Okay, chicken is a no-no... I need to talk to our old club president! Anyway, what about guineas? I've never seen one before (it's a kind of bird, or so I'm told) and I'm not sure what the meat would do to a RT. Anyone know or have any ideas?
Guineas or Guineafowl are African gamebirds. They're kind of the convergent equivelent of our wild turkeys. Spend most of their time on the ground, roost in trees. I believe there are three different types of guineas, but I can only think of two right now, Helmeted and Vulturine ( I think the third is Crested, but I'm not sure). Alot of people do raise them in the U.S., but I've never met any of them, and I have no idea how safe they would be for a raptor. If I were to guess, I'd say no. If chicken is a concern, Guineas aren't too different.
Guineas are pretty cool birds actually. I have friends that have them. As for feeding them to falconry birds it boils down to this. Meat purchased in grocery stores are teaming with bacteria and viruses. As with pigeons, if the birds are raised at your home, kept clean and given good food and medicated, there wouldn't be a problem. I give my raptors a lot of pigeons that I raise myself or have a friend raise for me but they are well kept and given a medicated feed so I know they are safe.
When I rehabbed we had a bunch of Giuneas. On two seperate occasions I watched a GHO take one. And numerous times we found feathers but did not find the culprit. As long as they are properly cared for, should be fine to feed.
Well I guess there are more than three, huh? I work with a flock of 20 helmeteds, and three vulturines. The vulturines are goofy as hell and very inquisitive. The helmeteds are very....... noisy.
Post by hawkinsmatthew on Nov 4, 2004 15:25:31 GMT -5
hey everyone, this is the stupid apprentice that was looking for help with the red tail with limp legs. i guess your all right in putting me down and calling me stupid and looking down your noses at me. i looked all over the internet trying to find a resource to help with questions and situations that come up in practicing falconry. isnt that what being an apprentice is all about. learning what is right to do and whats wrong. i only fed chicken because in emma fords book it states that chicken necks are a great tiring for redtails. she seemed quite a good authority on the matter. ive looked over many of the posted messages in this forum and i'm very surprised to see such a haughty attitude toward someone trying to recieve a helping hand. if your put down for trying to recieve help in the right direction how are other apprentices ever going to feel comfortable in asking questions and getting help. isnt this called apprentice falconry? does any master falconer know all the answers to situations that arise, i think not. and arent we all trying to have a high standard and help each other? if we dont hang together and help each other then it weakens us as a whole. we get enough criticism from those who dont understand falconry i dont think we should have dessention and criticism from those of us who call ourselves falconers with in our ranks. i hope we can all help each other out especially in this forum and site called apprentice falconry so that we may all be better informed, advised and aware of the ethics, education, information and art of falconry. i hope you will all welcome me to this site and help me in my pursuit practicing falconry. i may even do some more stupid things, but know that my intentions are pure, and i am every trying to maintain the highest standard that the art of falconry deserves. ps. my bird is doing great.
Whoa there....Before ya get everyone started, I too fed my bird chicken necks.....ONCE in awhile. Did you say that is all you fed your bird? A bird should have a varied diet of it's natural quarry. The fact that it wasn't posted by you originally to the list, left the door wide open to speculation from many of the list members. Without any facts other than what was hear say, what did you expect. We are here on this list to help apprentices avoid making the mistakes that can kill a bird. Things like diet should be well engrained into your head before you get started. Where is your sponsor? Are you in GB? Keep posting to the list, just don't wait until your bird is ill before finding out you did it to the bird from lack of reasearch.
Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines "Give a man a fish, and you'll feed him for a day; give him a religion................ and he'll starve to death while praying for a fish."
I am glad to hear the bird is doing well. My sponsor does feed day old chicks as part of our birds' diet. We do fear bird to bird disease transmission so he is paranoid about what we do feed them. They mostly get quail from a local farmer that raises them for human consumption. Raised on wire, well fed, etc...
What treatment did the vet prescribe for your bird's recovery? Luckily I haven't had to deal with many sick raptors. Injured yes.
Did your sponsor recommend the chicken for lowering condition?
regards, Tina CA apprentice
" Insanity takes its toll..........please have exact change"
Post by hawkinsmatthew on Nov 4, 2004 16:27:05 GMT -5
i have fed her a quite varied diet consisting mainly of grouse, quail, beef heart, mice and chicken necks for tirings. upon review by my vet, he said the bacteria can come from any source of meat be it chicken beef quail or whatever. it is also possible that the bird may have had a food poisoning that takes time to become rampant enough to be noticed. ie before i trapped her. i have maintained her on a varied diet since and continued oral fluid for several days with a solution of electrolites and glucoce reccomended by the vet. as for now she is fully recovered and is doing great, flying to me working on the creance and such. i hope that the details provided will give you more information not browbeat someone for asking for help before knowing all the situation. after describing to the vet the food preparation, diet and routine of what i have been doing with the hawk, the vet told me that i could have actually saved the hawk's life by trapping her and getting her medical attention and help because he thought it was very probable that the cause was a bacteria form that took days to germinate, because to his knowledge i didnt do anything extraordinary to hurt the hawk's well being.
See, now that's much better. It gives us a much broader view of what was done to and for the bird. Glad to hear he/she(?) is doing well. Now get it out there and kill small furry animals!!!! Cheers, The Weasel
Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines "Give a man a fish, and you'll feed him for a day; give him a religion................ and he'll starve to death while praying for a fish."
I too am also glad that the bird is now doing much better. Your emails had me worried, but now the weight is off. Best of luck with the remainder of training!
Falcon Boy Apprentice Falconry Administrator
Ethics make the individual, not the other way around.
Welcome...Glad to hear that the bird is better. You never did say where you are located.
As for being browbeaten...you said you read the entire thread, so you know the info we were given. All we were told were the symptoms and then once the cause was determined it was not explained anything but that you fed chicken. So don't get mad at anyone. The people on this list post very helpful info, but will be tough when need be (or just when they feel ornery ) By the way, where was your sponsor through this? Weasel asked earlier, too.