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are going to want to buy in the
future. I must also consider the needs of all of my customers, whether it is
a friend from Arabia who wants a Gyr hybrid for Houbara hawking, an
experienced falconer in the UK who wants a Gyr hybrid or Peregrine for game, or
a beginner who wants a Buzzard or a Harris hawk to make a start. Initial Breeding Stock The acquisition of the initial breeding stock is one of the most
important decisions to make. My own preference is to obtain young birds and
wait for them to mature. Indeed 90% of our stock, which equates to around 100
birds were either bred by ourselves, or obtained in their first few months of
life. 1 can see why the tyro propagator obtains adult individuals or proven
breeding pairs to try and speed up the chance of success. In the majority of
cases where we have taken this route, results have been poor. If an adult
bird is to be obtained, it is imperative that a full history of the bird is
known (how was it reared? was it used for falconry? has it been tried for
captive breeding?). By obtaining your breeding birds as youngsters you are in
control of their sub adult history and as will he seen through this
series of articles,
the more control you have, the better
the chance of success. So, the next decision is whether you intend to breed from natural
pairs or by the use of voluntary artificial insemination with imprinted
raptors. The use of imprints is increasing in popularity with breeders here
in the UK but it is fair to state that the main success with imprints has
been with falcons, and to a lesser degree eagles, rather than accipiters and
buteos. Choice of Birds for "Natural
Pair Breeding Projects"
So lets look at
methods of rearing young raptors for
future 'natural breeding'. In the UK there has been a long history of
"fully parent reared is the only way to go!" This is generally
understood to equate to young raptors reared from hatch or at least ten days
of age, by parent birds in a breeding pen, void of human contact. However my
experience is that birds reared in |
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these circumstances are comparatively
nervous and "jumpy" in the breeding pen when they reach adulthood.
If you do choose fully parent reared birds for a "natural pair"
breeding project then you will find that birds reared in seclusion, stand a
far better chance of breeding if flown for falconry first. The reason for
this is all down to stress levels. It's quite simple, birds that feel
stressed in captivity don't breed. This is because hormones produced when a
bird feels stressed such as adrenaline suppress the production of sex
hormones which are required for the bird to come into breeding condition. The fully parent reared approach is
great for birds destined for a career in falconry such as hybrids, and some
birds will of course breed via this rearing method, but when it comes to
maximising your chances, the two most productive methods of rearing for
future captive breeding are: 1. Rearing by imprinted birds with a
certain amount of human contact. 2. Hand reared in large groups often
known as creche reared or cohort raised. Both of these
methods will be covered in the 'rearing' section in a future article. Choice
of Birds for imprinting If the use of
imprinted birds is your chosen method, then I strongly recommend that
whenever possible you imprint the bird yourself. I keep around 50 imprinted
falcons and with a couple of exceptions the ones I imprinted myself are more
productive than the others. Other breeders have also found this to be the
case. When importing imprinted birds from a breeder, it is worth asking if
the breeder has the necessary time available, to imprint the bird properly,
as commercial breeders in particular are very busy at that time of the year.
An alternative is to pay a falconer from the country of export to do it for
you. The money will be well spent to receive a bird that is imprinted
correctly. Picking
the Individuals. Once you have
chosen the species you intend to breed the next decision is to pick the
individual birds. There are two points to |
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Modern Captive Breeding by Peter Gill……….continued |
