# Wonderful world of pigeons



## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Well, I FINALLY was able to let the young birds out this morning. No surprises.  Turned 22 out. Have 14 in the loft. 4 in a tree. 4 who knows where?? They got up high and were gone. Saw the red one fly by about an hour ago, but haven't seen him since.  
I fully expect the 4 in the tree to stay there all night. They see the other birds in the aviary and have made a couple attempts at coming down, but when they got close to the loft, I guess they changed their mind and went back to the tree. I've shook the can and called them till I can't anymore. So, for now, they are on their own I guess.


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## maryjane (Jul 15, 2006)

I will be thinking about them all day, Renee......and hoping/praying for their safe return. I know you are less than thrilled to have had to wait to let them out due to the weather. Hopefully they will all come back safe and sound.


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## learning (May 19, 2006)

Renee,

Boy can I relate! As you know I lost 14 youngsters in two days a couple of weeks ago. Mine was entirely my fault. Made a couple of big, stupid mistakes. I am sure that was not the case for you. I doesn't make it any easier though, regardless of the reason.

Hope everyone gets home o.k.

Dan


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Right now I've got 4 sitting in one tree, 2 sitting in another tree, 1 finally came down and trapped and 1 I have no idea where it is. See, this is where the light system can hurt. These birds have no idea that it's fixing to get dark and by the time they realize it's dark, it's too late then. If they got natural light, they would be getting antsy about now and looking to come to roost for the night. Bad thing is it's supposed to rain tomorrow, 90% chance.......supposed to start around midnight, but, there's not one thing I can do about it. 
I didn't know you lost 14 birds? I must have missed a post somewhere along the line.


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Well, no one else came in. The red one did come down and sit on our deck but wouldn't come to the loft. It was getting pretty dark and I was surprised he even flew from the tree to the deck. Anyway, I was going to just leave him and go out and get him when it got good and dark, but he took off into the darkness. Don't even know which way he went.  Maybe the rain will hold off and some will come in tomorrow.


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## MaryOfExeter (Sep 30, 2007)

Poor birds aren't going to know what to do if it rains! Hopefully tomorrow everyone will be in and safe. I've got a YB I'm still hoping will come in tomorrow. Let them out yesterday and no signs of him today.
And what sucks is...he's the oldest of the bunch, and 5042's blue bar baby!


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

MaryOfExeter said:


> Poor birds aren't going to know what to do if it rains! Hopefully tomorrow everyone will be in and safe. I've got a YB I'm still hoping will come in tomorrow. Let them out yesterday and no signs of him today.
> And what sucks is...he's the oldest of the bunch, and 5042's blue bar baby!


Guess it's just that time of year. I'm seriously thinking of scrapping the light system next year. This is just too much worrying for me. 
Hopefully yours will come in. Are you supposed to get rain too?


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## bloodlines_365 (Jan 15, 2008)

learning said:


> Renee,
> 
> Boy can I relate! As you know I lost 14 youngsters in two days a couple of weeks ago. Mine was entirely my fault. Made a couple of big, stupid mistakes. I am sure that was not the case for you. I doesn't make it any easier though, regardless of the reason.
> 
> ...


o boy 14,,, thats alot of loss in two days... think god it didnt happen to me yet,,, how did it happen can you give us a brief story.....


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## Grim (Jul 28, 2007)

I think they will be able to handle the rain. Assuming it isn't to cold, hopefully the rain will pull them down in the morning. Best of luck to your birds. I am sure they will be fine.


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## learning (May 19, 2006)

bloodlines_365 said:


> o boy 14,,, thats alot of loss in two days... think god it didnt happen to me yet,,, how did it happen can you give us a brief story.....



Well, to make a long story not quite so long, I had 18 from my first round that were all doing well. I had done the initial trap training and they all seemed to understand the dinner bell and what it meant (shaking of the feed can). I had started letting them out and they would do nothing but go to the roof of the loft and sit. They would stay there all day. Then when it was time to come in for dinner they wouldn't budge. In my impatience I started throwing tennis balls on the roof to try to get them down to the landing board. This went on for about three days and then finally they all just went up. They got above the trees and were gone. Only four made it back over the next two days.

