My new little girl

[varanus]

Well thanks to Fred on here I was able to pull my first Acip. a female Coops. We think that she was around 4-5 days old when we puled her Tuesday. I weighed her today with a full crop and she was 105.1 grams. Well hopefully we will be slaying all the sparrows and starlings around here and what ever else she thinks she can catch :D.

I'm not sure how to post pics on here but maybe Fred will post a couple for me when he has the time.

[sevristh]

Mark, easiest way is to create an account at www.photobucket.com Once you do that, and you upload your pictures to that site (pretty straightforward), they give you four types of 'code' under the pictures. You want to copy and past the 'IMG' code into your posts, and that will put the picture into it. Hope that helps! We love pictures! And congrats on the new Coop's!

[wesleyc6]

ah man what a great story other than the Fred parttoungeout

I hope you will post often about the coop.clapp

[varanus]

I'm going to give this log thing a try I. I'll post the good and the bad even if that means screamin and face grabbing. If I can figure out the picture thing I may even post pics of that :eek:. Although for a little while it might not be all that exciting. Oh thanks for the picture help I will give it a try tomorrow maybe.

[FredFogg]

Here are a few pictures that I am posting for Mark! Have fun Mark and remember to not pick it up after the first day. If you can, try and carry it around in its bowl or basket or whatever you are using! I can assure you, it will be an adventure! LOL :D

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii68/FredrickFogg/P5260011.jpg

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii68/FredrickFogg/DSC00542.jpg

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii68/FredrickFogg/DSC00543.jpg

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii68/FredrickFogg/DSC00545.jpg

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii68/FredrickFogg/DSC00546.jpg

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii68/FredrickFogg/DSC00564.jpg

[GONEHAWKN]

the second to the last pic, you have this look on your face like, "what the "F" did i just get myself into??!!" man, i have been there before. as Fred said, your are in for an adventure! keep us posted.....

[everetkhorton]

Fred:
How old do you think the chick is?

[FredFogg]

I would say his is 5 days old. The last one hatched was 3 days old, another guy took it.

[tumble]

the second to the last pic, you have this look on your face like, "what the "F" did i just get myself into??!!"

LOL yep.

Nice work boys. Hope to be reading about the coop here.

[varanus]

I'm not sure what that look was for but man am I excited about her. She has figured out what that dish of food is for today, so no more feeding with the tongs. A quick question for you guys that have done this before how do you keep the food from drying out so fast? I can't wait for her to liven up and start running around. Boy she is trying to eat me out of house and home she can really pack it in. You can feel her feathers coming in already, I can't see them yet but on the tail and wing you can feel them.

[varanus]

Oh thanks Fred for putting the pics up for me. clapp

[dirthawker2004]

congrats should be fun for ya. I am waiting myself right now for the coops to hatch then I will be off and running myself. good luck with her. what ya going to name her

also you might want to loose that T shirt because that is not something you will have for a while LOL.

[varanus]

yeah I know I have been taking her every where with me since I got her. We went to a pet store today for some socialization. Since she has been sleeping all through the night I haven't been leaving food out for her as I worry about it drying out and being to sticky for her, is this something I should worry about or should I just leave food out anyway?

[borderhawk]

Mist it with a spray bottle every once in a while. Once it gets to a point where that doesn't help anymore, then throw away and start fresh.

[varanus]

Thanks that ill help a lot.

[Mitchellbrad]

Here are a few pictures that I am posting for Mark! Have fun Mark and remember to not pick it up after the first day. If you can, try and carry it around in its bowl or basket or whatever you are using! I can assure you, it will be an adventure! LOL :D


http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii68/FredrickFogg/DSC00543.jpg



If I got the picture right on here. Ya look like your scared your goin to break it<G> Have fun

[varanus]

I was at first worried about that but I'm getting over it. As for the look in the picture my wife says I always look like that. Man does this little bugger have a super powered poop cannon. She can shoot that stuff for forever. She got me twice today and once I nearly wore it o my face, good thing I was paying attention to what she was doing. This season should be fun I'll be flying this coop's and a tiercel Peregrin.

[GONEHAWKN]

. Man does this little bugger have a super powered poop cannon. She can shoot that stuff for forever.

remember, they gotta get it out of that nest somehow.

[Lee Slikkers]

I remember that look on my own face and the same feelings...Bard is right, they are tough birds and you'll do fine. Mine was 5 ays old last year when I took it and it was self feeding 2 days later...pretty amazing when you look at them and realize they are doing that...good luck and keep us posted on your success.

[kurt]

They do grow fast. I'm still waiting for them to hatch in the nests I'm watching. last year we pulled on the sixth of June and they probably hatched around the third.
I'm looking for a male this year but I wouldn't be upset with a female either. I'm hoping my knee heals up enough to do the climb as both nests are about sixty feet.
Good luck with her, Kurt

[Mitchellbrad]

I was at first worried about that but I'm getting over it. As for the look in the picture my wife says I always look like that. Man does this little bugger have a super powered poop cannon. She can shoot that stuff for forever. She got me twice today and once I nearly wore it o my face, good thing I was paying attention to what she was doing. .

I'm call'n ya out Cactus Bill. Your choice of weapons!!!

Coops at 20 paces.

Oh no, not that!!

[GONEHAWKN]

high noon???

[Mitchellbrad]

high noon???

Two titles come to mind:

1) Full Crop

or

2) Locked and Loaded

<G>

[varanus]

Rofl thats pretty funny. It seems like she is eating about a quail a day although from looking at her you wouldn't think she could eat anywhere near that much. Eat, poop, and sleep thats about all she does so I guess I shouldn't be suprised by how much she eats. Her talons are starting to turn black and you can see the quills of feathers now on her wings. She is still having a little trouble finding the food on the dish but she does pretty well I've only had to use the tweezers once today to feed her and then it was only a couple of bites and then she started to feed her self.

[varanus]

About what age will her talons turn all the way black? What age will her leg scales harden? I'm just curious as to when to expect things. It will be neat to watch her grow and change.

[FredFogg]

About what age will her talons turn all the way black? What age will her leg scales harden? I'm just curious as to when to expect things. It will be neat to watch her grow and change.

Mark, I didn't really keep records of when those changes took place. All I can tell you is you will be amazed at how fast she grows! There will be days where you will leave the room and come back and swore she grew while you were gone. And the down, oh the down, I kept Inya in a room and I vacuumed that room every other day to try and keep up with it. You will be finding down a year from now! LOL Enjoy her now, baby coops are like children, really cute when they are waddling around, but a terror when they become teenagers! LOL

[varanus]

She looks like she has already grown a lot since I've had her. Man does she chirp a lot I hope that isn't a sign of things to come frus.

[FredFogg]

She looks like she has already grown a lot since I've had her. Man does she chirp a lot I hope that isn't a sign of things to come frus.

