# catalonian tumbler



## rolling to victory (Nov 2, 2011)

Any one flying catalonian tumblers, Im curious on how there trained ( droppers or by feed like rollers) and whats the minimum amount birds needed for kit of catalonian's. Cant find much info online, any experience information with these birds will appreciated.


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## 95SPORTSTER (Jun 30, 2011)

Make that 2 people that would like info on these


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## conditionfreak (Jan 11, 2008)

I have had several of these and I have never found any that actually "tumble".

I got them to train the hawks around here, that it is a lot of trouble and almost useless for them to chase my birds.

The theory is, that if you let out the Cats. prior to letting out your racing homers. The hawks will get frustrated trying to catch the Catalonians, and look elsewhere for a meal Somewhere other than my property. Then you let out the homers so they can exercise and settle.

That is the theory, anyway. The Cats. are supposed to be extremely difficult for the hawks to catch. Much more so than the homers are.

My personal experience was that the hawks do indeed have a very hard time catching the Catalonians, but they are able to every now and then. There is no bird faster than a racing homer on a straight away flight. Some predator birds can dive faster, but once an actual chase is on. A decent homer will mostly win that contest. Once it is in the air and flying.

The Catalonians are very fast on the take off though. Hence, they are difficult to catch by hand in the loft. Much harder than homers.

I'm not sure what you are actually asking. Is it "how to train Catalonians to tumble/together?


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## 95SPORTSTER (Jun 30, 2011)

What I have heard is that they are tough to get flying. How many do you recommend flying? Do you fly a kit or solo birds? Friar caps or without?


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## DougM55 (Sep 21, 2012)

Check out Circus Lofts. Alan has Cats and some info about their flying abilities on his site.


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## rolling to victory (Nov 2, 2011)

just wanted to know if there are flyers out there that use cat's to test out the sky's for BOP so they can later release their racing homers, rollers in peace 
Or are cat's all hype and if there is any difficulty in training and flying them


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## 95SPORTSTER (Jun 30, 2011)

Cats are great bird's and they can be tough to get going but once you get them flying their good. As for training the bop's to leave your other bird's alone depending on the bop's in your area. Kit size 12-16. What I have found is friar caps will fly but the majority of them are bred for show. Hope this helps best advice is find a fancier who Flys


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## hamlet (Oct 26, 2004)

Hello. I once had a roller that was small like the cats, had a broad chest and was very fast at take off. It live many years in the balcony setup. It was not a good roller. So if you can not find good cats, then reach for non rolling rollers which can give the hawks a good workout on an empty stomach. Just try to pick birds of same feather color and patterns and size. They last longer this way and that's not a hype. Cats come in many pretty colors which may have led to their decline in the skies. Smart birds that like us have a fighting chance in the air. Another thing, tumblers of small to medium size are also great at evading hawks. Especially the non tumbling or minimum tumbling ones because them seem to have the long enough tail to brake in the air and make a u turn that your eyes won't believe. Having a diving trait in pigeons can be good and bad for their survival. Fe. if they diveland and hide then they make it. If they diveland and the cat/dog picks them up: bad. Another possible bad thing for divers is that they do not fly long enough to tire up the hawk. Hawks are flexible and very hungry. They probably do not fly for the joy of it like our birds or crows seem to do. What a nice challenge no? To have birds that enjoy flying and are pretty and are flexible to survive the elements. Thanks.


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## franciscreek (Oct 21, 2010)

Breslauer's have a similar flying style, very quick in the air and difficult to catch. I have been flying them for a couple years with one loss to a BOP. That was a two year old hen that I took out of the breeding pen and added to the kit. She landed on the roof of the loft before going to the landing board. 
They are powerful fliers and very quick. We live in a large canyon full of fir and spruce trees, we get our share of BOP. The Breslauer's will climb very high when the see a BOP, 5-600 feet. The hawks seem to give up after a few attempts. Once they feel safe they will drop and trap quickly.


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