training ES

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Training the ES in Egypt.

The training of the young birds starts at the time they are separated (weaned at 4 to 5 weeks) from their parents or foster parents.

The procedure is as follows:

Upon separation the young birds are kept in the lowest rows of the cages to make it easy for the YB to come out and go back in.

Two days later, the sliding doors of their cages are opened at night so that the YB can come out early in the morning. The birds will remain out till sunset.

A few more days of that drill and the YB will come out of their cages and fly to the top of the loft. Some of them will even take to the sky in a randomly fashion and in all directions.

The birds are getting stronger and some of them will start showing real flying abilities. The fancier will gently push them into flying for longer periods of time.

Slowly and step by step, the fancier increases the flying time of his YB. At the same time, he’s watching for the birds that have flying abilities and culls the weaklings.

The selection of a new kit of flyers is now done so the fancier is pushing his YB more and more till the birds fly for approximately 3 hours non-stop, early in the morning or around noon time. For any fancier in Egypt, these are the happiest days of his life as he witnesses his new kit of birds flying out of sight for over an hour only to come back from a different direction.

A few months later after the YB have already replaced their 4^th feather, the fancier separates the cocks from the hens. The cocks are placed in separate one-bird cages in the flyer’s loft and flying will resume just for cocks from now on. The hens are kept in a different loft out of sight of the cocks.

When the YB have shed the 7^th feather, they are kept in their cages and flying is stopped until the completion of this natural process.

During that time, the fancier treats his birds with an insect killer to prevent any damage done to the newly moulted feathers.

After the completion of the moult, usually by September, the birds are checked individually. At that point, they are released and given time to exercise their wings and sunbathe as this has good effects on their general health condition.

It usually takes two weeks to get their strength back. Flying will resume at the end of this period of exercise and relaxation.

The birds are now ready to resume flying and the fancier should have by now selected the best flyers based on flying time and bloodline.