# I've got these lazy rollers...



## Link (Jul 15, 2005)

This morning, I let my rollers out for the first real time. I know they know how to use my trap system, because i caught them and put them in a crate and put the crate opening by the trap. They all trapped. I've let a few out hungry and they trapped, but this morning when I let them out they didn't fly at all and landed on the roof. I let them out at 11:00 this morning and they are still sitting on the roof of my barn. I whistled at them for food but they were all uninterested. What should I do? Wait, or catch them at night or something?


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## Link (Jul 15, 2005)

*Update on the lazy situation...*

It is now 6:30 P.M. my time. One! Count them, one roller has trapped. The rest are still sitting on the roof! They even have a lazy lookout. A white roller. He tells the others when i'm coming. Whats the deal? Any suggestions?


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## upcd (Mar 12, 2005)

*got*

Some smart rollers.I have used water guns or the hose, tennisballs thrown near them not at them. Flags on a long pole. Some birds just want the lazy life.


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## rosey_love (Mar 21, 2004)

*3 problimatic rollers*

I have a problem too with my Rollers. I have 2 Rollers who will fly to the top of my house and sit there all day and when its time to let them in they dont want to get inside so I alwasy have to wait till about neer dark time just to get my birds in. Any suggestions on how I can get them in before dark time and not when it is dark and have to walk out to the yard and pick the 3 of them up and put them in my self?


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## Link (Jul 15, 2005)

This is what I did... I made a trap system. So you don't have to be there to let them in. They go in on their own.


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## Link (Jul 15, 2005)

Link said:


> This is what I did... I made a trap system. So you don't have to be there to let them in. They go in on their own.


...sometimes...


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## Link (Jul 15, 2005)

upcd said:


> Some smart rollers.I have used water guns or the hose, tennisballs thrown near them not at them. Flags on a long pole. Some birds just want the lazy life.


I tried to get them off the roof or something. I threw pebbles near them and clapped my hands. They acted like I wasn't even there. A flag on a pole wouldn't work unless I had a super long flag pole. Our barn is 40ft tall. Tennis balls might work....


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## upcd (Mar 12, 2005)

*yes*

40 feet that is hard to beleive. You have to have strong arm to thrown that far. Being a girl I can hardly do the house top 2xs and I'm tried.


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## Link (Jul 15, 2005)

upcd said:


> 40 feet that is hard to beleive. You have to have strong arm to thrown that far. Being a girl I can hardly do the house top 2xs and I'm tried.


It is 40ft at the most, more likely between 35 and 40ft. I'm a boy and it was hard but i can throw pebbles up there (with hardly any accuracy at all), maybe not tennis balls... I haven't tried.


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## Link (Jul 15, 2005)

*Another update!*

It is 10:30 the next morning and 3 or 4 more rollers have trapped, so maybe 4 or 5 more remain outside. Am I wrong to even worry about them? I even had a dream that they got eaten by a hawk... and we do have a large population of red-tailed hawks out here. Do red-tails eat pigeons? The pigeons seem to be learning that the only food for them is in the coop. (I know I sound scatter-brained, because I am!) Also I have another worry, I have a pair of rollers that is taking care of an egg. They originally had two, somehow one disapeared. Anyway, the mom of this egg went out with the rest of the pigeons I let out, and the father remained tending this egg. I watched the mom fly far, far away, and I haven't seen her since 11:00 A.M. yesterday. Today is the 18th or 19th day for this egg and I don't know if it will hatch, because I'm not sure if the father took over the mothers night shift. What do you think?


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## Kairi (May 22, 2005)

To get my pigeons off the roof, I have a HUGE purple bouncy ball that I throw into the air. Also, I use somthing their afraid of. like, a net that I use to get them out of the garage.


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## upcd (Mar 12, 2005)

*hawks*

will eat pigeons. Should try next time not to let breeders out. Hope you have someone esle who could adopt the egg. My birds must be moulting because they aren't eat to much food but alot of grit. And it looks like someone plucked 10 chickens in the backyard.


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## zoo keeper (Oct 3, 2004)

Well, after reading this post I guess I should share my experience so you know there is hope at the end of the tunnel for roof sitters. This spring I had 150 young birds. Yes, I said 150 2005 birds.  What a handful to train. 

