Remember coping and keep life easy

[rkumetz]

I used to really hate it when I had to cope a bird. I had this in mind this time around while raising my per x prairie tiercel and I paid close attention to what has worked when I have raised puppies. To make it easier to clip their nails I have found that playing with their feet and getting them used to the clippers as young as possible makes life a hell of a lot easier. Keeping that in mind, I regularly touched and held my bird's beak. Sometimes from the outside and sometimes with the beak open and my finger wedged inside. Now he tolerates that easily and doesn't even pay much attention when I do it. I also ditched the idea of files, dremel tools and all the other implements of mass destruction and opted to use the straight blade toenail clippers that McElroy recommends in his latest book. They can be hidden in your hand so the bird doesn't even see them. I can now hold his beak and clip away. I had to to this for the first time the other day and it was remarkably painless for everyone involved.

Moral of the story: Touch and grab your eyas's beak as part of the imprinting process and you will not regret it.

[uglybear]

rabbit heads works for me every time..
give them one a week on the day your going to rest them

[tony123abc]

Uglybear, you stole my technique! I was asked this very question a while back. I keep frozen jack heads in the house. I feed then at least once a week. Did not have to cope my last ferruge in three years.
my falcon season two and looking good. Had to cope a couple of fish eagles on a regular basis for several years. Used the snips and a dremmel tool. Never over did it with the tool. The secrete, two people and be patient.

[GONEHAWKN]

same here. i save all bunny and squirrel heads and try to give my bird one or 2 a week. she is going into her 3rd year and i just had to cope her beak and talons fore the first time.

[uglybear]

Uglybear, you stole my technique! I was asked this very question a while back. I keep frozen jack heads in the house. I feed then at least once a week. Did not have to cope my last ferruge in three years.
my falcon season two and looking good. Had to cope a couple of fish eagles on a regular basis for several years. Used the snips and a dremmel tool. Never over did it with the tool. The secrete, two people and be patient.
A leg af a deer is also good plenty of sinew for thm to have a go at then the haunch goes in the frying pan..lol

[rkumetz]

The bunny and squirrel heads may work for a ferrug or redtail that is catching them but I am not sure my 500g hybrid can take a grey squirrel or a jack. LOL

[areal]

Never mind Ron, I think the idea has a lot of practical use as well. A bird that will happily allow you to inspect its mouth is going to be a massive help in early diagnosis of frounce if your bird picks it up.
Crop tuping (hopefully not needed) should be a doddle.
Its hard to avoid seeing the inside of an imprint ferru's mouth but I could well imagine this being a useful thing to do with a smaller mouthed bird.

I've never fed rabbit to a falcon but even a shot rabbit head should be like feeding celery to a falcon that's being weight reduced. (any of the long wing guys care to fill us in on feeding rabbit to falcons?)
I would certainly try and get hold of a few shot ones even if the bird dont catch them.
Both my birds use a sandstone block for feaking on after meals.
Its a parrot keepers thing that I've found works as long as you place it where the bird wont try and stand on it. Never had to cope the ferru in 4 years.
The redtail's beak was badly overgrown when I got her. I cut it back with cutters and left her to hone it herself. She took a little over a week before she started using it.
Watching her on the camera she actively goes to the stone to clear her beak after meals.
She's been in the moult pen since January and her beak is pretty much perfectly shaped.
Just put the stone in a corner where the bird wont find it comfortable to try and stand on it with proper perches at higher elevations.
Wish I had the time to study how wild birds keep their beaks in shape, maybe when I win the lottery. (must buy a ticket sometime!!)

[uglybear]

Never mind Ron, I think the idea has a lot of practical use as well. A bird that will happily allow you to inspect its mouth is going to be a massive help in early diagnosis of frounce if your bird picks it up.
Crop tuping (hopefully not needed) should be a doddle.
Its hard to avoid seeing the inside of an imprint ferru's mouth but I could well imagine this being a useful thing to do with a smaller mouthed bird.

