Casting

[Afshimo]

How often should a bird have casting? Is casting important? What is casting? Some q's I've been asked...

[OhMyGod]

During the flying season I usually feed rinsed skinned chick, as much as she can eat every day. She will produce a pellet the size of a pea and no bigger. I am thinking that it it better to have 8 rinsed skinned chicks so her crop is ready to burst than 6 unskinned chicks. The casting does not go into the intestines and only goes as far as the stomach and then is cast out so it is useless pretty much. I would rather pull it all off and feed more food so she gets more bone and other bits. I can not really understand the concept that birds need a tennis ball looking cast every day. Somtimes I look at weatherings at centres etc and they are filled with these tennis balls, why? better to get more bone I reckon. Then just feed a good casting once a week on the non flying day. Or when it rains etc. If I fed chick with castings every day my bird would lose condition and not be able to fly as strongly.

I must state that cropping a bird up to the max can be dangerous and should only be done with birds that are used to it. I have never had a problem with this and infact use it to my advantage. She is cropped up fully as much chick as she can eat until she leavs bits on the glove every single day when fit and flown. When on a kill she has some then I give her loads of chick to bulk her right up ready for the next day.

[Tim Laycock]

My hawks are given casting every three days.
No more than this is required for accipiters as they are such picky eaters and do not naturaly take a great deal of casting

[OhMyGod]

casting hannah is all the bits the stomach acid can not disolve.

On chick this would be all fluff, claws, beak.

On rat this would be fur, claws.

on beef nothing would remain undesolved and you could feed continuesly without having to wait for the casts to come out once formed.

you get the idea.

[Talib]

In your situation, with a gyr/saker that is at least half-prone to having a high susceptibility to aspergillosis, then castings are a very good indicator of the early stages of asper.
In most cases small amounts of undigested food can be found in the castings of raptors suffering the early stages of asper... usually before breathing problems are observed when it is too late to do much about it.
I feed casting every day and dissect every pellet during the training of any gyr or gyr hybrid.

Talib

PS And by casting I mean feathers or coarse fur... day-old chick fluff and small rodent fur is pretty useless for large falcons. A large falcon does not need to cast after ingesting chick fluff and fine fur, it can go straight through its digestive system and end up in the mutes... never see the yellowy-brown mutes of raptors that are fed DOC's?... that's the fluff coming from the other end.

[Tim Laycock]

Good post Talib

[Dude]

I said if the bird is in low condition u have to wait until the casting come out, but if the bird is fat its not to important, but I always wait until my birds do it before flying.

Dan.

[Roo]

Can I add another question?

How long after the feeding does it take for the casting to come out?

I guess it will vary with food and bird but just a general idea...

[Dude]

it varies on the weather and that how much happen to the bird... If u man the bird it will come out earlier or if the weather is cold it do the same. If the bird is bigger it will take longer than a small bird... it also depens on the amount of the food...


Dan.

[Roo]

I really have no idea as in time, are we talking a few hours?

[OhMyGod]

12 hours if all the food is put over.

or 12 hours from the time the last bit is put over

[Sprout]

In most cases small amounts of undigested food can be found in the castings of raptors suffering the early stages of asper

Not just asper! Other conditions will also cause undigested food in faeces.