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The Original All Roller Talk Discussion Board Archive >
B.O.P. or Me??
B.O.P. or Me??
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Oldfart
699 posts
Jun 11, 2008
1:40 PM
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Hey All, Val, if this is out of line then please use the delete key! I struggled all last fall with trying to decide if I should fly when the B.O.P. were so active. I fliped back and forth, this week I would lock down, the next, I would say they have to fly, then I would get hit and lock down! After several losses, I locked down permanently!
I think this was a mistake! Because, now I'm placed in the posistion of becoming the thing I hated the most! Good birds that spin their as-'s off but wont kit worth a darn! Not their fault, it's mine, they never had a chance to properly learn before I locked them down! I will not mindlessly feed them to the B.O.P., but I'll never lock them down again! Better they fly, live, possibley die, then stagnate. Just my opinion, and mine alone.
Thom
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maxspin
245 posts
Jun 11, 2008
1:55 PM
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Thom,
You need to set yourself up with fosters so that you can quickly fill your kitboxes. You must have max fly time before you lock down. Not locking down is not an option for me.
I think that we will see the breed gravitate toward earlier developing birds in high BOP areas, as no one wants to lock down birds that are not showing "something"
Just my opinion
Keith Maxwell
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Square
371 posts
Jun 11, 2008
3:08 PM
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Yea thats a bad deal.. I think that with the current situation we are all faced with "Obviously".. we nee to think about the impact this is having on our sport.. I have been looking into this as I am a advid flyer of thease birds.. In the writings about the B.O.P you dont find much, as everyone in the outside world thinks for some reason we are in a decline still with thease B.O.P.. that is truly not the case, we now have B.O.P's that dont even migrate...they stay in place all year long... and in my opion this is effecting our hobbie dramatically... this is my opion.. looking at the big picture, this has made people who fly competively to breed for birds that come into the roll at 3 months, this is mainly due to the B.O.P's. people who are sucessful in flying good rollers have to lock down, four to six month's. so in actualiuty you have to fly a quality bird for two seasons to actually get a year on the wing.. agin just my opion....I really think this issue is destroying our sport.. and this is just not due to the losses we suffer,, but the main thing, and that is we are breeding for birds to come in quicker,without ever experencing the longevety of a bird..there has to be some balance. and it will come eventually either by man or nature. and when this happens and the super sucessful guys are able to fly freely all year,, how will we get the longjevity back???? I think alot of us will be stuck,, birds that roll and roll good but are done in a couple of seasons... The only sucess will be for the guy who has 6kits and is able to keep his #1team full of birds that are doing it for the moment...I have had people aquire some of my stock and say "yea I likeum but it takes them 6months to come in"..This has almost made me change my whole program.. however I am a big believer in "Longjevity".. so I will continue to breed the way I have...I see the light at the end of the tunnel.. as far as the B.O.P's. and it's not a train..LOL nature has a way of fixin it's self.. and if not that, man will step in like always.. might take some song bird's being gone forever,, but I know it will work out.. thanx for your time...
Square.
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"Home of the Ghost Town Roller"
K.C.R.C
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Oldfart
700 posts
Jun 11, 2008
3:14 PM
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Keith, In my situation I must maintain a small operation. My nearest neighbor is less then thirty feet from my brood loft. I clean everyday, they only knew I have birds because they could hear the cocks calling the hens to the nest. That however was not my point. I ineptly tried to say, that if I in my misdirected compassion confine my birds to a life of a confict then, possibly their existence is less, because of my misguided concern. Were I able to fly as they, I would choose the risk over confinement. Birds that are deprived of the basic experience of kitting, rolling, did I mention KITTING, are worthless! The fault was mine, not theirs! I will not repeat my mistake, period! Better, they die in the clutches of a B.O.P. then by my hand. That's as clear as I can say how I feel. You might not agree and I respect that.
Thom
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Square
373 posts
Jun 11, 2008
3:27 PM
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Oldguy I feel for you bro,, anyone that actually knows me will under stand as far as this topic.. do the right thing,, this hobbie is about enjoyment,, atleast for me when that changes we/I need to reevualite, what our purpose is.. yakno..dont get discourged, rember what it was that got you into pigeons..believe me I know things have changed..look at the light at the end of the tunnel,,, so what if it's a train!!LOL,,have a good one Sir..
Square..
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"Home of the Ghost Town Roller"
K.C.R.C
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Velo99
1837 posts
Jun 11, 2008
4:40 PM
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Thom,
How long have they been back up?