I've never fed rabbit to a falcon but even a shot rabbit head should be like feeding celery to a falcon that's being weight reduced. (any of the long wing guys care to fill us in on feeding rabbit to falcons?)
I would certainly try and get hold of a few shot ones even if the bird dont catch them.
Both my birds use a sandstone block for feaking on after meals.
Its a parrot keepers thing that I've found works as long as you place it where the bird wont try and stand on it. Never had to cope the ferru in 4 years.
The redtail's beak was badly overgrown when I got her. I cut it back with cutters and left her to hone it herself. She took a little over a week before she started using it.
Watching her on the camera she actively goes to the stone to clear her beak after meals.
She's been in the moult pen since January and her beak is pretty much perfectly shaped.
Just put the stone in a corner where the bird wont find it comfortable to try and stand on it with proper perches at higher elevations.
Wish I had the time to study how wild birds keep their beaks in shape, maybe when I win the lottery. (must buy a ticket sometime!!)
Hi areal

ive had gyr pere, pere saker and pere barbry and flew them on landfill on there days off i give them a rabbits head as well as some thing good like partridge pheasant or venison..
venison leg is also good in sections they will go though the fur and skin for little reward when they get down to the sinews and bone this is when it starts to work there beak ..
its like keeping a dog happy with a bone if you now what i mean

[fallinghawks]

Pigeon wings I've been told are good for coping.

[Saluqi]

Pigeon wings I've been told are good for coping.

They work great. Feathers are pretty abrasive, especially the long primaries of a pigeon wing which the hawk runs through it's beak while plucking them.

[Montucky]

I've never fed rabbit to a falcon but even a shot rabbit head should be like feeding celery to a falcon that's being weight reduced. (any of the long wing guys care to fill us in on feeding rabbit to falcons?)

I have fed legs of both bunnies and jacks to peregrines in the molt - for the reason of coping. Also used it when I am trying to bump a falcon's metabolism out of the molt...used rinsed (not washed) bunny or jack meat with no bone- cubed and suspended in water - easily digestible without dumping wieght back on them. Cottontail being less rich that jackrabbit I would say. Never given either one for more than a couple weeks and always offering a sparrow a few times a week also.

[jfseaman]

I have fed legs of both bunnies and jacks to peregrines in the molt - for the reason of coping. Also used it when I am trying to bump a falcon's metabolism out of the molt...used rinsed (not washed) bunny or jack meat with no bone- cubed and suspended in water - easily digestible without dumping wieght back on them. Cottontail being less rich that jackrabbit I would say. Never given either one for more than a couple weeks and always offering a sparrow a few times a week also.
Pigeon wings and concrete perches or a cinder block or broken piece of concrete, a hunk of oak branch. Basically anything you can think of that would be similar to what they would feak on in a natural setting.

[Jack]

Most freshly trapped wild birds never seem to need coping, and they don't usually get to feed on large boned animals and such. They gnaw on and feak on limbs and such for that purpose. I try to make natural perches for my hawks and for my falcons I have a large sand stone standing next to the bath pan. went for years without coping or the need for it, and one day built pole perches with artificial tops, and bingo, coping regular again. Going back completely with natural perches.

[tumble]

Something I'm experimenting with right now for my imprint whom I don't hood.

http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww217/MaineHawk/Ginsu/DSC09036.jpg

Her weight is up for the moult but I've still been taking her out for meals 3 or 4 days per week. On the other days I drop her meal through a chute and she carries it up to this perch so I decided to wedge a stone in there for feaking. Hopefully between that and feeding whole squirrel I can keep the dremel in its case this fall.

[Dirthawking]

Something I'm experimenting with right now for my imprint whom I don't hood.



Her weight is up for the moult but I've still been taking her out for meals 3 or 4 days per week. On the other days I drop her meal through a chute and she carries it up to this perch so I decided to wedge a stone in there for feaking. Hopefully between that and feeding whole squirrel I can keep the dremel in its case this fall.

Very interesting way of putting a stone in the mews!

[Hawkmom]

I had started a thread a while back called: Have you hugged your hawk today? Same idea, get your bird used to being touched, lifting feet, wings, feeling under the feathers, beak, cup the head with your hand (for practice hooding, etc). Birds used to the fact that we get a lot of information with our hands will make our partnership with them better.

BTW: I put a stone in each mew, They use it for feaking. In my quail pen, I also have rocks, lumps of concrete, etc. I NEVER have to trim the quail's feet or beaks. They do it themselves. I do have to cope some birds, but the sessions less frequent.

[kurt]

The leg bone of a deer screwed vertical on one of their perches always works for me. Kurt