Just make sure there is always food available when she wakes up and socialize the crap out of her and the chirping will stop.

[wesleyc6]

Mark, I didn't really keep records of when those changes took place. All I can tell you is you will be amazed at how fast she grows! There will be days where you will leave the room and come back and swore she grew while you were gone. And the down, oh the down, I kept Inya in a room and I vacuumed that room every other day to try and keep up with it. You will be finding down a year from now! LOL Enjoy her now, baby coops are like children, really cute when they are waddling around, but a terror when they become teenagers! LOL


I was cleaning my little .22 auto pistol two nights ago and found down in the action. It hasn't been opened around a bird in forever. I chuckled at remembering someone writing you would be finding down for years. LOL

[varanus]

I always have food in with her except at night when I go to bed. I worry about the food drying and becoming sticky and choking her, I read that in a thread somewhere. She is really getting the hang of feeding from the dish although she still looks at me and chirps trying to get fed sometimes. Any time I get my fingers near her she bites them even though I haven't ever given her food from them , right now thats kind of cute but I hope she quits soon as I can already feel a difference in how hard she can bite. Her feathers are well on their way you can see the feather in the tubes now. It seems like every time I look at her something has changed. I'm probably going to go to bed tonight and wake up to find her flying around the house crazyy.

[GONEHAWKN]

She is really getting the hang of feeding from the dish although she still looks at me and chirps trying to get fed sometimes. Any time I get my fingers near her she bites them even though I haven't ever given her food from them


has she ever seen you place the dish of food in the box? i always make sure that with my eyass Coops, the food just appears out of now where for them to eat.

as for her growth rate, yes they grow like weeds. somewhere around here i have pics i took of a Coop i raised. i took a pic a day for 40 days. it's pretty cool to flip through them and see the changes.....

[varanus]

No she doesn't see me put the food in there I always wait for her to be sleeping to put it in. Her feathers must be twice as long now as when I looked at her right before I went to bed. They are almost out of the end of the tubes now. I fed her rat today instead of quail and I have several sparrows in my trap that I might feed her tomorrow. I may decide to try and keep them alive to use as baggies though.

[varanus]

She tried to rip up a scored sparrow today but isn't quite strong enough. She is sleeping right now but I made it easier for her to tear at it when she wakes up, she also has her normal food dish with food in it as well. I expect her feather to be sticking out of the tubes tomorrow. I'll post pics of her when they finally do poke through. Oh on a side note how long should I leave this heating pad in with her?

[varanus]

She just used her feet to hold the sparow down so she could eat it. It still took a lot of effort for her to rip the couple of bites off that she ate and now she is sleeping again. Man does she sleep a lot.

[varanus]

Not a picture of this bird but my favorite picture so far of me and a bird. I love the way she is looking at the dog.

http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/ww50/Varanus_photos/DSC00225.jpg

[varanus]

Here are some pics I just took.

http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/ww50/Varanus_photos/DSC00594.jpg

http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/ww50/Varanus_photos/DSC00591.jpg

http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/ww50/Varanus_photos/DSC00588.jpg

She is coming along.

[dirthawker2004]

have decided on a name for her yet. by the way I hate you right now my coops havent even hatched yet LOL

[varanus]

How much longer untill they do hatch? toungeout I named her Shiera after Hawk-girl from DC comics. I thought it fit her.

[dirthawker2004]

think it should be any day now just havent seen any out yet. that and the next challenge is getting up in the tree to get one. the nest is in a cotton wood out on a 5" branch

[varanus]

Hmm I just hired the pro climber Fred knew and had him climb toungeout so I didn't have to worry about it.

[varanus]

The tips of her feathers are out of the tubes today.

[dirthawker2004]

well I am thinking about renting a bucket truck for a few hrs. that is if my buddy doesnt come threw for me and get stuff from work to do it. keep the pics coming so we can see how its coming along.

[varanus]

I'll post pics when ever there is a big enough change to show in a picture.

[barnaby]

hi oll im from the uk and nuw to this forum . and think ur ol so luky to b alawd to taek abird awt the wiuld im rele jelus . wish thay wod let me taek a gos awt the nast , but thay wood send me to jael lol from barny uk

[varanus]

yeah we are pretty lucky over here being allowed to take birds from the wild.

[varanus]

She has been standing up and flapping today. I found her a little while ago sitting next to her box on the floor, not sure if she jumped out or just fell out.

[frootdog]

think it should be any day now just havent seen any out yet. that and the next challenge is getting up in the tree to get one. the nest is in a cotton wood out on a 5" branch

I know of people that have hired people of a different nationality that work at tree trimming services to climb for them. $50 should get the job done.

[BrianD]

Great idea Krys. I'll have to remember that next time I have to climb a tree.

[Raptorick]

Great idea Krys. I'll have to remember that next time I have to climb a tree.

I don't climb trees anymore, I just make sure I have a young apprentice that's a good climber. Good apprentices can be very handy.:D

[dirthawker2004]

I know of people that have hired people of a different nationality that work at tree trimming services to climb for them. $50 should get the job done.


on this brach it would have to be one really small person of a differant nationality LOL.

[varanus]

Well she jumped out of her box again today but she just sat next to it. I had to pick her up to put her back in the box and she chirped her head off and acted really scared. She has been spending more time standing and trying to walk. I'm going to give her another sparrow to tear up maybe Monday to see if she can tear her own food yet. I'll post pics of her again probably monday as well as the changes should be noticeable more then. In the 8 days that I have had her she has eaten 10 6 oz quail, Where does she put all of that crazyy?

[FredFogg]

Well she jumped out of her box again today but she just sat next to it. I had to pick her up to put her back in the box and she chirped her head off and acted really scared. She has been spending more time standing and trying to walk. I'm going to give her another sparrow to tear up maybe Monday to see if she can tear her own food yet. I'll post pics of her again probably monday as well as the changes should be noticeable more then. In the 8 days that I have had her she has eaten 10 6 oz quail, Where does she put all of that crazyy?

Mark, try and not pick her up. If you can, use a frizbee with a towel wrapped around it and hold it up against her and try and get her to step onto it and then step back into her bowl or nest or what ever you are using to keep her in. If not, you will end up with a bird afraid of your bare hands. Here is a picture of the box with the nest I kept my coops in, it was high enough that it discouraged her from jumping out, but yet not too high that if she did, she would get hurt. I kept that box inside a bigger box to catch the slices.

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii68/FredrickFogg/IMG_0029-1.jpg

And I used this to transfer from one place to another without picking her up.

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii68/FredrickFogg/IMG_0011-1.jpg

[varanus]

Yeah I hate to have to pick her up but I didn't have anything handy to get her to step into. She doesn't appear to have taken much offence to it as she curled up on my hand and went to sleep about 10 minutes later (I put my hand down in her box and she climbed on it and layed down and I didn't move her from the box.). She still nibles on my fingers but doesn't bite them anymore like she was. Her feet and legs are still that pinkish color and the scales aren't hard yet. About how much longer untill they do get hard? I took her heating pad out and put my glove and lure in with her. I'll be coming up with something to pick her up with rather than my hands from now on as I think she is going to make a habit of jumping out.

