# how often you loft fly them?



## chayi (May 1, 2010)

I got a quick question how often do you loft fly your birds? I loft fly them every day and it seems like the more i loft fly them the more time they take to come back to the loft when called. I always let them lose hungry and then i feed them, but what i can see is that they starting to eat of roof tops.
Was thinking to let them grounded for about a couple of weeks but not sure.


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## soymi69 (Nov 12, 2007)

Loft flying adopt to your schedule. Birds that are loft flying as much as they want means they are in good condition and ready to be road train. Your birds that are not following you when called only means that you are feeding them too much. When you call them and they don't reply then the ones that didn't follow should not get any food. I guarantee you the next day they will be the first to go in once you call them to eat. if your birds are eating or picking something in your roof maybe they don't have access to grit or minerals, so you might have to give them grits and whatever minerals their body needs.


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

are your birds race birds you are using to race with?


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## chayi (May 1, 2010)

I havent race any birds yet but looking forward too what im doing is building a team but dont want any prisoners i have 4 birds that are four months old that i fly almost every day and road train them about once a week and i have 4 six week old birds that are just trap training and will be loft flying them in about a couple of weeks or so. Soon i will be starting to make a bigger loft working up the idea on a 6x8 to house about 30 birds and keep my 6x4 for breeding.

Im feeding them about 4 onces in the morning and about 4 in the afternoon. about an once per bird. what minerals do give them? Calcuim i guess but how and what type and grit that i understand grit is sand am i right?


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## Nictorious Ali (Jul 1, 2010)

Correct me if im wrong but I think its an ounce a day per bird?


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## chayi (May 1, 2010)

Correct me if im wrong but I think its an ounce a day per bird?
ok i think thats what i said lol i have 8 birds i feed them 4 onces in the morning and 4 onces in the afternoon makes 8 onces 8 birds 1 once per bird per day.
But my original question was do you all loft fly them daily?


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## chayi (May 1, 2010)

i messed this all up was trying to quote nictorious ali couldnt figer it out.


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## Char-B Loft (Dec 28, 2008)

chayi said:


> Correct me if im wrong but I think its an ounce a day per bird?
> 
> ok i think thats what i said lol i have 8 birds i feed them 4 onces in the morning and 4 onces in the afternoon makes 8 onces 8 birds 1 once per bird per day.
> But my original question was do you all loft fly them daily?


When it is not race season I feed my birds all they want once a day...Mother Nature gave these birds a crop so they could fly to the fields and load up so you do not gain anything by feeding twice a day....

I do not like feeding a measured amount not all birds eat the same amount...


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## chayi (May 1, 2010)

so what you do char-B you feed them all they can eat and take away the food after they finish or leave it there until its empty and feed them more the next day?

ps. how you do the quote thing i cant seem to figer it out


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## ccccrnr (Jun 15, 2010)

chayi said:


> .
> But my original question was do you all loft fly them daily?


i don't know what to do, but what I did was release for loft flying everyday
let them fly around in the afternoon everyday (they may stay out for 3 - 5 hours)
i'd also walk them down the road 1/4+mile every other day for a toss
I'd feed as much as they want when they came back home, but take up what was left when I locked the loft at night
They had water and bath all day and night

now i've lost all my birds


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## Crazy Pete (Nov 13, 2008)

These are purebred birds never loft fly them the stuff they pick off the ground or from a roof is how they get worms or other nasty stuff. I dont mind giving meds befor the race season but not all year. Pluss the hawks and cats you let birds loft fly all the time and they will think you run a diner and befor you know it no birds.
Dave


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## chayi (May 1, 2010)

sorry to hear you lost all your birds c. I dont like for them to be out so long i dont mind if they are flying or out of site but dont like to see them hanging around on roof tops or just looking at the loft for hours.


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## Nictorious Ali (Jul 1, 2010)

Haha oh my bad! I read too quickly. Hmm maybe less food?


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## Pigeon0446 (Apr 22, 2007)

What I do b4 I start training is let them out in the morning and once they land I wait about 10 mins then I throw between 1/8th and 1/4th of their daily rations in and they go in to eat. Then I let them out again in the afternoon and do the same as the morning but this time I give them the rest of their daily ration. But once I start training they aren't loft flown anymore the only time they are out of the coop is when they are on a toss or a race.


