Eyass Red Shoulder

[sevristh]

As some of you know, I have an interest (ok, maybe obsession is the word) with pulling an eyass red shoulder next year once I earn my General classification.

Right now, raising an eyass would be easier given that I am on 3rd shift and could take the bird to work with me without garnering a lot of attention. Unfortunately, next month I will be moving to 1st shift, probably permanently. This raises the question of whether it would be possible to raise an eyass hawk while working a 40 hr per week job in which I could not take the bird with me to work.

Have any of you raised an eyass under these circumstances? Is there any way to do it? Did you see any negatives/positives from it?

Right now I am just trying to get as much info as possible and weighing all the options. I am also looking at possibly changing jobs because as I get older, I realize what's really important :)

Also, please refrain from "RS's are worthless!" posts. We can discuss that in another thread :)

[Jimmy]

Don't waste your time, Dave...... :D

[Zarafia]

I would say that with a 40hr a week job that you cannot take the baby to, you should not try to raise an eyass. Best- case scenario you end up with a screamer. There would be no way for you to keep fresh food in front of her.
Get your priorities in order man.:D
I actually love the redshouldereds around here. I have a pair that hunt around my barn when the redtail pair are elsewhere. We had horrible rain here yesterday (2in) all day long. When I went out to feed my horses late afternoon a perfectly dry redshouldered hawk flew out of the barn. Pretty smart to be brave enough to stay in the barn with the horses while it was pouring.
I get the feeling they are very good at hunting rodents and snakes.

[sevristh]

My thoughts on the feeding were possibly an automatic feeder that would dump food out at a set time. I had considered this just in general for the fact of keeping food association from becoming a problem. But then, even if it's only being fed ever four hours, the food is still four hours old if I put it in before I leave for work.

Again, not trying to force the issue at all, just trying to ascertain my options.

How often do eyass' need to be fed at first? Anyone have some general data? Does it vary from species to species? I imagine it would have to given size and maturation time differences.

[tacatanach]

My thoughts on the feeding were possibly an automatic feeder that would dump food out at a set time. I had considered this just in general for the fact of keeping food association from becoming a problem. But then, even if it's only being fed ever four hours, the food is still four hours old if I put it in before I leave for work.

Again, not trying to force the issue at all, just trying to ascertain my options.

How often do eyass' need to be fed at first? Anyone have some general data? Does it vary from species to species? I imagine it would have to given size and maturation time differences.

It will depend on how old the eyas is. I got my peregrine at 18 days and he was given more food as soon as he was finished with the previous plate which took anywhere from a few minutes- for example after he woke up from a nap to over an hour. As he got bigger and was eating more food in a sitting the lenght between feedings increased, but this was over the period of a month or so.

Feeding isnt the only reason they need you around. They rely on you to keep them at the right temperature- they can over heat super easily, that was always my biggest worry was keeping Cal cool enough. Plus you really need to spend a ton of time with them- sticking them in a box or whatever for 8+ hrs a day while you go to work isn't such a good idea. Cal was with me pretty much 24 x 7 for the first couple months I had him. I went to work he went to work. I went to my friends for dinner, Cal came too. Movies, meetings, parties, the liquor store he went everywhere. This constant exposure to people and things is what makes an imprint turn out right- theyve seen it all and take it all in stride so nothing to be scared of later. I only got 2 nights off during the first two months- my little sister is amazing with birds and agreed to bird sit while I got an evening to be birdless. But other than that it was all eyas all the time.

[tescobedo]

Dave,

Like an infant, an eyas will eat when it is hungry. Which isn't on a given schedule. I was very fortunate to be able to take an eyas Gos to work with me every day. I would say that depending on your approach to imprinting it may be necessary or not. I've only imprinted once and will only imprint again if the bird can go everywhere, including work, with me.

Is there any reason you aren't going to fly a passage shoulder next year?

[Jimmy]

Dave, Why an eyass and not a passage? At least with the passage you can cut it loose when you realize it's pretty much a wasted cause. I'm not gonna say they're worthless, but the reality is you're not gonna do much with it. 1 out of 20 might be worth fooling with, but most aren't. The passage ones are noisy as hell, which just increases the chances of an eyass being noisy. Been there done that.

[tacatanach]

Dave, Why an eyass and not a passage? At least with the passage you can cut it loose when you realize it's pretty much a wasted cause. I'm not gonna say they're worthless, but the reality is you're not gonna do much with it. 1 out of 20 might be worth fooling with, but most aren't. The passage ones are noisy as hell, which just increases the chances of an eyass being noisy. Been there done that.

Im inclined to agree, passage (and hags for that matter) are all noise birds and if you take an imprint your stuck with a bird forever. I worked at a rehab center and we a aquired an imprint RS that had basicly been at hack for about a year (based on the molt pattern) before it landed on one to many people and we got called to try and catch it. That bird was pig fat and and been feeding itself for a year and yet it sill screamed (screamed isnt the right word since it wasnt a food begging scream, it was the typical adult call) like it was going out of style. And if by some maricle it was quiet and it heard another RS calling (we had a nest in a tree about 100ft away) this bird would start up and keep going for hours.

[robhawkyyz]

Just like the others say try a passage first. Sometimes we want to learn from experience. We can take passage RSH here in TX. as an apprentice but you don't hear much about them and probably for a reason but who is to say you wont have luck. Having said that, if you don't try how will you really ever know yourself. Hell i have had some screaming redtails...