[varanus]

She was out of her box again today so I used a bowl that a zeroed my scale with to pick her up and I weighed her as well. She weighed 271.1 grams today so she is growing like a weed. Her feathers are at least 3xs as long today as they were last night. I go to pick up my tiercel Peale's tomorrow morning at the airport.

[varanus]

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii68/FredrickFogg/IMG_0029-1.jpg


How old was your coops in this picture? My girls feathers aren't much shorter than that now and her feet still haven't hardened yet. Just trying to figure out when that should happen.

[RyanVZ]

You sure that you have a girl? 270g sounds more in the male range at this age doesnt it?

[varanus]

Your guess is better than mine probably I'm just going by what Fred said pretty much. 271.1 grams at 14 days old sounds like a male? Her feet look huge compared to the rest of her though.

[Raptorick]

Your guess is better than mine probably I'm just going by what Fred said pretty much. 271.1 grams at 14 days old sounds like a male? Her feet look huge compared to the rest of her though.

maybe you need to change the thread to my little boy.:D just messing with ya.

I have been following your thread. I have one maybe a bit older then yours. She ( assuming she) was 320 at about 14 days. I have not wieghed her since. The feet are 3 1/4 from back toe to front toe. Either a small hen or a big male. I will start a thread with some pictures.

how long are his/ her toes not including talons?

[RyanVZ]

My coop weighed 270 at 14 days and I'm about positive it is a male. I his body hasnt grown much more, only the feathers are getting longer every day. Outta curiosity I measured my birds toes this morning like Rick suggested and his are about 2 1/2 inches from rear toe to front. My bird is from Oklahoma so there could be a size difference but we have eastern coops at least in the area that I live. I would think that an east coast bird would be somewhat bigger as with Redtails, but the accipiter thing is new to me as well.

[Raptorick]

This is my 2nd eastern coops. The western males had 2 1/2 inch feet and a very good indicator to determine early sex. Mine would be a female for sure if it was a western. I have not measured enough eastern coops to know yet.

I know her/his momma was the largest coopers hawk I have ever seen.

[Mitchellbrad]

I don't climb trees anymore, I just make sure I have a young apprentice that's a good climber. Good apprentices can be very handy.:D

I tried that once. The answer was,"You promised my mother you wouldn't let anything happen to me!" The other person in our party told me, "It's your hawk!" So up I went into one of those old cottonwoods with the bark coming off in sheets everytime a spike was pulled out. On the way down the guys on the ground told me it was raining blood. Somehow I'd stuck one of the spikes into my leg and didn't feel it.

I'm 60 and would still climb a tree if I wanted a bird. The experience, thrill and everything else associated with getting your own bird is well worth the terror associated with the climb. It makes for good stories, memories and a better appreciation for the bird if you were nothing more than a bystander on the ground watching someone else do all the work.

I've got a coops nest spotted for another falconer. If he so much as burps at the idea of going up that tree I'll go up it like a squirrel. Lots of limbs to hold on to or break your fall. Now if that nest was in one of the trees it's been in the past I might say, "It's your bird"

[Raptorick]

LOL, I understand. I have been up several and know the feeling of getting your own bird. I am in fairly good shape for pushing 50. I really don't like hieghts and yet have sucked it up all these years. Been down ropes for falcons etc....

My apprentice did just get his general license and has never been up a nest. I can say, he got up the tree lots faster then me and I am fine with that.
Besides he was going to pull one too, but there were not enough.

[FredFogg]

How old was your coops in this picture? My girls feathers aren't much shorter than that now and her feet still haven't hardened yet. Just trying to figure out when that should happen.

Mark, I will have to go look at the date on the picture to figure out how old she was. I just don't see any reason to weigh an eyas until it will stand on the scales, when someone pulls a bird, they have what they have. Weighing it isn't going to change what sex it is! It might be different if someone purchased a bird.

[Mitchellbrad]

LOL, I understand. I have been up several and know the feeling of getting your own bird. I am in fairly good shape for pushing 50. I really don't like hieghts and yet have sucked it up all these years. Been down ropes for falcons etc....

My apprentice did just get his general license and has never been up a nest. I can say, he got up the tree lots faster then me and I am fine with that.
Besides he was going to pull one too, but there were not enough.

Believe it or not I'm scared s##less of heights. The first time I rapelled the nylon rope began to stretch while I'm leaning over the cliff, backwards. I'd been warned about that although a warning and having it happen are two different things. All sorts of things went through my mind. Naturally none of what I was thinking happened.

It's all part of the falconry experience in the good old U S of A. Something all of us should do at least a dozen times<G>

Even at 60 I can't sleep the night before a new adventure. The digital clock moves sooo slow.

[varanus]

I only weighed her yesterday because I hade to use the bowl I already had zeroed on my sale to pick her up off the floor. I will have to measure the toes later and post what they are so you guys can give me a guess. It doesn't really matter what she turns out to be I only wanted a female because I have a lot of crows around and I wanted to try her on rabbits. on a side note I just got back from picking up my Peregrin at the airport. He weighes 660.2 grams and hates me right now, although he doesn't bate that often but he does the mouth open pant a lot and man does his breath stink.

http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/ww50/Varanus_photos/GEDC0954.jpg

http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/ww50/Varanus_photos/GEDC0955.jpg

[frootdog]

Mark,

For what it's worth my female coop was 350 grams at 14 days old.

[wingnut]

Well thanks to Fred on here I was able to pull my first Acip. a female Coops. We think that she was around 4-5 days old when we puled her Tuesday. I weighed her today with a full crop and she was 105.1 grams. Well hopefully we will be slaying all the sparrows and starlings around here and what ever else she thinks she can catch :D.

I'm not sure how to post pics on here but maybe Fred will post a couple for me when he has the time.

CongratsclappI hope to pull a male coop in a week or so. It's a nest that
Brad Mitchell located and has been watching for me. I was curious how you were able to determine the males from the females. Looking forward to seeing the pics.

[wingnut]

CongratsclappI hope to pull a male coop in a week or so. It's a nest that
Brad Mitchell located and has been watching for me. I was curious how you were able to determine the males from the females. Looking forward to seeing the pics.

Ooops....should have read the whole thread first and I would have seen the pictures. Brad, I'll flip ya for who goes up the tree. I retired from hang gliding last summer, been a couple thousand feet up hanging from a strap on contraption made of dacron and aluminum but climbing trees scares the crap out of me. Go figure.

[RyanVZ]

CongratsclappI hope to pull a male coop in a week or so. It's a nest that
Brad Mitchell located and has been watching for me. I was curious how you were able to determine the males from the females. Looking forward to seeing the pics.

