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#Post#: 9921--------------------------------------------------
Holding young birds
DIR By: oldfart
Date: November 9, 2011, 4:07 pm
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Hey All, How long after a young bird is eight weeks old do you
think it can be held before flying and still get off to a good
start? It seems to me that the cooper hawks are staying longer,
arriving earlier and leaving later each year. Some are even
staying year round. :( I normally start my breeding in the first
week of February but I am considering the first of January
instead. I would rather ( some choice ) lose untested young
birds in the early spring then flown seasoned birds in the fall.
I don't know if holding them extra time because of weather,
hawks..... will make it impossible to then train them properly.
Any thoughts?
Thanks
Thom
#Post#: 9922--------------------------------------------------
Re: Holding young birds
DIR By: tom wingfield
Date: November 9, 2011, 4:47 pm
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Thor , thats a good question and you will get many different
thoriers , but seeing i am first . depending on the family , if
there know for being strong on the wing or a little lets say
lasy starters... most of the old pensom strain where pretty
strong on the wing , i've seen them keep up as young till they
where 6 months and where then started in a week..my jacs seem to
take to it easy no matter the age. i know of several breeders
now that have small lofts and wait till they have several rounds
to get a kit .. as far as the dam bop , there gona hurt you bad
if the young are not strong on the wing but i guess thats part
of it , at lease for now.. the older they are when started the
bigger the chance of loses getting them located as well
..ideally i would like to start breeding mid december ....tom
#Post#: 9925--------------------------------------------------
Re: Holding young birds
DIR By: wishiwon2
Date: November 9, 2011, 9:47 pm
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I dont have a lot of experience 'holding' young birds, but my
freinds who fly the same blood do. It seems that around 40 days
old is the optimal age window for trap training and introduction
to flying/kitting. There is another critical period about 90-110
days that results in decreased interest in taking to the sky at
all. They seem to also struggle with kitting behaviour if not
flown before this period. 4 months and older, unflown, the
probability of them developing into a top class roller drops
tremendous. I have never seen young birds which were unflown
over 4 months old become valuable contributors to good kits. I
have seen a few that became good rollers, but their kitting
sucked and they never wer part of a 'team' mentality.
#Post#: 9926--------------------------------------------------
Re: Holding young birds
DIR By: Cliff Ball
Date: November 10, 2011, 9:57 am
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Thom
As the BOP's become more numerous, hang around longer and leave
later, many of our fancy have the same problem , you are faced
with. For the most part, I agree with wishiwon. You must breed
your YB's so that they are ready to fly as the BOP's depart your
area. Train and fly your birds before the BOP's return and you
are forced to lockdown. This 4-5-6-7 month window may make you
fly for 2 years to get 8-12 months fly time .... so you can
evaluate your pairings. You may not be able to breed as many
rounds as you would like. Your kits may be smaller and your
months of flying BOP free, may be fewer. But it can be done,
but you may run into problems breeding that early with young
dealing with the cold. We may be reaching the point, where some
areas are no longer available to raise/fly Rollers. But as far
as not flying when you have YB's, I have to agree with what has
already been said. These birds seem to have developmental stages
that must be met , if the birds are to become good Rollers. It's
just not good policy to hold them over....the chances of proper
development are lessened.
Cliff
#Post#: 9929--------------------------------------------------
Re: Holding young birds
DIR By: Joe Asaro
Date: November 10, 2011, 10:38 am
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--- Quote from: oldfart link ---
>
> Hey All, How long after a young bird is eight weeks old do you
think it can be held before flying and still get off to a good
start? It seems to me that the cooper hawks are staying longer,
arriving earlier and leaving later each year. Some are even
staying year round. :( I normally start my breeding in the first
week of February but I am considering the first of January
instead. I would rather ( some choice ) lose untested young
birds in the early spring then flown seasoned birds in the fall.
I don't know if holding them extra time because of weather,
hawks..... will make it impossible to then train them properly.
Any thoughts?
> Thanks
> Thom
>
--- End Quote ---
Thom..... That is the reason I didn't put my birds together this
year and have sold all my Ruby's and am selling my Patrick
Pensom family. That will put me out of the hobby where I guess I
just was not meant to get back into. :( :( >:( >:( Joe
#Post#: 9930--------------------------------------------------
Re: Holding young birds
DIR By: Cliff Ball
Date: November 10, 2011, 10:49 am
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Sorry to hear that Joe. You're a good roller man, and we hate to
lose good ones. I am very fortunate to have a minmal problem
with BOP...don't know how long that will last though....
Cliff
#Post#: 9932--------------------------------------------------
Re: Holding young birds
DIR By: raul carreiro
Date: November 10, 2011, 2:41 pm
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Hi guys, after reading your posts It makes me think of how
fortunate I am not having to deal with Bops! I can breed and fly
birds all year round with out having to plan when to breed or
fly! I dont have to lock down!You guys are the true heros in my
book! Your dedication to the hobby dispite the set backs
,speaks volumes of what true Birmingham roller fanciers are! I
take my hat off to you all!
#Post#: 9933--------------------------------------------------
Re: Holding young birds
DIR By: tom wingfield
Date: November 10, 2011, 3:56 pm
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Joe i feel for you my friend i know what it is like not having
rollers . i have been very lucky this year here in missouri i
havent lost a bird to hawks yet , knock on wood... good luck to
you sir....tom
#Post#: 9934--------------------------------------------------
Re: Holding young birds
DIR By: Sound Rollers
Date: November 10, 2011, 4:17 pm
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Three weeks ago I put out 19, I have 6 left. I guess we will all
be color breeders soon.
John
#Post#: 9935--------------------------------------------------
Re: Holding young birds
DIR By: oldfart
Date: November 10, 2011, 5:51 pm
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Gentlemen, I thank all of you for your responses and well taken
advice. Last year I started my breeding on January first and had
a tremendious first round. I had planned on having my trap
training finished by the first of March. It stormed for 32
striaight days with wind above twenty miles an hour. They sit in
the kit box all of the 32 days. Then it cleared, the sky was a
bright blue, the sun full out, so off they went. I had a few old
hens mixed in to help bring them home, so what me worry? Twenty
minutes into their fly, a freak fog rolled in so heavy I could
not see the top of the trees. It stayed until after lunch and
when it cleared not one bird was in sight. I recovered less then
half of my 23 bird hen kit ( most old birds )through out the
remainder of the day, so much for my great start. :( The hawks
got a few more, so I am light on hens but still looking forward
to the next breeding season! :) I am sure I will change my mind
several times but right this moment, I am going to try starting
early once more.
Joe, you sadden me my friend. Keep a few just incase you want to
try again. You need to stick around even if you give up all of
your birds! Who else will keep me honest! :)
Raul, get the garage ready! :)
Take care my friends
Thom
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