[FredFogg]

Dave,

I won't get into the argument of whether or not to try a red shouldered, as that isn't the question you asked. I imprinted a coopers hawk and I worked night shift, but wasn't able to take the bird to work with me. I would get home and would feed the bird and socialize with it and then sleep. I would wake up periodically through the day and do the same thing over. I only work 3 nights a week and spent the other 4 days with the eyas all the time. It wasn't enough! To properly imprint a bird, in my humble opinion, you need to have that bird with 24 hours a day. It should be sleeping in a box beside your bed, it should go in the car with you to the store, and if you are allowed, it should be carried into the store with you. My bird is now more like a passage, but without the fear of man. She hunts, catches stuff, but is by far not the perfect imprint. I wouldn't let her around children or pretty much anyone for that matter when she is flying free. So my advice is to hold off on trying an eyas red-shoulder until you can give it your attention 24 hours a day. If not, the falconry world just ends up with another guy that tryed a red-shoulder and it didn't work.

Good luck on your decision,

[robhawkyyz]

the falconry world just ends up with another guy that tryed a red-shoulder and it didn't work.

Good luck on your decision,


Fred, your quote, Well said...

[FredFogg]

the falconry world just ends up with another guy that tryed a red-shoulder and it didn't work.

Good luck on your decision,


Fred, your quote, Well said...

Hey Rob, don't take it out of context! I think I could take a passage red-shoulder and have it car hawking and catching starlings and grackles. And one of these days I will try that experiment. But I have too many other things I want to do first(a totally different thread LOL). I will keep you all updated when I get to that point.

[wesleyc6]

Just like the others say try a passage first. Sometimes we want to learn from experience. We can take passage RSH here in TX. as an apprentice but you don't hear much about them and probably for a reason but who is to say you wont have luck. Having said that, if you don't try how will you really ever know yourself. Hell i have had some screaming redtails...


Rob,
Did Jonathan Mullican(sp?) do anything with his RSH? I don't think so if I remember and he is supposed to be really good with kestrels I hear. They seem to be tough birds.

[Bodarc]

Dave

I don't know anything about a RS but if I was imprinting any bird, I wouldn't try working a schedule for feeding. I would keep food in front of it 24 hours a day. That way, they never get hungry and never think about associating you with food. However, I have only imprinted one bird, a coops, so I'm not an authority by any means, but I had no problem whatsoever with noise.

[robhawkyyz]

Hey Rob, don't take it out of context! I think I could take a passage red-shoulder and have it car hawking and catching starlings and grackles. And one of these days I will try that experiment. But I have too many other things I want to do first(a totally different thread LOL). I will keep you all updated when I get to that point.

no context malfunction here at all. I'm all for it . I think it would be cool to hear about the smaller buteos kickin' ass in falconry... and it doesn't matter if they are getting rats, mice or what ever, they still deserve to be part of it as long as they are permitted...

[robhawkyyz]

Rob,
Did Jonathan Mullican(sp?) do anything with his RSH? I don't think so if I remember and he is supposed to be really good with kestrels I hear. They seem to be tough birds.

Millican from the last i heard is flying a male kestrel. I have not met him yet but i'm sure we'll fly soon... scroll down on cisco's 3rd season on this site... west houston falconers http://virtualvideo.cc/falconry/

[sevristh]

Dave,

I won't get into the argument of whether or not to try a red shouldered, as that isn't the question you asked. I imprinted a coopers hawk and I worked night shift, but wasn't able to take the bird to work with me. I would get home and would feed the bird and socialize with it and then sleep. I would wake up periodically through the day and do the same thing over. I only work 3 nights a week and spent the other 4 days with the eyas all the time. It wasn't enough! To properly imprint a bird, in my humble opinion, you need to have that bird with 24 hours a day. It should be sleeping in a box beside your bed, it should go in the car with you to the store, and if you are allowed, it should be carried into the store with you. My bird is now more like a passage, but without the fear of man. She hunts, catches stuff, but is by far not the perfect imprint. I wouldn't let her around children or pretty much anyone for that matter when she is flying free. So my advice is to hold off on trying an eyas red-shoulder until you can give it your attention 24 hours a day. If not, the falconry world just ends up with another guy that tryed a red-shoulder and it didn't work.

Good luck on your decision,

Fred - Exactly what I was looking for! Someone that has tried it. I was doubtful it could be done, but was really hoping someone had real experience from it. Thanks for the honesty.

Tony - I don't want to fly a passage RS next year basically because I would like to attend the NAFA meet in TX. I would like to have a RT in order to take advantage of the jacks :)

In general, I most likely will end up flying a passage RS once I get my General license. Plan is to get it going on starlings and grackles (possibly crows?) via carhawking. I also know of a place that I go fishing at quite often where there are a ton of common water snakes. I think it'd be fun to slaughter the snakes with one too as that is what they are doing most often in the wild. Imagine the head counts on that! haha!

[Jimmy]

Plan is to get it going on starlings and grackles (possibly crows?) via carhawking.

You can do that with a male RT......

[Chris L.]

Dave, I agree with the others . It is tough when you work so hard and cant be around the bird. I was unable to take my imprint with me but i only work 2 days a week. The time I was not around I had help with him. But I set strict rules and we both were on the same page as what needed to happen and how he was supposed to be raised. In fact I give her (Jen) as much credit to making him a great imprint as I give myself. So if you can have someone you trust then maybe.

Of course I am not an expert either, just giving you some insight from someone who has done it and with some success. and it wasnt with a RS