# Spinning rollers



## NZ Pigeon (Nov 12, 2011)

Hey, Just wondering how to measure how far my rollers are falling, They do around 10 - 20 spins and appear to fall around 10 feet but its so hard to tell,

Is there an average amount of spins per foot?

Also is there a device that measures the distance?

Thanks
Evan


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## 2y4life (Apr 5, 2010)

There really is no device to find out how deep birds are (how far they fall). You have to guesstimate to the best of your ability. Ideally, you do not want to be able to count the number of rotations. If you can count the number of rotations, the bird's velocity is a bit subpar. 

BTW, there is a rule of thumb that many follow and that is a 1 sec spin is right around 10' for MOST birds and 10' is about 3 meters.


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## NZ Pigeon (Nov 12, 2011)

2y4life said:


> There really is no device to find out how deep birds are (how far they fall). You have to guesstimate to the best of your ability. Ideally, you do not want to be able to count the number of rotations. If you can count the number of rotations, the bird's velocity is a bit subpar.
> 
> BTW, there is a rule of thumb that many follow and that is a 1 sec spin is right around 10' for MOST birds and 10' is about 3 meters.


Hey Thanks, It is very hard to count the spins, I usually pkay back the image in my mind to get an idea, Good old photographic memory - Shame I dont have slow motion inbuilt into that.

So sorry 1 second of spinning equals 10 feet? In that case Im way off with 10 feet, My best hens would spin for a good 3 seconds so maybe more 30 feet which would make me pretty stoked. Just getting into spinners now, Up until last year when I did an outcross I had birds that did one or two flip rolls, Pretty boring really.

Also Im not sure what you know about this but I have been using a few of my serbians to get the rollers higher and fly longer, seems to work, Am getting around 1 - 1and a half hours from the rollers and they get so high sometimes I can hardly see the wing movements, ( probably tooo high for roller comps but I like them up there - no risks of rolls downs haha ) - How long would you expect rollers to fly, Bearing in mind they are out everyday


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## 2y4life (Apr 5, 2010)

NZ, this depends on what you want. If you enjoy your birds flying for 1-2 hours, that is entirely up to you. You also live in an area that is relatively bird of prey free so you can fly that long.

Most competitors try to keep their birds flying about 30-45mins max. Most guys don't have the time to watch their kits for longer than that, because most guys have numerous kit but more importantly, birds won't perform for an hour. In competition, you have a 20 min window to score points so birds have to score as much as they can in that 20mins so most guys keep their birds flying just over that time. 

Most guys also don't fly rollers every single day, only young birds fly every day. But to each their own, whatever suits your fancy.


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## NZ Pigeon (Nov 12, 2011)

2y4life said:


> NZ, this depends on what you want. If you enjoy your birds flying for 1-2 hours, that is entirely up to you. You also live in an area that is relatively bird of prey free so you can fly that long.
> 
> Most competitors try to keep their birds flying about 30-45mins max. Most guys don't have the time to watch their kits for longer than that, because most guys have numerous kit but more importantly, birds won't perform for an hour. In competition, you have a 20 min window to score points so birds have to score as much as they can in that 20mins so most guys keep their birds flying just over that time.
> 
> Most guys also don't fly rollers every single day, only young birds fly every day. But to each their own, whatever suits your fancy.


Thanks again - I do enjoy them up that long, I breed fish from home so nice to watch them while I am catching the live food for my fish ( takes up a few hours a day sometimes ) - You are right too, We are very lucky, The hawks around here a slow and usually if one comes through the pigeons get in behind and drive it off, Well thats how it appears I think they just know if they are behind it they are safer. Here in Christchurch we get strong norwesterly winds, I tend to fly mine regardless and have not suffered many losses due to this, as you mentioned above they do not perform for an hour and also the wind seems to stop them rolling. All fun though.


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