# My roller pigeons flew away today



## driver_hr (Dec 15, 2012)

Hello guys i have had my 4 roller pigeons for around a month now. They had around a week in the settling cage where they spent most of their time during the day and they were also trap trained.

Today i had them all in the settling cage but moved the cage around 12 feet from their kitbox. I started shaking the feed can and opening the door to the settling cage. They all just took off and flew in large circles around my house and then just flew in the opposite direction.

They were hungry as i did not feed them yesterday. I am just very confused as i dont know what i did wrong. This is the first time i've kept pigeons.

I am looking to buy some more rollers but need to know what to do different this time.

Any advice will be appreciated. Thank you.


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## nitamircela (Oct 28, 2008)

My pigeons are not of a some sofisticated breed but fly freely wherever they like it and always come back home. I am not good with the trap training or cage keeping, but I know that if you have them since babies they will come back. If not,... but I might be mistaken. How old were your pigeons?


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## nitamircela (Oct 28, 2008)

I mean how old were they when you got them if they were not born in your HQ? Just curious too.


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## Dima (Jan 15, 2011)

Did they come back? I do not think that moving the cage disoriented them. Roller are taken in cage anywhere and they fly, roll and come back where you let the cage.
Some factors like weather or if the got scared makes them get lost. Roller do not have great homing skills.

i hope they'll be back though. How long they've been out?


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## driver_hr (Dec 15, 2012)

They have been out for 24 hours now. I reslly dont think they will come back. They were all 4 months old.

What is the best age to buy rollers at as im looking for some more now.

Thanks


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## Jason Heidlauf (Apr 2, 2012)

How big is your loft .was the loft clean . were the birds I will say happy for lack of words .


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## Wodin (Nov 5, 2012)

if you have some other birds already broken into your loft i would let them out a bit more int he hope the young ones spot them and join them. I have had rollers go missing for days only to be sat on the loft one morning out of the blue. lets hope they pass over soon and recognise your loft. I always keep mine for 2-3weeks minimum! and i use the soaping method so they are used to going in and out of the loft too.


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## driver_hr (Dec 15, 2012)

Unfortunatly i do not have any pigeons which are trained and this is my first time with keeping pigeons.

I have bought 3 more pigeons today all 12 weeks old and have never flown before. This time i will soap their wings or tie them when letting them out for the first time after i think they have settled and trap trained well.

How long do you think the process should take from getting my rollers today to releasing them for the first time?

This is what i was thinking:

0-7 days - train them to the feed call

7-21 days - attach settling cage and train them to trap train.

21-28 days - soap their wings and let them out for the first time

Then take things from there. What do you think?

Thanks.


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## tjc1 (Aug 22, 2012)

Personally I would not soap their wings as this is basically the only protection they have from predators while they are out.


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## driver_hr (Dec 15, 2012)

If i soap their wings they wont be able to fly mu h and i will be there to observe them, what do you thinknkf the timescale i posted above?


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## Wodin (Nov 5, 2012)

Every new pigeon i have had i have soaped their wings. I am ALWAYS there with them when i let them out so predators are not a problem at all. My routine is to not feed all day, but let them out (soaped) int he late afternoon (4-5pm in the uk) for an hour to half an hour. They seem much happier being able to root around on the ground, as this is one of their main behaviours anyway, the valuable part is that whilst doing this they are having a VERY good look around the place from all angles, and getting used to entering/exiting the loft too. Then when it is time tog et them in i will simply whistle/shake the corn and heard them back in to feed. Within 3 days they know the routine. after 10 days i would let them have a bath outside (which they also love) and this gets rid of a lot of soap. the next day i will make sure they are super hungry by cutting back on the amount of food the day before. By this point they can fly, but absolutely nothing of their routing has changed, and when they realise they can fly the first birds will go up ontop of the loft and have a look about, do a few circles and land with the rest. I haven't lost a single bird doing it this way, granted there has been the odd one that has got spooked and gone too far too fast, but they recognise the place enough to come back.
I much prefer this method to putting them in cages outside for a time, where yes they can look around, but they dont get used to behaving like a pigeon outside the cage. and depending on the breed and how flighty they are, this can make a big difference i.m.o.


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## Wodin (Nov 5, 2012)

driver_hr said:


> If i soap their wings they wont be able to fly mu h and i will be there to observe them, what do you thinknkf the timescale i posted above?


once they are soaped, i would start your feeding/whistle training. Once they are flying and broken in, i would introduce the trap. Many of my pigeons in the past figured that out for themselves, clever little things. I have roller/tumbler and i always say 10-14 days of soaping before i let them bath. races/homers will obviously need longer. It sometimes takes a couple of bathes, but because they are totally used to everything they wont just take off as soon as you open the door. they will carry on as normal and gradually make their way up in to the sky as much calmer birds , comfortable in their surroundings. if you follow that and they all go missing, then i will personally swim across the Atlantic with some new young birds for you with an apology carved into my forehead.


