# How can I train my roller pigeons to fly higher?



## nanglo

I have about 8 roller pigeons in my coop. I'm not sure what kind they are but I know that they roll. I got 6 of them from my friend and he don't even know what kinds are they and the other 2, is my own breed roller pigeon. They kit together pretty well, but they never seem to fly very high. They only fly as high as a 3 stories building. I let them out usually at 8 in the morning or 7 at night, so the temperature is cool so they won't get dehydrated. Also, I'm guessing that the 6 that I got from my friend are still pretty young because they only either rolls 1 or they just drop or let go of their bodies when they do try to roll. My 2 other home bred rollers, they roll about 3-4 only. Any advice for me so I can get my kit up higher in the sky?


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## MaryOfExeter

How long are they flying at that height, and how much are you feeding them?


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## fresnobirdman

a lott of roller fanciers have problem with low flying this time of year,
its usually not enough feed to too much feed, one or the other,

and most of the time its because of the kit leader not taking them high,
you have to see whos leading your kit of rollers and take that single bird out,
let your kit fly and see what happens. 

they heat dosent seem to have any effect on my birds,
but keep in mind that a single roller can ruin a whole flock of good roller pigeons.

-you also mentioned that some of them are young?
you have to give them time,
dont be in a rush to see something specular yet.

if all fails get a new kit leader.
get one thats proven and fly it with you kit, PROBLEM SOLVED!-usally works for me when im dealing with young birds.


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## RodSD

Give them more wheat and see if they fly higher. There are also rollers family/strain that don't fly too high though.


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## Kevin

I remember seeing a video of someone who kept rollers and he used a long bamboo pole with a black plastic bag tied at the end to make his birds fly higher. I do not know if this method works. 

I don't remember which video it was. (I'll look it up right now since it's bothering me that I can't remember. LOL!)


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## egpigeon

*How long flight??
What is the extent of their ability to rise??
Is sizes consistent?
Is a full-fledged feathers? *


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## velo99

Nanglo

Young birds dont fly very high as a rule. Cut back a bit on the feed and feed em a little more wheat as Rod said.Overfeeding is the main culprit of short lowflying kits.
Now that you have them on the wing it is time to manipulate the feed and get some performance out of them.


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## Guest

get a ladder


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## nanglo

well, thanks for the advice...well, my pigeons usually fly that height about 7-10 minutes only...somebody mentioned above...well, to me, it seems like i mostly have hens in my kit so they don't really like to lead...and i think i have 4 cocks...two of them likes to lead, but they don't really do a good job at it as well...i tried to keep my 2 cocks that likes to lead in, and when i do, the kit just flies far from home...i'm afraid they might get lost or some other pigeon might lead them away from home...it might be the amount i feed them as well...what do you guys suggest be the best time to feed them and the amount to feed them as well?


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## RodSD

My roller that escaped flew really high just like you see in Youtube. I feed them in the afternoon. With 6 rollers I have I feed them 4 ounces of 12% protein. I suppose to just give them 3 ounces, but my measuring cup only covers even numbers. LOL!


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## yellowking

A well disciplined kit will not tolerate an out bird or a weak bird whatsoever. It is not about the leader at all. This factor is only important if you have a bunch of young birds and one old undisciplined old bird in the group, and only if the old bird is a weak/undisciplined bird. And I doubt it. A kit will not follow a low flying bird, that is unheard of. If at all it is the more powerful trying to take lead.

Keep in mind All young birds will fly low.

When I fly my kits, if a bird decides to slow down or take the kit a different way, the kit ignores it and corrects themselves to what they are supposed to do. If at most it is the stupid bird who has to kit in, follow the kit, or be left behind.

The only problem is that you are over/under feeding your birds. If your birds gets a buffet year round, they will be too heavy and lazy to fly or even perform. 

If you don't feed them enough they will not fly high either.

The only other reason is if your birds are still too young. If this is the case, give them time and they will eventually do what they are bred for.

If your birds are old enough, at least 6 months+, then you have to feed them only once a day if they are over fed. Add as many wheat as possible to increase their height. If they don't improve you should add more wheat until it is 100% feed. 

If at 100% wheat and your birds are well feed, well hydrated, old enough, and the weather isn't hell for them...then you should flag them.

Only flag them when they are at their peak health and they are well fed. This should keep them from landing early and keep them high.

Let us know how things go and fly hard!!!


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## nanglo

thanks for the advice again...thanks a lot to yellowking, that helped a lot...probably in 2 or 3 more months they should go higher with ur help...well, i have another question, how can i make my rollers do more rolls than just 2 or 3...because i have a pair that is pretty old, i had them for a while just for breeding but they don't do much rolls when i let them out, also, they are lazy because it seems like they don't want to fly...whenever i do let them out, they just land fast and they bring down my flying kit along with them...but my pair don't even roll much, only 2 or 3 rounds...how can i make them do more riolls like 7 or 8 times and how can i encourage them to fly more so i can let them out with my flying kit?


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## yellowking

nanglo said:


> thanks for the advice again...thanks a lot to yellowking, that helped a lot...probably in 2 or 3 more months they should go higher with ur help...well, i have another question, how can i make my rollers do more rolls than just 2 or 3...because i have a pair that is pretty old, i had them for a while just for breeding but they don't do much rolls when i let them out, also, they are lazy because it seems like they don't want to fly...whenever i do let them out, they just land fast and they bring down my flying kit along with them...but my pair don't even roll much, only 2 or 3 rounds...how can i make them do more riolls like 7 or 8 times and how can i encourage them to fly more so i can let them out with my flying kit?


Everyone has their own standard. An ideal bird for a competition type bird would be to fly and perform at a high standard throughout its life or until it is put into the breeding loft.