From what I have been told, it is kindof a shot in the dark if you pull them early. I personally picked up the two smallest chicks that were very close in body size and one had skinnier legs and shorter toes by 3/4 of an inch. So I pulled that one in hopes that it was a male but knowing that I'd be happy either way. I've mostly done big longwings and this is my first experience with anything accip so I just made a guess going by what seemed right in my tiny longwinger mind (thats what austringers like to hear right....:D)

pics and other good info here:
http://www.nafex.net/showthread.php?t=4893

[varanus]

Her feet are 3" from tip of halux to tip of middle toe not including the talons. Either way it doesn't matter to me as long as she catches game thats all that matters to me rtsqrl.

[FredFogg]

How old was your coops in this picture? My girls feathers aren't much shorter than that now and her feet still haven't hardened yet. Just trying to figure out when that should happen.

The picture was takein May 31, I pulled her on May 21 and she was a couple days old when I pulled her, so she was probably 12-13 days old in that picture. The picture is deceiving as I took it right when she stood up, but she wasn't standing all that well, I just timed it and got her standing. My coops top fat weight after hard penned was about 445 g, so she wasn't a huge female, she flew at 375 g and caught crows. Don't worry about the weight until she is hard penned, then you will need that weight to progress from there.

[BrianD]

Isn't bad breath a sign of a health problem with raptors? Just thought I would mention it.

[Mitchellbrad]

Ooops....should have read the whole thread first and I would have seen the pictures. Brad, I'll flip ya for who goes up the tree. I retired from hang gliding last summer, been a couple thousand feet up hanging from a strap on contraption made of dacron and aluminum but climbing trees scares the crap out of me. Go figure.

It doesn't matter to me who goes up, plenty of limbs. My biggest concern is being covered with pine tar. A falconer asked me to go parasailing with him just the other day. I won't tell you exactly what I said although lots of puke bags and an extra pair of underwear were mentioned along with a few choicer comments. No thank you!!! I'd have bad dreams about that for years afterwards. Terra firma is nice.

[varanus]

I think it is just the way he smells, I have heard that praries have bad breath as well. He ate without the hood on after only a couple of hours on the fist so we are making good progress so far.


The coops can stand for about 10 seconds at a time now and even tried to eat while standing although she fell on her face when she leaned over :D. She looks just like your bird in that pic Fred except for her legs are still pinkish.

[Mitchellbrad]

I think it is just the way he smells, I have heard that praries have bad breath as well. He ate without the hood on after only a couple of hours on the fist so we are making good progress so far.


If your not used to peregrine breath you soon will be. Wait until you catch a passage tundra on the beach. The last one smelled a little fishy to me<G>

[Leon Crumpler]

I only weighed her yesterday because I hade to use the bowl I already had zeroed on my sale to pick her up off the floor. I will have to measure the toes later and post what they are so you guys can give me a guess. It doesn't really matter what she turns out to be I only wanted a female because I have a lot of crows around and I wanted to try her on rabbits. on a side note I just got back from picking up my Peregrin at the airport. He weighes 660.2 grams and hates me right now, although he doesn't bate that often but he does the mouth open pant a lot and man does his breath stink.

http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/ww50/Varanus_photos/GEDC0954.jpg

http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/ww50/Varanus_photos/GEDC0955.jpg

Sprinkle some acidophilus on his food and it will sweeten his breath.

[borderhawk]

Sprinkle some acidophilus on his food and it will sweeten his breath.

I think in some places they still sell Bene-bac for birds, I wonder if that wouldn't do the same thing. I give my dogs yogurt for bad breath sometimes.

[varanus]

Well my coops can stand now for about a minute at a time and does a lot of flapping. Her feet and legs are just now starting to turn yellow and the scales are hardening finally.


http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/ww50/Varanus_photos/GEDC0964.jpg

http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/ww50/Varanus_photos/GEDC0965.jpg

http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/ww50/Varanus_photos/GEDC0966.jpg

[FredFogg]

Mark,

After talking to the other guys, we think the birds were a day or so younger than we originally thought. So I would say yours is about 16 days old now.

Are you letting your bird sit in the sun any? I have heard different opinions about sunlight, but I tried to let mine get sunshine daily. My understanding is they absorb calcium better with sunlight, after all, they are at the top of a tree and get sunshine daily in the wild.

Looks good!

[varanus]

I take her out a couple times a day but she gets too hot really easy and starts panting so I don't keep her out very long at a time. Although today we were out most of the day at a cookout and she did fine then. Yeah I've ben getting the feeling that she isn't as old as we thought she was just by comparing pics and stuff. It's almost sad seeing her grow so fast. As soon as she is spending the majority of the time standing and can walk/run pretty well I'm going to put some soft anklets on her and start getting her used to that. I'm going to start teathering her to her perch as soon as she starts to fly a little bit or the running around gets out of hand. Well she has stoped chirping but she still nibbles/bites on my fingers, her beak is getting pretty sharp and she get a hold of the skin on my knuckles sometimes. I'm not sure why she does that because I've never fed her by hand and she has only seen me put food in with her twice, she woke up just as I was sitting the dish down. I'm going to give her another day or two and then put another dead scored sparrow in with her to see if she can tear yet.

[FredFogg]

I take her out a couple times a day but she gets too hot really easy and starts panting so I don't keep her out very long at a time. Although today we were out most of the day at a cookout and she did fine then. Yeah I've ben getting the feeling that she isn't as old as we thought she was just by comparing pics and stuff. It's almost sad seeing her grow so fast. As soon as she is spending the majority of the time standing and can walk/run pretty well I'm going to put some soft anklets on her and start getting her used to that. I'm going to start teathering her to her perch as soon as she starts to fly a little bit or the running around gets out of hand. Well she has stoped chirping but she still nibbles/bites on my fingers, her beak is getting pretty sharp and she get a hold of the skin on my knuckles sometimes. I'm not sure why she does that because I've never fed her by hand and she has only seen me put food in with her twice, she woke up just as I was sitting the dish down. I'm going to give her another day or two and then put another dead scored sparrow in with her to see if she can tear yet.

I wouldn't put anklets on her until you can't keep her in the box. And I wouldn't worry about trying to get her to tear from a scored sparrow until she is standing more consistently, how can she tear from a carcass if she can't stand. LOL

[barnaby]

i wish i had a chik to bring on oll my harks r pr ,i miet hav a go at ip next yer if i kan get a coops . or a blak spar? se haw much i got to spend .. miet just get a chikin if im skint lol its nies to reed haw ur geting on wiv ur nuw litol gerl wots her naem guna b then maet? from barny uk

[MadAustringer]

i wish i had a chik to bring on oll my harks r pr ,i miet hav a go at ip next yer if i kan get a coops . or a blak spar? se haw much i got to spend .. miet just get a chikin if im skint lol its nies to reed haw ur geting on wiv ur nuw litol gerl wots her naem guna b then maet? from barny uk

A black spar would be awesome! Perhaps you should compare the price of a coop to a black spar because they might cost a similar amount over there on your side of the pond. confusedd :D I am jealous of that dilemma you are in. For sure.

