How much should I give him dad?

[Eznugud]

How much should I give him dad?

How hard is it to judge how much to feed a bird when its not your doing the training / flying?

Since Brads been training this hybrid I’ve not had a lot to do with what it’s eating, basically he’s been dropping the weigh and I’ve just been checking how fast or should I say slowly the weight is coming off by looking in his diary.

Today Brad asked me”how much should shall I give him dad?
Well I didn’t have a clue, so winged it by getting his diary out and asking him how much he feed him on this when he lost weight and how much on this day when he gained weight and so on.

I usually judge how much to feed my birds by the cigarette method.
I didn’t realise I used the cigarette method until about 10 years ago, I was laid at the side of my bird having a cig while he was feeding on a crow, an friend of a friend who was flying my falcons sister stood over me and asked…… how much crow do you feed him to hold his weight?
My answer was “2 cigarettes worth, when i`ve smoked 2 cigs thats his lot”, he then got all technical on me quoting weight of chicks, richness of different meat etc.……”seriously 2 cigarettes worth” I said again.
I did feel a bit of a **** after, but it was the only answer I could give him, I’m sure he thought I was taking the **** and didn’t want to divulge my top secret feeding methods.

Brads really got me thinking with his “how much should I feed him question?

Its all well and good training and flying your own bird, but it’s a different kettle of fish when you are “overseeing” someone else training a bird.

Outcome: Brads got 10 Benson & Hedges waiting for him when he gets up in the morning…..;)

[TimDog80]

depending on the bird and what it has done....how hard its worked/howlong you have been out etc....oh and what time your flying the next day! with spars feeding on kills i always used to let them feed until there crop was quite prominent and just exept that if it were not back onweight by the morning time i would usually fly it should be by the afternoon given there metabolism! bigger bird i find a basic amount which holds there weight e.g flying the harris for an hour= 3 chicks back on weight same time next day! if were out hawking. chasing for a few hours id give him an extra chick, and pay note to his crop size as when he kills he can feed up to the point his crop looks the same as having 4 docs:yawinkle: i like to try and keep it simple although with the spars certain foods i tend to weigh at the begining of the season till i got a good idea whats what food value wise.

[FredrickFogg]

How much should I give him dad?

How hard is it to judge how much to feed a bird when its not your doing the training / flying?

Since Brads been training this hybrid I’ve not had a lot to do with what it’s eating, basically he’s been dropping the weigh and I’ve just been checking how fast or should I say slowly the weight is coming off by looking in his diary.

Today Brad asked me”how much should shall I give him dad?
Well I didn’t have a clue, so winged it by getting his diary out and asking him how much he feed him on this when he lost weight and how much on this day when he gained weight and so on.

I usually judge how much to feed my birds by the cigarette method.
I didn’t realise I used the cigarette method until about 10 years ago, I was laid at the side of my bird having a cig while he was feeding on a crow, an friend of a friend who was flying my falcons sister stood over me and asked…… how much crow do you feed him to hold his weight?
My answer was “2 cigarettes worth, when i`ve smoked 2 cigs thats his lot”, he then got all technical on me quoting weight of chicks, richness of different meat etc.……”seriously 2 cigarettes worth” I said again.
I did feel a bit of a **** after, but it was the only answer I could give him, I’m sure he thought I was taking the **** and didn’t want to divulge my top secret feeding methods.

Brads really got me thinking with his “how much should I feed him question?

Its all well and good training and flying your own bird, but it’s a different kettle of fish when you are “overseeing” someone else training a bird.

Outcome: Brads got 10 Benson & Hedges waiting for him when he gets up in the morning…..;)

OH NO, I don't smoke, now my birds are going to starve! LOL

Fred

[Venividevenatio]

Better to find the lad another way, the smoking is real hard to give up..I've got the T Shirt!
On the more serious side to your thread, here is my twopenneth.
I have always found that for a pursuit falcon, if it eats most of what is useful on a rook or crow, its weight gain is minimal next day, even if the condition is a bit out! This is rectified to some extent , by not flying youngsters the day following a kill. This allows the weight and conditioning to return, and helps the bird to get over any stiffness from the extra effort.

[Eznugud]

I think I’m making it difficult for Brad at the moment for the simple reason I don’t let him use doc`s.
It’s easy to say “feed him 2 chicks” etc; I want him to learn to judge the amount of food rather than the amount of chicks…….
It’s a hell of a lot easier doing it yourself than trying to judge it on someone else’s bird.
I’ve always found it very easy regarding food and weight control, I’ve never had to put much thought into it…..just look at the bird a say “that’s your lot”….
Telling someone else how much to feed his bird is pretty difficult….difficult may be the wrong word, I suppose it’s harder because if you get it wrong someone who is relying on your advice knows you got it wrong…

[FlameHairedFalconer]

Very interesting - I would agree that feeding your own birds is something sort of 'instinctual' (ooo I created a new word!) You take into account so many factors, but to some extent you just 'know'.

FHF

[Matt]

what about pre weighed rations of washed shin beef .

he will get a better idea of size/ weight and will always get it right .
im a butcher by trade and a big part of the training is estimating weights of meat .

if you buy a hole shin from the butcher and cut it into lumps the right weight and freez them . each day you can get out the ration soak it in warm water in the bag and rince til its lost some colour . once it room temp you have the perfect ration .


its tough and cut long ways with the grain to create strips it will keep the bird bissy for hour . there is no fat there and littel casting .

say for exapmle feed an estimated ration at normal time then weigh the bird untill it's on weight again if its longer than normal reduce the ration , if its sooner than usual increase the ration untill its bang on .

you will be amased how one peice will look alot bigger than another even tho they are exactly the same in weight.

say the ration is 3 oz of meat then you have 2 very nice peices for the lure and an equil 2 portions for pick up.

all the sinue makes for a long lasting peice that the bird has to attack to get the reward from.

have the tougher parts with more sinue for pick up and the softer part for on the lure .

it works for me and i always do this with young birds through there training.

it sounds complicated but its not , give it a go.