C.J.
41 posts
Mar 15, 2006
4:48 AM
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I am just wondering from everyone here what is the earliest you have had your birds come into the roll?
What is the latest?
What is the average?
What is the age you prefer?
Just My Two Cents!!
C.J.
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Velo99
261 posts
Mar 15, 2006
4:58 AM
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Hey CJ
My favorite hen came in as soon as I let her out at 2 months. I got her as an unflown squeaker. She started rolling five feet from the kit box with little spins. Within 2 weeks she was hitting 20`s.
I have a dun check squeak who took his third flight yesterday and is spinning singles. He is six weeks. I am not saying he is coming in in the traditional sense of a stable mature roller. They are showing they could have the goods though by showing promise early. Of course they could go right on thru to freq`y and singles.
On the average though I would have to say most of my birds are either hero or zero by 7-8 months. Once they moult ionto the adult plumage it all changes as we are so familiar with.
YITS
Kenny H
Last Edited by Velo99 on Mar 15, 2006 5:01 AM
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consett lofts
17 posts
Mar 15, 2006
9:02 AM
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Hi CJ
i have a little black and white badge around 5 weeks witch took its first flight to night and it is rolling about 5 feet,it will prob tern out to be a rooldown LOL! Most off my young birds are rolling by the time they are 4 and a half months old. Around 25-40 feet, i do have some pairs witch produce young birds that come on to the roll at around 6-7 months, but dont we all, i find these birds make beter yearlings !!!
yours in sport and friendship
ROSS
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MCCORMICKLOFTS
428 posts
Mar 15, 2006
12:25 PM
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The earliest is about one week. I always seem to have a few that will be rolling ten feet by their fifth time on the wing. Only one has made it to adult hood. I just recently had a young baby roll down an kill itself on it's 10th time out. I would rather they didn't do that..lol.
I had one that came at about 14 months. The only reason he was here and I knew that was because he was a quiet, tempo kit bird. Other wise, if they aren't rolling by 11-12 months, they are outta here. No time to play "let's see how long it will take for this roller to come into the roll".
On average I would have to say that most of mine come in between 4-6 months of true age, not flying time. One of my families pretty all come in at about five months or right close to there. My B.E. stuff I am making doesn't come in until much later. The hens come in at about 6 months and for the most part, the cocks won't come in until they are 7-10 months of age.
The age I prefer is the age that is suitable for the individual roller. I like for them to not roll a lot or much until they are finished with their first body molt. The physical structure and mentality of the birds seem to change a little after this period. Ideally, 5-6 months of age seems to work out very well.
Brian.
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DeepSpinLofts
13 posts
Mar 28, 2007
5:19 PM
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My birds usually come into the roll about 8 weeks old. I've had birds to rolldown on me while still squeaking and to me that's a bad thing which needs immediate attention. At about 5 months of age, I can get an idea of the type of performer a certain bird might become and this is very important if the goal is to be competitive.
As many of us know, the ro-gene is an unpredictable genetic trait amongst performing pigeons which causes the birds to spin or roll. This is a reaction to stress and excitement which is associated with the central nervous system.
This is why champion breeders say don't breed crazy looking or wild eyed psycho birds because the ro-gene has probably progressed into schizophrenic cells within the bio-genetic molecular cell structure. I find it best to simply breed best to best and smart, calm types for best flying results. It is said that breeding dark colors to light help to stabilize things and I could only assume that this is true.
When I was younger I bred crazy koo-koo rollers and got nothing but roll-downs and culls. Now I have a fairly stable family and the average performance level is 10ft -to- 40ft at 8 months or so. Usually around the second moult. This is the time most roller breeders expect their birds to really turn it on..., after the second moult.
Like I stated above; the ro-gene is an unpredictable genetic trait amongst performing pigeons which causes the birds to spin or roll. We basically have very little control except through breeding, feeding ...etc. Once in the air, you lose control and the performers put on their show. If you breed from birds with hyperactive ro-gene traits (the deep stuff) expect some smokers!
Marcus
Deep Spin Lofts
Last Edited by on Mar 28, 2007 9:37 PM
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CSRA
85 posts
Mar 28, 2007
6:13 PM
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I've had them come in as early 1 week but for the most part 3 to 6 months they start showing flashes of what they can do i do not judge them until their second moult then u should see some magic baby lol!
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MCCORMICKLOFTS
1289 posts
Mar 29, 2007
10:17 AM
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I've had one in my oldest 07 kit doing nice little 10 footers. Zippy nice ones and right back to the kit. I finally found which one it is. It's only 2.5 months old.....bummer.:(
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tapp
232 posts
Mar 29, 2007
10:34 AM
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Last year I had birds rolling early looking real good. some were 2 1/2 3 and 4 months before they were 7 months all were dead or guit flying altogether. What a bummer! I remember calling Scott and telling him how good they were doing and he said not good. It's awful watching your birds fall apart. He was sooooo right when he said not Good! Over cooked roller sure ain't no fun.
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Tapp
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J_Star
833 posts
Mar 29, 2007
12:29 PM
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They are not over cooked rollers rather you are breeding too much heat together. Change the mates around.
jay
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motherlodelofts
1651 posts
Mar 29, 2007
2:38 PM
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I want mine coming in around 5-6 mo old , some come in a tad later or shorther though.