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V99
Straight up,no chaser.
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Oldfart
701 posts
Jun 11, 2008
5:48 PM
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Square, I agree with your points, I guess we just have to knuckle down and try to survive. I just think that my birds deserve to be allowed to live their lives with as much freedom as possible. I will do everything within my power to safeguard them, but, they fly.
Velo99, this is my second breeding season, but I'm not exactly a virgin. I am trying to learn,not just remember.
Thom
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Santandercol
2657 posts
Jun 11, 2008
10:50 PM
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You'll wind up with no birds left.It's not imperitive to be competitive ya know.You can just enjoy them in your own backyard.
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Kel.
Rum-30 Lofts
Last Edited by on Jun 11, 2008 10:52 PM
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bman
586 posts
Jun 12, 2008
6:56 AM
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Thom, trust me I know exactly what your talking about!
Listen you need to stop breeding earlier. I am in the process of breaking up my pairs right know. If they are not in the kitbox by the end of June there is no way to get enough wing time on them here.In reality if you put squeeks out before March 1st or after June 30th it usually ends up in a waste of time. You will either lose them to BOP's or as you found out you lockdown and end up trying to straighten them out the next year usually with mixed results.JMHO----------
Ron
Borderline lofts
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Tony Chavarria
Site Publisher
2631 posts
Jun 12, 2008
7:22 AM
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Hey Thom, listen to bman. He is right. I locked down for about 5 months this past Fall and Winter. My A-Team consisted of 2006, some early hatches from 2007 and a couple older birds than these, after 2 weeks getting them back into form for the World Cup Prelims, I felt I had my best kit I had EVER flown (high winds again this year blew my birds away).
The point is, flying your rollers is gonna become a seasonal thing requiring you to fly smart and be a good manager.
You cannot fly rollers in the face of a Fall season onslaught of bop and think you are going to come out any better for having done so. You will have only created a soup kitchen with your rollers being the main ingredient!
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FLY ON! Tony Chavarria
"Discussion is an exchange of knowledge...argument is an exchange of ignorance". by unknown
Support This Site With Your Pigeon Product Purchase-Over 100 Pigeon Products!
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Oldfart
702 posts
Jun 12, 2008
9:50 AM
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Hey All, First thank you all for your response's, I value the input. Tony, bman, I have no intention of mindlessly flying in the onslaught. Last year I was off to a very late breeding program and vicariously a large amount of my birds went into lock down before they were ready. They had very little fly time, some were even not trapped trained properly. That as you know was my first breeding season with my new stock. They are fine birds, some better then others, some outstanding. BUT, they simple will not kit, if I fly five old cocks, I have five kits! They roll great, but what are they worth? To my mind nothing. I have my breeding program underway and this years young out in proper fashion. I banded my last young bird today. By a lot of standards mine is a small setup, but I would rather keep it small and have rollers then try to hard head my neighbors and lose them. I have my birds, the neighbors are happy, all is well! I still think the B.O.P. can be flown around, lock down? YES, just not for the season.
Thom
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bman
588 posts
Jun 12, 2008
11:14 AM
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Hey Thom, I am an advocate of flying around the preds but I still lockdown from Thanksgiving till March 1st.
With you running a "small operation" every loss you incur is even greater the smaller scale you run. I pushed my birds this year trying to get ready for the WC prelims and ended up losing enough good performers that I had to withdraw from the fly. My STUPID mistake! But it is your call.
The birds that are not kitting if you want to spend the time on them, I would add them one at a time to some you have that are kitting good and fly the cr@p out of them just like they were young birds. You might be able to salvage some. Don't worry if they go stiff on you,just get them kitting if you can. Once they are kitting good you can work on getting back to where they should be performance wise. Just don't let them start pulling birds out of the kit. Just some options to think about. I know when my birds come out of lockdown it takes 2-4 weeks to get them kitting and working right again.
Good luck
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Ron
Borderline lofts
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bman
589 posts
Jun 12, 2008
11:19 AM
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Thom one more thought. If you decide to fly thru the fall/winter think about locking down any young birds that are performing and kitting up to your standards. Once they are at that point you shouldn't have any trouble with them come spring or very little.lol
That way you can keep flying the later devolopers without risking birds that can carry you forward.
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Ron
Borderline lofts
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Oldfart
703 posts
Jun 12, 2008
12:45 PM
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Hey Ron, Thanks that is sound advice and I will think on it long and hard. I don't want to make another mistake trying to compensate for the first.
Thom
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