So as the moult draws closer and closer and I start thinking about food for both the moult and next season. I find that I want to go for a variety this coming year. Rats are all fine and dandy buuuuut, I'd just feel happier if she had a variety.
I still have like 15 of the 23 bags of XL rats that I bought midway through october. So I think I'm good on rats for the moult and next season.
I'm planning on ordering some chicks and some quail as well.
Rodentpro order quote: 275 chicks 68.75 55 10-week old quail 90.20 Shipping: 70.00
Total: 228.95
I honestly think that's not that bad, and that leaves me a lot of room to play around with amounts of food. I still have 45 rats.
Well what do you guys think? I'm not ordering any thing yet and i still have two quail places i'd like to check out first. But I've never fed quail or chicks before, so I'm not familiar with how long they will last... from previous experience I know that rats will last a good long time.
Post by HawkingRage on Jan 30, 2007 7:30:21 GMT -5
i trap squirels in my yard all summer. trapped pigeons and starlings and sparrows too. last year RIP at free. i didnt spend a penny eith exception to the lead free gold plated pellets for the gun.
I've never had to buy food for my hawks. I feed them what they catch. I shoot a couple groundhogs during the spring and summer. It is excellent food for the moult.
228.00 seems high to me I can get quail for 1.00$ a piece and chicks for 5 cents a piece. Check with your local poultry clubs they can hook up you with alot of food just dont tell them what you are doing with it. Plus if you get food nearby then you dont have to pay shipping.
Post by Master Yarak on Jan 30, 2007 10:29:01 GMT -5
You sure seem to be focusing on the moult. My first season I flew my bird till the 10 of May. The first few years she moulted May-Oct now its April-Sept. You have plenty of time left. Go do some ratting find game, anything that she can hunt and kill. If you take this bird through the moult without having her kill something she will turn into a basket case. If you doubt this ask someone who has an eagle what happens to there behavior if the bird goes too long without a kill. Same with a RT just on a smaller scale. Predators NEED to predate. The food association with you will be so strong she may not hunt for herself as long as she is a falconry bird. All her pent up aggression will be directed solely at you. Her first hormonal changes will occur at the same time, Morgan that is bad combination.
You can do this, its up to you. Turn over pallets go find some mice and rats and get her killing something. You passed the test, you have a sponsor you should know exactly what to feed her. A whole carcass diet. I do not feed anything from the family Columbidae, (ie pigeons or doves). I have used what she catches as well.
If you apply only one thing I have ever recommended on this forum, it would be this. GO KILL SOMETHING with Nina! Yarak
If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music he hears, however measured or far away
Post by dirthawker on Jan 30, 2007 18:07:48 GMT -5
my food source for the molt is I go out and shoot some jackrabbits in Feb. and throw them in the freezer. other than that I use what they catch. I also find that using the rabbit heads is a good way to cope the beak
I AM trying to get her her first kill... I'm just thinking of both the present and the future. I my life, money is a huge issue and need a ball park amount of what to save.
Weather has been TERRIBLE, i won't be able to take her out until Thursday at the earliest. It has been one constant thunderstorm, complete with low temperatures, blaring wing, pouring rain, light flashes, and thunder crashes. It has been really bad.
My sponsor has a set regime on moult, he puts his birds up March 1st, and they are ready to go by Sept 1st. I am mirroring him. We are desperate for them to kill. But I am not the only apprentice without a kill under their belt either.
Post by Master Yarak on Jan 31, 2007 0:39:08 GMT -5
Great mirror him. Catch game with your bird. What if Nina does not mirror him. You put your bird up for two months before it even drops a feather. Can you guess the difference between your bird and your sponsors? Maybe they are captive bred, older and will moult sooner. So you have months of bad weather and no game? You really want me to believe that you cannot find rats? Is that right? I really am trying to understand. Would you believe me if I told you I have received multiple PMs about your situation? I am not being nasty, I am being real are you? Yarak
If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music he hears, however measured or far away
I am being real as well... the whole situation has sucked majorly. and Yes before this torrential down pour there has been winds. I'm trying.... Before the winds i was at the meet (windy there as well). It has been a challenge, I take her out as much as the weather will allow...
Would you want me to fly my bird in 40 mph winds, 60 mph hour gusts? Or maybe I should fly her in complete downpour with thunder and lightning.
i'm not being snotty and I'm not being filled with attitude, but is it not dangerous to fly my bird in that?
Post by Master Yarak on Jan 31, 2007 1:09:41 GMT -5
What do you want me to say? I have heard so many times about reasons for failure. If you can't do this then you simply should not. Is it ego with you or what? There are hundreds of falconers in California. There have been for some time even Ooby caught game. Somehow you can't? You think you are giving your bird the quality of life it deserves...really. You can't even catch a rat not one wild rat. That speaks volumes. I wonder what Hal Webster would say? Yarak
If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music he hears, however measured or far away
Morgan I wanted to let you know it wont hurt Nina if you dont let her moult out.
If she desperately needs new feathers then let her but you have months before even then. I know your planning financially for food but you really dont need advise for that kind of thing. Other threads show what kind of alternate food sources you can provide your bird.
I agree with Yarak that she needs to kill somthing and I know that your trying. I also realize that you havnt put her up for moult just yet so there's no reason anyone should get all pissy about putting her up for moult.
Personally I want to see Morgan kill somthing and want to prove everyone that he caught something in the pouring rain while all the rest of the falconers sitting in their nice warm houses in computer chairs look dumbfounded.
We, as a forum, are encouraging him to attempt such a feat as well Wolf. Flying during rain isn't bad. I mean in the wild they have to get food somehow and it isn't from a very nice old lady. I also agree that you should watch your bird and her way of reacting to her elements. She may not moult till later or maybe she starts before. That would have been a large money zapper. If your money is tight watch her and her own personal schedule. Your bird is different from your sponsors, they both have individual needs. Do listen to your sponsor, if he suggest it is time for the moult on your bird then do so. If she looks find still then talk to him about it. I realize you can't get to your sponsor on a beckoning call so make sure you are very descriptive about to the quality of her feathers and environment. Your bird will enjoy hunting even in rain.
Never settle.
"There's nothing like the feeling of knowing that you've made a difference in someone's life, even if that difference is a lifetime of nightmares and a fortune in therapy bills." - Marilyn Manson