New Cooper's

[kurt]

We pulled these yesterday evening. Looks like a male and female 6 to 8 days old. Birds will be imprinted then tame hacked. Should be an interesting summer. Kurt

[Lee Slikkers]

Congrats! Looks like a bundle of fun just waiting there...

[FredFogg]

Ahhh, the days of down floating every where in the house! Looking forward to seeing others flying coops on here. Congrats Kurt!

[Takasho]

Glad to see all the coops on the forum this year! Can't wait until they're all out snagging sparrows, should be lots to read in a month or two!

[everetkhorton]

Kurt:
Look like a hand full to me. I see you have a food plate in front of the COHA, are they feeding themselves already? What is on the plate and how did you prep air the food?

[John]

That's great! Should be interesting to hear how the hack turns out. That's getting to be very popular with shortwings it seems.

[kurt]

They started taking food from the plate last night. Both birds are eating well. I'll post more pictures as they grow, Just talked to the other falconer and they will be hacked out together behind his house as I have a resident GHO about a 100 yds from my place. Kurt

[everetkhorton]

Kurt:
What was the diet on the plate? Ground up sparrow with no feathers?

[FredFogg]

They started taking food from the plate last night. Both birds are eating well. I'll post more pictures as they grow, Just talked to the other falconer and they will be hacked out together behind his house as I have a resident GHO about a 100 yds from my place. Kurt

Kurt, are both birds being raised together?

[kurt]

Starling is whats for dinner. They'll be raised together until after the hack then we'll train them seperate. The other falconer will take over on Saturday and we'll trade off until the hacking at which time I'll be spending a lot of time at their house. Kurt

[FredFogg]

Starling is whats for dinner. They'll be raised together until after the hack then we'll train them seperate. The other falconer will take over on Saturday and we'll trade off until the hacking at which time I'll be spending a lot of time at their house. Kurt

Interesting way to imprint? Have you done this before and if so, what advantages do you see from doing this? Another falcone and I pulled our eyas coops from the same nest but imprinted them ourselves, but I might try it this way the next time if there is an advantage. Keep us updated, very interested in this process.

[frootdog]

This is actually a dual imprint process. The only real advantage I can see is if the birds are to be flown together as a cast. Other than that I would not let anyone else raise my imprint.

[kurt]

Doubtful that we'll fly them as a cast. This is my first attempt at imprinting but I have a good coach and I'll follow his recipe. There's been a couple done like this with a 100% success so far. Hope I can keep up the average. Kurt

[kurt]

Todays photo of the little monsters. Both birds are totally quiet, eating well and unfazed by anything around them, including the puppies. Mine's the one with the big feet. Kurt

[kurt]

From today after banding. birds are eating well, socializing at Mike's right now with kids and dogs. I'll have them back on the 23rd for a while. Kurt

[Lee Slikkers]

This is my first attempt at imprinting but I have a good coach and I'll follow his recipe. There's been a couple done like this with a 100% success so far. Hope I can keep up the average. Kurt

So how does this other recipe differ from the McD recipie? Mind sharing it or is it a secret? Thanks~

[frootdog]

From today after banding. birds are eating well, socializing at Mike's right now with kids and dogs. I'll have them back on the 23rd for a while. Kurt

So how does this other recipe differ from the McD recipie? Mind sharing it or is it a secret? Thanks~

I'm thinking it is Mike McD's recipe and that Mike's house is McD's house. Just a guess though.

[kurt]

The other bird (male) is Mike McDermott's. Mike was my sponsor and we'll work the imprinting together. The tame hack will be at his house as I don't think an imprint would stand a chance around mine with the GHO's here. Trust me, I be following his recipe. Kurt

[Lee Slikkers]

Thanks ...

[frootdog]

The other bird (male) is Mike McDermott's. Mike was my sponsor and we'll work the imprinting together. The tame hack will be at his house as I don't think an imprint would stand a chance around mine with the GHO's here. Trust me, I be following his recipe. Kurt

You must have been one hell of an apprentice if he trusts you raising his imprint. Kudos to you. And I take back my earlier comment...I would probably let Mike raise my imprint.

[kurt]

Thanks for the complement but I'm just following Mike's directions. I'm reading and rereading the Imprint II and ABP books while he has the birds this week. I'm looking forward to having them back for a while next week. Both birds are doing well and growing fast. Kurt

[rocgwp]

What book is the Imprint II? Is the reprrint we've waited so long for?

[wesleyc6]

And I take back my earlier comment...I would probably let Mike raise my imprint.

No you wouldn't Krys, but it was nice of you to say it

[kurt]

Yes, the Imprint rewrite is almost complete. Photos are being captioned and new photos may be added. Kurt

[wesleyc6]

Kurt,
Would you ask Mike two things. First please extend an invite to NAFEX and secondly, ask him if the laws changed to allow apprentices to fly any wild bird of any age if he would be willing to allow his apprentice to fly an imprint accipiter. If you don't mind, I would like to hear what he says.

[kurt]

In answer to the first question Mike doesn't have internet service at this time. I'll try to remember to ask about the second but my guess is he'd want someone to have weight control down before attempting any accipiter. Kurt

[kurt]

Picture from today, both birds are getting more active even though you can't tell from the picture. They're starting to walk around some, flapping wings. Feeding is done off a whole carcass with minced meat in it. I'll try and get some shots of them doing something besides setting. Kurt

[kurt]

Picture of birds yesterday. Both are growing fast and changing daily. They'll be spending their time at Mike's now until after the hack. 24 hr food will stop this week end and lure training starting. I'll be spending a lot of evenings over there. Kurt

[wesleyc6]

Picture of birds yesterday. Both are growing fast and changing daily. They'll be spending their time at Mike's now until after the hack. 24 hr food will stop this week end and lure training starting. I'll be spending a lot of evenings over there. Kurt

Kurt,
They are lookin' great. Does Mike like to intermew his coops or does he like to train new ones each season?

[kurt]

I'm not sure what Mike's plans are for next year other than it may involve imprinting a Goshawk (or 2) . Kurt

[kurt]

Picture from today at Mikes. Neither bird is aggressive towards lure yet but starting tomorrow they'll only be fed twice a day so hopefully that'll change quickly. Both are doing well. Birds will be tethered starting tonight.Kurt

[wesleyc6]

Picture from today at Mikes. Neither bird is aggressive towards lure yet but starting tomorrow they'll only be fed twice a day so hopefully that'll change quickly. Both are doing well. Birds will be tethered starting tonight.Kurt

Wow Kurt, they are really growing quickly. How old are they now?

[kurt]

We believe the birds were hatched around the 6th. The nest they were taken from hadn't been scouted beforehand. Kurt

[wesleyc6]

Wow Kurt, they are really growing quickly. How old are they now?

So around 24-25 days it would appear. Thanks for posting! They look great!

[BestBeagler]

When do coopers hard pen?