My mistakes were two fold. One they were not hungry enough to be motivated to trap and two, the tennis ball thing was a bad idea. I scared them into the air before they were ready and just taught them to be scared of me and the loft. I guess one lives and learns, but I hate to think that that many birds were lost because of my stupidity. The name of the game with youngsters seems to be patience, and I learned that the hard way.

Dan


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

learning said:


> Well, to make a long story not quite so long, I had 18 from my first round that were all doing well. I had done the initial trap training and they all seemed to understand the dinner bell and what it meant (shaking of the feed can). I had started letting them out and they would do nothing but go to the roof of the loft and sit. They would stay there all day. Then when it was time to come in for dinner they wouldn't budge. In my impatience I started throwing tennis balls on the roof to try to get them down to the landing board. This went on for about three days and then finally they all just went up. They got above the trees and were gone. Only four made it back over the next two days.
> 
> My mistakes were two fold. One they were not hungry enough to be motivated to trap and two, the tennis ball thing was a bad idea. I scared them into the air before they were ready and just taught them to be scared of me and the loft. I guess one lives and learns, but I hate to think that that many birds were lost because of my stupidity. The name of the game with youngsters seems to be patience, and I learned that the hard way.
> 
> Dan


I don't particularly believe that hunger is the end all to the birds trapping.(anymore) EVERY single year I have the exact same problem. You teach your birds to trap. Fine. In my case, they go from point A (exit door) to point B (traps).....over and over and seem to have it all figured out. HOWEVER, that very first time out, when they get away from the "setting" (settling cage) that they are used to, it's like they can't figure out HOW to get back to the traps. Sitting on the roof, or house or in a tree appears different for them. I've said in the past that the birds weren't hungry enough. That was NOT the case this year. I have been VERY strict with the food. Out of ALL the birds I got back yesterday, two actually left the landing board and came back down (eventually) and trapped. The initial 10 or 12 birds that I got to trap, never flew off or up to the roof. They just walked around on the landing board........maybe did a little flutter about 5 feet and came right back. When I finally called them abou 15 minutes later, they trapped just like they were supposed to. The other two that it took me ALL DAY to get them in, landed on the roof and walked around on the edge of the roof looking at the landing board but didn't want to fly down and land on it. I sprinkled a few seeds on the landing board and THAT'S when they finally came down and THEN made a bee line for the trap and inside they came. There is no way that these other 5 or 6 birds that are sitting in a tree right now are NOT hungry enough. 
Now, having said all that, I'm not sure what the answer is...........
Good news, the rain has held off overnight. HOPEFULLY I can get mine in this morning.
The OTHER thing is waiting SO long before you let them out the first time. Dan, sounds like you did exactly that. There's no way that a bird should be able to just take off like a streak of lightening and fly for hours on their first excursion out side of the settling cage. That's ONE mistake I make every year. That's the downside to raising such early birds. The weather. Considering trying something different next year. I don't seem to have this problem with my second round of youngsters. I always am able to get them out a little earlier, but this first round is just too strong on the wing. I even heard one of them cooing last night. Now you KNOW that's too old.


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## learning (May 19, 2006)

Lovebirds said:


