breeding kestrels*

Welche gesundheitlichen Probleme bestehen bei Ihrem Tier?

In June 2016, I was given two kestrel chicks by an employee of the Veterinary Office. Both fell from a crow's nest one day apart, high up in a fir tree, where their parents had laid their eggs. Externally unharmed, there is always the possibility that such young chicks have suffered an internal compression injury when falling through the fir branches - which in turn can overload the liver and kidney. We were especially worried about the smaller chick, it was very weak and did not like to eat properly.

Was wurde bislang ausprobiert und wie wurde behandelt?

I received GladiatorPLUS from my raptor vet in April 2016, for a buzzard with poor kidney values.

Wann und welche Fütterungsmenge wurde eingesetzt?

Since I wanted to support the traumatized chicks, I initially gave three drops of GladiatorPLUS daily. The amount was gradually increased.

How is the animal now?*

Thanks to sufficient food, good care and GladiatorPLUS you now have a good start!

Ausführlicher Erfahrungsbericht*

Kestrels so young receive the smallest shreds of meat from mice, day-old chicks and turkey. They also cover their fluid requirements with the feed. They are weighed before each feeding, the weight is noted exactly. We fight for every gram of the smaller animal, because the first few days it doesn't look good. Since they cannot stand on their own yet, we weigh and feed them in plastic bowls. We wear disposable rubber gloves so as not to burden the small body with additional germs. The chunks of feed with the GladiatorPLUS are well received, although it is certainly the first time that the small kestrels are trying "apple taste". Family life revolves around our “foster children”: chop, weigh and feed food five times a day. My daughters and I take turns.

After a few days, both chicks clearly awaken the spirits of life. Well supported by GladiatorPLUS every day, the two will soon be “on their own two feet”. In nature, the kestrels stay in the nest for about 33 days after hatching. A short time to become a small, perfect predator. That is why the first real feathers soon form under the down feather. The ego is also growing - when we get to the aviary, both chicks crowd the door and "Tschiepen" loudly for attention. The real feathers will soon flash everywhere through the dunes. Pushing feathers is exhausting, which is why we increase the GladiatorPLUS dose to 7 drops a day. In nature, the parent animals would now fly non-stop to the nest with mice. Kestrels are very useful animals, a breeding pair eats several mice every day.

In summer you can often see them shaking over a meadow, i.e. "stand" in the air. They then usually observe a mouse toilet, because kestrels can see in the UV range and mouse peeps "glow" for them. Bad luck for the mouse when it "has to" ... If you have feathers, you want to use them too - our little kestrels do gymnastics every day through the aviary. They flap their wings and strengthen the chest muscles. This is important, because they will soon need them for their first hunting flights. Each seat block is sighted and climbed to the wing. In this state they are called branches because they would now gymnastics in and around the nest. After all, our kestrels are almost adult. We take her to a colleague of falconers who has a large aviation aviary. There they can practice flying. The aviary door will open soon. The young falcons are fed daily on the roof of the aviary until they fly off on their own to find their own territory. Thanks to sufficient food, good care and GladiatorPLUS you have a good start!