Title: Juvenile Crested Goshawk
Title: Juvenile Crested Goshawk suddenly eating less and refusing food – Need advice!
Body:
Hi everyone,
I’m raising a juvenile female Crested Goshawk (Accipiter trivirgatus). She is currently growing her blood feathers (pin feathers) as you can see in the attached video.
Recently, she has suddenly started eating much less than usual. Previously, she had a massive appetite and could easily crush 3 full crops a day. However, for the past few days, her appetite has dropped significantly.
Now she only eats 2 meals a day. She is still willing to eat her first meal in the morning, but when it comes to the second meal in the evening, she completely refuses it. Her crop seems to stay full or semi-full for a long time. I even have to use tweezers/scissors to gently nudge the meat into her beak to get her to take a bite, but she is very uninterested.
I am worried about whether she is experiencing "sour crop" (crop stasis) or if this is just a normal behavioral/physiological change for goshawks at this specific growth stage.
Diet: Raw chicken/quail meat.
Behavior: Aside from the low appetite, she is still alert, her eyes are bright, and she isn't showing signs of severe lethargy yet.
Is this drop in appetite normal when they start blowing out their feathers? Should I fast her for 24 hours to let her crop empty completely, or change her diet? Any advice from experienced Accipiter handlers would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!