Good hawkin

[dirthawker2004]

I saw a thread some time ago about how a guy used to keep a frozen water bottel out there with the chick in the sun just to keep it cool enough. that was with a gos though

[Dirthawking]

Well my coops can stand now for about a minute at a time and does a lot of flapping. Her feet and legs are just now starting to turn yellow and the scales are hardening finally.


http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/ww50/Varanus_photos/GEDC0964.jpg





:eek:
Dude! That is a huge lure! What are you trying to call in with that? toungeout

[varanus]

I made that lure for a red-tail and I'm just too lazy to make a smaller one. How would you guys clean mutes off of an eyass? The little bugger jumped out of her nest into the larger box that I use to catch her mutes when we are traveling, right in a puddle of mutes. She has it on her tail mostly. I wiped off her feet but it soked into her tail.

Fred she stands pretty well right now she just prefers to lay down. The longest that I have seen her stand for is about a minute and a half which was long enough for her to eat all of the food that was in her dish and then she turned around, walked to the other end of her box and laid back down. She uses her feet to hold them down she just doesn't have the strength yet to tear it up.

Barny her name is shiera.

[frootdog]

I made that lure for a red-tail and I'm just too lazy to make a smaller one. How would you guys clean mutes off of an eyass? The little bugger jumped out of her nest into the larger box that I use to catch her mutes when we are traveling, right in a puddle of mutes. She has it on her tail mostly. I wiped off her feet but it soked into her tail.

.

Mist her down real good with a spray bottle ....or don't worry about it.

[barnaby]

A black spar would be awesome! Perhaps you should compare the price of a coop to a black spar because they might cost a similar amount over there on your side of the pond. confusedd :D I am jealous of that dilemma you are in. For sure.

Good hawkin
haha i rekun a blak spar wil b 2000 /2500 for a femael i rekun coops wil b 1500 for a femael .. i wood luv a blak spar but i torkt to my misis and she sed she wood lev me .if i spent that much on a hark lol. so im guna triy and get 1 lol.shes a misrubol caw ... thay do a gos/blak spar ova her thers a kupol ov lads wiv them on the iff ,so guna se haw thay tern awt .. i diownt liek hiy breds in harks .. so se haw it gows wiv them b for i look at it .. it wil b next yer naw so wel see . barny uk

[dirthawker2004]

well I will be comeing up behind ya in 2 weeks. as of yesterday my coops nest started hatching. as of today there are at least 2 chicks in the nest.

[varanus]

What are you hopeing to pull a male or a female?

So I should get her all wet? I thought about that when it happened but I was worried about doing it because she might get too cold. It isn't as bad as I thought but her tail feathers are stiff and look a little gross.

[FredFogg]

What are you hopeing to pull a male or a female?

So I should get her all wet? I thought about that when it happened but I was worried about doing it because she might get too cold. It isn't as bad as I thought but her tail feathers are stiff and look a little gross.

Mark, don't get her all wet. Just spray her tail or if you are able, fill a cup of water and when her tail is hanging over the edge, put the cup up and hold it so the tail is soaking in the warm water. It is much easier when a bird is on a perch and the tail is longer, but you can still try.

[varanus]

I soaked her tail with a spray bottle and it looks much better. It won't be long untill she has her first kill :D stupid fly keeps flying around her dish and she chases it. It is funny as hell to watch.

[dirthawker2004]

trying for a female but it is a craps shoot anyway so if it turned out to be a male that will be fine. I am just looking forward to having a bird again. I should have held off on releasing my passage coops but you know hind sight is 20\20. I would just like the female for the diversity of game that you can take with them.

[varanus]

Yeah thats pretty much my reasoning behind wanting a female as well. I have crow, rabbit, ducks, doves, sparrows, and starlings plus whatever else might be around so a female for me is the best choice.

She keeps walking to the edge of her box and looking over like she is considering if she should jump out and run around. She did pretty well yesterday tearing up a dead scored sparrow but she still isn't good enough at it that I would consider only feeding her this way.

[dirthawker2004]

dont worry she will be running all over the place real soon and reeking havoc every where she goes

[varanus]

I look forward to it.

Oh here are some new pics for you guys.

http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/ww50/Varanus_photos/GEDC0975.jpg

http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/ww50/Varanus_photos/GEDC0976.jpg

http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/ww50/Varanus_photos/GEDC0977.jpg

[FredFogg]

Mark, the first thing you have to do is train her to look up at the camera and smile! LOL She looks great!

[Joby]

Mark,
When do you need to band her?
-Joby

[varanus]

I'm still waiting for Ron to send me the band.

Yeah she is looking fantastic isn't she. She can tear her own food pretty well now and she gets most of her meals whole now although I still give her food that I cut up to make sure she gets enough bone. She kept jumping out of her box today so I let her out, she just stood in the middle of the room for a while and then walked around for a little bit. I put an opened quail on the floor for her to find and she ate most of it while my two girls where running all over the place and going over and touching her while she ate. I think I might try feeding her outside tomorrow, she still has food 24/7 though.

[varanus]

I decided since she has been doing so well tearing that I will only be feeding her whole animals from now on. I also tried her on a live sparrow today but she doesn't quite know how to use her feet properly yet so I'll be waiting a few more days to try that again. I'm going to put anklets on her now but I won't be teathering her or putting jesses in until she is running all over the house and becomes a problem. She is feathering out very nicely (camera batteries are dead sorry), is still calm and doesn't make a peep.

[varanus]

Well forget putting the anklets on right now I put one on and she went crazy biting at it and jumping all over the place. Is that normal? Or did I try and push my luck by putting them on too soon? I thought I would put them on now and give her time to get used to them befor she was teathered by them. I don't think it will be much longer befor I have to teather her she already doesn't like to stay in her box. Her ceare (spelling) and feet are still light colored. What in a birds diet turns them yellow?

[wesleyc6]

Well forget putting the anklets on right now I put one on and she went crazy biting at it and jumping all over the place. Is that normal? Or did I try and push my luck by putting them on too soon? I thought I would put them on now and give her time to get used to them befor she was teathered by them. I don't think it will be much longer befor I have to teather her she already doesn't like to stay in her box. Her ceare (spelling) and feet are still light colored. What in a birds diet turns them yellow?

Personally I put the anklets on as soon as they are standing well. They will tire of them quickly. Once they get pretty mobile, I tether too. Haak says in his book and so does McD if I remember, that waiting too long can cause an ugly scene with the bating.

[FredFogg]

Hope you don't mind Mark, here are pics of Mark's birds brother.

