jsb 6 Posted June 25, 2012 Report Share Posted June 25, 2012 hiya lads. soon to get a female harris hawk just wondering what the feeding schedule should be and what age can they be bought and what should there diet contain. grateful for any advice! Quote Link to post
bullseye76 16 Posted June 25, 2012 Report Share Posted June 25, 2012 I'm no expert but theres loads more than that you need to know before you get a bop mate get some books dvd's and if you can find a mentor!! there hard to come by and have only just found 1 and I've been looking for 5 months!! everyone has to start somewhere so good luck on your quest atb stu Quote Link to post
jsb 6 Posted June 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2012 thanks mate just found out that a mate of mines father has a harris hawk Quote Link to post
BEARINATOR 2,893 Posted June 25, 2012 Report Share Posted June 25, 2012 Some advice my mate done for a different forum It is always best to get a mentor to help you with your first bird and to help you with its husbandry Ok what you need for a Harris Hawk is a mews or avairy to house it min spec for mews 4ft by 4ft by 4ft min spec for avairy 6ft by 4ft by 6ft Falconry Glove Bells Telemetry Food Day Old Chicks Bow Perch Then you need to decide on a male or a female Harris Hawk This is usually dependant on the quarry you are wanting to hunt. Main difference is the females are better able to cope with hares than males however males are more agile when it comes to flying than females and faster off the fist but in flat out speed the female will win hands down. You will be getting your Hawk from any age of 13 weeks up the younger you get the hawk the more likely you are to accidently imprint it and end up with a screamer. Begining training your hawk you need to get it on the scales as soon as possible so you know its fat weight then start to cut back its food until it will eat off your fist this is easily done as they take a few days to get hungry enough to lower their heads to eat normally they only take a few mouth fulls and then stop. While you have the hawk on the fist touch its feet and touch its beak etc the bird has to get used to this as you need to beable to clean the birds feet and cope the beak etc. Once the bird has started to eat off the fist the next step is to get the bird to jump to the fist this may take a few days as it is a big leap of faith for the bird to then leave a perch to jump to your gloved hand. I will not let a bird not eat for more than a couple of days if it wont eat after 2 days I will give it some food to find in its mews/avairy when I put it back half a chick etc do not give the hawk more than this as you still want its weight to come down and a harris can hold its weight on one chick a day depending on temperature and exercise level which presently your hawk will be getting none. ALWAYS PROVIDE WATER especially when dropping a hawks weight. Once the hawk makes its jump to your fist let it have its full days food this reinforces to the bird that jumping to your fist was worth while. Next get the hawk to jump the full length of its leash to your glove then you need to put it on a creance and get it coming over a longer distance. Once the bird is coming to your glove well you need to start working on getting the hawk to come to your glove fast when you present it. Speed of response is more important than distance once the bird is coming over 8 ft to the glove When you are happy that the hawk is coming to the glove fast and everytime you present it you can take your leap of faith and fly the hawk free. Once flying free you need to build fitness and then you can enter the bird on rabbits or birds Rabbits are easier to enter on than birds as the hawk does not need to be as fit to catch a rabbit to begin with use a dummy bunny so that the hawk knows to hit the rabbit you can do this by dragging a real rabbit and letting the hawk feed on it so that it associates the rabbit with food. Then just present the bird with as many opportunities to catch a rabbit as possible. Myxi rabbits make a nice easy first kill for your hawk Do not be tempted to always let your hawk have easy kills as you can end up with a hawk that wont put in a good chase or that stops hunting. When your hawk catches its prey get there and kill it quickly a spike throught the head of the rabbit and then let the bird have a pick at its prize before tradding off the rabbit for a chick. NEVER LET YOUR BIRD FEEL ROBBED (You can get a harris flying free anywhere from 2 weeks to a month but its not a race you do it at the birds pace. Entering takes place as soon as you have built some fitness and have the bird flying free Within 2 months you will normally have your hawk flying free and entered. It all depends on how much time your are willing to put in and how you want to fly the hawk Following on finding its own kills or from the fist with you flushing prey.) Quote Link to post
