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       #Post#: 12181--------------------------------------------------
       help please
   DIR By: mark leggett
       Date: February 9, 2013, 2:30 pm
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       hi all i got 10 rollers, when i let them out all the do is sit
       on the roof.i tried flaging them up but all they do them is sit
       on the flats behind us,any help will be good
       #Post#: 12183--------------------------------------------------
       Re: help please
   DIR By: lew3015
       Date: February 10, 2013, 9:56 am
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       Cut their feed down to 1/2 of what your feeding them for a few
       days, the day you plan on flying, do not feed or water them
       before you put them out, you want them hungry, put them in a
       cage and take them 1/4 mile away than let them out. They will
       have to fly to get back to the loft.
       #Post#: 12184--------------------------------------------------
       Re: help please
   DIR By: mark leggett
       Date: February 10, 2013, 1:08 pm
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       will rollers get back i was told you cant do that with them.
       #Post#: 12185--------------------------------------------------
       Re: help please
   DIR By: wishiwon2
       Date: February 10, 2013, 8:11 pm
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       start by taking them a hundred meters away, take them 200 the
       next day. work them up to 1/4 mile. take them in a direction
       that has the most open space, as oyu dont want to be depositing
       them on your neighbors rooftops instead of your own. You may
       lose some doing this, but if you do it gradually, you will
       likely not. If you do, it is no matter because a roller that
       wont fly is as useless as a lost one.
       #Post#: 12186--------------------------------------------------
       Re: help please
   DIR By: lew3015
       Date: February 10, 2013, 9:54 pm
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       Yes do it as wishiwon2 said, I live in the county, so my birds
       can see my loft a 1/4 mile with no problems, all open fields, I
       forget some people have to raise birds close to other people
       homes.
       #Post#: 12187--------------------------------------------------
       Re: help please
   DIR By: mark leggett
       Date: February 11, 2013, 1:49 pm
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       ok i let you know how it go
       #Post#: 12194--------------------------------------------------
       Re: help please
   DIR By: Kevin Thao
       Date: February 16, 2013, 11:37 pm
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       It's either that they are lazy or have been trained to stay
       around,where did u get them?better to start off with young birds
       so it is easier to train. Once a bird gets used to sitting
       around,they will always sit around.Either u breed them for
       youngs,get a good pair to breed or start out by getting young
       birds from a local flyer.
       #Post#: 12214--------------------------------------------------
       Re: help please
   DIR By: nephilim
       Date: February 22, 2013, 11:35 am
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       Lazy birds become lazy because they're aloud to. Can you contact
       the seller and ask searching questions like why did you sell?
       and how often he let them out? There could be loads of reasons
       why they're not flying. To much and wrong type of feeding will
       be a big factor.But I always look at it from another direction.
       If previous owner gave them an open door, by that I mean just
       got up and while breafast is cooking, just opened the coop and
       left them to it, they would  have become like fantails and just
       sit around waiting to be let back in later that day. This habit
       is really hard one to break, but with time and patience can be
       broken, but in all honesty it would be easier and quicker to
       cull them and start again with young or birds that you've seen
       flying Another reason could be Bop's. You might not have seen
       any, but your birds could have spotted something way up high, so
       they're sitting tight till the threat has passed by, then
       they'll make the move to get back to the safety of the coop. As
       stated cut the food split them cocks and hens, then try flying
       them as single sex kit. A good friend of mine birds suddenly
       became roof sitters, he was ready to kill them, but I asked
       about Bops, then it all fell into place. He bred of the sitters
       and their young flew great, but it took nearly 2yrs to break
       them from sitting, all this was due to them being hit by a
       perregrine falcon. Take your time with them, if you think
       they're worth it, you get your rewards in time.
       #Post#: 12220--------------------------------------------------
       Re: help please
   DIR By: mark leggett
       Date: February 23, 2013, 12:57 pm
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       they was yongbirds i bread them old birds that someone gave me
       and when he had them they did fly well.anyhow i getting rid of
       them and getting some more.
