flips
10 posts
Feb 17, 2007
2:08 PM
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i am just getting started in this lovely hobby and have gotten enough breeding prs to satisfy myself to start building my kits.Question is all birds have peds they are plona/smith in one group hatcher in another group and finally george mason birds do i let them mix bloodlines or keep them seperate? i have 3 6x12 pens for breeding so it would be easy enough to keep seperate. also have 22 breeding or mateing pens set up will they stay true after mateing if i put them in a community loft after mateing? eash family has its own good and bad traits i gather from reading everyones posts just looking for answers to help me do it right sooner than later.thank you
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Flyin Hawaiian
12 posts
Feb 17, 2007
2:25 PM
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Hi Flips,
The three families in which you have to work with two of them are related and can cross over easliy enough, however the Mason birds are entirely differrent. The Plona/Smith birds and the Hatcher pigeons are much the same accept the Hatcher family has a cross over of the Mc fae line of birds that are groused legged. Tom Hatcher used a smith cock #9686 a lavendar cock on the first generation cross to the Mc fae birds so in essence on one side of the Hatcher family in which he calls his continentals you have the Mc fae birds which are somewhat differrent.
If it were me I would definitely keep them seperate and leave them be concetrating only on those within the family that you know to be related in some way shape or fashion. Just because you have the space to breed alot of pairs from don't make the mistake that so many novices do when they get started because they are in patient and breed from alot of pairs. The motto for everyone should be "Quality not Quanity" Yes you need numbers to evaluate but its better to use 8 pair of breeders that are worthy to breed from than 16 pair that are mediocre besides a guy needs a minimum of 6 rounds in order to really evaluate the youngsters from any given pair. Keep in mind your stock pen is only as good as the last bird you culled. One things for sure about this hobby of raising rollers "patience is a virtue". Use foster pairs to increase your numbers in short order. Raise lots and cull hard only keeping those that have earned the right to perch and feed at your loft location.
Ivan
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W@yne
268 posts
Feb 17, 2007
2:31 PM
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Flips,
For a new starter you sure have started off making your job as a successful flier hard by picking 3 families of birds. Flips why start off with 3 strains of birds?? I notice lots of guys like to have lots of families in America for some reason or other, Anyway most definitely keep your strains as pure as virgin snow. And keep the families apart in the breeding pens.
Good luck Flips
Regards W@YNE UK
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flips
11 posts
Feb 17, 2007
2:45 PM
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would 10 pr be easy enough to start with? i would rather have quality like you say yet patience is so hard to maintain.i do have a few pr hommers around how long do you let the rollers sit before you pull the switcharoo on them? how far apart can they be in days in order for it to work say one lays 3 or 4 days earlier than the other?
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Flyin Hawaiian
14 posts
Feb 17, 2007
5:30 PM
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Flips,
10 pair is plenty to start out with. It would be a benefit to you if you had the same amount in foster pairs so you could get the best bang for your buck. Make sure all pairs of roller breeders have laid and than you can swap out the eggs with your fosters providing they have laid in sync with your roller breeders. Remember thier is an internal clock within the birds that let them know when they are expecting a hatch. If the roller breeders don't lay all together on the same day which would be in a perfect world don't worry about it once you swap out the eggs that will set them back on time to lay together on the next round. Be patient as this will be a learning curve for you but with patience you will become a better manager. You will be surprised how fast you will have youngsters to train and than the fun begins. Good luck.
Ivan
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DeepSpinLofts
6 posts
Feb 17, 2007
5:58 PM
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Flyin Hawaiian you appear to know your stuff. I'm looking to cross some Plona & Hardesty bloodlines into some Norm Reed stuff. Body types are similar and the roll is fairly decent in both families. The goal is basically to obtain more frequency in my family.
QUESTION: Think I should give it a shot?
Marcus
Deep Spin Lofts
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Flyin Hawaiian
15 posts
Feb 18, 2007
5:42 AM
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Marcus,
You definitely have a variation in families even though the body's are similar to you the internal motor is differrent and temperament is much the same. You may hit a home run in the F1's and than as you continually mix the pot they can go to either extreme roll downs and bumpers or out flyers and stiffs. Let me just say this knowing all three families your frequency will be found in the Norm Reed pigeons especially if you have anything down from the 991/778 side. This family would cross better with the Hardesty birds than with the Plona however that would be up to you how you would want to go reason I say this is because the plona birds tend to go stiff and fly much higher and longer than the other two families you have to work with. Don't get me wrong thier are many good Plona pigeons out there. Why not just dwiddle your birds down to one particular family than to cross them onto one another? Its a slower process but the end result will far out weigh the other. I feel confident that you will make the right choices for your viewing pleasure. Have fun and enjoy
Ivan
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classicpony
111 posts
Feb 18, 2007
11:31 AM
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Deepspin,
Do you have just the Hardesty bloodline?? That is what I have here, just where you at?????
Jim
@thebirdhouse
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