> I don't particularly believe that hunger is the end all to the birds trapping.(anymore) EVERY single year I have the exact same problem. You teach your birds to trap. Fine. In my case, they go from point A (exit door) to point B (traps).....over and over and seem to have it all figured out. HOWEVER, that very first time out, when they get away from the "setting" (settling cage) that they are used to, it's like they can't figure out HOW to get back to the traps. Sitting on the roof, or house or in a tree appears different for them. I've said in the past that the birds weren't hungry enough. That was NOT the case this year. I have been VERY strict with the food. Out of ALL the birds I got back yesterday, two actually left the landing board and came back down (eventually) and trapped. The initial 10 or 12 birds that I got to trap, never flew off or up to the roof. They just walked around on the landing board........maybe did a little flutter about 5 feet and came right back. When I finally called them abou 15 minutes later, they trapped just like they were supposed to. The other two that it took me ALL DAY to get them in, landed on the roof and walked around on the edge of the roof looking at the landing board but didn't want to fly down and land on it. I sprinkled a few seeds on the landing board and THAT'S when they finally came down and THEN made a bee line for the trap and inside they came. There is no way that these other 5 or 6 birds that are sitting in a tree right now are NOT hungry enough.
> Now, having said all that, I'm not sure what the answer is...........
> Good news, the rain has held off overnight. HOPEFULLY I can get mine in this morning.
> The OTHER thing is waiting SO long before you let them out the first time. Dan, sounds like you did exactly that. There's no way that a bird should be able to just take off like a streak of lightening and fly for hours on their first excursion out side of the settling cage. That's ONE mistake I make every year. That's the downside to raising such early birds. The weather. Considering trying something different next year. I don't seem to have this problem with my second round of youngsters. I always am able to get them out a little earlier, but this first round is just too strong on the wing. I even heard one of them cooing last night. Now you KNOW that's too old.


Renee,

Only problem is that it wasn't their first time out of the loft. They had been going out and sitting on the roof for more than a week. 

Go Figure

Dan


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

The four that were in the tree last night were still in the same tree when it started getting daylight. I called them and they flew towards the loft, but wouldn't land. They flew from tree to tree for about an hour and then just took off. That was about 9:00 or so. The red one that was on the balconey last night just came in. And two others just showed up and came in. So, right now, I've got 4 MIA's..............it did stop raining for now and the wind hasn't blown like it was predicted too, so I'm still holding out hope.


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## learning (May 19, 2006)

Lovebirds said:


> The four that were in the tree last night were still in the same tree when it started getting daylight. I called them and they flew towards the loft, but wouldn't land. They flew from tree to tree for about an hour and then just took off. That was about 9:00 or so. The red one that was on the balconey last night just came in. And two others just showed up and came in. So, right now, I've got 4 MIA's..............it did stop raining for now and the wind hasn't blown like it was predicted too, so I'm still holding out hope.


Interesting you point this out. That same storm that hit you came down and hit us hard. I went to work this morning and promptly got a call from my wife saying a 10" tree had come down across the loft roof. Fortunately it didn't come all the way through but I am going to have to replace about three sections of the roof, some gutters and a piece of the railing. Could have been worse though. None of the birds got out and we just had a little water damage inside. I took the rest of the day off to start the repairs. It took about three hours to get the tree off the roof, now it is on to the repair work.

The fun just never ends.

Dan


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

learning said:


> [/SIZE][/COLOR]
> 
> Interesting you point this out. That same storm that hit you came down and hit us hard. I went to work this morning and promptly got a call from my wife saying a 10" tree had come down across the loft roof. Fortunately it didn't come all the way through but I am going to have to replace about three sections of the roof, some gutters and a piece of the railing. Could have been worse though. None of the birds got out and we just had a little water damage inside. I took the rest of the day off to start the repairs. It took about three hours to get the tree off the roof, now it is on to the repair work.
> 
> ...


Oh, God, I'm so sorry!! I'll assume you meant a 10' (foot) tree.......not a 10" (inch) tree?? Sorry, couldn't resist. I'm really sorry the loft was damaged, but glad the birds didn't escape and that they are ok. 
Just had 2 more birds come in, so I'm out two right now. Just maybe they'll show up sometime today. They are REALLY starting to get hungry now. The 22 birds had 12 ounces of food Sunday morning about 8:00 and that's the last time they ate..........


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## Grim (Jul 28, 2007)

Only 2 left good to hear. Is it safe to assume they all will know better the next time they are released?


