When to moult?

[Palmer]

I was just wondering when would be the best time for me to put my bird down to moult? :confused: And also wheather it would be best for me to have the bird tetherd or release it in the aviary?:?:

[BFC 007]

freeloft it if you can,better on the bird mate. Wait till her tail feathers start falling out,or young bunnies start making an appearance.

[Juzzer]

HH look in the archives m8

plenty of info there,all you need to no

[Palmer]

Thanks alot lads?:supz:

[Tr1gger]

If its ur birds first moult then i wouldnt advise free-lofting, it can duff up a bird. Not allways but it can do and i would NOT advise it.

Time for putting it down to moult depends on when u started flyin him/her and when you would like to fly him/her next season.

[Harrisii]

i personally prefer free flight mews all year round and the moult espescially. it helps the bird maintain a little fitness rather than being tied down for 6 months. at least he/she can choose where to perch etc. if she wants the suns rays a bit of rain, or shelter etc. i advise free flight.

when to do it depends on a few things. in your case HH i would try to get him catching a few head first, the latest i would leave it is early to mid april.
some people put their birds down to moult in march and this is no bad thing. remember, the later he goes down the later he will come out of it.
some moult earlier to get them going early next season as thats when there are plenty of young (fully grown) rabbits about and pheasants too.

[Dave G]

put mine up around about end of feb as i use the ferret and thats when i feel rabbits start to mate good and proper,also this is the time my bird starts to drop the fluff first sign of the birds getting ready for the moult,mines always been free lofted at top weight however this year im putting his weight up to about 1lb 12 oz which he (male harris) is still very stable on the fist and hes going to be free lofted and also bowed out some days as im changing his routine this year for different reasons

[JB29]

The moult is triggered by light and food. As the days get longer this leads the bird to start moulting as does an increase in the amount and quality of food. My FH always drops her first tail feather in the last week of April and is usually not finished until September. She is free lofted all the time anyway but I feel that so long on the bow is not a good idea. If put in a seclusion aviary and disturbed as little as possible he should be fine.

Trigger see me after hawking on Sunday. What is the hawking term DUFF UP?

[Flying High]

i would put my bird up about march but he or she was dropping feathers before that then i would put up earlier. Right now this is why i go against everyone so far (i think) i would moult on the block and i would also keep up the handling and feeding on fist

[Harrisii]

i would put my bird up about march but he or she was dropping feathers before that then i would put up earlier. Right now this is why i go against everyone so far (i think) i would moult on the block and i would also keep up the handling and feeding on fist

as HH has a harris i was recomending free flight.
just for curiosity sake, what about falcons?? are they usually moulted out on the block?? are you refering to
falcons FH, or all birds?
cheers H.

[JFSeaman]

There are lots of ways to deal with the molt.

As with alot of things, there are more ways to do it right than wrong. A wrong thing is stress and lack of food. Both as far as I know cause bad feather condition which will be a plague next winter hunting season.

As for when and how.

Anything from starting now to flying your bird through the molt.
Free loft or not your choice.
Seculsion or not your choice.
Manning/handling or not your choice.
Flying or not your choice.

In my opinion, there is no 'best', only opinions on what is best.

The harris hawk is so flexible and does not (necessarrily) stress in social situations. That leaves the options up to you.

Other breeds are less flexible. So if you get something else in future, don't treat it like a HH. Ask someone else for their opinion on what is best.

[Flying High]

as HH has a harris i was recomending free flight.
just for curiosity sake, what about falcons?? are they usually moulted out on the block?? are you refering to
falcons FH, or all birds?
cheers H.

I personally moult all of my birds on there blocks. i have moulted birds in free flight aviary's but i much prefer block and over seven years i have not had any problem and that is for every kinds of birds of prey , eagles to kestrels

[Bones]

My MHH has started to drop downy feathers allready along with a few body feathers so next few weeks for me i rekon
PAUL

[Gary.B]

How do you determine 'top weight'.

[Trappa]

At the start of spring is ideal. a lot of quarry have young then,which isnt nice to kill and it doesnt give ammo to the antis.Also there will soon be too much cover for ideal flights.(and if you have been flying hard,your often ready for a break yourself!)

[james HH]

On returning from a walk about this morning i noticed my male harris's centre deck feather was hanging out, it was only saved because it had a tail mount on and the other side was intact, he has been quite accident prone latley and has lost a couple of his head when he was being dragged through undergrowth by a rabbit, could his tail feather have been an accident.

[Tigger]

wood it do any harm putting a bird down two moult early in the season i put my bird down two moult about this time last season due two problams wood it do any harm two putterdown early a gen

[Tigger]

How do you determine 'top weight'.

i feed my berd up till she as had a nuff i do that for a cupale off days till she isant intrestid in it

[GregMik]

I put my Harris up for the molt right after NAFA. He has dropped 4 secondaries and a bunch of body feathers so far. I have him on a Bow in the spare bedroom as it is too cold outside. He is under 24/7 lights. He should be ready to go by May. I will prolly start pigeon hawking about then.

Greg

[BlackHawke]

my own personal opinion here but the only reason i put my bird upto moult is coz im quite happy of the break. the problem is 2 weeks into the moult n im eager to get flying again:oops:

i could probably fly my female through the moult coz she can fly at quite high weight.

once again my own personal opinion but if you feed your bird some decent quality food a couple of times a week theres no reason why you cant hunt throughout the summer, apart from young bunnies that is:oops:

[Paddy1]

tight here is a question or more xperienced falconers out their as most of you know i got kiya this year been fying since august i was going to extend her season to get her a few more kills before i put her down to moult or would i be better of putting her down end of feb and getting her ready for the young rabbits at the start of next season ??????

[BlackHawke]

jay my own experience with jade is she dont start moulting til the days get longer anyway so. march, beginning of april time.
i got jade out early this year for the bash and there was no fret marks in her feathers that grew from august onwards and no noticeable weaknesses. pretty hardly the old harris you know:grin: :grin:

one final thing i put her with a little male begginning of last year and she didnt start moulting til may but she did catch up and was ready to hunt beggining of september

[Paddy1]

jay my own experience with jade is she dont start moulting til the days get longer anyway so. march, beginning of april time.
i got jade out early this year for the bash and there was no fret marks in her feathers that grew from august onwards and no noticeable weaknesses. pretty hardly the old harris you know:grin: :grin:

one final thing i put her with a little male begginning of last year and she didnt start moulting til may but she did catch up and was ready to hunt beggining of september




cheers rob its gunna kill me putting her down to moult so the longer i can keep her flying the better :supz:

[Sean]

paddy mate, if u hunt on that late, you will be so sick of digging out nests and gutting pregnant does that you will be releaved to moult lol, i thought the same :roll: end of feburary for me :)

[Paddy1]

paddy mate, if u hunt on that late, you will be so sick of digging out nests and gutting pregnant does that you will be releaved to moult lol, i thought the same :roll: end of feburary for me :)



good point mate bt you will doin that iddle of janary if this weather stays bloody mild like it has been :confused: :evil:

[BlackHawke]

see i personally....well down here anyway dont rekon thats gonna happen til later than normal but sean your probably right but autumn seems to be later so spring maybe later aswell. i was getting young rabbits in late november this year

[Palmer]

lol this is an old thread. glad its still helping though!