kopetsa
89 posts
Jan 12, 2008
5:31 PM
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I have no idea what to do! I have rollers and I am not able to fly them because there are a million hawks, falcons, ravens and anything else you can think of that will go after pigeons! Behind my house it is heavily treed! I would hate for any of my birds to get eaten so! I dont know what to do but I need to fly them! Any way around this?
Thanks,
Andrew
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Flipmode
43 posts
Jan 12, 2008
5:32 PM
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Not legally!
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elopez
346 posts
Jan 12, 2008
5:36 PM
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Andrew,
Wait a couple of months. Around end of March or April start letting them out and see what happens. BOP are real bad in my area as well and last year, they were here all year long. The only thing is that it wasn't that bad durring the summer as it is durring bop season.
I've taken it into consideration that I am going to lose a few birds so I'm breeding in numbers and will fly at different times and hold in when attacked for a few days. Hopefully this will work for me this season...
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Efren Lopez
SGVS
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elopez
347 posts
Jan 12, 2008
5:41 PM
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Oh yeah, don't do anything illegal. As it will get you into a sh*t load of trouble and cost you a lot of $$$.
Take it from someone who has experienced this first hand..
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Efren Lopez
SGVS
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classicpony
652 posts
Jan 12, 2008
6:36 PM
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Hey Kop,
your not the only one with this problem, I think everyone has this problem. Just wait for the best time to fly.
Jim
Illinois
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kopetsa
92 posts
Jan 12, 2008
7:37 PM
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Hey, I would not do anything illegal because I hate killing things. All of my birds are extremely tame because I'm only 16 and have quite a bit of time on my hands! I would hate to lose any of them though!
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classicpony
654 posts
Jan 12, 2008
7:55 PM
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K,
Don't blame you there, I get upset too when I lose any birds for any reason. Guess what what you call attached. :)
Jim
Illinois
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Bill C
50 posts
Jan 12, 2008
9:36 PM
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Andrew, there are some things you can do.
1) Don't fly in winter and during migrations. Wait until the wild birds in your area have eggs in the nest and pair your rollers to co-incide with this natural beeding cylce with wild song birds. The hawks will be eating the young song birds and not your rollers. Right now food is scarce and if there is a food baffet they will stuff them selves.
2) When you train a kit and fly young birds in spring ( March as mentioned above) if a hawk chases your birds don't fly them again the next day. it is even good to wait a week. If you go for a walk in the forest and are chased by a grizzley bear you will be very nurvous to take that same walk the next day. The rollers need time to forget the hawk and come out more relaxed again or they will fly in tight circles and you can even ruin a young kit this way to flying too fast and not get to get some good air time in on them.
3) Don't fly birds at the same time everyday if you are bothered by hawks. Fly them in the morning and change the time of day, next fly them at 2 pm weather permitting.
4) It is very helpful if you still have a hawk problem going into late spring or in late fall to fly only 5 or 6 birds at a time. The weather is cooler then and you will have to spend more time with them. You will also notice certain birds rolling and others flipping. Fly the five rolling together and the five flippers together and so on.
The hawks will leave you alone more with only five or six birds in the air then with 23 birds flashing white feathers in the sky and drawing attention to themselves more.
5) If you get some crows around your home. Feed them peanuts and walnuts and corn. If you can get them to stick around and nest near by they will help you by chasing off the hawk and alerting you to something is wrong and don't fly today. ALso you will get to know the birds and they will tell you they don't want to fly today even if you see no birds of prey around. Some feel that feeding wild birds will only draw in coopers but they are already here, it's just they have a huge food source and will leave the rollers alone because as your birds gain strenth and age they are harder to catch unlike a small robin just out hopping from branch to branch that cannot fly yet.
I flew a kit today after 2 PM for the first time in weeks only because there was a big redtail hawk in a tall redwood in the neighbors yard. He just sat there and watched the rollers fly. They will chase the coopers away as coopers only eat birds. Maybe I could keep my new friend around with an empty swimming pool with several large rats in it to feed Mr Red, so I can fly more often in winter.
