First flight

[sourland]

Well, it's a drizzly day here in NJ and I decided that the hawks would either have eaten or be roosting somewhere; therefore, I decided to fly pigeons for the first time since early October. Birds went up at 3:15 and a Cooper's hawk struck at 3:27. Birds re kitted and a redtail struck at 3:40 sending birds in 15 different directions. They've been returning 1 or 2 at a time. I seriously question the sanity of keeping flying birds when I only get to fly them for 5 months out of the year. Be on the lookout for my postings, I'm on the verge of giving away 80+ Lavin based Birmingham rollers. Sheer frustration!

 

[abluechipstock]

that sucks, you try to have a little fun but then this happens

 

[Mary Of Exeter]

Rollers aren't very good at escaping hawks, OR coming back from being scattered by them. I'm sorry

 

[seedcorn]

Know the feeling. I had the Harder-Davis strain, gave them away because of hawks. Every time I get any pigeons, let them out, here come the hawks. I haven't but I am tempted to SSS them.

 

[sourland]

Actually, this strain seems to have pretty good homing instinct. When I first started flying them, I knew nothing about proper feeding to prevent overflies and lost lots of birds. I selected breeders from those that returned from overflies, started feeding properly and now lose few birds due to being driven off by hawks. My losses now are from actual kills. When I first got these birds, as a family, they were very deep, fast rollers but not very frequent. In my second year a very frequent but short rolling hen appeared among my young birds. I flew her for a year and then put her into the breeding loft. She did wonders for improving the frequency in these birds. The crows that nested on my property were killed by West Nile virus. Then came the hawks.

 

[Mary Of Exeter]

You need some Canadian Geese

They'll chase the hawks away. Or guineas to alert you.

 

[stuckinthecity]

So sorry for the hawk troubles.
Question- Are the crows any danger to your pigeons? (stealing eggs, squabs)

 

[sourland]

No, the crows are not a problem to the pigeons. Birds are in their lofts with the bobs closed unless they are flying so the crows do not have access to them. Initially I had an extended family of crows (adult pair plus several seasons worth of previous young) nesting in the pines at the back of my property. They would not allow any hawks near the place, and my birds flew unscathed.

 

[stuckinthecity]

Very cool! I have a few crows that live behind my property as well... I hope they stay around, as I have had no hawk attacks (knock on wood).

 

[sourland]

Second flight! Let the roller/homer crosses out at 3 PM. They flew for about 45 minutes--no attacks. They have since come in and I'm allowing them to laze around on the lawn. If we make it to dusk without any attacks, I'll fly the pure rollers tomorrow.