Obesity In A Bop

[Isis]

With alot of BOP being fed up for the moult i was wondering if anyone worrys about obesity in their bird. I have read that they can suffer from this, and what precautions can be taken.

[GregMik]

Moved out of General Falconry Talk.......

[GregMik]

Yes they can suffer from this. I usually only go 20% above hunting weight, Max. So that means I weight my birds during the molt also.

Greg

[Tim Laycock]

It is a worry how much people feed their birds while lofted for the moult.

My Gos kills @ 2lb 10oz

She is currently moulting with alarming speed at 2lb 14oz.

If weight is not pushed up too much during the moult then enseaming for the begining of the new season is a simple task and does not take weeks :supz:

[Sprout]

Cholesterol can clog the arteries of BOP's just as easy as it does humans. Luckily for BOP's this excess cholesterol is easily and quickly removed by exercise (unlike humans) - so even breeding birds it helps to pull them out and fly them from time to time - just to clean the pipe works out!.

[Sprout]

I have also seen a few birds this year (a few too many) that died whilst being jessed/belled up - being over fat the increased stress of man-handling caused them to keel over from heart attack - could have been easily avoided by monitoring condition or at least leaving it a few days before casting to change equipment/cope etc etc.

[Game & Pursuit Falcon UK]

I have also seen a few birds this year (a few too many) that died whilst being jessed/belled up - being over fat the increased stress of man-handling caused them to keel over from heart attack - could have been easily avoided by monitoring condition or at least leaving it a few days before casting to change equipment/cope etc etc.
Interesting feed back Karl.

[Matthew Patching]

If my birds are free lofted during the moult then they get perched out every day and weighed during this time, so that I can clean the pen, as they are getting weighed I can keep an eye on how heavy they are, Particularly with the larger falcons and eagles/vultures I am less worried about cholesterol buildup and more worried about them being too heavy for there feet, so increasing the chance of bumble foot.

With birds that are in breeding chambers you can keep a check on there weight by not feeding If they dont come down to feed as soon as the food is put in with them, once young are in the nest you should be careful that the parents are getting enough food as they will often feed the young way before they think about feedin themselves, regardless of how hungry they may or may not be.

Once the female is sitting a full clutch I tend to swap there diet from quail and pigeons to a lower quality diet such as rabbit and hare, they still moult out butifully and at pipping time I work in rats mice quial and pigeon to feed the young, I have found that you can still feed rabbit during this time as the birds will feed the good stuff to the young whilst eaing rabbit themselves, you just have to put the good food in during the early morning and once they get the young all fed put in a 1/4 rabbit for them to eat, putting fresh good food in again later for the chicks subsiquent feeds.
Just my thoughts.
ME:)