Keep in mind you should not force breeders to fly. They are what they are "BREEDERS" not performers. My advices are for fliers only.

Having said that, a well discipline bird will not come down unless it is told to or when it tires out. If your birds are rollers, they should not be landing as soon as they take off if properly trained.

My guess is that you give your birds more luxury than what it needs. For example: very little training to none, you allow them to eat however they want and whenever they want, and these birds are allowed to do as they please.

This is not a bad thing, I don't disagree with this type of dedication but it really is "you get what you put in!"

If you want your birds to perform or be discipline in parallel to the ideal roller, you have to start disciplining and less catering.

For example: feed once a day, control and adjust the correct amount of feed, flag them to sky up for at least 45 minutes, take out which ever bird is too weak or too fast, take out whoever is not discipline.

If you do this, you will have a great kit that will do what you want at will.

Moving on to the "rolling"...

You cannot make a roller roll. Period. 

If I could make a roller roll to my will, I would be telling you that I am on top of the world cup's list.lol.

As much as we want to, we cannot make the birds roll. What we can do is breed good birds that will satisfy our standard and keep improving the standard from our selected pair.

The only suggestion I can give you is that to control the feed so that you keep the bird at top shape so that maybe they can bust out some solid rolls. Other than that we really have no control.

If your birds are a few years old than that is probably as good as they are going to get. It really depends on the family. Some family of birds come into the roll as soon as they take flight. Some don't come into the roll for up to a year!

I would suggest you, if you are not attached to the birds...to remove them from your property and maybe find rollers that would suit your standard. I am not saying this because you should or you have to, it is just a recommendation incase you want to move onto competition birds.

Like I said, it is up to you. You get what you put in!

Hope this helps, if not let me know and I will try to explain it another way.

Fly hard and keep the hobby alive!

Yellow


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## nanglo

hey, well, now my rollers are flying high and flying in a good time.
but now the problem is that now my rollers don't really want to roll no more.
they should rather just fly and kit together. they don't really want to 
roll no more. why's that? 

they loved to roll before, but now that they are flying longer, it's like
they don't like to roll no more. any help? any tip?


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## velo99

Nanglo
Hold em in for 2 days and feed em mostly milo and a little wheat at about 75% of what you normally feed. Let em out on the third day about an hour after sunrise. 

yits


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## sunson

Hey Nanglo,
The true Birmingham Roller rolls that fast that you will not be able any more to tell how much turn-overs were performed.(This is called 'spinning').
Pay a visit to an experienced breeder with results in the competition. 
Read for your information the books of Bill Pensom (The Birmingham Roller) and/or David Kowalski(P.O.-Box 432 Iola, Wi (USA) 54945) 'True Spinning Rollers II or/and Graham Dexter (Winners with Spinners.ISBN 0-907769-22-5).
Birmingham Rollers fed with barley only (and in small quantities!!!) turn easely into highflyers, but the rolling become very scarce.
Do feed wheat only to your flying kit is the advice of all experienced breeders. 
Most fanciers feed their flying birds much to much. 
Specialists feed the Yo-Yo system: wheat or red dari.
1) after fly : as much they can/want (=±25-30gr/bird)
2)next day half ration (no fly) ±15gr/bird
3)third day quarter ration (no fly) ±7gr/bird
next day is again a fly-day : full ration after the fly


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## Iloveroller

I have two young roller just started to let them out for three day now but why won't them fly high? My two bird always stay on top of loft and fly their. Any ideas guys?


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## Iloveroller

I have two young roller that I just started to let them out three day ago. My two bird won't fly in the sky but stay on top of their loft and hangout there and fly low there. Any idea guys?


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## tpvang

Iloveroller said:


> I have two young roller that I just started to let them out three day ago. My two bird won't fly in the sky but stay on top of their loft and hangout there and fly low there. Any idea guys?


You need to be more patient if it's only been three days. The good thing is that they aren't going anywhere far so they won't get lost. If you want quick results, you will probably loose the young rollers. Everybody has their own methods, but in my roller program usually none of my young birds are up and flying in three days. They are usually just hanging out around the loft during the first week learning how to trap on my call. I just keep an eye on them just incase something spooks them. They will start taking short flights when they are familiar with the surroundings. I never spook them up and never over feed them. They will soon take to the air. Patience is the key!


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## thepigeonkey

I have some young rollers at the moment that had been out for 2 weeks flying small circles, Yesterday they took to the sky with my older kit and went way up high, Some even rolled which was pretty cool. I was lucky they all came back in as they travelled a reasonalble distance. I think if it had not been for the 2 weeks out flying around low they would have been lost. I agree with the above, Be patient and you will enjoy the results far better!!!


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## Iloveroller

Thanks guys. Thank for the information because I just started to rasie roller last three months only. So I don't really know what to but thanks again I wait guys.


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## hamza syed

maybe they are tumbler because tumblers only take 3-4 rolls in flight ..


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## LazyRollers

*Pigeons*

I have over 30 rollers and I have no idea why they don't fly. They like to hang on the loaf but they don't want to fly. If I scared them away everyone starts flying in different direction. I don't have much experiance with rollers and it makes me sad to see how beautifull they are but they don't fly . Any idea what I can do to make them start fly ?


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## thepigeonkey

feed them wheat only for a week and keep them locked up more. then they can have a small amount of barley and maybe some nice seeds like milo if they are good.


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## RC Lewis Lofts

For feeding the wheat is does it matter what kind of wheat or just regular wheat? And is it ok to feed just wheat by it self after the young flyers mature? I just got me some young rollers and a couple breeding pairs. Thanks Chuck


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