Swamp Fox
38 posts
Mar 08, 2006
8:04 AM
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I have a young kit just getting into the moult, and they don't fly long at all. They try to light on loft in about 5 minutes. I make them fly for about 15 minutes, but they fly real low. They have flown for about 20 to 30 minutes before. I am trying to regulate their feed. I fed them for 3 minutes one day and 4 minutes one day. After the 4 minute feeding they were still real hungry and would not fly long. Do you need to feed the younger birds more until they get through their moult? I fed nine birds one cup of a mix of wheat and milo. I know that a cup for ten birds is about normal, but is it different for the younger ones going through the moult. Thanks for your help.
Marion
Last Edited by Swamp Fox on Mar 08, 2006 8:05 AM
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J_Star
288 posts
Mar 08, 2006
8:19 AM
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Double their feed. If they leave some feed uneaten then start cut them back one table spoon a day until they fly for about 45 min and they eat all the feed without any leftover. Remember young birds need to be feed very well for the first couple of months. Why are they moulting? It is the wrong time of year to moult.
Jay
Last Edited by J_Star on Mar 08, 2006 8:20 AM
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Swamp Fox
39 posts
Mar 08, 2006
9:13 AM
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Thanks, Jay. This is their first moult. I have just started to flying them.
Marion
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Opinionated Blowhard
20 posts
Mar 08, 2006
10:36 AM
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If it gets cold where you live, they need a little more feed as the temperature drops on cold days and less feed as the temperature rises on warm days. One cup of wheat-milo should be plenty for nine birds, unless your wheat is really bad. They should all trap into your loft within one minute if there in good shape and hungry. If they dawdle, there not hungry enough and are getting fat. If they refuse to fly and hang on the front of the loft trying to get it, they need more feed. Id feed them a few peas or pellets or safflower if there molting. Kevin
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Swamp Fox
40 posts
Mar 08, 2006
10:47 AM
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Kevin
Thanks for the advice. I will try that and maybe they will get going. I have some Canadian peas to mix in. Come to think of it they were flying better and longer when I was feeding the peas with the wheat-milo. I'll let you know how they do. Again, thanks!
Marion
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Swamp Fox
42 posts
Mar 09, 2006
7:46 AM
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Kevin
I fed a cup of mixed wheat-milo and some peas to the birds yesterday. They flew from about 150 to 200 feet, were frequent and very active, and stayed up for 45 minutes. They also quickly trapped in. Great advice!! Thanks to you and also to Jay as you two had similar advice.
Marion
Last Edited by Swamp Fox on Mar 09, 2006 7:48 AM
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siddiqir
147 posts
Mar 09, 2006
9:00 AM
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My birds would not do well on just wheat and milo mix. On wheat/milo mix they fly low and look/feel weak.
Additionally, I think just giving wheat and milo to young birds would not do any good. They will at one point go to breeding loft and I do not want weak birds in breeding pen.
I feed them mix wheat/milo/peas in equal % and that seem to work at my end. When it gets really hot I cut down feed about 1/4 and they seem to do just fine.
This is my personal observation. If you give them lot of different seeds / lot of varieties they less willing to fly and would like to come down early to have nice dinner. So I would not give them lot of grains on daily bases. Once a month good mix would be good. I will only give wheat/milo/peas mix. You only need a single bird (most of the time is cock) in kit that will make things very complicated. These little creatures are very smart when it comes to eat.
I use standard measuring cup. A Cup for ten birds. It holds about 8 OZ of feed. Some use coffee cup, tuna can (small, large) and do adjustments accordingly. For new guys the best thing to do is spent a dollar and buy actual measuring cup from Wal-Mart or Kmart and feed a cup / ten birds. It has marking on it so if you want to feed 17 birds you can go by marking on the cup and feed them right amount. Do little judgment when birds lands (cut and give more depend on birds action)
I hope it helps new guys in hobby.
Last Edited by siddiqir on Mar 09, 2006 9:04 AM
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Swamp Fox
43 posts
Mar 09, 2006
10:15 AM
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Siddiqir,
Thanks for your input. That is exactly what I am doing and it worked great today. Before I got out of the hobby several years ago, I fed a grain mix because I didn't know about the way you guys do it. Now that I am back I am taking your advice.
Marion
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Velo99
249 posts
Mar 09, 2006
4:25 PM
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I absconded with a set my wife had, I have 1,1/2,and 1/4 cups. Took a little experimentation to see exactly where one cup was after that, easy as pie.
I have been feeding wild bird seed. It is 10 percent and kinda oily but my guys like it.I have had to hold them in due to weather for a few days. I changed em to 50/50 wheat milo so they don`t burn in when I let em out.
Kenny H
Last Edited by Velo99 on Mar 09, 2006 4:33 PM
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