jsb 6 Posted June 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2012 thanks mate best bit of advice ive seen in ages Quote Link to post
BEARINATOR 2,893 Posted June 25, 2012 Report Share Posted June 25, 2012 On 25/06/2012 at 19:38, jsb said: thanks mate best bit of advice ive seen in ages If you send Cityhunter.uk a message on here I'm sure he will offer you even better advice on feeding and that Quote Link to post
patterdalejoel 669 Posted June 25, 2012 Report Share Posted June 25, 2012 whats accidently imprinting and a screamer out of interest? what makes it scream about the imprinting? does it imprint you as the parent? Quote Link to post
BEARINATOR 2,893 Posted June 25, 2012 Report Share Posted June 25, 2012 Joel a screamer is when the bird keeps calling to you and won't shut up , imprinting is when it sees you as its mother or father Quote Link to post
arcticgun 4,548 Posted June 25, 2012 Report Share Posted June 25, 2012 imprint equals screamer if ya mess it up, then its a whole world of shite Quote Link to post
arcticgun 4,548 Posted June 25, 2012 Report Share Posted June 25, 2012 On 25/06/2012 at 18:43, jsb said: hiya lads. soon to get a female harris hawk just wondering what the feeding schedule should be and what age can they be bought and what should there diet contain. grateful for any advice! They all individual mate, you need to establish a hunting weight and work out your feeding from there, they are generally pigs and will eat anything they can, get reading up mate asap, it only gets harder when they arrive, so get the prep in first, best of luck too you Quote Link to post
jasper65 6 Posted June 25, 2012 Report Share Posted June 25, 2012 On 25/06/2012 at 18:43, jsb said: hiya lads. soon to get a female harris hawk just wondering what the feeding schedule should be and what age can they be bought and what should there diet contain. grateful for any advice! With all respect mate I Can't beleive you're planning on getting a bird without doing the homework first, these birds need care and attention so plenty of time should always be put to one side to put the bird first. time to kill is essential so be prepared to be held to ransom by it when in flying condition, the bird will need to be put out to weather and weighed prior to flying, you need a weathering or some mews and also equipment as mentioned above.... first and formost like any sport involving livestock expecially a BOP you will need some handling experience and also a Understanding and conditioning of the bird. equipment is also essential as is Telemetry... Once you have done a bit of homework, read a few books and gleaned some info to put you on the right track, when you've done everyting and more as mentioned in posts above then consider getting the bird, until then mate its not fair to take on a lovely Hawk without some experience in its handling and well being ... Quote Link to post
patterdalejoel 669 Posted June 25, 2012 Report Share Posted June 25, 2012 saw on another post people want an imprint for breeding? why is this? why is it better to breed with an imprint? Quote Link to post
Millet 4,497 Posted June 26, 2012 Report Share Posted June 26, 2012 To the origional poster...you have been offered some good advice in the above post's..take heed and do some home work this year and forget about getting a hawk till you have all the answer's you need in your own head..and remember it's not hard to loose an eye or get a bad scar down the side of your face from bad handling.. 1 Quote Link to post
Lee C 55 Posted June 26, 2012 Report Share Posted June 26, 2012 Hi JBS It’s too soon for you to get a bird if you don’t know what you are doing!! I would get out with some guys this coming season and learn about what is required in the field and with training, feeding It is so easy to make a mistake with this and will result in an unwanted bird, an accident or a screamer! If you have a centre near you then try to volunteer to help. If you have a club then try to join or get out with them If you can get a mentor this is the best way to learn. With the above you will lean about housing feeding vets training etc all you need Please take your time to learn first and the results will be better You would not jump in to the deep end of the pool with one arm band if you could not swim!!!!! All the best. Lee C 1 Quote Link to post
grovsey 74 Posted July 1, 2012 Report Share Posted July 1, 2012 This is a wind up lads spot them a mile of now fcik of Quote Link to post
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