velo99

Roland my brother, Flyaways are usually the result of hurried training while getting the squeaks in the air. Change your management techniques and your flyaway numbers will be reduced. As far as inbreeding,if used in the correct way for the right reasons it will enhance the quality of the strain of birds by reinforcing the genes already in the bird. Same as getting a double shot of blue to make a blue spread bird. You just cant see them but they is there. Conversely, the "bad " genes can be re inforced as well. This is why one would need to carefully proceed along these lines and cull the inbred line with more care and caution than an cross line. Always make your decisions based on performance of the bird before proceeding. jmho v99

I have a sweatshirt with a big pocket in the front. During the spring when I am wearing it, I will take the big chicks for a ride after I feed. That let the othewr chick have a chance to eat while i go about my business with out upsetting the daily routine of the feeding process. In summer I will put them in a cage on a newspaper while I do the duty. This usually happens as a result of the hen or cock not hovering the first egg and simply sitting on it. The big chick hatches 12-48 hours ahead of the other chick. He will be bigger unless we intervene by taking it out of the nest and letting its sib catch up. It is not a breeder fault but a management fault. If the hen doesnt hover the egg take it out and replace it with a wooden egg. When she lays the other egg put it back and both will hatch within a few hours of each other. I just put mine in a potted cactus in the house. The cats don`t bother them there and it is dry and warm. As long as the egg doesn`t get below I think 50 degrees it will be good. You dont have to roll it or anything. Just leave it alone. Good Luck v99

My flyers do not get heat. They get fresh water twice a day and a little extra feed. My breeders only get heat after the first of the year when I pair up. I would not be to eager to use a keorsne heater. I personally don`t like the fumes from a kero heater so I am sure the birds would not care to inhale them either. Get a couple of heat lamps and run a cord. Works well for me. v99

I put mine on the floor when the tails are an inch or longer. There is a little wooden enclosure for them to hide in. They can see the whole floor of the loft from there and watch with interest as the other birds eat. Usually within four or five days they will be eating on thier own. After I find them perching on various items in the box I move the to the kitbox for trap and flight training. Easy money. v99

Dirty eggs can and need to be cleaned with a damp cloth. The egg needs air to circulate thru the shell. if you get a lot of dirty eggs you might need to make larger or cleaner nestboxes. I change out the nesting material and the pad with every round. Two bowls per box. Clean it out and it is ready for the next round. v99

Sounds like too much feed. Cut em back to half for two days. Leave them in the first day. Second day, put em in a box and take em a block away,then release them. They have developed a bad habit, are fat and lazy. You might not ever get them to perform properly again. If this is the case, breed from them and try using proper methods on the babies. good luck v99

Sym, I turned off the lights yesterday for the for the first time in two weeks. Been cold here so I left them on to protect my chicks. Only problem I had was one cock abandoned his hen and young to mate with another hen. The chicks are just ten days and starting to pin,I hope they make it. The timeline with the lights would depend on your purpose. If they have access to outside light save a pound and turn them off during the day. If stimulation is the key,run them for 12 hours a day stretching to 14 over a month. If it is heat,watch them closely and resume a normal day timing when the weather warms. It might behoove you to keep them in an indie pen till then. good luck v99

If I were to guess from this type of behavior,I would guess the hens would be more protective of the nest than a cock bird. My old hens are mean as can be when they are on the nest. Most of the cock birds are not too excitable as long as I don`t take them off the nest. v99

You guys start now with the info that pigeons do not get the AI, or are they long term carriers. Lots of info with a few clicks. Good luck M8`s

Hi Sharon, Yes there is a roller club or three in your counrty. The competetion consists of a kit of 20 rollers performing in concert for a period of 20 minutes. Scores are based on the number or birds that roll to an adequate standard per "turn". A turn is when 5 or more "break" and perfrom simultaneously. The multiplier is added at the end of the fly period. It is based on quality and depth or roll ie... 1.4 and 1.4 x a "raw score" of 122. Score would 341.6. I am from the States and not really familiar with the clubs in Uk. In know of there are several, should be easy to find.

M8`s if you want to see some awesome roller pics go to http://www.roller-pigeon.com Look up the thread entitled wingswitching.

grooter, Get yer cam out mate and start taking pics of the cats. Ask the owner if they are his . If he answers yes,inform him of their activities and your intent to go to the law and your legal counsel. Ask him if his insurance policy covers damage his animals cause. The tell him you have some 100 quid pigeons his cats prefer over the kibble he feeds and which would he rather pay for. If he answers no,start trapping them. They are feral. Now if you want to get his *expletive removed*,snap a pic of his feeding the cats and go to the law with those pics as well as the pics of them on your property. Check you local ordinances on pet control and limits to the number of cats one can own.

causes anyone to do any of these things or, being a cat owner, allows someone else to do these things to his (or her) cat; an owner is deemed to have permitted cruelty if he (or she) fails to exercise reasonable care and supervision in respect of the protection of the cat or kitten from such cruelty. If one lets thier cat roam they are failing to execise reasonable care. Cats can get diseases from being outdoors or in contact with feral cats. They can be attacked by dogs or wild animals. They can fall into the hands of one whom might harm them. They can be run over by a truck. So by letting it roam free one is not exercising reasonable care for the animal. I also saw where a cat can`t be held responsible for trespass or damages under the cattle/livestock law. I would hazard a guess though if one were to check the local animal ordinances one could find ordinances against letting cats roam. If this is true,the owner would be responsible for damages by default. mtp

Ace, I like those fronts on the widow boxes. I like the way they are engineered. I think I could use it in a larger scale.Gonna add on/remodel my building this fall. Need all the ideas I can find before I start. Nice digs bro.