       #Post#: 12224--------------------------------------------------
       Re: help please
   DIR By: Applegate
       Date: February 25, 2013, 1:39 am
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       Hi Mark, Sorry if these are things you already know, but here
       was my plan last year when I switched families and had to train
       all young birds: In March I put together 10 breeding pairs, and
       20 foster pairings (foster pairings were junk birds /
       roll-downs/ odd and ends, etc). Everyday I would record
       egg-laying dates, and eggs would be transferred from the breeder
       to the foster nests (replacing the foster pairs eggs).  This
       will get you the maximum number of early rounds of young out of
       your good breeders to train through the summer.....the longer
       you can fly them before crappy winter weather hits, the better.
       As soon as the young were begging at the front of the nestbox
       and feathered in under the wing, I would take them out to the
       kitbox and put them through the trap door and let them sit
       inside it for a couple hours during the day.  Then they would go
       back to the nestbox for the night.  I do this everyday if I can
       until they are eating on their own.  As soon as they are eating
       on their own, they are ready for to be moved to the kitbox. For
       the first couple days, put them in a wire cage over the trap
       door so they can get comfortable with their surroundings.  My
       wire cage is 2' X 2' X 2'.  Put all the birds in the cage
       hungry, and get them to travel through the traps and reward them
       with sprinkles of grain on the kitbox floor while you whistle
       and shake the feed can.  Once all the young are responding and
       entering, give them their full ration of feed for the day.
       After 4-5 days of this, you should be ready to let them out for
       their first time. Do NOT feed them the day before you let them
       out for the first time, they need to be so hungry that their
       wings are flapping and they are crawling over each other to get
       to the feed can! Pick a day that has no wind and put them in the
       cage late morning, let them sit in there for a couple hours.  I
       will have my feed can and whistle to test them and see that they
       are very hungry.  I will take them out and gently set them on
       the kitbox roof in a group.  Sometimes a couple will take off
       and fly around, ending up on the ground, in trees, or a
       neighbors roof and I'm ok with that on their first time out.
       Then I grab the feed can and get them all back inside the
       kitbox.  I will keep doing this 3 or 4 times the first day, and
       then give them their full ration. After a few days the birds
       know where "home" is, then the next challenge is to get them
       flying.  On their first fly I'll prop open the kitbox door, and
       gently coax them off their perches. (I have to mention that one
       of my families of birds are very excitable, so I try to get them
       in the habit of staying calm or they bump on take off and
       landing). Once they are all on the roof, I have a 5' piece of
       PVC pipe with a loud trash bag taped to it like a flag and scare
       them up all at once.  (Make sure they have never seen it before
       or they will not react to it!).  They will be all over the sky
       at different levels but do not tolerate any bird that lands on
       anything except the kitbox roof.  I use tennis balls and the
       flag to scare them off roof tops and trees.  After a couple days
       of this the birds will start learning that when the kitbox door
       is fully open.....it's time to fly!  You'll always have some
       birds that are resistant and will remain on the perches, you
       might have to take your flag and scare them out of the kitbox.
       After a few days, you'll see the birds starting to kit.  Another
       important part of getting the maximum out of your birds is how
       often you fly them.  When I train young bird kits, I fly them
       once a day during the week, and twice on the weekends.  Feeding
       is also a critical part of getting the most out of your birds.
       For 25 birds, I feed .25 cup milo, .25 cup safflower, .75 cup
       austrian peas, and 1.25 cups of wheat, or slight variations of
       that.  I feed .25 cups of grit twice a week also.   I feed each
       grain type separately also, which I highly recommend to get an
       equal energy level in your birds when you fly them.  I'm not
       sure if you'll see the maximum potential out of your current
       birds if they already have some quirky habits (?).  If they come
       from some proven performers, you might want to breed some young
       off them this year and see what you get.
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