How long do i keep a pair of roller pigeon before letting them fly???

Question

How long do i keep a pair of roller pigeon before letting them fly???

Answer 1

It's always a function of their age and if they have flown before.  If they are squeakers, then a few days in the loft and having them learn your feed call and you can begin to let them out.  If they are adults that have been flown before, then I'd let them rear a round of young first.  That will make them feel the loft is home and if you lose them, then at least you have the young.

Make sure as you settle them that they can see the outside.  If you can put a cage over your trapping arrangement then so much better.  It will give them a chance to see the outside, learn how to go in and our, etc.  When you do let them out the first time, you might want to give them a bath so that they want to stay down because their feathers are heavy and wet rather than go up and spook before they know the neighborhood.

You might want to go to either the forums at the National Birmingham Roller club site forum at http://www.nbrconline.com or the Flying Oriental Roller society forum at http://com3.runboard.com/bflyingoriental... and also get some information from experts in whatever breed you have.

Answer 2

I could give you a mound of info on pigeons if you're new to the hobby, but I'll just stick to the main topic :P

Squeakers I'd keep in a week, unflown young birds two-three weeks, and older ones I'd keep about 4 weeks. They have almost no homing ability so you don't have to worry about them purposely leaving because you didn't have them in long enough.

The main thing is, getting them settled in. It's best to get them trap trained if you have a trap door. Settling cages work best for this. It's just a wire cage you put on the landing board and open the trap door, so they can fly out into the cage. Then drop the door down, put food in the loft (make sure they're hungry), and call them in to eat. They'll soon learn how to go in through the trap and learn that your command means food (you can whistle, shake the feed can, or whatever while feeding to let them know it means "time to eat, come in"). This is very important with any flying breed. When your birds are out, they are in danger of hawks and other predators, so having them trained and hungry while they're out...gives you control over them. If you see a hawk, a storm, or want them in so you can leave, just call them in with some food.

That brings me to another thing. Rollers are nowhere near as fast as say...homing pigeons...so they are no match for hawks. Because of this, you'll want to be close by when you let them out in case something happens. Hawks are less likely to attack if they see you around.

Good luck!

- Becky