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## soymi69 (Nov 12, 2007)

Grit is not just sand. A pigeon grit is consists of various trace elements and minerals, calcium is added in a form of oyster shell that a pigeon need in a daily basis. They need grit to grind the seed inside their gizzard the grit act as a teeth so it help them grind and digest their food properly.


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## Char-B Loft (Dec 28, 2008)

chayi said:


> so what you do char-B you feed them all they can eat and take away the food after they finish or leave it there until its empty and feed them more the next day?
> 
> ps. how you do the quote thing i cant seem to figer it out


I wait around 20 minutes and check to see if the birds are finished and then pick up the feed. After a while I know the amount they will eat so when the birds are finished there is not much left but I always make sure they get all they want....

To quote, just click on the quote button on the right...


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## chayi (May 1, 2010)

soymi69 said:


> Grit is not just sand. A pigeon grit is consists of various trace elements and minerals, calcium is added in a form of oyster shell that a pigeon need in a daily basis. They need grit to grind the seed inside their gizzard the grit act as a teeth so it help them grind and digest their food properly.


Oh ok its that i have a translator here with the spell check and thats what it told me it was. So where do i get this or what do i ask for when im buying this grit?


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Any place they sell pigeon feed, they should sell grit. You can also buy it online at pigeon supplies, but then you pay the shipping. Red grit with calcium, or High -Cal Grit is what I like. Also you should have oyster shell available to them. Buy it in the same places. Vita king has a mineral Bucket that they just devour. I give them that also.


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## chayi (May 1, 2010)

thanks im going to look for it saturday, good info i got here today


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## Crazy Pete (Nov 13, 2008)

I couldn't imagine what it would coast to ship to puerto Rico.
Dave


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Especially grit, with the weight.


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## TerriB (Nov 16, 2003)

chayi said:


> ...ps. how you do the quote thing i cant seem to figer it out


Once you know, it's easy.  At the bottom right of each post are three buttons - 
- Quote - for when you want just that post to be quoted in your reply
- Multi-quote (quote sign and plus sign) - to include multiple posts in your reply. Just click that button in each post you want included, then click Reply at the end.
- Quick reply (document and quill) - no posts are quoted.

Once you are into your reply, you can edit out the quoted sections that aren't relevant to your reply. Enjoy!


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## Caden's Aviary (Jul 14, 2010)

Crazy Pete said:


> These are purebred birds never loft fly them...
> Dave


I'm just a rookie, but I don't understand this statement. I thought loft flying is a part of training and owning pigeons. Not trying to call you out or anything; I may have misunderstood.


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## Crazy Pete (Nov 13, 2008)

The way I see loft flying is to turn them out for several hrs to do as they please. The little rolly polly bugs look like peas and thats where they get worms and such. I let mine out to fly and when they are done I call them in, they eat what I give them. I don't like sick birds.
Dave

On one of the posts the said they loft fly maybe 3 to 5 hrs the birds dont fly that long they are just out that long. Thats when they eat bad things


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## Caden's Aviary (Jul 14, 2010)

Oh ok, your saying you just don't leave them out there to do as they please. You let them get their flying in and then put them up. I understand now. I was just kinda lost, because I thought you were saying you don't loft fly them, so I was wondering like how you determine they are ready to train and stuff. Thanks for clearing that up.

Brian


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## DEEJAY7950 (Dec 13, 2006)

chayi said:


> Correct me if im wrong but I think its an ounce a day per bird?
> 
> ok i think thats what i said lol i have 8 birds i feed them 4 onces in the morning and 4 onces in the afternoon makes 8 onces 8 birds 1 once per bird per day.
> But my original question was do you all loft fly them daily?


Yes I do loft fly my birds every day when the birds are not on training flights, but be advised I do lose many birds to BOP can't be helped, comes down to survival of the fittest I guess! Just the other day I was sitting watching my loft "no birds were out" and BAM a hawk flew right into the wire screen door that my birds are let out of for flying! I'm going to try some owls in the future and see if it keeps the hawks away?


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