty and very footy

i left her for 5 hours till it was dark and she still was bitchy (birds all the bloody same )

Monday !what diffrence back to her normal easy going self just 6 jumps 10 @ 10yds all no promlem i think it will be thursday now for her free flight

i"ll let you know   

she is at 2lb 11oz she has stayed at this since i got her 2 weeks ago tomorrow i feed her 1 chick and about 1/2 a rat or quail a day but she has to fly for that 5 to 6 long jumps or 4 x 25yds flights she still tries to fly off the perch

p.s.  do any of you leave a bird out if it is raining or are they best off away in the weathering thanks 

Shaun thanks for the comments today she dropped 1.1/2 oz to 2lb 91/2oz  this is after 2 days of cutting her back on food she"s very quick to the fist but still tries to fly off after her 4/5 bits of food

i only gave her 1/4 quail and 1/2 d o ch then she loses interest, I know she  should be only about  2lb 7oz to be keen but it seems hard to get her down

gotta agree with Shaun on this one,

Forget the quail whilst training, stick to DOC, I susally just use the legs from 4 or 5 of them, each leg cut into 1/3 or 1/4 if the cracass detatched with the leg, every bit of food has to be work for her as Shaun  says.

Quail may be to rich for her right now, but get her fit, and flying at a lot of quarry, and maybe a quail (or a rat and a chick) the day before a non-flying day, will go down a treat, and not blast her weight.

Good luck, and happy hunting soon 

Owen

Must agree with Shaun here. Sounds as though your girl is a tad too chubby.

You'll find that Chicks are low innutritional value, therefore when you feed them to your bird, they'll put on very little weight, which is good if you want to keep the weight tight.

When you first got your girl she would have been fat. She's probably eating fromyou because she now knows you, rather than because she's hungry and wants to work.

Try to drop her weight until such a point where you're getting an instant response from her as soon as you call her. Keep her on chicks until you've reached this point, as you'll find it easier to control the weight with these.

Work her hard to burn off some weight.If she takes her time to come, feed her slightly less. If she refuses, don't feed her that day. Don't worry, at that weight she'll be fine.

Once she's coming instantly, only then consider letting her off the creance. Whatever you decide, if things arn't perfect the first time, don't let her off until you're happy.

Remember that due to the low nutritional value of chicks, supplement her diet with vitamin powder each day (SA37 from vets), to make sure she gets the right nutrients. This will not affect her weight.

Once you've found her flying weight, don't loose sight of the fact that birds are all different and can have mood swings. If she refuses to come one day at her flying weight when she came like a rocket the day before, she might just be having a bad day.

Let us know how it goes

Paul

Still not flying free ive been advised to bring her down to 2lb 8oz she"s only had 1 chick to-day and her keel bone is still very faty

tried to do long creance today not an ounce of intrest so brought her back

i thought after her 1st week she was responding to well but i realised its because i was feeding her rat and quail and to much at that

just shows you think youve cracked it when it just kicks you in the town halls

ive spent more time with this bird than my misses (is that a bad thing)!!!! thanks for the advice and replies 

Hey Bob, everything OK with the hawk. Expected to see a quarry list into double figures by now. No seriously, how's things going?

Andy

thanks garri for those few bits of advice ive been on 3 courses at 2 diffrent B O P centrs both full of good advice

BUT  one thing they both taught me was there are loads of know it alls out there who knew it all without being taught so learn your own way but always take little bits of good advice from people who care about the well being of the bird

and dont be afraid to ask questions even if you thought you knew the answer anyhow

Hi Bob

Ive been reading your progress with intrest, your doing a graet job, very brave of you to do it so public. Ive found that in this game everyone is an expert- but there are not many who will give you a lot of their time to actually help you.

I was suprised how long it took me after the first moult to get my Harris going again, just keep on doing what your doing, and she'll be right. your learning all the time, keep a good diary of weights and responses.

Cheers Mark

Nice one Bob,

If I were you mate, I'd miss a feed one night, take her out the following day and let her free. I know what its like, you **** yourself letting your first bird go but if shes coming 45yds without hesitation shes ready. Bring her back to the fist 3 or 4 times for tidbits then call her back and reward her well. Once you've got this far its just a matter of refinement. I use Telemetry now purely because I bought a set for my Falcons, prior to that I flew Harris's for 10 years without, if you can afford it, it can only be a benefit.

Good luck Mate

Let us know how it goes

many thanks for the replies

jonny im not qulified to give any advice at all i have only had abbey 4 1/2 weeks so experience not my strong point yet

tomorrow is the day i will miss her food then it will give me saturday to spend time and try her free at around 3pm

i will let you know how it goes

Hi

I have used Telemetry and it can be good, but on the whole ive found it a right pain. You really need to spend hours and hours practicing with it, getting a friend to hide the transmitter about 3/4 mile off. most people ( me included) dont do this and when the bird goes walk- abouts its hard to follow the signal. (wind, terrain, Traffic, buildings, trees etc.

My bird went off for four days at the beginning of the season because i was rushing things getting him going again and he went to a garden about 3/4 mile from where i was flying him and lived off pidgeons and magpies for a couple of days. I would make sure he has a identity ring on. mine has a Independant bird register ring, they do a great job in returning birds.

Cheers for now mark