George Ruiz
354 posts
Aug 16, 2007
10:05 AM
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What if any advice would you offer to a new fancier just getting started in the hobby of flying Rollers ??
George
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George Ruiz
355 posts
Aug 16, 2007
10:07 AM
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I would advise them to build their lofts so it is easy to maintain , taking into consideration Cleaning, varmints,thieves,neighbors,looks,and amount of birds kept.
george
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bman
354 posts
Aug 16, 2007
10:21 AM
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Great advice George,I did just that this time around and it
has really paid off.
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Ron
Borderline lofts
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Hayseedboy
44 posts
Aug 16, 2007
10:23 AM
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Dig into the archives of this site! Tony has provided us with a great library of information in storing all of the previous posts.
Keep your waters exceptionally clean. Clean/Bleach them regularly to keep the creeping stuff away. Then make sure to get all of the bleach out of them before you use them again.
Find a couple of experienced breeder/flyers to act as your mentors.
Make sure you have more than enough room for the birds before you start. There is never as much space as you thought :).
Don't start breeding to early, wait for the time that your mentors suggest.
Be patient with yourself and learn from the Masters (even when they claim to not be Masters).
I have to thank Bill Roy and Spike Gilmore for fostering and building my interest in this breed. Though they both have many many years experience in raising and flying these birds, neither claims to have all of the answers.
OH almost forgot! Don't believe everything your read and don't read everything you believe.
LR
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nicksiders
2069 posts
Aug 16, 2007
10:37 AM
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Get yourself set up before you get any birds....before you buy the horse you build a barn
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Nick
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MCCORMICKLOFTS
1510 posts
Aug 16, 2007
10:44 AM
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#1, avoid Internet forums and lists at all costs....lol
Seriously, the advice I give a new guys is....prepare for heartache, frustration, confusion and being unsatisified. If you are willing to endure these things, then you are willing to make the sacrafices and withstand the challenging cycles that "can" lead to a greater understanding of the birds and how to manage them....which after all of that is understood or achieved, permits the glory and satisfaction of flying some good birds.
A new guy should use his eyes and his ears, and leave his mouth shut unless he has a question.
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J_Star
1135 posts
Aug 16, 2007
10:50 AM
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Let me add to the above comments is that you need to purchase the best stock you can afford or accept birds from well known flyers. Pick them from the air if you can get the birds from a near by fancier. Don't combine birds from too many sources. Select the best and keep the best.
Also, if you live in a city, clear with your neighbors that you want to fly pigeons and get their approval first. Then find a way to catch all the molt feathers, otherwise, it will cause issues with your immediate neighbors on a windy day. Check with your city ordiance if pigeons are a no no in city limit
Clean your loft often so smell will not build up and have conflict with your neigbors on a hot and humid day when temper fler ups are common. Paint the loft to match the surrounding of your house so that everything blends in. Plant some shrubs and flowers around the loft to spurse it up a little. Little things like that makes wonder.
Secure your loft and kitboxes from cats, wild animals and rodents. They would cause you more harm than birds of pray in one day. Rodents will bring deadly deseases to your loft, so make sure they are nowhere to be found in and around your loft and kitboxes.
Don't be stengy when purchasing feed. Buy the best feed even if it cost you a little more. And don't feed your rollers like homers, follow the proper feeding practice.
Don't fly your rollers in a very wendy day and follow your weather channel to avoid overfly.
Chew what you can from what you read and spit out the rest. You will read and hear allot, but be able to separate facts, logic and common sense from opinions.
Last, keep things simple...."Simplicity does it." You need to be able to spend more time with your birds than maintaining a complicated operation.
Jay
Last Edited by on Aug 16, 2007 11:50 AM
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Ballrollers
848 posts
Aug 16, 2007
11:56 AM
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Good post, Jay, especially the part about picking good birds from the air. There is nothing worse than wasting time breeding birds that just don't measure up to YOUR standards for performance, and wondering why you are not raising anything worth a hoot.
YITS,
Cliff
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ROLLERMAN
152 posts
Aug 16, 2007
12:06 PM
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Looks like you coverd all the bases. But here is one thing a lot of new guys do is over feed. You over feed and your birds will pick up bad habit that will drive you crazy.
al
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crystalpalace
12 posts
Aug 16, 2007
12:21 PM
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I agree with all the information that was written by experienced roller breeders and new ones.
