Scales on leg separating?

[Deleted]

Go to to the Vet, Check his anklets are not to tight and make sure they are greased up. But foremost speak with your sponsor and then get some help from a vet. Work out why your bird is still bating after 2 weeks

[Master Yarak]

I hope you have taken the anklet off on the injutrd leg. Keep it clean with betadine. It will take some time to heal (scales do). A vet visit for wormimg and a physical is not a bad thing. I would certainly address the husbandry issue that caused it. The scale damage is probably superficial just watch for infection. More time manning on the fist will help with the bating. Any way you could free loft while it heals?
Yarak

[killjoy]

I want to bring this up.
You might have one of the "not able to be a falconry" birds.
My sponsor had a Harris hawk with the same problem and he figured that after 2 weeks of constant bating he felt it was safer for him and the bird to release it.
Now it's easy to say that as a general cause we can have more birds at once.
But if you still have a trapping season I would consider releasing this bird and getting another.
Reading the forums there are alot of great red tails out there.
So it's not worth all the issues and health problems the bird is having right now.

I had a problem RT and a friend had suggested releasing the bird, I didn't want to cause I thought all RTs were great and it was my fault.
Now, I have learned how wrong I was.

Like I said, consider it.
But remember, that birds health is more important than you up grading.
And broken legs aren't cheap to repair.

[Master Yarak]

First let me say that there is a SMALL percentage of birds that are not suited for falconry. I doubt yours is one of those. In fact I would also say that killjoy's bird would have better in more experienced hands. Problems are an integral part of falconry. What and how we learn from them is what makes an exceptional falconer. You have provided only scant details. Do you have a giant hood? Are you hood training this bird? Is the bird dropping weight? Can you free loft this bird in your mew? You have had it less than 3 weeks what exactly did you expect? Weight is a consideration it has much to do with behavior. DO NOT perch the bird with only one anklet. If you are holding the bird you can use just one jess. Perch the bird less until it becomes more settled. It is my opinion that something YOU are doing is not quite right. Without more info on your methodology I cannot guess what that might be. Hopefully your sponsor will be "johnny on the spot"and you two can work through this without too much cost to the bird.
Yarak

[Deleted]

I agree with Master Yarak on this one. Something is upsetting this bird. Maybe to high weight wise maybe perch position and height. More likely a combination of things. Hard for anyone really yo know other than the sponsor.

What was her trap weight ? What does she weigh now. Are you hooding ? Do you use a Giant Hood. Are you feeding through out the day or just once a day, is she perched near a window ? Do you have cats and dogs or other animals in the room with her ?

[killjoy]

Well I did learn from that bird yarak, I learned it was worthless.
I thought the field I was hunting with the rt was absent of game.
Then I hunted the same fields with my new bird, low and behold they were full of game.
Same field, different birds alot more game in the freezer.
Now if people ask me about a red tail I have nothing good to say about them.
That's what I learned.
I am trying to save this apprentice the same feelings I had.
I had more success with my kestrel than I did my rt, I am planning on trapping one this year just to try again.
And by success I mean I took a ton of bugs with my kessie.
Yea it was 70's that winter and there were a ton of bugs out.
But some falconers don't see bugs as game so I did t post them.
Well now I could give 2 craps what people think now.

You even acknowledge the "small percentage" out there, well even a blind squirrel will find a nut.
There is an even smaller percentage of albino or all white RTs, this year I have seen 3 falconers with them.
If things don't get fixed soon for him, this will be a bad experience for him, if it's not already.

BTW
my friend that suggested cutting the Jess and get a new one was T78.
So was zach's recommendation a bad one?
Was he not experienced enough?
I think very highly of him and respect his opinion, but I was stubborn and did 5000 miles looking for that bird and I wanted it to work.
But it didn't and now I regret not following his advice.
Wish I had a higher opinion of RTs but I don't.

And to say if the birds were in more experienced hands is a foolish statement, cause then he wouldn't be an apprentice would he.

[killjoy]

Lilbenger,
I am not judging your falconry.
I wound up YoYoing my birds weight, which didnt help.
I HOPE I am wrong and the bird turns out great!!
But as an apprentice your always told everything is perfect, all birds are perfect!!
You read logs of perfect hunts.
Pictures of RTs on game all the time, but this one won't stop bating!
So it's discouraging.
I figured it when I did get a different bird and did everything the same for my third bird that I did for my rt and hunted the same fields and there was a world of difference.
This was just an option to bRing to your sponsor if all else fails.

Cause your not learning a whole lot with a bird in the giant hood healing from bating.
Use your apprenticeship to learn as much as you can, and to do that you need to be in the field.
Good luck and I hope it all turns around for you.
Mike

[T.C.]

lilbenger, I would ask your sponsor about using a brail on your bird. It is used to hold one wing and stop the bird from bating. I have seen this used on an injured bird before and can also be used for manning as well.

[Joby]

Jan 16, 2012 10:40:44 GMT -5 killjoy said:

I thought the field I was hunting with the rt was absent of game.
Then I hunted the same fields with my new bird, low and behold they were full of game.
Same field, different birds alot more game in the freezer.
Now if people ask me about a red tail I have nothing good to say about them.
That's what I learned.

KJ, just gotta say that I don't think it was the RT. A RT should be able to catch the same type of game as a HH. Perhaps not with the same style or consistency, depending on the perching available. But, according to the video that you posted of hunting your bird a while ago, a MRT off the t-perch should have been able to have caught the rats and bunnies that your passage FHH caught.

[Joby]

Jan 16, 2012 11:46:56 GMT -5 killjoy said:

Lilbenger,
Cause your not learning a whole lot with a bird in the giant hood healing from bating.
Use your apprenticeship to learn as much as you can, and to do that you need to be in the field.

Actually, he's learning a LOT about what it takes to be a falconer. Your falconry apprenticeship isn't ONLY about hunting, it's about learning about the ethics of how to take care of your bird if it gets sick or injured while in your care. That bird didn't ask to come into his posession, so it is now HIS responsibility to make sure that the bird is at least as healthy as it was when he trapped it, before it might be released. Patience is a virtue that ALL apprentices need to learn. Nuff said.