T_ROCK
1 post
Apr 08, 2006
10:44 AM
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I HAVE BOUGHT 4 ROLLERS A MONTH AGO. I AM COMPLETELY NEW TO THIS. THIS MORNING I DECIDED TO LET ONE OF THEM FLY THINKING IT WOULD ROLL AND COME BACK BUT IT DIDNT. IS THERE SOMETHING I AM DOING WRONG OR WHAT? IT FLEW ABOUT 3 CIRCLES AROUND MY HOUSE AND LEFT. IS THERE SOME KIND OF TRAINING TO DO OR WHAT? I HAVE A BREEDING PAIR WITH EGGS. WHEN THE BABIES HATCH WHAT DO I NEED TO DO TO TRAIN THEM, WILL THEY STICK AROUND? HOW DOES THIS ALL WORK? I WOULD APPRECIATE ANY ADVICE I CAN GET. ALSO IS THERE ANY WAY TO DEFINE MALE FROM FEMALE I HAVE NOT SEEN WHICH ONE IS LAYING EGGS.
THANKS, TIM
Last Edited by T_ROCK on Apr 08, 2006 10:51 AM
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Fr.mike
141 posts
Apr 08, 2006
11:15 AM
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Tim-as to the male and female --the male (cock) usually is a little bigger and will stand on his perch and do little half circles and fill his chest out making alot of noise.I am just a beginer also but I wouldnt let out a breeding bird to fly.--wait to raise the young. look on this site under past posts for alot of great info. check out Foys for books on basic pigeon keeping and books on rollers.It would have been better to do your research before you got the birds but since you got them and you dont have many you should be able to catch upwith your basics with a book or two.also go on NBRC site and see if their is someone close to you that has rollers that can help you.
Fr.mike
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Vibey
52 posts
Apr 08, 2006
1:24 PM
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Tim...As a rule , the female will be the one that is on the nest overnight, so if you can get out and look at the birds just b4 dark, the hen should be the one on the nest at that time.
As for letting them out, sometimes a bird will stay around after two weeks , yet others will not stay after a mth of lock up, it's a hit and miss deal. I would not fly anything but young until you have generated a good base stock of babies from the breeders. Without the breeders , you cannot go forward, but if ya lose a youngster, the breeders can always produce more. Keep the breeders penned up. Be patient, and yes i know , it's hard ...lol
Vibey
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T_ROCK
2 posts
Apr 08, 2006
1:53 PM
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THANK YOU VERY MUCH VIBEY! I DID KEEP THE BREEDERS IN THE PEN. THE ONE I TRIED FLYING WAS ONE THAT WAS NOT BREEEDING. I JUST CHECKED MY NEST AND I HAVE FOUR EGGS IN THERE SO IF THEY ALL HATCH I WILL BE WELL ON MY WAY! I WILL CHECK THE NEST TONIGHT TO SEE WHO IS THE FEMALE. I AM ENJOYING THIS AS A HOBBY AND APPRECIATE YOUR MUCH NEEDED INFORMATION!
THANKS MUCH, TIM
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Sourland
63 posts
Apr 08, 2006
2:41 PM
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Tim, if you have four eggs in the nest, there is a strong probability that you have two hens mated to one another. Hope that's not the case.
Geo.
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C.J.
98 posts
Apr 08, 2006
3:05 PM
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Hi Tim do you have four eggs in one nest? If so sour is right you may have a problem. You should make sure that there is plenty of nesting space for all birds. Next if you only let one of the birds out your chances of it stayibg were slim. It would have wondered where all of the others went. When you only have four birds to start with it is better not to gamble with them. Don't let any of the main four our keep them in. When you purchased these birds did you actually get to see them in there air or did you take the guys word for it. If you haven't seen them actually in the air and summersaulting their asses off I would be looking for a breeder who has birds you can actually see are proven. I would still keep the original birds but only as foster parents. Fosters are birds that just sit on the good birds eggs. This allows you to get more babies from a sinlge pair. Once you take the eggs from the birds they will lay another set in about 5 to 7 days. With such small numbers this is the way to go.
Hope this helps you out.
C.J.
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T_ROCK
3 posts
Apr 08, 2006
6:55 PM
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Thanks for the info. You are probably right. I bet I have all hens. But the nesting area should not be a problem I have two big nesting boxes on the cage, they for some reason decided to lay them together. I have noticed today that one of them is going in and out of the other box. I really thought that one was a cock though as I seen him or (IT) dancing around the one he has been nesting with before the eggs were laid, but like I say I am new at this so maybe I am wrong. I bought these birds to start a new hobby then started finding out more about them that I never realized pigeons could even do. That being said I went to a local auction and purchased these four birds together, so I never seen them fly before buying them.
Last Edited by T_ROCK on Apr 08, 2006 7:01 PM
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upcd
221 posts
Apr 08, 2006
7:36 PM
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Greetings and Congratz on your new rollers. sorry you lost one. When breeding pigeons there needs to be 2 nest boxes per pair. Also everybody needs thier own perch. Training is as follows. whistle or make a loud noise when feeding. Trap training happens when you have 2 cages hooked together with the trap in the middle. Birds on side and food on the other. They must pass through to eat. Settling.is where there allowed to look around outside from the inside of a cage. After all that then you can let them out.
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trevsta65
10 posts
Apr 08, 2006
10:20 PM
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and another hint trock when you have some young birds to start trap training try placing them on the roof of your kit box in a wire cage i have a parrot cage which is ideal 4 this ido this for a couple of weeks then when i want them to go in the kit box i put it on the trap and put some seed in the feed trays inside the loft and whistle they soon get the hang of it and start trap traing once they start doing that i just open the wire cage on the roof and let them out for a wander on the roof havent lost a bird yet with this method good luck cheers, trev
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