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Grim said:


> Only 2 left good to hear. Is it safe to assume they all will know better the next time they are released?


Well, guess only time will tell. LOL
Ask me again next week! Remember, there's still about a dozen that never left the landing board yesterday, so there's still a chance that they could pull the same stunt.


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## learning (May 19, 2006)

Lovebirds said:


> Oh, God, I'm so sorry!! I'll assume you meant a 10' (foot) tree.......not a 10" (inch) tree?? Sorry, couldn't resist. I'm really sorry the loft was damaged, but glad the birds didn't escape and that they are ok.
> Just had 2 more birds come in, so I'm out two right now. Just maybe they'll show up sometime today. They are REALLY starting to get hungry now. The 22 birds had 12 ounces of food Sunday morning about 8:00 and that's the last time they ate..........


No, actually it was 10 inches...in diameter! It was about 50-60 feet high! It broke in three places, once on the back of the roof, once on the front of the roof and once across the railing. It wasn't pretty.

Dan


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

learning said:


> No, actually it was 10 inches...in diameter! It was about 50-60 feet high! It broke in three places, once on the back of the roof, once on the front of the roof and once across the railing. It wasn't pretty.
> 
> Dan


OH! I never thought about diameter. THEN, I thought, how the heck could a 10' tree do this much damage? Maybe he meant 100 feet??? Got cha' now.


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## zimmzimm3 (Aug 17, 2007)

Lovebirds said:


> Right now I've got 4 sitting in one tree, 2 sitting in another tree, 1 finally came down and trapped and 1 I have no idea where it is. See, this is where the light system can hurt. These birds have no idea that it's fixing to get dark and by the time they realize it's dark, it's too late then. If they got natural light, they would be getting antsy about now and looking to come to roost for the night. Bad thing is it's supposed to rain tomorrow, 90% chance.......supposed to start around midnight, but, there's not one thing I can do about it.
> I didn't know you lost 14 birds? I must have missed a post somewhere along the line.


I am getting ready to let my first YB that i have ever had out and i relies the only way to absolutely make sure he doesn't get lost is to never let him out. But then what is the point of having him???? I had put him on the light system just to experiment with it so when I start to race i could understand it better. But after Lovebirds saying she thinks the reason they are staying in the tree is because of them not thinking it is time for the sun to set (because they are on the light system) i want to take this one off of it since he is my first so how many days should it take him to relies when the sun sets. I turned off the extra light today and was thinking about letting him out on friday for the first time. Is this to soon for him to relies when the sun sets?


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

zimmzimm3 said:


> I am getting ready to let my first YB that i have ever had out and i relies the only way to absolutely make sure he doesn't get lost is to never let him out. But then what is the point of having him???? I had put him on the light system just to experiment with it so when I start to race i could understand it better. But after Lovebirds saying she thinks the reason they are staying in the tree is because of them not thinking it is time for the sun to set (because they are on the light system) i want to take this one off of it since he is my first so how many days should it take him to relies when the sun sets. I turned off the extra light today and was thinking about letting him out on friday for the first time. Is this to soon for him to relies when the sun sets?



Since you aren't racing yet, I won't say that it's not a good idea to do this. In fact, it won't hurt a thing and you'll be able to let this one out pretty soon. I would give him at least 5 days of natural sunset to make SURE he knows to go to roost at a decent hour. I've found that when I turn my lights out, the first couple of nights I always have birds just sitting in the floor in the dark. It takes them a few days to adjust. So, give him 5 days and you should be ok.


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## zimmzimm3 (Aug 17, 2007)

Lovebirds said:


> Since you aren't racing yet, I won't say that it's not a good idea to do this. In fact, it won't hurt a thing and you'll be able to let this one out pretty soon. I would give him at least 5 days of natural sunset to make SURE he knows to go to roost at a decent hour. I've found that when I turn my lights out, the first couple of nights I always have birds just sitting in the floor in the dark. It takes them a few days to adjust. So, give him 5 days and you should be ok.