2 days old
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii68/FredrickFogg/Coopers2009032.jpg

10 days old
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii68/FredrickFogg/Coopers10days3.jpg

20 days old
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii68/FredrickFogg/20daysold01.jpg

[varanus]

I don't mind at all please feel free to continue to post pics of him here.

Well today has been a very big day for my girl she flew for the first time just a minute ago from her box on the floor to the back of a chair in my living room which is about belly button high and she was about 3 feet away from the chair. Let me tell you even my wife was impressed. She is steadily moving her way up now she is on the back of the couch. She is chasing a fly :D wow this is so funny.

[varanus]

Oh I'm going to go ahead and put her anklets on her. Should I start to teather her soon?

[frootdog]

Oh I'm going to go ahead and put her anklets on her. Should I start to teather her soon?


Personally I put the anklets on as soon as they are standing well. They will tire of them quickly. Once they get pretty mobile, I tether too. Haak says in his book and so does McD if I remember, that waiting too long can cause an ugly scene with the bating.

The biggest thing I regret is not tethering Turbo Dog sooner. I too got caught up in how cool and cute it was with the bird running around free in the house. It was a huge mistake. She bates constantly still to this day.

[varanus]

Well I put on her anklets and now she is pissed. She is running around like a crazy bird running into stuff and jumping around and biting at the anklets. I hope she stops soon I'm afraid that she might hurt herself. I'm going to start teathering her tomorrow, this should piss her off pretty good :D. Man are her talons sharp she jumped on my arm and then lost her balance and clamped down with those little needles.

[FredFogg]

Mark, don't tether her until she isn't paying attention to the anklets. Give her some time to get used to them.

[varanus]

Okay I'll give her a couple of days although she seems to not mind them too much right now. I was only going to start today because I figured I should just do it all at once that way she has stressed for a shorter period of time. She jumped onto my bare hand and stood there for a bit but she didn't like it when I tried to move around but all in all she is coming along really fast. It wont be long now until we start hunting I hope. I'm going to start only feeding her three times a day today as she pretty much only eats that often now on her own anyway and start some baggies tomorrow I think. I'm also going to introduce the lure tomorrow maybe as well. I'm still not going to try and take weight off though. Oh the first band on her tail is all the way in now and she is working on the first light colored band now.

[varanus]

I tried her on a scored and teathered baggie sparrow but she didn't see the least bit hungry or interested. She did feed on it after about an hour of sitting next to it but by this time I had dispatched it so that it didn't have to suffer very long. I'm going to try another one for her last meal of the day and see how she does, she should be much hungrier here in a little bit. I'm going to start only feeding her outside and change the location as often as possible.

[varanus]

Well holy crap all this time I thought I had a cute cuddly baby chicken and it turns out it is a coopers hawk crazyy. I finally got to see her act like a coopers hawk. She caught a baggie sparrow that was teathered and was mantling over it and trying to kill me whenever I tried to get my hand in there to dispatch it. It took her a minute to decide that she could do it but when she finally decided she could she jumped at it with both feet. She will be getting at least 2 baggies a day from now on and I'll introduce the lure tomorrow for her lunch time feeding. I look forward to seeing her develop her skills and start flying them down. :D

[varanus]

When will she get over her fear of falling because she still raises hell when ever I have to pick her up (she got between a chair and the couch yesterday and I couldn't fit the bowl I use to lift her normaly in there to get her). I'm going to have to start teathering her today she is jumping out of the 3' high fenced area that I keep her in in the living room and then she runs all over the place. When should I start carrying her around on the glove?

[varanus]

Well she seems to like me pretty well. She has been laying down in my lap for the past hour snoozing away. Did I say that I really like this bird? Well I really like this bird.

[varanus]

Well I went ahead and teathered and boy is she pissed off ight now. I tied to put he on the bow perch but she just jumped off and went crazy. She is a little calmer and is standing on her perch but who knows how long that will last, in fact she just jumped off.

[musketdaft]

Don’t attempt to help your hawk onto the perch let it get up there itself and don’t worry the hawk will soon realise its tethered and is not going anywhere. Alf.



Well I went ahead and teathered and boy is she pissed off ight now. I tied to put he on the bow perch but she just jumped off and went crazy. She is a little calmer and is standing on her perch but who knows how long that will last, in fact she just jumped off.

[varanus]

Sorry I haven't updated for a while my power cord craped out on me. She is doing pretty well with everything. She bates a bit ad still sleeps on the floor but she perches on her perch a lot. She kills teatherd baggies really well although it takes her a couple of minutes of looking around before she chases them down. She is killing hen phessie chicks that are nearly the same size as her. There are times when she acts like she has never seen me before and cirps and trys to run away from me but that only lasts for a few seconds and then she is fine. I weighed her the other day and she weighed 350 grams. She had 1 feather on the back of her wing that sticks out funny and I'm not sure if it is broken or if there is something else wrong with it. When she kills her baggie I trade her for a skined and gutted pigeon because I don't think the phessie is a rich enough food for her while she is still growing. She mantles, screams, and foots like crazy while on a kill which she more often than not goes streight for the head and neck beacuse she has learned that it keeps thosephessies from being able to kick the crap out of her which they try to do.

[musketdaft]

Is it wise to over face such a young hawk with such large baggies?
Not that I know much about baggies but it would seem to me that the art of producing baggies to a hawk is to build up confidence in a young hawk giving something like you say that can “kick the crap out of it” might just put the hawk off don’t you think not to mention the chance with the struggle to cause the hawk some feather damage?
Just a thought! Alf.



Sorry I haven't updated for a while my power cord craped out on me. She is doing pretty well with everything. She bates a bit ad still sleeps on the floor but she perches on her perch a lot. She kills teatherd baggies really well although it takes her a couple of minutes of looking around before she chases them down. She is killing hen phessie chicks that are nearly the same size as her. There are times when she acts like she has never seen me before and cirps and trys to run away from me but that only lasts for a few seconds and then she is fine. I weighed her the other day and she weighed 350 grams. She had 1 feather on the back of her wing that sticks out funny and I'm not sure if it is broken or if there is something else wrong with it. When she kills her baggie I trade her for a skined and gutted pigeon because I don't think the phessie is a rich enough food for her while she is still growing. She mantles, screams, and foots like crazy while on a kill which she more often than not goes streight for the head and neck beacuse she has learned that it keeps thosephessies from being able to kick the crap out of her which they try to do.

[varanus]

Only the first one that I gave her had a chace to kick her and I quickly put an end to its abiity to do so. After that she grabs only the head and neck and then tears at the base of the skull untill the baggie stops moving. She doesn't seem to be the least bit afraid of them and runs them down after only a few minutes of looking around outside. I would much rather use sparrows but I think I have caught al of the ones that are close to me as I haven't caught any for several days.

[KidK]

Mark,

My understanding is they absorb calcium better with sunlight, after all, they are at the top of a tree and get sunshine daily in the wild.


Mark, great looking little Cooper's hawk.. Man, I love these critters!

