# First time flying (Rollers)



## Jabels (Oct 10, 2011)

Hi i am new to the thread and also new to flying rollers, currently my setup is a 3x4' and 4' tall coupe and also a separate coupe for a pair of breeders who are currently on eggs, yesterday was the first day that i flew my rollers i had a total of 7, i put them out each day in a aviary/fly coupe for 3 weeks to get them use to the surroundings and yesterday i flew them around 1pm, when i let them out they all scattered as i expected, except for one of the younger ones he just landed on the shed, when i called them back only two came back at first because they landed close by, another 2 came about 10 min latter who landed on a house over from me, and none came back over night. I just went out to feed the 4 and check for anymore about 10 min ago and one flew to a house next to me and then flew to me as i shook the can and whistled, as of now i have a total of 5 out of 7 back, does anybody have any tips on how and when to fly them and will they eventually start to fly in a kit? Thanks


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## 2y4life (Apr 5, 2010)

Here are a few tips:

1) Always make the same sound when feeding your birds so they associate that noise with feeding. 

2) Bird will only kit when you have given them enough time to fly AND only if they were flown as youngsters. Some will kit in a week, others might take up to a month. The more birds you have, the better they will kit, generally speaking.

3) Never fly your birds on a full or half full stomach. If you feed your birds everyday at 5pm, you should fly them at 4pm. If you feed them in the morning, you should fly them before your usual feeding time.

4) Be disciplined and watch your birds carefully. Do not be tempted to fly them, especially at the beginning, if the weather is not ideal. Too windy, too cloudy, absolutely no clouds, stormy weather etc. 

5) I fly both portable and from a stationary kit box. Here is a video of my portable kitbox that I took about 2 weeks ago. You must always make sure that you are the trainer/manager and be in charge of the birds.


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## billgarb (Aug 26, 2011)

*Some things I've learned about flying rollers*

1. When you are releasing your birds for the first few times, DON"T scare them out of the loft. They may be too scared to come back.

2. Watch out for hawks! If you see any in the area they are attracted by the tumbling antics and will take a bird quickly, especially Coopers Hawk.

3. When you leave your birds out for the first time they will wander and explore the area. I once moved 170 miles from my home and after keeping the rollers locked in my loft at the new location for three weeks, I released them. They all disapeared but came back and trapped the next day.

4. Be patient.


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## Jabels (Oct 10, 2011)

thanks for your help i was going to fly them tomorrow but its suppose to be in the 90s should i still fly them in the evening? or just wait tell friday when its cooler


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## logangrmnr (Jul 14, 2010)

Jabels,
I find feeding towards the evening is better. let them out 30 min to an hour before feed time. make sure you cut the feeding before at least by half (food motivation). Let them out to explore and when it's time to feed make your feed call and use the noise of putting the feed down they should come in. you might have one or two that will stay out a night or two. that's normal for young birds. take it easy because they will make you ant to pull you hair out some times. just make sure your consistent with your training method before you change your routine. some times a free loft day does wonders but only after they have been trapping good for you. we all learn every day with the bird and it gets easier as the years go by.
logangrmnr


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## billgarb (Aug 26, 2011)

Go ahead and leave them out in the hot weather. Experience is the best teacher. They won't fly much and will probably spend most of their time sitting on the loft roof with their beaks open, tongues hanging out, and panting for air. They fly better when it is cool and the thermals are on their side. I have had rollers that would fly for an hour on a cool day, climbing almost out of sight and then gradually working their way down by tumbling, then climbing back to altitude and repeating the process. Awesome experience from my hammock.


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## Jabels (Oct 10, 2011)

thanks for all the help i plan on flying them tomorrow, today i just decided to put them out in there aviary for the day since its almost 100 here


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## Jabels (Oct 10, 2011)

so today i just flew my rollers and there came back pretty fast so i threw them back out and they where al doin good and then the hawk came luckily 4 came back but the youngest landed on the wire a couple houses down and about 10 min latter the hawk dropped in on him but didnt get him so hes out there somewhere but is not coming back to my call


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## Castanonloft408 (Oct 6, 2011)

Hey jabels,
Thats the only thing I hate when your flying young birds when hawks show up im also flying young birds but mine are racing homers bt it feels nice when you see them start to fly normaly and itakes a lot of paticiants and not scare them to get them to fly.


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## Jabels (Oct 10, 2011)

Thanks for the help
so when i let them out and they immediately land back on the loft thinking im going to feed them what should i do? should i just let them do it on there own or should i just put them back in the cage?


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## Castanonloft408 (Oct 6, 2011)

I think you should just let them go nack in the loft dont try to scare them back in because they will even get scared to even go in the trap


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## Jabels (Oct 10, 2011)

yea i dnt ever scare them into the cage sometimes tho when i let them out to fly and they just go up and land back on the cage like 10 sec later i get a dowel from there cage and will not hit them but put it towards them to shoo them up into the air, otherwise they just sit there


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## Jabels (Oct 10, 2011)

The eggs just hatched!


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## Jabels (Oct 10, 2011)

Please help! today i decided to take out the other egg since it didn't hatch and when i did i picked up the baby, the mom is just now sorta ignoring him,she's not sitting on him like she use to, will they neglect the baby? he's 6 days old


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## billgarb (Aug 26, 2011)

*Baby in the nest*

Is the weather warm where you live? If so the baby may not need so much hoovering over it. If it is cold that is not good, but most importantly are the parents feeding it and is the male taking care of it also. The males tend to be better feeders than the females. If its crop is full of seeds, don't worry about it and leave them alone. The parents know what they are doing. Don't mess with mother nature.


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