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## Wodin (Nov 5, 2012)

it could have been that while they were in their cage having a look around, and you wernt there, a predator of sorts could have spooked them enough to want to leave. having a few birds already broken in makes it much easier to break more in. plus if it looks like the new ones are going a bit too far out of the way, you can let the other out to get them back again.


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## driver_hr (Dec 15, 2012)

Thanks for that reply mate, i think i understand but still a little confused on some areas.

So your saying instead of using a settling cage i just soap their wings and let them roam free on the grass for around an hour And then shake the feed can and guide them back to the food. This i understand. But why is it better to introduce the trap training after this. Surely it would be better to trap train first using a settling cage and for them to learn the feed call before i soap their wings and let them out so then they will know what to do when they hear the shaking of the feed can?

Thanks


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## Wodin (Nov 5, 2012)

im not sure on your set up. i open the loft doors and let them roam like you say. when im ready to get them in, i shake the food whistle and maybe throw a small handfull through the doors to begin with, and then they are all in ill feed them. its just conditioning their behaviour. 
I always think my priority with new birds is breaking them in, first and foremost. without that, there isnt much else! lol
im not sure on your set up but i know trap trainig as simply getting them to go through a 'sputick' or open hole in the loft then they can hop into, but cant fly back out of. is this right?
if they are soaped then they shouldnt be able to get up to that anyway, but once flying and broken in, i would stand in the loft and whistle/shake so they know its feeding time, but close the door. it wont take long before they come piling in if that is what your traps are like too, once one has done it the rest follow. I have never really needed to train for that.
is that what you consider trapping? lol
theres no reason why you couldnt use the settling cage in addition to all of this! is it just a cage that is placed outside? excuse my ignorance


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## driver_hr (Dec 15, 2012)

Yes mine is a bob trap. My setup is a 4 foot kitbox style enclosure which is around 3 feet off the ground. Trap training is basically getting them all into the trap which has a landing board on the outside. I had a settling cage attached infront of the kitbox and i would guide my previous rollers in there and close the door. When its time for food i would simply open the trap and shake my feed can and all 4 rollers would go straight through it. I got this idea from many members from this forum but it obviously did not work as they all flew off when i removed the settling cage lol. I think this was due to the rollers being a little older.

So this time i am thinking of doing the same as i did. Trap train them the same but when i feel like they are trained to the trap well thats when i will soap thier wings and remove the settling cage and follow your advice from here, an to keep their wings soaped for 10 days or so. What do you think?

Also is it just a few feathers on one wing which you soap? An is fairy liquid ok? An how high can they fly when their wing is soaped?

Thanks


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## Wodin (Nov 5, 2012)

ahhhh i understand now!!! theres me blabbing on! i see no reason why you can get the best from both techniques! sounds like a plan, do what you did before, then when your ready soap and supervise them in the garden. for a week-10 days if they have already been in the cages. you will find after soaping their flight is much more gradual, sticking close to home which is a good thing. I usually soap the primaries on 1 wing, so you talking the longest 10 feathers. sometimes if you do both wings, they still manage to get too much lift, by doing one wing it just totally throws thor balance off when trying to fly, and after a couple of attempts they just wont try again and will be happy foraging. I find the older birds much easier to break in, as they are wiser, less easily spooked that the young, better on the wing. Another tip if you have them paired up is allow the cock to free fly before then hens, they wont go far without them ;-) hopt this helps. i think you just have been unlucky with yours nicking off. they might have been spooked by a hawk just befroe or during their 1st flight.


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## Wodin (Nov 5, 2012)

....p.s just noticed you are in the UK too, so no need to swim anywhere!


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## driver_hr (Dec 15, 2012)

Lol yh i am from birmingham mate, i think around 70 miles from you. Thanks for all your help mate, i really cant wait till they are all trained. You know ive never seen rollers fly before, only on youtube videos. So all this is very new and exciting for me.

An mate, how long does it normally take you from getting the birds to having them fully trained and flying free?


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## Wodin (Nov 5, 2012)

Birmingham yikes! plenty of perragrines round that way!
no problem, i always take my time when im breaking my first birds in and i dont have any-others already broken in, just to be on the safe side.
A lot of time you can just tell when they are settled and comfortable in their surroundings. i lean towards 14 days of daily outings, keeping the feeding times exactly the same each day before i let them bath, and they are usually flocking byt he 3rd week. 
I always leave it later in the day before i let them out as they know it will soon be time to roost and this too stps them going too far straight away. Once they are broken in i let them out at my leisure anytime of the day, but always keep their feeding time late int he afternoon. 4pmish.
its always exiting getting new roillers, becuase you never really know just how they are going to roll! i once picked up a red roller for £2 in a pet shop, mixed in with some ex racers. It was amazing!!!!! the best i have had. I am not into competitions or anything, just the pleasure of the hobby. I used to breed west of england tumblers, but had to sell up to go to uni. I only recently got some rollers just to keep me and the kids entertained- and they are a lot swifter at escaping the sparrowhaks, which arent a major problem up here in the sticks, but they tend to hunt the gardens if the weather is cold.


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