Fred, you are right, in a round about way..

Sunlight gives us Vitamin D, and Vitamin D is critical for the absorption of calcium.

You can give calcium supplements to your bird, but without Vitamin D, either IN the calcium supplement, or via natural sunlight, the calcium will not be absorbed well. I always try to do both, sunlight and light dusting on the food with calcium suppliments.

Sunlight is good for all living things.. I know it puts me in a better mood!

For my imprints, I use an old Keen Kutter meat grinder to double grind whole (all bones in, skinned, eviscerated) quail. Then, I scrape a 600 mg calcium tablet (with Vitamin D added) with the blade of a knife over the ground quail. About the ammount that you would use if you were well salting your dinner.

The whole bones, broke down in the grinder are a great source for calcium, but you have to have the Vitamin D source for absorbtion..

A cheep food processor may work if it has a "chop" feature.. otherwise you will have a quail smoothie!

Mark, I saw the photo with a HUGE lure next to the chick.. I think Lee Slikkers may have posted a photo of a small starling sized lure he made a couple years back that is almost identical to what I have used with all my Cooper's and Goshawks. http://www.nafex.net/showthread.php?t=204

[FredFogg]

Mark, I would have to say at 350 g at this age, she is a he! LOL I think you all ended up with males! Just goes to show you I don't a damn thing about picking the sex! crazyy :D

[varanus]

I made a starling sized lure yesterday and I use it for both the Peale's and the coops now. Yeah Fred I was thinking the same thing but I'll keep calling him a her just because I'm so used to it and I don't want to have to figure out a new name I'll just get confused. Well like you told me knowing the sex at the age we pulled is a crap shoot. I'm happy with him/her either way, crow might be a pretty good fight for him but We'll see what happens.

[varanus]

Wow she is acting like she has never even seen before today. She was screaming and backing away from me footing and biting, I didn't change anything. She also showed fear of the glove which she never has before and I ended up taking it off which got her to at least step onto my fist so we could go outside to kill her baggie. She has calmed down a bit now but wow what happened. She showed me that she can really fly last night. I had her on my fist and was standing at the far side of the room talking to my wife when all of a sudden she just flew all the way across the room and landed on the back of a chair which is about 20 feet. I was so excited I picked her up and let her do it 5 more times just to make sure it wasn't an accident. She has 3 of her dark tail bands in now so She doesn't have much longer untill she is hardpenned. I'm thinking it might be time to start slowly cutting her weight a little. Oh Should I start holding her jesses and keeping her on the fist or should I still let her just jump off whenever she wants for now? I'm so worried about pissing her off I think I might be taking stuff a bit to slow which will probably end up pissing her off even more.

[Saluqi]

Wow she is acting like she has never even seen before today. She was screaming and backing away from me footing and biting, I didn't change anything. She also showed fear of the glove which she never has before and I ended up taking it off which got her to at least step onto my fist so we could go outside to kill her baggie. She has calmed down a bit now but wow what happened. She showed me that she can really fly last night. I had her on my fist and was standing at the far side of the room talking to my wife when all of a sudden she just flew all the way across the room and landed on the back of a chair which is about 20 feet. I was so excited I picked her up and let her do it 5 more times just to make sure it wasn't an accident. She has 3 of her dark tail bands in now so She doesn't have much longer untill she is hardpenned. I'm thinking it might be time to start slowly cutting her weight a little. Oh Should I start holding her jesses and keeping her on the fist or should I still let her just jump off whenever she wants for now? I'm so worried about pissing her off I think I might be taking stuff a bit to slow which will probably end up pissing her off even more.

I don't know, what do you think you should do?

[voslerdo]

Hey Mark...Haven't been on the forum for awhile...just picked up this thread. Changes in birds that aren't associated with anything external usually signal an internal change like hormones developing or something of that order. You've read the behavioral book by McDermott, make certain nothing you're doing is causing a negative effect first. If not, weight reduction is probably in order....slowly, just a couple grams at a time. You'll probably see improvement in just a small weight loss. He will display his aggression on the baggies first and then the fear response will decrease as he lowers. It doesn't take much for the Gos, so it will probably take less than you think to get him back, but don't go fast or you risk feather damage before hard penning. I'm no expert on the little guys (or the big guys either, for that matter), but I waited until the fear response got too far on mine and paid the price with a long delay in development. Good to see you're having so much fun! Isn't it amazing how attached we get?

[varanus]

I'm going to start lowering her weight a bit probably about 2 grams a day and hopefully that will do the trick. I'm also going to increase the amount of time that I have her on the fist because right now I don't think that it is enough. Any advice you experienced shortwinger have would be great. This is a lot harder than they make it sound in the book.

[FredFogg]

Hey Mark, talked to Bon today, appears his is a female (425 g or 475 g, can't remember what he said). I should have known, when I pulled mine, she was the smallest one in the nest, turned out to be a female. Bon pulls the smallest one and you guys pull the bigger ones and his turns out to be a female and yours are males. LOL Still should be lots of fun!

[musketdaft]

What age is your hawk now Mark and do you have any recent photos? Alf.



I'm going to start lowering her weight a bit probably about 2 grams a day and hopefully that will do the trick. I'm also going to increase the amount of time that I have her on the fist because right now I don't think that it is enough. Any advice you experienced shortwinger have would be great. This is a lot harder than they make it sound in the book.

[GONEHAWKN]

all good advice so far. the one thing i would do if your not already, is to keep a good, very detailed journal. sometimes reading what you have done brings things to light. i know it sounds weird, but it has worked for me in the past......

[varanus]

I keep a pretty good journal. I droped her 3 grams and it has made a huge difference.

I don't have any recent pics because my camera batteries are dead and I need to replace them. But just think of a passage coops with a short tail and that pretty much descrides how she looks now. She only has 3 dark tail bands in right now.

[varanus]

She has suddenly decided that the glove is evil and screams and backs away from it but if I take it off she calms right down and acts like nothing happened. I'm going to start pushing her with the baggies and start trying them out of the car window because she is getting really close to being able to hunt. I may be putting her out to hack down at my grandparents place.

[GONEHAWKN]

maybe someone else will chime in here on this one, BUT, i have never hacked a Coops. i cant help but think that enough freedom will allow it/them to start to revert to a very independent bird. of the imprint Coops that i have done, any significant amount of alone time seemed to ruin them.........

[FredFogg]

maybe someone else will chime in here on this one, BUT, i have never hacked a Coops. i cant help but think that enough freedom will allow it/them to start to revert to a very independent bird. of the imprint Coops that i have done, any significant amount of alone time seemed to ruin them.........


McD has an entire chapter on tame hacking imprints and has had success doing it. He and Kurt on here did it last year and their birds turned out fine. And I believe Barry does it with some of his gos's. I am sure some of these folks can chime in here.

