Post by RobDeegan on Sept 23, 2006 16:47:47 GMT -5
Morgan, I think it would be a nightmare to prep the rats as tid-bits. Use them on the lure when you want to gorge your bird. Beef-heart costs about $1 per pound around here and is easily cut into cubes of 5-10g, perfect for tid-bits.
Give a man a fire, make him warm for a day. Set a man on fire, make him warm for life.
Well that doesn't help much, i have 69 frozen rats as a food source.. I can't afford more on food, at least not for awhile, so I needa know how to prepare what i have .
Oh and I told you, my sponsor = no feeding chicken.
Post by RobDeegan on Sept 23, 2006 21:37:01 GMT -5
The head would make a great tiring and, your right, rats are great food. Its just a problem of preparation. When my bird kills a squirrel I cut off the head and all 4 limbs. Each of these and the torso go in separate zip-lock bags for freezing. The head and limbs can be used for pick-up pieces. Torsos are saved for the moult or fed on the lure during hunting season whenever I won't be hunting for a couple of days. As your rats are already frozen, it may be difficult to use then this way. Once your bird gets into the hunting regimen you may call him to the fist only a couple of times per hour. In that case larger tid-bits may be OK. However, during initial manning and creance work, and when your bird is getting used to flying free with you, you will want to call him frequently as part of his training. In that circumstance, large tidbits will quickly make him less keen and greatly limit the time you can spend in the field without risking loss of the bird. Your rats won't go to waste, I just think that trying to chop them into tiny tidbits would be very frustrating. A few dollars will get you enough beef heart to last months. Whole mice also make good "jackpot" tid-bits. I hope my previous post was not discouraging. I've enjoyed watching your progress to date and am looking forward to reading your training log.
Give a man a fire, make him warm for a day. Set a man on fire, make him warm for life.
Post by Tiercel78 on Sept 23, 2006 21:43:41 GMT -5
At least for a little while. I have yet to see a pair of shears that last me longer than three months(dam Squirrels). You may get six months out of them if all you are cutting is rats
I used to think i knew some things. But i'm not so sure anymore.
so the shears don't really grasp the meat very well (frozen) But it does take care of the tales...
Oh and lesson learned... though the hacksaw does a marvelous job, it makes the most interesting odor (i gagged ) lol... So i continue on my way to figuring out how to do it.
Next i'm going to try defrosting (partial defrost) them and using the sheers try to prep them, i couldn't get the legs or head off completely frozen