Coping during the moult

[JoHo]

Hi All,

My FHH needs coping but I am reluctant to do it because she is smack bang in the middle of growing a shed load of new feathers. Is there anything I can do or give her to munch on, that could keep it down till she is done or do I just have to bite the bullet and get it done. Problem is she has no furnitire on, and is freelofted so casting he could be quite stressfull.

Any constructive advice would be helpfull

Cheers.

[Dave G]

i would leave your bird till the moult has finished as the last thing you want is a new feather damaged ?? ,as long as the beak is ok and your hawks eating fine wait till the moult has finnished

[DeathFromAbove]

Looks like you're having the same problem as me. Coped my FHH's beak before the moult but with all the high quality food and vitamin supplements she's having her beak as grown pretty long and needs doing again, but as she's also growning nice new feathers I can't take her up to cope her untill she's finished moulting out. As RHH said, as long as she can eat and preen well enough she'll be fine until the end of the moult. The problem with coping is once you do it once the beak's growth is then accelerated and it needs to be done more often as it grows back quicker.

I'm giving the odd rabbit head for mine to pick on to help keep it trimmed down so that's something you could do too to help her. also is there anything course such as a big stone etc... for her to 'feak' her beak on after food? This will also help her to keep her beak in trim.

Hope this helps. :-D

[Jiff]

how bad is it? thats the million dollar question, have you got or can you get any rabbits, i find rabbits heads and spine sections help to keep them in shape, chicks,quail,rats ect don't realy set the bird a chalenge, the spine section of a rabbit realy makes em work, my bird wont settle till it's picked clean, which gets her realy using her beak to winkle out the last bits,

[Gozzhawk]

good advice , rabbit heads , stone to feak , dont give too ,any vits , why?? if good varied diet too much vits creates unnatural feather growth.
Only reason they tell you loadsa vits ( cant overdose) bullcrop is same withall capatalist bull ... profit.

[Hardcore Hawker]

Rabbit heads and spines may prevent overgrowth but will not trim down once overgrown. I have the same problem with my male Harris coped before moult but by this time it is overgrown as is the case at the moment the odd thing is i have not had to cope the female which is kept in the same aviary, has the same food Etc with no vits i may add as all moult food naturally caught game for so long as to not remember the last time i done it her beak is always perfect. I will go in and cast him soon and just take the tip off no need to re-shape until after the moult this only takes about two minutes and is something i have had to do every year for the last five years during the moult and he has never had any stress marks. In my opinion if you are confident catch the bird with little fuss and do the job quickly it will be fine.

[Hacker]

What i use are a pair of dog nail clippers that are held in the hand vertically.
as you squeeze the handles the top blade slides across the bottom part of the cutters.This is flat with a central hole in.
The idea being that you place the claw in the hole to the desired length squeeze the handles and the blade moves across and trims the claw.
The blade is very sharp and quicly and cleanly cuts the claws.
To trim the beak just slowly hold the cutter up and pass the tip of the beak through the hole,squeeze and Voila! one coped beak.
You can shape later if need be but tirings will do this for you.
I did 3 falcons and 1 Harris in 10 minutes last time.
You can buy the clippers for about a fiver at your local pet shop.
And it does not stress the bird out.

[JoHo]

Thanks for all the advice guys,
I do feed rabbit head from time to time, mainly caught whilst ferreting, as i only shoot for head shots and will be very uneasy feeding head with the potential lead pellet inside. THAT WILL NOT BE A GOOD DAY OUT. I was also thinking of getting a small deer head to two every now and again.

Good idea about the rock, she currently uses the log (branch) swing to feak after feeding.

[JoHo]

What i use are a pair of dog nail clippers that are held in the hand vertically.
as you squeeze the handles the top blade slides across the bottom part of the cutters.This is flat with a central hole in.
The idea being that you place the claw in the hole to the desired length squeeze the handles and the blade moves across and trims the claw.
The blade is very sharp and quicly and cleanly cuts the claws.
To trim the beak just slowly hold the cutter up and pass the tip of the beak through the hole,squeeze and Voila! one coped beak.
You can shape later if need be but tirings will do this for you.
I did 3 falcons and 1 Harris in 10 minutes last time.
You can buy the clippers for about a fiver at your local pet shop.
And it does not stress the bird out.


Hacker do you mean these clippers??
If so is there not the chance of cracking the beak as the preasure is applied envenly accross the shape of the beak??

[Osiris]

Good advice all around... My FHH needs her beak coped too, but it aint bad at all, but also reluctant as she is doing a great moult.

---

Hacker do you mean these clippers??
If so is there not the chance of cracking the beak as the preasure is applied envenly accross the shape of the beak??

I have always used these clippers. Have never had any problems, but i have heard that they can cause cracking of the beak, but haven't witnessed it myself. Personal preference is why i use them.

Jamie

[Jiff]

they are the ones to use, the other plier shaped ones if not razor sharp can be a pain to use safely.

[DeathFromAbove]

good advice , rabbit heads , stone to feak , dont give too ,any vits , why?? if good varied diet too much vits creates unnatural feather growth.
Only reason they tell you loadsa vits ( cant overdose) bullcrop is same withall capatalist bull ... profit.


Sorry, should have clarified that I only supplement the DOCs with the vits... Raptor Essentials... great stuff.:D

[Hacker]

Hacker do you mean these clippers??
If so is there not the chance of cracking the beak as the preasure is applied envenly accross the shape of the beak??
That`s the ones m8.
They are really sharp and if cut straight on they should not split the beak anymore than other methods.
The hole in the bottom plate holds the beak securely and ensures a clean cut.