Get some incendiary rounds for that bugger and you could cook them at the same time. sliced, diced and cooked. It would cut down on the required pre freezing time I'm sure.
Post by Falcon Boy on Apr 25, 2008 16:42:06 GMT -5
I forgot to mention, be super careful if shooting lead, as any fragments of the bullets can give the bird lead poisoning. A single shot 20guage with steel shot might be a good alternative?
Falcon Boy Apprentice Falconry Administrator
Ethics make the individual, not the other way around.
Post by borderhawk on Apr 27, 2008 20:32:05 GMT -5
If you go to Yahoo! Groups right now and join Kestrelfans, there's a current thread titled "gray/white talons - do i need to worry?" that's a very good example of what kind of damage a poor diet can cause. It's a very strong argument for a varied whole carcass diet.
...gray/white talons - that's a very good example of what kind of damage a poor diet can cause. It's a very strong argument for a varied whole carcass diet.
I agree entirely about feeding a whole and varied diet. A note: While cockrels and pinky mice are whole carcass, they are not mature animals. There's a big difference in nutritional value -- immature/juvenile being less, and reason for not feeding them exclusively.
Regarding white talons... we feed a whole carcass diet 99% of the time, use Vitahawk sparingly during the molt, and feed a wide variety of prey. When our peregrine was three years old, her talons suddenly went from black to white. She was in excellent health and shape, and had been fed the identical diet as all the other birds we have - all of which had no change in talon color. One would think that if diet was the culprit, we'd have seen the same in the other birds. Since that wasn't the case, we ruled out diet as the cause. During that year, her talons slowly returned to black with no changes made in our husbandry. We contacted her breeder, and he reported that her mother and sibling had also experienced white talons once. Genetics? I dunno.
I have observed the development of white talons in known cases of minor frost bite. But I ruled that out for the peregrine as well. We still don't know what caused it, and it hasn't happened since.
That just sounds like an individual raptors physiological reponse to something. Have you ever gotten one of those white spots show up in the middle of a fingernail, that grows out with the fingernail? That's basically the human equivalant of a fret mark in a feather. Nature is full of alot of variables, you just can't take something for granted in ways like expecting all raptors to have the exact same reaction to the same thing. A dog I used to have once got ahold of a pack of cigarettes an ex-friend had left out, ate only a few and ended up on IV cath. for three days. That was 10 years ago and the techs and doctors still talk about how they'd never seen diarrhea shot that far across the room. I found out later that his brother, around the same time, had eaten a whole pack of cigarettes and had no problems whatsoever. It didn't affect him one bit. If you haven't seen this before, it's an interesting phenomonon that I think we'll be following for quite awhile. www.frg.org/LB_synd.htm
If you haven't seen this before, it's an interesting phenomonon that I think we'll be following for quite awhile. www.frg.org/LB_synd.htm
I've seen it. Here's a RT patient admitted to my rehab center last year (which we had to euthanize ). Poor thing was emaciated beyond saving, and had multiple breaks. It was found by a motorist along a major highway.
Poor RT...the eyelid reminds me of my first bird...I watched his eyelids close when he died, and they looked furry and whitish like that...
At least we can always look back at the success stories, too!
"Falconry is not a hobby or an amusement; it is a rage. You eat and drink it, sleep it and think it. You tremble to write of it, even in recollection. It is as King James the First remarked, an extreme stirrer up of passions." --- T.H. White
Post by sublimelyoblivious on Nov 3, 2008 17:25:10 GMT -5
I couldn't make up my mind if I should resurrect an old post or start a new thread....BUT....I decided to stick with this ol' post. I would rename this thread "small game season", because that is what time of year it is, well, most of the year is....but here we go....... this past weekend, we took down a lil' gray squirrel...head shot...no prob. I gutted it (my hubby killed it, but I needed the practice) and we removed the head, which is where the bullet was, and discarded it. I then cut it into 4 quarters, vacuum sealed it (ok, overkill!) and froze it.....NOW WHAT??? First, I don't think that a whole squirrel leg is small enough to eat, so I dunno what I was thinking there....I don't know if that is more than enough or not enough for a meal....and I am wondering how many of these little guys is a safe amount to have stored before I go and trap. I don't want to trap and not have enough to feed it, and have to use store bought rats, etc. I am a bit of a naturalist, and would prefer to do the dirty work (killing stuff) until the bird is able to do it on it's own..... Rabbit is in season until march, squirrel til late Feb. and I have nothing but time on my hands. I have a .22 lr and .17 air rifle...both scoped for a good clean brain shot.....How many of these buggers should I stock up, and how long does a squirrel or rabbit last? I have read these posts, and in the general board on the best ways to cut up game, but didn't see a definitive answer. It looks as if 5-10 mice per day, that is about 2.5 or 5 squirrels??? If somebody wants to give me the down low on a good approximation of how many rascally rabbits and tree rats to save up on, and about how much is an average feeding for a red tail, that would be helpful. I don't have my scale yet (or hawk, for that matter) so approximations based on average small game is fine. I read somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 grams of food daily... My sponsor buys quail, etc. so I don't know how great a guess I will get out of him.....and as far as nutritional values, a diet based solely on rabbit and squirrel should be adequate for a red tail, right??? Thanks guys, I know I bring up dumb old questions, but I gotta learn somewhere!!!