I am glad to hear you say you want to fly your birds and I want to incourge you and not discourage you. These kind of pigeon were bred to fly and they really want to fly, they are not happy cooped up. Your breeders want to fly and those are just the opposite, you don't want to risk losing them but you have to lose some to birds of prey and some you will have to cull yourself. Good Luck to you Andrew
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kopetsa
98 posts
Jan 12, 2008
9:37 PM
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Wow thanks for all of that! :)
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luis
516 posts
Jan 12, 2008
9:45 PM
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Bill i have resident Red tails and all they're good for is making my birds dot out and even on ocassion eat or rip a few of um' !
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Bill C
51 posts
Jan 12, 2008
10:04 PM
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You Bet, your welcome. See I am not a such a hard liner, I just love this breed of pigoens.
I remember my first kit I flew and i had about 14 or 16 rollers flying and suddenly a cooper had been after my birds. Within a few days he took several and then one day he went after a white roller that was my favorite, the white roller came out of some grizzles and it was starting to roll about 10 feet and I enjoyed it. Well soon it had a cooper on its tail. I said to my self, " Not my white roller, not my white roller", he got caught and eaten. I raised more and began to learn from the guys who flew birds in my area. Later on I had several white rollers and some with blue on the tip of the wings and tail. But they never developed into good quality rollers. As I matured in my learning and had my favoritess, it was usually a badge or something was my favorite when I started 6 years ago. But as that badge got older and the kit got older my favorite quickly changed. When I saw a great roller spinning 20 feet, he became my new favorite. It didn't matter if that bird was a check or what, I got that roller fever in my blood and it continues today. I have one white bird in my breeding cage each year and now when I have a few young to raise and train and have some flying I am saying, Please take that white bird, please take that white bird. LOL
OK that might not sound to cool to a young man, but wait until you see some of your birds roll and soon you will want to faster and faster velocity in them.
If you can visit a few guys who fly in the W/C or Fall Fly and they will give you some good advice and help you out, just as they helped me out. Good luck! Bill C
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Bill C
52 posts
Jan 12, 2008
10:13 PM
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Luis, this is very true with some red tails. Some of them have learn to catch rollers. And if this happens you have to lock them up also. I do know that some guys around me in the hills will have a problem with them. But most of us in the city do not. In my case this big guy has been using this tall redwood for a look out. Boy I tell you there are no squirls around in sight when he is atop that tree. I may very well got lucky with this paticular bird. He is finding food (rats and squirls) with out effort. We do have too many squirls in town. I have trapped a few and taken them to the river to let them out along the trees over there. I would say you too might want to feed them squirls and keep them around. That might be helping me. There is a reason why I have no problems with a red tail hawk and others do. I know in NY City there was a pair of redtails that did eat ferrel pigoens all the time as I recall, so what is available to them in the wild is important. BillC
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elopez
348 posts
Jan 12, 2008
10:36 PM
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Bill,
I'm glad I gave you an open door. lol.
Good info, much better then the one on your bad day.
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Efren Lopez
SGVS
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Bill C
54 posts
Jan 12, 2008
11:29 PM
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Hey Efren, I didn't expect a kind word from you so soon after I was rude with a statement about, Do you breed like.... I am humbled by a kind word. Thanks. The Bible taught me, " A kind word turns away wrath". This is true. Good Luck to you in your next fly. Bill C
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elopez
353 posts
Jan 13, 2008
12:44 AM
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No worries Bill. That didn't bother me. Glad to see your posting more often.
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Efren Lopez
SGVS
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RUDY..ZUPPPPP
956 posts
Jan 13, 2008
4:24 AM
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ANDREW MOVE TO WEST TEXAS U WILL FLY ALL DAY LONG......
No kidding....all u see here is tumble weeds.......
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RUDY PAYEN
PANCHO VILLA LOFT
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gotspin7
1198 posts
Jan 13, 2008
4:48 AM
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Andrew, like Rudy said West Texas is the place to live!
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Sal Ortiz
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