Problem

December 31, 2012

Hi, every couple of weeks ive been letting my birds out for a fly instead of being in the aivery. Ive also been having problems getting them in. I feed the the same ammount every day etc but when i let them out for a fly they come back in and land on the roof some go in and start picking at the food while the others just lay around on the roof. After they have had a bit to eat they go back on there perches then fly back out. i only use my door open and i ont know how i can sort this problem out its really annoying. ive seen all the traps etc and my dad is thinking of making a door with some bobwires in and mesh so they cant get out. any advice and help appreciated thanks... :emoticon-0123-party:

December 31, 2012

stop putting them in the avery, they think they are allowed to sit all day on the roof as they do it in the avery. and cut there grub back and they will obey

andy Burgess · December 31, 2012

sounds like a few things ,yes a trap with "bob-wires" would solve them going back out .you say you feed the same amount each time ? is it perhaps too much ?? would also ask ,do you have a routine ? feed them at the same time each day ?? :emoticon-0138-thinking:

December 31, 2012

I do have a rotine. on a morning i give them a desert spoon each bird and on evining 2:30 i give them 2x spoon full each

andy Burgess · December 31, 2012

I do have a rotine. on a morning i give them a desert spoon each bird and on evining 2:30 i give them 2x spoon full each

wonder how much that is regarding weight ?? if flat i would geuss around 1 1/2 ounces ,if heaped around 2 ounces ? if thats the case ,in my opinion its just a little too much regarding control. :animatedpigeons:

Wiley · December 31, 2012

3 dessert spoons usually is 1 1/2 ounces as Andy says, but will also vary. It is far to much for birds sitting around and nearly or should have completed there moult. You have no routine on when you let them out by the sound of it is also a problem. This time of year id cut back and feed once a day an ounce a pigeon or if your worried there not getting enough I'd have 25% barley in your mix and feed them by hand, once they start to be selective with the grains they have had there fill and should receive no more. But remember a little at a time.

Scott I also thought you had no birds?

December 31, 2012

bob wires will solve the problem of birds getting back out.if your letting them out in the morning feed them afterwards.any birds that dont come in lock them out until next morning they will soon learn.

Wiley · December 31, 2012

Scott you say they've had a bit to eat and fly out are you putting there feed in a hopper or in there boxes to do this? As the others are playing about on the roofs I'd also stop doing this and not place any feed in the loft until they are all in the loft, bad habits no thought of your own are being encouraged. Ideally it would be good if a local fancier could take you under his wing.

December 31, 2012

Agree with the point about the avairy, can you not fit a sputnick ? also due to my work i only feed my birds once a day, changing water twice, have you tried flagging them if there sitting on the roof ? works for me. :animatedpigeons:

December 31, 2012

There are several things you can do about this. When you feed give the birds a signal such as a clicker like the one they use in dog training. You need a sound signal that never changes in the way the voice will change when you are excited or angry which livestock can pick up on. Measure and ounce of corn for all the birds in the pen and mark a tin so that you can give them an ounce each at feeding time when they toe the line. Do not let the birds out for about a week and feed them in a trough and click your clicker just before you put food into the trough so that they associate the sound of the clicker with the food. Put the food into your trough slowly and stop if birds do not drop down to the trough straight away regardless of how little food there is in the trough, so that the only birds to get food will be the ones that dropped down when you clicked. Then follow the following routine:-

Let the birds out. When they show that they want to land click the clicker and scatter a small amount of food into the trough. If there are birds still outside after about 2 minutes shut the door and leave them out. Feed the ones that are inside with about 1/2 ounce of food. Allow the birds that are outside to come in but do not give them any food at all. Continue to do this every day until all the birds come in to the loft within the 2 minutes. When all the birds come inside within the 2 minutes give them the full ounce of food gradually. It is important to feed gradually because they must understand that you control the food. If at any time you see that the birds have had enough regardless of how much they have eaten stop feeding. If you can get your Dad to fit bob wires it will be of help but regardless of bob wires you still carry out the 2 minute rule. Your aim must be to get your birds under control and to stop them from going onto the roof. Pigeons should never go onto a roof. Ever.

It is worth me saying that you need to train youngsters like this from about 28 days old onwards. If you still have a problem with birds going to the roof when you rear your babies, do not allow the older birds to spoil the babies by teaching them bad habits. Keep the old and young birds separate. To give you the idea, I once went into partnership with a guy that reckoned he could not stop his birds from landing on a roof which was at the same level as the loft roof and a matter of yards away. He nearly had a fit when I said that the birds would not be fed again until they landed on a tray that I found lying around. Some birds got the message quite quickly and landed on the tray in about 3 days but some took over a week to learn but the important thing was that I had them off the roof within about

3 weeks.

December 31, 2012

thanks owen. and Wiley i have a routine in the summer/spring i will try that. I do have birds 4 racers and 3 tumblers, the 4 races are unraced though and goign to breed off them

December 31, 2012

If I were you I would get to work on the plan I gave you straight away because you need them under control before Spring when they might be paired up. Pigeons must be trained properly just the same as other livestock. Even young humans are a pain in the ----- if they are not taught how to behave. Just like young humans you can not force pigeons to do what you want. But you can reward them for doing the right things. The problems come when you reward any creature when they do wrong things and just like loads of other people you are rewarding bad behaviour. You have the whip hand so you should just go about your job quietly and without fuss. It is very simple, they do what you want and they get rewarded, they do what they want and they suffer. Just like kids. They do what you want and they get nice things, but if they behave badly they lose nice things. It is called routine and the result is that you become predictable which gives the pigeons security because they must always know what will happen if they do certain things. Right is nice, and wrong is extremely uncomfortable.

Besides you will definitely get yourself a bad name with the neighbours and even your parents will get fed up with all the nonsense.

January 7, 2013

those pigeons you talk about going on the roof id sharp fetle that caper.when birds drop into the loft id shut the door and the ones on the house roof id leave em out till next day,they sharp learn not to go on the roof.ya got to be ruthless if you want to stop birds sitting on roof.

January 8, 2013

:emoticon-0127-lipssealed:

those pigeons you talk about going on the roof id sharp fetle that caper.when birds drop into the loft id shut the door and the ones on the house roof id leave em out till next day,they sharp learn not to go on the roof.ya got to be ruthless if you want to stop birds sitting on roof.

:emoticon-0127-lipssealed: :emoticon-0127-lipssealed: :emoticon-0127-lipssealed: :e