Cleaning

 

Approximately 100 enclosures to clean once a week
Approximately 10-20 minutes to clean each one well
Clean and disinfect 100 food drawers every day
Clean and disinfect 130 baths once a week, twice in the summer
Clean and rake all the paths once a month
Mow all the grass once a week for 9 months of the year

 

 

Feeding

 

Daily

25 rats which are cut in half and gutted
300 chicks
2-3 lb of beef

 

Weekly

50 quail which are cut up and gutted

4-6 kilos of mice

 

 

Monthly

370 rats
100-200 quail
8 kilos of mice
8400 day old cockerels
60 - 90 lb beef

 

Bird food bill per month is £1100 on average

 

Veterinary bills

 

Although some months no birds require treatment we average out the veterinary visits checks and treatment £12000 a year

 

However it does not take much to push that up, for example Mozart’s treatment to give him back some eyesight at 34 years old cost around £2000 by the time we had finished.

 

 

 

Training birds

 

12-14 days to train a falcon to fly free

 

21-28 days to train an eagle to fly free

 

12-14 days to train a hawk to fly free

 

4-6 weeks to train a hand reared owl or vulture to fly free

 

These are approximate times and flying free for the first time is not the same at a fully trained and fit bird that has been flying for nine months.

 

 

 

Human time put into each bird

 

A minimum of 20 minutes per bird per day, and on occasion, up to an hour a day for the falcons, hawks and eagles.

 

The hand-reared birds have constant time put into them from the time they can thermoregulate – keep themselves warm!