The last thing I want to see is them doing it at 2-3 months old.
Scott
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Flyin Hawaiian
104 posts
Mar 29, 2007
4:15 PM
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Roller development is a hereditary trait that is set by what you put into your breeding pen or stock loft. It is a signature of what the breeders criteria and make up of his family's standards! Each family or strain of rollers will develop according to how they were bred and stocked as a breeder. If you use early developing birds within your breeding loft you most likely will end up with early developing birds or one year wonders as they are called! Often times breeders will submit to breeding from early developers just because they are much easier to control within that one year window. The key to sperating the men from the boys is by flying old bird kits and being able to tickle thier nervous system in order to get the best from them when needed.This is not any easy task and not for the faint of heart. Family traits are fixed over a period of time depending upon who you have selected to purchase stock from. Having said the aforementioned management is a contributing factor in early development depending upon the family that you are working with. The key to early development is to get the young birds well on the wing by 8 weeks of age. The ealrlier the better the results in getting them to roll. I have personally raised the ocassional freak at 1 week in the air it rolled down. This is obviously not common but can happen as it did to me. For those of you that may know of him the late LLoyd B Thompson of summerland B.C was a phenomenal flyer of young birds and he always had them going well by 6 mo's of age often times fooling the most prestigious veterans in thinking that his kit was a seasoned old bird kit when in essence it was a young bird kit at 6 to 8 mo of age. I frequented his residence and picked his brains every visit. He split fed his young birds and flew them twice a day on the weekends and once a day the rest of the time. He would split feed to get thier attention on flying rather than thinking about the feed can. The man was and still is the best flyer I have ever seen and that includes the great Monty Nieble who I respect highly and have flown against for many years. Ideally 4 to 6 mo of age is a good starting point and you can rest assured providing you have a good handle on the birds that your breeding from that they will be stable. The proof is in the putiing.
Ivan
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fhtfire
867 posts
Mar 29, 2007
5:32 PM
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My birds tend to come in at the 4-6 month mark...If they come in hard any earlier..they end up being lawn darts. Rarely do I get the early ones...I get maybe 1 or 2 a year...but they end up bighting the dust before there first Birthday...or they are culled if I have to "take care of them" to much. I like the birds that come in real good at about 6 months old..they tend to be the ones that are just what the doctor ordered.
I did notice that my mid 06 birds are coming in about the 8-9 month mark...and I think it is due to the fact that we had a 2 week period in June or July that was over 107 degrees plus...and I chose not to train my young birds in that kind of weather..so they did not get the fly time...I did start to fly them in the mornings...but I felt that they did not need the extra stress of being tired during the early afternoon heat. I checked the temp in one of my kit boxes and it was 122F at the top perches....I had fans running on them and kept the bath pans handy...I was lucky...I only lost 1 bird due to the heat. Anyway...I like them to come in 4-6 months.
rock and ROLL
Paul
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Electric-man
193 posts
Mar 29, 2007
9:51 PM
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When you guys say you want your birds to come in at 6 mo. Do you mean to start rolling short rolls and build from there or do you mean they need to be hitting their deep rolls? What about freaquency at this point. This sucks having to learn everything here and not have anyone to watch my birds and tell me where I'm at!
Most of my birds are 3 to 6 mo old. I get freaquent flips and short rolls. Every once in a while one will bust out a 20 or 30 ft roll. 16 of 20 kit like glue, the ones that don't are the youngest. Recently they are becoming somewhat sincronized (sp). My thinking is, be patient! Is this on track or similar to what I should be seeing?
Val
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motherlodelofts
1652 posts
Mar 29, 2007
10:28 PM
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Val , it sounds like are on track , but adding in younger birds will retard the progress.
You righ patience it important .
Scott
Last Edited by on Mar 29, 2007 10:28 PM
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gotspin7
60 posts
Mar 30, 2007
4:53 AM
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I had one come in at 2 weeks, ( he did not hold)...lol, the latest is about 10 months, and they average from 3-6 months.
Sal
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J_Star
837 posts
Mar 30, 2007
5:14 AM
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I never had any roller come to the roll less than 4 to 5 months. I had them come to roll at a 12 to 14 months. That is possibly because I lock down from Nov to March every year.
Jay
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chandlerTX
47 posts
Mar 30, 2007
11:18 AM
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Ivan, can you explain what spilt feeding is? Is this feeding seperate grains at different times? Chad
Last Edited by on Mar 30, 2007 11:19 AM
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Flyin Hawaiian
106 posts
Mar 30, 2007
3:59 PM
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Chad,
Determine what amounts of feed your young birds will consume in one feeding during thier adolescent age. This can be accomplished by throwing them handfuls of grain until they start to slow down. Mark your can and this is your determined amount that they will consume in one feeding. Split feeding is simply just using that determined amount of feed per day and feeding 1/3 rd of this amount in the A.M and the remainding 2/3 in the evening. This way you will be able to fly the birds twice a day with rewarding them after they exercise or take to flight. I gotta run right now but I will get back to this this evening.
Ivan
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chandlerTX
48 posts
Apr 02, 2007
11:20 AM
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Thanks Ivan.
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