Are you flying through moult?

[falconer06]

Anyone ot there flying through the moult???? and if so what problems have you encountered so far . Any one got opinions as to benefit/not to bird or feather growth???
have done it a few seasons myself , just curious!!
Oh , and i wouldnt again unless longwings for pest or others for display( then birds have been accelerated moult over winter or slow thr u summer , make sense??).

[Harrisii]

i am only flying birds for pest control, none of my own.
but i reckon the benefits are outweighed by the cons.

this time is great for getting new birds going ie: theres a lot of young stuff about if confidence is what you want to build.

regarding broadwings,
with all the cover about its dificult to keep trak of birds.
aslo, there is a multitude of young rabbits, fledglings etc about and a hawk can make a kill pretty easily which does not teach it much. its also murder for the falconer trying to keep up with his bird and be there when it takes young blackbirds or whatever.
catching young rabbits is very easy for some broadwings and when faced with big winter bucks they occasionally refuse them having been used to small 1/2 grown ones which dont put up a fight.
there are a few other species of bird etc which we dont want our birds catching, young ducklings, oystercatchers, lapwing etc.
and if you stumble accross a rookery be prepared.

so for me, although i hate the moult, i wouldn't be tempted to do my hawking during the summer.

whats your experiences of it F6. be interested to hear your side of things and how it went for you.

[falconer06]

One season with HH ****** learned about nests ,... grounded.
RT learned how to carry little bunnies
Sker , bitch learned that the local pere was teaching her fledglings to catch mid air , nearly lost her through a rake across the back!
I think it aint woth the hassle , get the time spent on other things (wife?)

[Harris]

All the birds at the centre are flown daily, with the exception of a few! the only real probs is weight control is a little more tricky in the hot weather, and most birds need dropping slightly, other than that no probs, we even flew a Barn Owl with no tail the other day :rolleyes:

[Harrisii]

One season with HH ****** learned about nests ,... grounded.
RT learned how to carry little bunnies
Sker , bitch learned that the local pere was teaching her fledglings to catch mid air , nearly lost her through a rake across the back!
I think it aint woth the hassle , get the time spent on other things (wife?)

fair points. canny argue with that mate.

[ibrahim hassan]

i am currently flying my bird through the moult, not at hunting weight though. I feel that flying your bird is the best form of manning and by doing so the trust and fitness levels are still kept high in comparison to somebody who has there bird teathered for months on end. As mentioned in previous threads most wild birds have perfect feathering and they spend most of their life at hunting weight:supz:

[johnny abbott]

i am currently flying my bird through the moult, not at hunting weight though. I feel that flying your bird is the best form of manning and by doing so the trust and fitness levels are still kept high in comparison to somebody who has there bird teathered for months on end. As mentioned in previous threads most wild birds have perfect feathering and they spend most of their life at hunting weight:supz:wild birds moult in the summer so please explain why they spend most of there life at hunting weight when there is plenty of quarry at this time of yr

[SnakeHuts]

Ibrahim Hassan,

The flying weight for a wild eyass / falcon will be much higher than the weight we fly at when hunting, dont believe a bird starpped down to flying weight will moult as well as a bird on a richer diet and higher weight.

Having said that my peresaker has only dropped 4 inner primaries and no tail or body feathers 6 weeks ago.

Not sure when or if she will fully moult, even though well up on flying weight on a diet of quail.

[Dude]

I am currently flying through the moult without probs. Okay conditioning can be hard coz the hot, but there is no probs with the moult my MHH nearly moulted out! 3tail feathers remained and a 3 pairs os primaries and a few 2ndaries.

[Dave G]

dude our bird would be the same if we had the weather you get lol ;)

[ibrahim hassan]

I just assaumed that if wild birds where hunting then then they where at hunting weight, but yes i take your point J Abbott and Snakehuts that in the wild a summer time abundance of food will make the moult fairly stressless for a wild bird.
Just out of curiosity, how much difference is there in the hunting weight of a wild/trained hawk?

[SnakeHuts]

Ibrahim Hassan, obviously not a question you can be definitive on as it obviously depends on the species, but would think say a peregrine tiercel could be upto 3 oz above that of trained parent reared eyass tiercel.

Any other takers on this question

[OutFlying]

I would say at least 10%, as this was the rule of thumb reduction in weight quoted in the older falconry books.

Jim.

[MattSpar]

At my age, I'm so damned worn out at the end of the season I'm almost glad to put the birds down to moult and check that I'm still alive.

[GoodFooter]

the moult is the time for reflection and anticipation and I like it that way!
I guess thats no then.

[Kevin Massey]

For me its the quary that needs a break aswell.....i cant see what enjoyment i could get out of loads of baby bunnies

[Lanner_Man]

All the birds at the centre are flown daily, with the exception of a few! the only real probs is weight control is a little more tricky in the hot weather, and most birds need dropping slightly, other than that no probs, we even flew a Barn Owl with no tail the other day :rolleyes:

just remember, that its different with centres as they need to keep going with demos, pest control etc to keep the money coming in, its their only source of income.

[Harris]

just remember, that its different with centres as they need to keep going with demos, pest control etc to keep the money coming in, its their only source of income.


I know :yawinkle:

[Claire]

I think the summer is a great time for lure flying longwings, I'm flying my kes through the moult but she hasn't been entered so I'm not hunting, I would fly a harris through the moult but at a higher weight so that it is not activly hunting, at the moment I'm trying to encourage the kes to go up and play with the thermals :)

[Lanner_Man]

i agree with the longwings, i am flying my lannerette at the moment just to the lure (he don't do much else). lanners like the warmer weather, hes learning about thermals at the moment.