I would vary it more than just rabbit and squirrel. Include things with organs still on board. As far as how many to stock up on I would say as many as you can fit in your freezer, but keep in mind there are possession limits in most states. A RT can eat a whole squirrel leg eventually, so don't worry about it being too large, unless it weighs more than you want give the bird for that particular meal. Another thing you might want to try is shooting through the lungs. A .22 will go right through. That way you have the head to freeze. They make great trade off offerings and also good chew toys for your bird.
I would vary it more than just rabbit and squirrel. Include things with organs still on board. As far as how many to stock up on I would say as many as you can fit in your freezer, but keep in mind there are possession limits in most states. A RT can eat a whole squirrel leg eventually, so don't worry about it being too large, unless it weighs more than you want give the bird for that particular meal. Another thing you might want to try is shooting through the lungs. A .22 will go right through. That way you have the head to freeze. They make great trade off offerings and also good chew toys for your bird.
I didn't know what organs to keep so I removed them all, plus I never got to A&P in high school, i was asking about what was what, while I gutted it. I figured head shots were the way to go, that way it was all contained...well, actually they were through and through, but I figured it was tainted, so I pitched it. Can a red tail eat a whole squirrel head? Or it just picks at it, like you said, a chew toy? I didn't really think about that, I just wanted to be safe, figured the skull was a good lead container.... On the possession limit...that counts for your freezer? and that is per person, right? My husband and I both have small game tags, and my son is a youth, so he goes off ours. Bag limit daily is 6 and possession 12...so I can only have 12 rabbits and 12 squirrel at any given time....or probably 24, mine and the hubby's??? I better make a call to MDC on that one...... I can get beef heart, etc at the store I suppose..or feeder mice...and I think I read that venison heart is the same difference....(season opens soon)...HOW varied should the diet be? I really thought that rabbit and squirrel comprised most of their diets... Thanks Dave, you gave me more to wonder about!!!
Post by sublimelyoblivious on Nov 3, 2008 18:45:24 GMT -5
Ok now I am worried....maybe I should shoot starling and crow....but I hear starlings are "icky" birds and icky bird food, so to speak....what else would you suggest I kill. I am thinking take the bag limit on whatever is in season that an RT will eat...I am thinking that the youth won't shoot many...so I am basing my estimates on mine and my husband's bag/possession limits....RT's don't usually take down avian quarry, but it would be a good addition to a varied diet....but I am still wondering on the starlings vs. crow vs. blackbird vs. anything that moves in front of my scope....he he he
Post by profalconer on Nov 3, 2008 18:52:22 GMT -5
Starlings are a great food I use them all the time blackbirds are not so nutrient rich even though their meat is a dark red which usually means its pretty rich. I have heard that crow is not good meat so I have not fed it.
Last Edit: Nov 3, 2008 18:58:22 GMT -5 by profalconer
as for organs you want to keep the lungs, heart, and liver. as for a RT being able to eat a head they can tear a jack rabbit head up. I use the jack heads over the molt 1 a week and that keeps the beak coped
Post by forestfalcon on Nov 3, 2008 19:13:47 GMT -5
I personally like starling for a food source. The meat is dark and rich, and provides a lot of calories. I don't feed it every day, though. I feed my coopers quail, house sparrow, doc's, and mice.
"We promised the world we'd tame it, what were we hoping for?" -Bloc Party