Moulting

[Merlinni]

Ive been reading loads on the site and ive noticed that Birds are put down to moult and they gain a lot of weight How come.
I realise that they moult during the summer months so very light evenings why arent the birds flown for exercise.

I can understand not hunting during the quarry breeding season but is this the reason for not flying during the moult.


Ok maybe a stupid question but have to learn somehow :)

[Afshimo]

I tried to fly morag through most of her moult but she was very clever and dropped her full tail in 3 weeks so she could fly properly and the winds can be harsh so i let her get fat and greedy but keeping contact with her. Its your own opinions - but yes - i love the sun in the evenings under a nice olf oak in the middle of the field overloking a field full of lettacus lol. I take Mo's T perch and she sits of that and watched the world go by for a bit to cool down. The sun can be an annoying factor as when it gets over the 30 C mark... most birds get a little bit laz beucas thry r to hot.

HTH

Han

[Merlinni]

Is that normal for birds of prey to drop all Or most of the tail feathers

[Afshimo]

it is unusual but she was a juvinile, hope she does that nxt year too lol. Finished her moult nice and quick!

[Claire]

thread moved to the correct forum :)

I'm flying my kestrel through the moult but the reason most people feed up their birds and dont fly them is that they moult quicker at a higher weight and on better quality foods, the idea is that you have a feather perfect bird for the beginning of the season, birds which are flown through the moult may not moult out completely. hope that helps

[Steve Harris]

i always fly through a moult and have never had any issues,

by the way - how's that bike of yours :lol:

[Merlinni]

Wayhey bout ya steve bikes going too well never have anything to post about it ...lol

[Jiff]

alot of people put theire birds up for the moult, the reasons arn't clear cut, some people work aswell as fly and putting the bird up for moult not only assists with a good moult but gives the falconer/austringer a bit of a breather through the summer, there's nothing wrong with flying through the moult, either to the lure or vermin species, the crop cover and cover in general will pose all sorts of problems and telemetry becomes essencial even at short distances,the other important point is that new feathers are easily damaged,if a new feather is damaged or lost,the only option then is to imp or fly without a full wing or tail, however there are still lots of people who do fly through the moult,prefering to take the chance rather than loose some raport with the bird.

[OutFlying]

Can people please state which hawk / falcon they are flying through the moult.

My guess it will be the harris hawk, due to the fact it remains responsive at weights way above it's hunting weight.

Not many other hawks are able to do this so aren't flown through the moult.

If freelofted and handled, no need to fly in the summer.


Yours Jim.

[Jiff]

what about the hawks and facons that do dissplay work at fairs and suchlike,as most fairs are through the summer the falcons still must work well in dissplay and moult out also, so it's not impossible to fly any bird while moulting,

[Adam Barrett]

My harris finnished her moult about a month ago, had her up and going within 2 weeks after a week of reduced rashions after about 2 weeks i gave it up as a bad job. to hot, to much cover, to many young and stupid quarry species.
For me this took all the fun right out of it, no real sport to be had at this time of year IMHO.

Roll on september and a few cold spells :supz::goodman:

[OutFlying]

what about the hawks and facons that do dissplay work at fairs and suchlike,as most fairs are through the summer the falcons still must work well in dissplay and moult out also, so it's not impossible to fly any bird while moulting,


Jiff,
Do it with a spar or gos, let me know how you go on.

Display falcons / hawks are display birds - not at hunting weight, but trained to operate at a fatter weight.

How many falcons / hawks that are hunted that aren't harris hawks do you know that are flown through the moult ?

Yours Jim.

[Steve Harris]

Can people please state which hawk / falcon they are flying through the moult.

My guess it will be the harris hawk, due to the fact it remains responsive at weights way above it's hunting weight.

Not many other hawks are able to do this so aren't flown through the moult.

If freelofted and handled, no need to fly in the summer.


Yours Jim.

now theres the cross over point of the initial question,:yawinkle:
and top marks for asking it,

i fly any bird i have through the moult,
pere's saker's spar's the whole lot,

but i fly at fat weight,

wow - am i good,
sort of - it's purely an exersize thing,
no hunting - wrong time of the year = i especially dont wanna put anything in the bag thats got young or indeed still carrying,
morals and ethics - now theres a rare thing, old school :yawinkle:

the sole purpose is to maintain the bond and responsiveness

and i'm going to get blasted outta the water by setting the cat amoungst the pidgeons here,
but i also dont use telemetary,

i-m-h-o = far too much reliance on modern technology means earlier release from creance and essential training stages are skipped and missed,
far too many birds go missing each year - all wearing telem,
theres some sense in my words of wisdom,

and the results speak for themselves,
in 30yrs of flying all manner of b.o.p i have only lost 1 past the point of recovery,
and this was a saker - reknown for ******ing off anyway,

putting the bird down for the moult is all well and good
i dont disagree with the practice,

but - theres an element of quickness once the birds taken back into training
give most folks 3 or 4 days and the birds off creance,

no re-inforcment of anything but the basics,
heres me now come fly to fist etc,

so given you have had your bird in a nice quite mews etc for this time,
hows the bird going to respond to a car backfiring , tractors whizzing past, indeed any strange / sudden noises,

in most cases - its off and into the next county,

i dont tend to have this issue - my birds are always out an about, always having the basics re-inforced
and i also find the feathers grow through stronger for doing so,

[Simon.Nichols]

has anybody got a picture of these fret marks as i have never seen them apparently my uncle use to fly my female that i have now through the molt

[AndyHawks]

has anybody got a picture of these fret marks as i have never seen them apparently my uncle use to fly my female that i have now through the molt
theyl be in any good book

[Dayo]

Lots of cover and leaves in the trees makes losing a bird much easier.:yawinkle:

[Aidan]

Lots of cover and leaves in the trees makes losing a bird much easier.:yawinkle:

especially a spar :lol::box:

[Dean York]

There you go.

http://www.themodernapprentice.com/fretmarks.htm

Atb
Dean