M8`s As I stated in a previous post,once a cat kills a bird it isn`t a pet anymore.It is a predator and can be dealty with accordingly. The laws were written to prevent cruelty to cats at the hands of,shall we say ,hooligans. Cat owners are under the same responsibliltiy to restrain their animals as dog owners. Anyone who lets a cat out to roam is in effect,abandoning the animal. It could be possible to prosecute a cat owner with his own protective law with a simple snap of the digicam? Either way;unrestrained animal or abandonment,the owner should be ticketed. With this information in hand it isn`t hard to make the leap to this logic. Any cat that roams free is feral. Responsible owners are not going to let their animal run loose. Get out your live traps and a can of kippers. Trap cat with a collar, turn it in.The owner should be issued a ticket and have to pay to get his cat back. If it has a chip, same punishment as a collar. No collar,the animal will be put down in three days. MTP

I built all of these including the doghouse. There is another box just like the small one on the left about three feet out of frame. I am gonna remodel next year and put it all under one roof including the dog.

How are they gonna get back in the loft? You gotta trap train them first. Then let them out. Start cutting back on the feed a little every day for a week. Every day BEFORE you feed them, put them in a cage for 20 minutes where they can see the box,one at a time,show him how to get back in. Have a little light seed in the feeder for a reward. Seventh day walk across the garden and kinda chuck the bird at the box. He`ll be really hungry and should go in. Do this and you should be able to let them out and not worry about losing them. Just make sure you feed after they trap. Number one rule. Just feed them all they can eat in 20 minutes if you are gonna fly them,other wise they loll about and become easy targets. good luck

You guys have it easy. Most roller guys breed at least fifty a year as I do. From them I will get 10-12 that are suitable to keep for another season. A lot of flyers have problems with preds taking vast numbers of birds. With us it is a numbers game. My keeper percentage is right at 20 percent. Not bad considering. yits

Little late but still nice Twas the night before Christmas and all thru the loft not a creature was stirring,not even the cocks. The stockings were hung by the feeder with care in hopes that Saint Nicholas soon would be there. The squeakers were all in the corner for warmth,but 514 had an eye to the North. She cocked her head and looked at the trap,for on the roof she heard, tap tap tap. Oh my! Could it be!?! Did Santa really bring something for me? She tucked her head under her wing, feigning sleep, hardly able to conceal her glee. Santa was here, right here in the loft. He moved thru the box with the utmost of care touching each bird, some here and some there. When he touched 514 she heard Santa say, "You will be famous, a great bird in the air. Your children will be spread out everywhere.Your heart is great as the Sun above. Your flight shows the roll that you love. I give you this gift so the sport will not die but live on forever for Mrs. Claus and I. Although you don`t know,and you never will,great rollers give Santa a mighty big thrill." With that Santa jumped back on his sleigh off into the night he was on his way. When the birds went up the next day into the air, Scotty said "Wow! Look there! That bird is a keeper I`ll stock her today. I have never seen this kit so brave." They rolled to the treetops but never beyond with a flourish at the end as if to say Hurrah! Scotty stood with his mouth agape wondering "Just where was the judge today.?!!!" We all hope, and we all pray to be under a kit that particular day,when the roll is for Santa though he`s miles away. by me!

I hate that you resigned. You could have been the reminder of their incapabiliteis to run a club everytime you showed your face. Cheers m8

m8`s 18-22 days usually for me. Dip the beaks a couple of times .When I see them picking at seed on the floor, I move them to the foster box. The cocks there will usually feed them. I also start trap training and cage sitting for an hour or two a day while am feeding and working with the birds. My yb`s NEVER enter the box other than thru the trap. Set them on the ground in front of the box with the door open. They`ll see the dark and head right for it. Run em thru trap,sit on floor, and give a bit of small seed, canary,millet. Let em sit in it with the door open for 1/2 hr and do it again. Hand feed till full and take em back to the foster pen dip thier beaks and set them back on the floor. Three or four days of this,a couple of days of cage sitting,and they are usually ready to go the YB pen and try thier wings at 28-30 days.

I paid $150.00 for a proven pair of birms. Yes they do have the goods. Probably running 60 percent keepers. M8 was focusing his breeding program around two other pairs they were more to his taste.

M8`s While what I call pre weaning 14 -21 days,I carry the squeaks over to a cage on the ouside of my box. Let them see whats going on. I do this usually every day for a week or so till they get fully feathered and can get a little lift. Then I start trap training. I will also place them on the floor of the kitbox so they can be acquainted with the inside of the box when trap training commences. I usually carry them over in a pigeon box, set them on the floor of the kitbox for a minute and then one at a time I put them in the cage after a few seconds of conversation with each squeak. It works pretty well for me. I hold the squirmy ones a bit longer til they settle a bit. Nice bit of bonding time . lol

I have rollers, I would rather have them than racers. Less travel, and the judge comes to my house.

I put it in my fertilizer spreader. Pull most of the feathers out.The teeth in the spreader do a pretty goods job grinding it up. Water it in slowly. Does make the grass really nice and green.