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crystalpalace
13 posts
Aug 16, 2007
12:21 PM
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I agree with all the information that was written by experienced roller breeders and new ones.
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crystalpalace
14 posts
Aug 16, 2007
12:22 PM
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I agree with all the information that was written by experienced roller breeders and new ones.
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kcfirl
180 posts
Aug 16, 2007
12:53 PM
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I agree with most of the above except, I don't believe you have to go to well known breeders to get good birds. I believe better birds of the same lines of the well known guys can sometimes be obtained due to less demand.
ie. If you want Higgins birds, find out who got birds from Jerry and has done well with them and get the birds from him instead of Jerry directly. Just an example.
Ken Firl
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W@yne
611 posts
Aug 16, 2007
2:17 PM
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Good advice from the above guys.
The thing a new fancier wants not to do is =
Not to get involved with the politics of this hobby it can ruin the enjoyment of it all. Jmho
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Regards
W@yne UK
Patience Perseverance Perfection
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SiDLoVE
36 posts
Aug 16, 2007
2:37 PM
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ADVICE FOR A NEW FLYER>: Before you do anything find a local flyer and make him your MENTOR!!!
Before you build anything or get birds...HE will mentor you what to build ..how to build it ....show you his birds in the air and even help you select birds for you ...Its Very important for the NEW Flyer to find his friend or mentor who will guide and look after him ..dont build the barn if you have no idea the space the horse needs...or youll end up having to rebuild it 2 times...LOL....This Friend will guide you and take you to see other kits and show you the way on feed and managment...handling ...judging..good kitting ..outbirds.. ..etc..etc..Good Luck
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BigBob
3 posts
Aug 16, 2007
2:42 PM
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All of this advice so far has been very good. It has been advice that will make taking care of your rollers easier and less time consuming. If followed you will have healthy birds and hopefully no problems with disease or preditors. Listen to all this advice and follow all of it you can, but don't forget that you wanted this for a hobby. Hobbies are supposed to be fun or relaxing or both. Enjoy your birds, enjoy the time you spend with them whether it is flying them or scraping poop off the floors. After a time you will find yourself coming home from a really bad day when nothing has gone right, and you change your clothes walkout to the loft, turn a kit out and slowly the really bad day just seems to melt away.
If you have a competitive nature we have awesome competitions in this hobby, local, national, and international. If you are not competitive there are still local and national clubs that do not require you to compete to belong. The bulletins and newsletters you will get are more than worth the cost of membership.
Most of all make all the friends you can in this hobby. The friends that I have made through rollers have been the best. They are always willing to help you with advice, and often times friends in the hobby will be there when you need them most. But don't forget the help you got when someone new comes up and needs advice or help getting started.
I guess my advice to a beginner would be to enjoy this hobby for what it is. No more No less.
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classicpony
323 posts
Aug 16, 2007
6:33 PM
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Don't fly your breeders, fly the young you raise from egg
You will make mistakes but keep plugging away!
Find someone who has been in the hobby awhile for advice.
Find a good BR dealer like Tony for your needs and advice.
Keep drinking water super clean most disease comes from it.
Yes pigeons need grit too.
Get and read Tony's How to Raise Better Pigeons!
Jim
@thebirdhouse
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Electric-man
504 posts
Aug 16, 2007
7:56 PM
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The only thing I didn't do was build a barn and get a horse! Not sure how this is gonna help my rollers, but OK! Hope my neighbors like horses!
Val
"Wind Talker"
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Larry Miller
2 posts
Aug 16, 2007
8:13 PM
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hey Val,
Hows it going...... been trying to catch u in the chat room. guess your off to work before i get online. around 930pm most every eve.
later
Larry
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Electric-man
505 posts
Aug 16, 2007
8:25 PM
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If you have been trying to call, I couldn't find my phone for a couple of days. The dog had it, he was kind enough to make a few modifications on it for me! God bless him!
You can call anytime you want in the next four evenings. I go back to night shifts this weekend, call me anytime after about 6 p.m.. Look forward to talking to ya! I'd say now, but I'm on my way to the gym!
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Val
"Wind Talker"
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