Ratreeper 441 Posted February 21, 2012 Report Share Posted February 21, 2012 I know there have been a few threads about stories of owning a pet crow/magpie/jay but I was wondering if anyone has tried tame hacking? Tame hacking is a falconry term really, but I think a better description for what I want would be to keep a magpie like a pigeon. So you have an aviary/nest box but the bird is free to come and go as it pleases, returning for food, but in my example would remain hand tame. So this is what I want to experiment with this year, around Mar/April time when I can get a brancher. I will tame it and train it, but keep it in a nest box so it can come and go but will hopefully hang around. I am 90% sure it will just bugger off, which is fine because that is what I expect to happen. I could probably improve my chances by getting a younger bird, but I don’t want it to imprint on me and scream constantly for food so it is just an experiment. So to add to this, if anyone wants to make an extra £20-£30 then I will happily buy a young magpie or Jay from anyone who can be assed to catch one. Magpies tend to nest in the spiniest, nastiest trees though so it will be hard earned to be fair. But if you can get me a young bird, preferably a few days before it makes its first trip out of the nest without harming it or traumatising it then I am very interested and will travel to pick it up. Can’t wait to hear the comments on this one Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wxm 1,638 Posted February 21, 2012 Report Share Posted February 21, 2012 :icon_eek: :icon_eek: aint that hmm what do you calll it :hmm: :hmm: not cosha ??? keep it between friends mate Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ratreeper 441 Posted February 21, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2012 :icon_eek: :icon_eek: aint that hmm what do you calll it :hmm: :hmm: not cosha ??? keep it between friends mate You are right, legally any caught vermin should be culled. But if any sad f****r wants to try and prosecute me for not killing a caught magpie based on this, then that is fine with me. Who hasn’t seen a wildlife programme on TV where they aren’t releasing foxes, grey squirrels and other pests? I don’t feel obligated to follow laws that are daft. 8 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
socks 32,253 Posted February 21, 2012 Report Share Posted February 21, 2012 Did it last year with a rook that my youngest fetched home put a nest box up in one of the trees and she hand fed it with the dogs meat. Al was great until it was hungry at 5 in the morning and would call constantly until it was fed I had to take it over 10 miles away in the end to make sure it couldn't get back. Noisy bestard ............ 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ratreeper 441 Posted February 21, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2012 Did it last year with a rook that my youngest fetched home put a nest box up in one of the trees and she hand fed it with the dogs meat. Al was great until it was hungry at 5 in the morning and would call constantly until it was fed I had to take it over 10 miles away in the end to make sure it couldn't get back. Noisy bestard ............ how long did you keep it before you 'moved it on'? I am going to try and avoid the screaming the same way you do with birds of prey, not let it associate me as the food provider. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fireman 10,795 Posted February 21, 2012 Report Share Posted February 21, 2012 (edited) Read an artical about a old woman who kept budgies like that,had a big aviary with pop holes and they came and went as they pleased.She has kept them like it for years and they do breed and show the youngsters how to come and go,the artical was in a cage bird and aviary mag but haven't got a clue which one. Should add this was in the uk somewhere. Edited February 21, 2012 by fireman Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fazza123 513 Posted February 21, 2012 Report Share Posted February 21, 2012 (edited) Good luck with it mate,i was obsessed with having one when i was younger but the old man wouldnt allow it but yet i had owls and buzzards Edited February 21, 2012 by fazza123 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PlasticJock 539 Posted February 21, 2012 Report Share Posted February 21, 2012 I read a book called ''The Edinburgh Poacher'', and the author found a crow chick on the ground so raised it. Said it was very tame and intelligent, but after a year or so it flew off Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Catcher 1 639 Posted February 21, 2012 Report Share Posted February 21, 2012 In my younger days had a pet jackdaw and a fox. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jigsaw 11,810 Posted February 21, 2012 Report Share Posted February 21, 2012 ken goulds wife had one I recall,Found it very amusing I did,lol. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
socks 32,253 Posted February 21, 2012 Report Share Posted February 21, 2012 We kept it for about 8 weeks before it finally drove me nuts ............ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tuzo 251 Posted February 21, 2012 Report Share Posted February 21, 2012 Had this fella for quite a while.............. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ginga john 268 Posted February 21, 2012 Report Share Posted February 21, 2012 I had a magpie when I was a kid who just lived in the garden, he had a duff wing due to a bit of poor shooting but used to get about, a bit like a hen he could flap up a few feet but that was all, had him (or her) for about two years fed it on a mixture of worms and dog food, he just hung about for the grub and became tame enough to sit on your hand and be fed wasn't a bad life for a cripple but still found him stiff as a board one morning, I still get a twinge everytime I shoot one Quote Link to post Share on other sites
secretagentmole 1,701 Posted February 22, 2012 Report Share Posted February 22, 2012 Magpies and Ravens can talk as well, for anybody who disbelieves this they should check the book "My Family and Other Animals" By Gerald Durrell, sort of a cheap UK version of a parrot if you like! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
lurchergrrl 1,441 Posted February 22, 2012 Report Share Posted February 22, 2012 And Starlings, apparently http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lohzE75PwW8&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtQCHD1TuHo&feature=related Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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