Pigeon Talk

[biophiliac]

Good idea bio.

I forgot to tell you all that i flew my 2 racers yesterday. They did good and trapped fine. A roller got out during it and typically they would follow the homers and get lost but it stayed close and i got it back in. I may fly some more because i havent seen a cooper in a long time. Im not sure where they alll went.

@Hokum Coco have you lost any more birds? Whats your head count?

Good to hear about your racers! I'm pretty sure I'll be letting my birds out for a fly too, ...just not sure when. Can the rollers not home even 5-10miles?

 

[sourland]

Good to hear about your racers! I'm pretty sure I'll be letting my birds out for a fly too, ...just not sure when. Can the rollers not home even 5-10miles?

Rollers and homing instinct is an interesting subject. Rollers are subject to overflies - staying up too late in the evening and not coming in if they are having too much fun or if targeted relentlessly by hawks. When I initially got my birds overflies were devastating with most of the kit remaining lost. As I continued breeding from returning birds the homing instinct and return percentages greatly increased. I once had a hen that I gave away return from close to 100 miles away.

 

[backyard pigeons]

Well sours had better birds than me! Mine if they are out of sight of loft, they are lost. They just have to go a little ways out of track and then have a hard time returning. Although we have alot of trees though. If you fly them with homers, they likely will try to follow but cant keep up and have a hard time getting back. If you do a toss with a roller and a few homers, the roller MAY be able to keep close enough to find home but its unlikely.

 

[sourland]

@backyard pigeons, better birds ? No way. I just selected and bred from those that returned. Initially I lost entire kits due to overflies. By the time I gave my birds away I might lose 10 or 15 % of a kit. Understand that I was raising and flying close to 100 young birds every year.

Conditioning is another factor. Rollers work hard with their rolling if good stock, and it takes a lot out of them physically. Many fly rollers on wheat only trying to induce the roll by 'weakening' them. I fed European Supreme and trained birds daily. They were physically and mentally hard yet still performed - again I selected for and bred from birds that performed on this regimen.

It's all about what we do as breeders. As with any animal "the more you tolerate, the more you will have to tolerate". Proper selection is necessary.

 

[sourland]

Roll downs - birds that can not control the roll and crash - are another problem with rollers. The birds that I had were very fast and deep rollers. Some could not control the roll and crashed and hurt themselves. Some breed from such birds to increase depth in the roll. I never did, and ended up with a high percentage of birds that could control the roll.

 

[WVduckchick]

Roll downs - birds that can not control the roll and crash - are another problem with rollers. The birds that I had were very fast and deep rollers. Some could not control the roll and crashed and hurt themselves. Some breed from such birds to increase depth in the roll. I never did, and ended up with a high percentage of birds that could control the roll.

Funny, I was typing a question to ask this very thing when I saw a new post had been added.
I was recently watching some videos about deep rolls. I suspect that's why people often find them wounded? Ones that have crashed and just got injured?

 

[sourland]

Funny, I was typing a question to ask this very thing when I saw a new post had been added.
I was recently watching some videos about deep rolls. I suspect that's why people often find them wounded? Ones that have crashed and just got injured?

Some just get hurt, others actually kill themselves. Survivors generally become afraid to fly. I feel/felt that breeding from such birds was inhumane.

 

[CCUK]

I'm glad Bugsy is OK today @WVduckchick. Have you got a plan if she's left alone again tonight?
@sourland I watched a video of rollers and one rolled to close to the ground, about 30-40' up. It crashed into the ground. It was quite sad to see.

 

[Hokum Coco]

@Hokum Coco have you lost any more birds? Whats your head count?

Head count was down to 33 birds then yesterday morning one bird made it home though a blizzard and white out conditions. I am now up to 34. It's bands were in tack and I could not hazard a guess to how long it had been missing. One disadvantage of having totally white birds and keeping poor records. Something I hope to improve on in the New Year.

 

[sourland]

I'm glad Bugsy is OK today @WVduckchick. Have you got a plan if she's left alone again tonight?
@sourland I watched a video of rollers and one rolled to close to the ground, about 30-40' up. It crashed into the ground. It was quite sad to see.

It's a tricky deal. I generally would not breed from birds until I had flown them for a minimum of 2 years to assure that they were mentally and physically strong. Mr Bluebar as per his story was an exception that worked out for me. I remember an ash red hen that I was watching increase her depth over the course of a summer training always pulling up just before she hit the tree tops. I mentally decided she would be either a super star or eventually a roll down. Never got to find out as one day just as she was pulling out of the roll a Cooper's hawk snatched her.