The training has taken a while ... I have encountered some loses (as most pigeon flyers do).

At first I had roof sitters, tree sitters, ground sitters, fence sitters. Heck I even had a few birds that were sitting on my cat. Yes, I have a cat that is so lazy that birds perch on him and he looks at them like "Oh my God" and lays his head back down.

I am certain my neighbors must think I am a crazy woman. I would get on the roof, throw tennis balls (I own about 30 tennis balls), throw basket balls, use the hose, etc. I would stand on one side of my house and my daughter on the other and we would both toss balls. It worked good having us both out there because then we did not have to walk to the other side of the yard to chase balls. The bottom line was they either would fly or trap. If they landed I would start doing all my tricks again to keep them flying. They eventually would get sick of me and trap in. I am now down to 5 birds that absolutely will not trap. I have them marked and will be given away as pets. Those 5 are not allowed out anymore because I am sick of having to catch them in the dark.

There really is hope for roof sitters, you just have to be persistent.


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## Jiggs (Apr 1, 2005)

Sounds like you let them out after being fed. I also had that and I cut the food down slightly until they trapped straight away after half and hour to 45 min flying time. A hungry bird should not sit on a roof if it is hungry and there is food in the loft


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## ZigZagMarquis (Aug 31, 2004)

I thought rollers were supposed to roll around on the ground... ergo... would it be proper for them to be lazy??


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## Link (Jul 15, 2005)

zoo keeper said:


> Well, after reading this post I guess I should share my experience so you know there is hope at the end of the tunnel for roof sitters. This spring I had 150 young birds. Yes, I said 150 2005 birds.  What a handful to train.
> 
> The training has taken a while ... I have encountered some loses (as most pigeon flyers do).
> 
> ...


Is it at all necessary to get on the roof to discourage this lazy pigeon habit, or can I just throw tennis balls from the ground? Our barn roof is extremely high (35-40ft from the ground to the highest point of the roof), and I definitely do not trust the strength of the roof. There is a massive hole, and rain comes in all the time. But the pigeon area is dry and pristine. My dad is supposed to fix the roof this fall.


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## birdlover000 (Aug 17, 2003)

How many are still on the roof?


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## JGregg (Jul 28, 2003)

Zig, it's parlor rollers that don't fly. The other types or rollers fly and tumble while in the air, even inside! I've got a roller/feral mix that tumbles on the wing in the house.


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## Link (Jul 15, 2005)

birdlover000 said:


> How many are still on the roof?


4 out of 10 rollers are on the roof and/or in trees and/or not in the coop. I have 14 pigeons in all, but 4 are parlor tumblers and they obviously cannot fly.


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## upcd (Mar 12, 2005)

*Rollers*

Are the 4 birds young or older? How about only letting the 6 out that do fly?


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## Link (Jul 15, 2005)

3 are young birds one is an old feral bird. All of my birds fly pretty much at the same time and with the same frequency, pretty much. These birds just haven't trapped yet, I don't know why.


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## birdlover000 (Aug 17, 2003)

Parlor tumblers, cannot fly? I didn't know that... Fantails don't fly either, right?


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

birdlover000 said:


> Parlor tumblers, cannot fly? I didn't know that... Fantails don't fly either, right?


Nope .. they "roll" on the ground .. check out some of these records: http://www.angelfire.com/super2/04footerparlorroller/

Fantails can fly, but they are not strong or long distance flyers and they have little, if any, homing ability.

Terry


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## zoo keeper (Oct 3, 2004)

Link said:


> Is it at all necessary to get on the roof to discourage this lazy pigeon habit, or can I just throw tennis balls from the ground? Our barn roof is extremely high (35-40ft from the ground to the highest point of the roof), and I definitely do not trust the strength of the roof. There is a massive hole, and rain comes in all the time. But the pigeon area is dry and pristine. My dad is supposed to fix the roof this fall.



No, it is not necessary to climb on the roof. I was just stating all the crazy things I have done to stop the roof sitting. I did manage to stop it. My mentor thinks I am crazy, but at the same time she is proud of me for stopping the roof sitting. 

