Post by: JODakota on June 15, 2013, 04:50:21 PM
Post by: RC3 on June 15, 2013, 04:53:56 PM
Post by: wildweeds on June 16, 2013, 07:38:18 AM
Post by: SnowDog on June 16, 2013, 08:00:32 AM
Post by: Don Fischer on June 16, 2013, 10:15:03 AM
What kind of dog are you training? Roller's might not be the best birds. We had a few years ago and so long as I turned them loose here, they came back in. No idea what would happen if they were turned loose farther away. My ferals make about 50 mi easily and years ago I had a couple come from Bend, 74 mi. I wouldn't bet on that though. My homer's I've only flown from Bend and they can darn near beat me home. Going the other direction now, toward Sunnyside, Wash.
We liked watching the roller's and tumbler's fly. They start rocking a bit and then look's like someone shot them out of the sky!
Post by: JODakota on June 16, 2013, 12:10:11 PM
Not a problem, but make sure he can't get to them. He can and he probably will. I have two loft's and one of them is divided. Huge outside outside pen on one side, flight loft on the other. The outside flight pen is nothing more than a chicken yard with a net over the top.
What kind of dog are you training? Roller's might not be the best birds. We had a few years ago and so long as I turned them loose here, they came back in. No idea what would happen if they were turned loose farther away. My ferals make about 50 mi easily and years ago I had a couple come from Bend, 74 mi. I wouldn't bet on that though. My homer's I've only flown from Bend and they can darn near beat me home. Going the other direction now, toward Sunnyside, Wash.
We liked watching the roller's and tumbler's fly. They start rocking a bit and then look's like someone shot them out of the sky!
Awesome! Thanks for the response! I'm training a Brittany. I've heard I'd your not traveling far from your house/loft area that rollers should be okay. When you say can't get to them, do you mean physically touch the birds or not being able to get to the outside of the loft? Yeah I would have loved to get homers but they seem to be in short supply around here :chuckle:
Post by: Stilly bay on June 16, 2013, 12:36:06 PM
Another problem with them is you probably shouldn't release them unless they can see the loft, many strains of rollers have little or no homing instinct.
If they aren't strong flyers they will often land near by and on the ground until they get their bearing which will cause all kinds of trouble with your training, homers get up and out of the area in a hurry.
As far as the loft being in the yard; its pretty amazing how good a dogs nose is. My dogs ignore the loft and all the bird stink coming out of it, but if I plant a bird right next to the outside of the loft ( like almost touching it) the will point it every time!
If you are yard training with birds make sure they have a full stomach that way they will be less inclined to come back to the loft during the training session and screw things up.
If you are coming to the Westside anytime soon I will have a batch of homer squeakers I would be willing to trade for some rollers.
Post by: Don Fischer on June 16, 2013, 12:58:50 PM
Not a problem, but make sure he can't get to them. He can and he probably will. I have two loft's and one of them is divided. Huge outside outside pen on one side, flight loft on the other. The outside flight pen is nothing more than a chicken yard with a net over the top.
What kind of dog are you training? Roller's might not be the best birds. We had a few years ago and so long as I turned them loose here, they came back in. No idea what would happen if they were turned loose farther away. My ferals make about 50 mi easily and years ago I had a couple come from Bend, 74 mi. I wouldn't bet on that though. My homer's I've only flown from Bend and they can darn near beat me home. Going the other direction now, toward Sunnyside, Wash.
We liked watching the roller's and tumbler's fly. They start rocking a bit and then look's like someone shot them out of the sky!
Awesome! Thanks for the response! I'm training a Brittany. I've heard I'd your not traveling far from your house/loft area that rollers should be okay. When you say can't get to them, do you mean physically touch the birds or not being able to get to the outside of the loft? Yeah I would have loved to get homers but they seem to be in short supply around here :chuckle:Quote
My feral loft is plywood with one big opening, kinda like a window but no glass, just 1" chicken wire. At time's the boy's go there, they like to get up and look in the window when I feed. There is also a small re-entry door for them. The only preditors that can get to it are flying one's. Have had one owl get in it in close to 25 yrs. The homer loft is a building I built for chickens. Raised one bunch and then turned it to a pigeon loft. 8'x16' and 8' on the front wall, sloped roof. Closed the chicken entry, a ramp thru a hole, and put a set of bob's on it. Later I divided it in half and the birds I have homing really good I keep in one half with a re-entry door to the outside, no fenced in area. I just keep 15 birds in there right now. The other side if breeding birds and young birds and replacement birds for those I lose on the other side. Often lose one to hawks when flying them.
When I added the re-entry to the fenced in area, it occurred to me that it might be a good place for bob's to teach young birds to come in through the bob's. When I don't have young birds in it, the bob's are blocked up.
I would think that roller's will come home from short distances, have no idea what that means. We just let them out right here at home and they never went far. They'd get in with a flight of our ferals and soon as they started to rock we could spot them. I'd start them out on short flight's and move them out slowly. There used to be a lot of feral pigeon's in that area. They are very very good for dog training. They are smaller that homer's and a lot more spooky. But they got me through about 25 yrs of training. haven't had to buy a bird in that long. if you go out looking, look in barns and deserted building's. Lock every thing you get up until they are on eggs. Most will come back once they are on egg's. With a lot, they will come back after being in the loft a month or so, make it their new home. Pigeons are free loaders! I had one a long time ago that I caught one night in a barn and used for a kill birds the next day. But the dog screwed up so I let it go knowing I could go pick it up again that night. Surprise, it went into my loft with the other birds! Not only that but when we left the valley and came over here, it was coming back in really quick. Don't count on that.
If you do go out looking, the best birds to catch and take home are young one's. Be easy to tell them, that white band on top of their nose won't be white, kind of a pink color. And they may have some longer hairs coming out the top of their head, not always but some times. A combination of both is neither good or bad. Take those home and put them in your loft a week or so and feed them. Then just open the re-entry door and block up the bob's for them. for them and they will, in a short time, go through the opening and sit on the landing board outside, probably won't fly then unless you make them. Don't make them. What they are doing is getting their bearings around the loft, once the flu, first stop will probably be the roof but they will go. In less than a month you should have birds that will come back from close to a mile. From there it's all uphill. Pigeon's look for shelter, water and feed. they will have all three in your loft and the good part of young birds is thet they've never been flown, your loft will be the only shelter they know with feed and water inside. Well this got screwed up some how. Most of what I just wrote is colored blue!