Flying A Cast

[Budfin]

Hi, I'm currently flying a male harris but would love to get a female as well to fly them together in a cast, I've never seen any information in books etc on how to eventually achieve this so could you please give advice on how to do this....? thanx

[Stephen]

we fly a cast of four just now 3 fhh 1mhh and have not had to many
probs one of the older females trys to dominate the biggest but always backs off.
she just tries to see how far she can push her

[Budfin]

so is it possible for one man to fly 2 birds on his own at the same time...?

[Stephen]

yes i fly 3 together by my self one goes we all go

[Budfin]

sorry 4 being stupid here but how do you call them in one by one...?

[Stephen]

when we are finised for the day and head back to the car they stand on the roof rails waiting to go back in there boxes.
when out flying they come in when you call them never had any prob

[Harrisii]

Flying in a cast is brill. i prefer to see 2 harrises, a male and a female going for the same prey. they compliment each other perfectly well. if one goes in and misses or lets go then the other is right there waiting to move in. a male and female are perfect for this and the males faster speed over the shorter distance is complimented further by the females power and speed over the longer distance.
the good thing is that harrises (in most cases) will take to each other really quickly and will not squable or fight, even total strangers although its best to let them see each other a while by pegging them out together. there really is nothing to it. socialise the birds together, then get out there. ive seen several birds over time who have not been flown together been taken out and flying together well, and sharing a kill.
some birds will try to push the boundaries and want to be top dog, (there's always one). my brothers male is a wee **** for this. he has hit my female with 2 feet on the back whilst i was carrying her on the fist. he has also done this to my male whilst being carried by a mate. no real aggression or fighting but just being a smart arse. he has attitude. ive seen rabbits lost which were secure because this wee male and my female squable over the catch. only these 2 though but they are from the same clutch, (brother and sister) and still juvs, so this is maybe why they squable over a catch. never had a problem with any others.
i aint too fond of flying more than 3 harrises at once, its a bit of a" who was that" who is this?? where is he/she. all over the place. 2 or 3 is great but more can be confusing and not very sporting.
i have taken my male and female out together a few times and they are great together although my female is far superior (excuse the pun) to my male despite the fact he is 3yrs and she is in her first year. but both compliment each other. the female seems to feed off the males hard work but it aint a one way street, thats what a cast is all about. superb sport.
go for it and get a cast going. you can get others involved and get them out flying the birds. nothing to beat it.

[Budfin]

sounds great....just gives another edge to watching these birds do what they do best...not just hunt but try to outdo each other at the same time, must see some fantastic flights..? can you tell me if you freeloft them together...?

[Sean]

ive been flying my male with other birds a few times. he seems to start a fight with everybird, but hes only hit a bird once, i havent been flying him through the trees with other birds, just when a rabbit appears. problem i have is he lets go of the rabbit when another bird comes, and the bunny gets away.

[Bones]

Flown a cast of MHH and FHH a few years ago and they worked well together
Just started to fly mine and romeo harris hawks HH males together getting on fine a bit of squabbling first few minutes out but apart from that sound and besides had first pheasant today with them workin together and no they dont see each other every day just when we meet up
PAUL

[RabbitHawker]

I fly a cast of unrelated MHH, the first month was a nightmare srting out the pecking order, but after that was fine. I find 2 enough, 3 would be a nightmare.

[Macca]

Do they cage togeather in the hunting season but have to be split up through the summer months or are they kept permanently seperate

[Dave G]

both mine and bones male harrishawks were bowed out together for 3 days and that was it they are ok together,but tried mine with bones old male a couple of years ago and that was a no no as thing were getting very nasty so was not worth the risk as trying to take each other off the fist and out of trees, so not all harris hawks will fly together but is good fun when they doand hunt as a team

[Macca]

I was thinking more of caging a mhh and fhh togeather if they flew togeather with no probs would it be the same in the mews / weathering

[MickeyDredd]

I was thinking more of caging a mhh and fhh togeather if they flew togeather with no probs would it be the same in the mews / weathering

Not whilst in hunting condition, you may end up with one harris!

[Macca]

Not whilst in hunting condition, you may end up with one harris!


Get your point thanks for clearing that up

[MickeyDredd]

Do they cage togeather in the hunting season but have to be split up through the summer months

Macca

It can be done the other way round

[Macca]

how do you get around unwanted mating ?

[MickeyDredd]

how do you get around unwanted mating ?

If they are young there is no problem. If mature, dont give them a nest site (she could potentially lay on the ground of course!), dont put them in together too early, dont close off the aviary, remove any eggs laid, etc.

HH will not necessarily mate simply because they are moulted out together.

[Macca]

Thanks mate that makes a lot of sence

[Sean]

i thought that they would lay more eggs? if the rest were taken.

[MickeyDredd]

i thought that they would lay more eggs? if the rest were taken.

You would replace them with dummy eggs or infertile duck eggs etc to reduce the period that they would have to think about a re-lay.

They could still relay - but then you would remove the second clutch also!

[Macca]

Will this not effect them later on when you want them to mate

[MickeyDredd]

Will this not effect them later on when you want them to mate

Shouldnt do. If they are keen to mate initially they should not lose the urge

[HawkingRock]

I've just took out my recently trained FH with my well trained male today;me with the female and the missus with the male and he was very aggressive towards her when she was on my fist and just kept flying at her ignoring the wifes whistles and offer of food.Will they settle down together or is there anything I can do?