Moulting times

[bigbulls 26]

The reason i ask is as follows...

Last season i had to put (thought it best to put) my little MHH back in the flight in mid Feb, this was because he picked a small injury on his wing that got slightly infected and needed anti-bios.

Now, on his previous three seasons he was put away mid April ish and came out again early/mid October.

After having a good look at him last weekend i see that he has a tail feather still less than half way down, so its looking like a late October start for him. So the fact that he was away and up to fat weight months earlier than usual made no difference to when he finished his moult this time, what contributes to or dictates the moult time , or is it not something that follows a set rule and timing, will a bird for instance have a fuller and more timely moult than it has previously so you can not assume that it will be ready when you were expecting. ??

Im in no rush or anything, im just on a constant quest to understand and learn more about BOP,s and cant seem to find what im after in any of my books.

thanks all.

[adeyhawk1970 0]

The reason i ask is as follows...

Last season i had to put (thought it best to put) my little MHH back in the flight in mid Feb, this was because he picked a small injury on his wing that got slightly infected and needed anti-bios.

Now, on his previous three seasons he was put away mid April ish and came out again early/mid October.

After having a good look at him last weekend i see that he has a tail feather still less than half way down, so its looking like a late October start for him. So the fact that he was away and up to fat weight months earlier than usual made no difference to when he finished his moult this time, what contributes to or dictates the moult time , or is it not something that follows a set rule and timing, will a bird for instance have a fuller and more timely moult than it has previously so you can not assume that it will be ready when you were expecting. ??

Im in no rush or anything, im just on a constant quest to understand and learn more about BOP,s and cant seem to find what im after in any of my books.

thanks all.

Picked up my sons male redtail on the 4th july(5 year old)and he hadnt dropped a feather until i had him i was told.Put him on quail all summer an he will be ready to hunt in a bout a week or too.I didnt think this was bad considering.I know weight increase causes the moult to start but surely the amount of sunlight available(or lack off) must make a difference

[Ginette 0]

I don't know about birds of prey, but my chickens (don't laugh!) seem to be affected by the temperatures as well as sunlight as to when they'll moult.

[silver fox 0]

daylight hours seem to make birds start to moult thats why i dont bother to put mine up to moult untill end of march then fatten up so the bird will start its moult if its weight is kept down it will only moult out slowley.

[jasper65 6]

Its alot about Nutrition, The Photo synthisis Period (Day Light), the condition of the bird, Kept on short rations it will Moult out slower all what Silver Fox has already mentioned . Stress slows them down if they are in a stressed out environment plus expect Feather problems too...

 

If I'm flying one it goes into a seclusion a chamber at the end of the season, up the quality of diet and Basically just let them get on with it untouched. the Breeding birds are always slow to moult and still moulting through now, the female hold back their Moult when in breeding condition and subsequently egg laying, you will also delay it more by double clutching and she'll be later still...

 

My female completed her Moult long ago! she's come out lovely and clean in Perfect fettle ...

 

Jasper

[bigbulls 26]

Its alot about Nutrition, The Photo synthisis Period (Day Light), the condition of the bird, Kept on short rations it will Moult out slower all what Silver Fox has already mentioned . Stress slows them down if they are in a stressed out environment plus expect Feather problems too...

 

If I'm flying one it goes into a seclusion a chamber at the end of the season, up the quality of diet and Basically just let them get on with it untouched. the Breeding birds are always slow to moult and still moulting through now, the female hold back their Moult when in breeding condition and subsequently egg laying, you will also delay it more by double clutching and she'll be later still...

 

My female completed her Moult long ago! she's come out lovely and clean in Perfect fettle ...

 

Jasper

This is why i ask the question, im very very far from being any sort of authority on the subject and have only hunted with hawks for roughly seven or eight years all told. I thought i had a good understanding of moulting but this year has given me reason to look a bit more in to the subject.

My hawk goes in to a fully borded flight and is fed through the drop tube, he is on as varied a diet as you would feed a hawk, including my home reared quail, i understand that hours of light affect the process just as it affects the green growth and flowering time of plants etc. So if you give the bird the best conditions that you can during the moult and you have full controll of all these conditions except the hours of natural daylight, is it just down to the bird as to how long it moults, ie will a bird do a part moult for a couple of years taking it that similar amount of time to finish its moult and then at a certain stage of its life have a spring clean of a moult and drop more feathers taking subsequently more time to finish.??

I no this is bit of a jumble of questions and i fear that i am not getting my queery accross quite right, but i am intreeged about the process and want to understand it a bit more.