In short, I was just tossing up ideas that worked for me


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## zoo keeper (Oct 3, 2004)

I also can add that I have one roller that lives in with my homers. He does not roll at all. I let him out each morning I am off work, he flys around and then traps in. I have never once seen him roll. I finally gave up on watching him and just give him his exercise


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## Jiggs (Apr 1, 2005)

Link try this

Get your other birds that are in the loft good and hungry then let them out - they should only fly around for a short while and then put food and hopefully the ones on the roof will fly with the loft dwellers and trap in with them when they see the food


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## Link (Jul 15, 2005)

Ok... I'll do that. I'll start the not feeding process tommorrow, because I fed them today. It sounds crazy enough to work! lol Actually, it sounds like a good idea.


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## birdlover000 (Aug 17, 2003)

Are parlor tumblers the only ones that can't fly?


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## Link (Jul 15, 2005)

No there are several varieties that cannot fly. A few examples are the parlor roller (a breed that is very similair to the parlor tumbler but will roll on the ground several times, as apposed to the parlor tumbler's single roll) and the fantail.


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## ZigZagMarquis (Aug 31, 2004)

JGregg said:


> Zig, it's parlor rollers that don't fly. The other types or rollers fly and tumble while in the air, even inside! I've got a roller/feral mix that tumbles on the wing in the house.


oh... err... doh!  





zoo keeper said:


> I also can add that I have one roller that lives in with my homers. He does not roll at all. I let him out each morning I am off work, he flys around and then traps in. I have never once seen him roll. I finally gave up on watching him and just give him his exercise


I'll bet he rolls when you're not looking...


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## Link (Jul 15, 2005)

zoo keeper said:


> No, it is not necessary to climb on the roof. I was just stating all the crazy things I have done to stop the roof sitting. I did manage to stop it. My mentor thinks I am crazy, but at the same time she is proud of me for stopping the roof sitting.
> 
> In short, I was just tossing up ideas that worked for me


Lol! You sound a little crazy, but you have some good ideas.


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## Jiggs (Apr 1, 2005)

Any luck yet link?


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## Link (Jul 15, 2005)

*My plan*



Jiggs said:


> Any luck yet link?


This is my plan:

1. Remove any uneaten seed from the coop.

2. Not feed the non-nesting pigeons for a couple days (but give them water of course).

3. After the two days have elapsed, open the window and release the flyers.

4. Whistle at them like i normally do for feeding time.

In two days time, I'll tell you all how it worked out.


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## Jiggs (Apr 1, 2005)

I am no expert but one day should be enough if they are able to trap.
One skipped meal should be sufficient.

I also think that if you are picking up uneaten seed there is too much

I let my birds eat for 10 - 15 min in the mornings (the flyers that is not the breeding pairs) after their flip and just a dash of seed at night - say 5 min.


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## Link (Jul 15, 2005)

*feeding*

Ok one day will be sufficient. Now that I know im feeding them too much, a question has arisen. How much do you feed your flyers? Do you have a specific measurement? Also, how do you present the food to them? I put mine in a turkey pan (like one of those disposable pans that you cook a turkey in) on the ground. I used to use a feeder, but they tended to scoop through the seed with their heads looking for the special seed that they want (and in the process dumping seed all over the ground).


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## Link (Jul 15, 2005)

*Laziness cured!*

I Let them out this afternoon for about a half an hour. I observed them flying around the field. It was absolutely amazing! I even saw quite a few of them roll! Then, I went down to the coop and whistled at them for food. In less than ten seconds, the first one came in. I put out the food and they came in as fast as they could fit through the trap! They all ate hungrily until satisfied. Thanks everyone for your support!!!


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## upcd (Mar 12, 2005)

*Who Knew*

reducing feed could make a difference. I'll try that too.


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## Jiggs (Apr 1, 2005)

Weigh any amount of food that you know is more than enough for your birds

Now that that fly in and trap for food, leave the food there for 15 to 20 min then scoop up all the food and that is enough.

then weigh the food left over and you will have a rough idea of what to feed them

Unless you have breeders, they should have plenty food for the eggs and chicks on the way!


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## Jiggs (Apr 1, 2005)

As for the presentation I just use a pan but there are many different bird feeders......


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