[voslerdo]

Mark...I don't think it wise to tame hack when the bird is raised as a receipe bird. It is already too far along to let it loose. The tame hack is a natural progression beginning just shortly after hatching. It involves allowing the freedom to go with the birds inability to catch anything for itself. Once the bird is capable of sustained kills, the hack is over. With the recipe, you are bringing the bird into line by introducing hunting at a much earlier age (with baggies...as you have done). The bird's psychological state is completely different. In the hack, the bird is totally dependent on you as a parent. In the recipe, the bird becomes dependent on you as a provider of hunting slips. It becomes so good at killing, that weight control and multiple slips are the key to its success. What I think is happening here is a very natural hormone release that has a protective effect for a wild bird. It is called dispersal hormone because it changes the attitude of the bird towards its environment in a way that makes it leave the parents territory and find one of its own. It appears that in most birds of prey this happens right after or just before hard penning. If you read in the recipe, you get a hint of this because McD tells us to lower the weight just before hard penning. Weight control is the most useful thing you have now. I would bet that if you let him go in the midst of a fear response, you'd never see him again unless he was close to starvation. Stick with the recipe. It is too late for a hack. This only lasts 4 to 6 weeks, and with proper weight reduction, you can attenuate it. After it passes, you will have a bird with an adult attitude ready to hunt it's ass off.

[musketdaft]

Don’t think its natural hormone release causing the fear of the glove its something Marks Done? Alf.


Mark...I don't think it wise to tame hack when the bird is raised as a receipe bird. It is already too far along to let it loose. The tame hack is a natural progression beginning just shortly after hatching. It involves allowing the freedom to go with the birds inability to catch anything for itself. Once the bird is capable of sustained kills, the hack is over. With the recipe, you are bringing the bird into line by introducing hunting at a much earlier age (with baggies...as you have done). The bird's psychological state is completely different. In the hack, the bird is totally dependent on you as a parent. In the recipe, the bird becomes dependent on you as a provider of hunting slips. It becomes so good at killing, that weight control and multiple slips are the key to its success. What I think is happening here is a very natural hormone release that has a protective effect for a wild bird. It is called dispersal hormone because it changes the attitude of the bird towards its environment in a way that makes it leave the parents territory and find one of its own. It appears that in most birds of prey this happens right after or just before hard penning. If you read in the recipe, you get a hint of this because McD tells us to lower the weight just before hard penning. Weight control is the most useful thing you have now. I would bet that if you let him go in the midst of a fear response, you'd never see him again unless he was close to starvation. Stick with the recipe. It is too late for a hack. This only lasts 4 to 6 weeks, and with proper weight reduction, you can attenuate it. After it passes, you will have a bird with an adult attitude ready to hunt it's ass off.

[varanus]

I'm not sure what I could have done but I changed gloves and now she is just fine. She was fine with that glove in the morning and then when I went to pick her up in the afternoon she just went crazy. I only figured it was the glove because as soon as I took it off she calmed right down. I tried her at a teathered baggie from the car today and she didn't want anything to do with it. I'll keep trying her from the car she should figure it out pretty quick.

[dirthawker2004]

mark any new pics

[varanus]

I need to fix my camera but I'll try and post some tomorrow.

[FredFogg]

Mark...I don't think it wise to tame hack when the bird is raised as a receipe bird. It is already too far along to let it loose. The tame hack is a natural progression beginning just shortly after hatching. It involves allowing the freedom to go with the birds inability to catch anything for itself. Once the bird is capable of sustained kills, the hack is over. With the recipe, you are bringing the bird into line by introducing hunting at a much earlier age (with baggies...as you have done). The bird's psychological state is completely different. In the hack, the bird is totally dependent on you as a parent. In the recipe, the bird becomes dependent on you as a provider of hunting slips. It becomes so good at killing, that weight control and multiple slips are the key to its success. What I think is happening here is a very natural hormone release that has a protective effect for a wild bird. It is called dispersal hormone because it changes the attitude of the bird towards its environment in a way that makes it leave the parents territory and find one of its own. It appears that in most birds of prey this happens right after or just before hard penning. If you read in the recipe, you get a hint of this because McD tells us to lower the weight just before hard penning. Weight control is the most useful thing you have now. I would bet that if you let him go in the midst of a fear response, you'd never see him again unless he was close to starvation. Stick with the recipe. It is too late for a hack. This only lasts 4 to 6 weeks, and with proper weight reduction, you can attenuate it. After it passes, you will have a bird with an adult attitude ready to hunt it's ass off.

Scott, I have to disagree with you! Maybe if you are talking tame hack in the sense of how they do falcons with a feed box or whatever it is called and the birds are out until they start killing and then taken up. But to take the bird out, turn it loose for 3 or so hours and come back and call it to the lure is a fine way to tame hack an imprint accipiter. If the bird is kept fat, it will chase birds and build muscle and hone its flying skills. You just have to make sure you do it in as safe an area as possible. But any type of tame hack is a risk.

[voslerdo]

I don't disagree with you. I have no experience with hacking recipe birds. I just felt that in this case, if the bird is showing a fear response, it might be hard to get it back without weight control.

[FredFogg]

I don't disagree with you. I have no experience with hacking recipe birds. I just felt that in this case, if the bird is showing a fear response, it might be hard to get it back without weight control.

I think most imprint accipiters, once wed to the lure will come to it at most any weight if hungry. That is why I said to take it out late in the day, it will have worked up an appetite and with approaching darkness, will most likely come in.

[voslerdo]

I think I agree with that....when they are still young, they do need us and certainly by this time they are wedded to the lure. I revise my first comment...thanks for clarifiying that for me.

[EricADugan]

Any updates on your Coop's?
Eric

[varanus]

She is doing pretty well. When I went to pick up her baggies today I found out the lady next door who sometimes feeds my phessies didn't close the pen correctly and all but 3 of them have escaped. I guess that means it is really time to step up my efforts and get this bird hunting and killing.

[varanus]

Oh sorry for the lack of pics my stupid camera is still broken.

[varanus]

She chased two sparrows yesterday that I thought I had slowed down enough that she could catch them. I broke the flight feathers on both wings of both birds. To bad cover was so close or she would have caught them. She left the glove like a rocket but the little buggers beat her to the cover. It was amazing to me that the sparrows could even fly I mangled the feathers up pretty bad. After she missed those two I gave her one I knew couldn't fly just to keep her confident. I was pretty cool to watch her chase them. I caught a bunch of sparrows so I'm going to use them for the next couple of days. All I'm waiting for now is her to hardpen so I can drop her weight and get her hunting.

[frootdog]

Any updates?

[varanus]

I made some mistakes and she turned super nasty and was very loud. I could stand the noise and the going after my legs but then she started going for my face and other people which made it no fun to fly her. I tried to find someone here in Ohio that would take her but no one wanted her so I took her about 40 miles into the middle of nowhere and turned her loose. I don't think I will be doing another imprint any time soon thats for sure.