field injuries

[Sharpster]

my mhh has just broke his front middle toe ,near the base.vet reckons with rest it will heal itself in 3 weeks or so,phew!
this happened when he nailed a rather scrappy rabbit,big scuffle resulting in bird losing it's footing & being dragged rather a long way at rather high speed!with just one foot on bunnies bum!whils feeding bird up on kill i noticed the twisted toe-sickening feeling,i can tell you.
what makes harris' so prone to breaks(regardless of the breeder)as despite more fragile tails ,gosses bones seem to be a helluva lot tougher,not to mention reds!??
also can we get a list of injuries/what the vet said/& outcome of treatment on here,as may be helpful for imediate first aid etc?

[PeregrinesUK]

Think you hit the nail on the head there "The breeder" to many breeders feeding to many young hawks **** diets - im sure everyone on here would rather pay an extra 50-60 quid and know there hawk was raised on the best foods possible.
mick

[Blaze]

Think you hit the nail on the head there "The breeder" to many breeders feeding to many young hawks **** diets - im sure everyone on here would rather pay an extra 50-60 quid and know there hawk was raised on the best foods possible.
mick
Definatley......Money should be no object in falconry the birds health n welfare should be top of the list!

[Sharpster]

i realize ther's no gaurantee ,unless you breed your own bird.but this one came from a well regarded chap.also this is the birds 2nd season & has the best diet since he was 16wks you just don't seem to here such problems with other birds-but is it a numbers thing.as hh must outnumber other flow birds by 50 to 1 ?

[As The Falcon Her Bells]

Hi, you say you would rather pay more, still first question that is always asked when someone ring up to buy a bird is "whats do you sell your_____for mate?" If anyone ever comented on the price they have always done so before asking diet, parents, rearing, etc.
So Im not sure I agree, you might say you are willing to pay more, but a majority of buyers in the UK seem to be more interessted in price then anything else, sorry for ranting on about it, I know I had a go about it before, but as you see it is a bit of a sore subject......
Anyway, We feed live food to all our birds (killed instantly before feeding) 1-5 times a week depending on bird, weather and what time of year.
I also know that most other bigger and respected breeders do exactly the same,
I think the weak bones is to do with inbreeding as well, Most HH in the UK comes from close related bloodlines inter breed with eachother, not a lot of new blood lines has ever been brought in if you compere to the amounth that is breed evey year.

If you compere harris feet and bone structure to gos and RT, Gos and RT is without a doubt thicker and more powerfull. In the wild HH hunt as a team and if it is a large prey there is at least 2 birds holding it down, if a hh is hunting on its own it mainly goes for smaller mammals, even snakes and scorpions. Maybe that could have something to do with it?

[Barbary Boy]

well said AS THE FALCON HER BELLS allmost without exception everyone that comes here will try and knock the price down,they know it before they even arrive but still try,i could be feeding caviar and lobster all year round most people arnt bothered might as well feed offal for what most people care?

[PeregrinesUK]

you guys are probably right sorry you guys are right it seems to be the way of the world always wanting something for nothing.. at least i know i am prepaired to pay that little extra in my mind for a good hawk - know your breeders.

The most important time in a hawks development it the initial few weeks the time when everything 'he' has is going into development a lack of anything dietry at this point is with the hawk for life especially bone structure wise.

[Sprout]

Diet does have some bearing on bone formation etc but it would be the same for all birds - not just HH fed a **** diet! The tibiotarsus on a HH changes from a triangular shape to a round shape about a third the way down the bone, this is the weak point and the place where almost all HH break their leg after bating because of too long a leash.

[As The Falcon Her Bells]

If this is the reason, I have no doubt it is, why does the hh bate to that extend? I personally like to give all birds a long leash (within reason) stops the leash from cutting in to the tail when they jusmp down and gives them proper room when they have a bath. Can it be that some un experienced people tie them down un hooded when they are not tame enough and leave them where they are to spooked by people etc??
I know my vet comented that the most comon injured bop she get in is hh with broken legs.
But I also experienced a surpringsingly high number break ore twist in toes, just as sharpster said.
BB and p,uk thanks for support, I was scared of getting ripped to pieces there.....:)

[Sprout]

The leash should just be long enough so that the ring is flat on the floor, no longer. As you said it is common for eyasses in initial training to bate to cause such injuries but it only needs ONE incident to spook a bird, whatever age to cause it if the leash is too long. I'm not overly aware of HH breaking more bones than other birds, maybe it is because there are more HH out there so we hear more about them?? Interesting question none the less.

[Barbary Boy]

youve got to remember that there a lot of injuries to h/hawks recorded because there is a phenomonal amount of h/hawks out there compaired to other species.