Ok I will let him out Sunday, weather permitted. Thank You


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

My last two birds never came in. I'm hoping tomorrow they'll show up. After that, if they don't come home, they are either finding a way to survive, OR, they've met their maker already.  With he shape the birds that came in today were in, I can't see these other two that are missing, having the strength to even make it back home after tomorrow. We've got a cold front moving in and the wind is supposed to blow between 30 and 40 mph tomorrow. Actually it's supposed to start tonight.  
Keeping my fingers crossed.


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## Dezirrae (Oct 6, 2007)

Renee - So sorry to hear about the past few days - how upsetting  I'm going to keep thinking super positive thoughts and hope the remaining two make it home safely tomorrow.

And Dan - I'm sorry to hear about your loft too. Hope it doesn't take too long to repair/rebuild. Must have been scary!


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Here's hoping all the birds do make it safely back home. Sorry about the damage to your loft, Dan. That's pretty scary, and it was very fortunate that none of the birds were lost or hurt.

Terry


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Just had one more bird come home. Walked out of the widowhood loft and he/she was down on the ground trying to figure out how to get inside where the birds were eating. We had the settling cage up and I didn't want to spook him by moving it, so I just opened the door and sprinkled some food on the floor and he came right in and I picked him up and just carried him over to the loft. He's pretty thin, BUT, he made it home on his own after being out for 2 1/2 days. So,,,,,,only one more to go.


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## Grim (Jul 28, 2007)

Great news! My 3 just flew off out of sight and they have been gone an hour. Maybe it is my turn for a bad day?


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Grim said:


> Great news! My 3 just flew off out of sight and they have been gone an hour. Maybe it is my turn for a bad day?


Oh, I sure hope not. Let us know.........


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## Grim (Jul 28, 2007)

I am hoping it is normal routing behavior but I can't imagine them having the stamina to stay up so long.


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Grim said:


> I am hoping it is normal routing behavior but I can't imagine them having the stamina to stay up so long.


I worry about that too sometimes, but a couple of years ago, when our birds were out, a hawk came down after them just as they were landing. They had been flying for about 1/2 hour or so. Every time they would try to land, this hawk would come out of the trees after them. This went on for 2 hours. I kept waiting for them to start falling out of the sky! Finally, he left them alone and never got one. Guess they are tougher than we think.


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## jack1747 (Sep 16, 2007)

I dont know much, this is the first season for me. So far I have flown 3 sets of birds. Each set has done the same thing. They fly around for 2 days then come in for the second evenings feeding. It is like, Wow, I'm free. One bird was missing for 3 days then came in. I think they are really good at hinding cause twice I could not see a couple anywhere but as soon as I was in the house they were on the loft. They had to be close by in the trees watching me. Second time flying, they come in at dusk. I am only flying them in the mornings now. I think when I fly in the afternoon the birds are just not ready to come in.


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## Grim (Jul 28, 2007)

I just saw them fly by very high up. They just kept going.


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Grim said:


> I just saw them fly by very high up. They just kept going.


That's a good sign. If you saw *them*, _*they*_ saw the loft. They'll be back. Don't know when, but eventually they'll come in.


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## Grim (Jul 28, 2007)

What are they doing? Is it possible they never landed. I let them out at 9 am it is now 2:21pm


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

Wow, it sounds like they are enjoying the cooler weather and the wind, and perhaps doing some serious routing.


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Grim said:


> What are they doing? Is it possible they never landed. I let them out at 9 am it is now 2:21pm


Of course we have no way of knowing, but I doubt seriously that they've been flying all this time. Probably sat down somewhere.


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## Grim (Jul 28, 2007)

Interesting. I figured to they were sitting on a wire or a house somewhere. They are used to power lines since I have some 10 feet from my loft and they will land on them. They were very high and flying in a perfect triangle formation. They still squeak, seem so young for such flight.


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Grim said:


> Interesting. I figured to they were sitting on a wire or a house somewhere. They are used to power lines since I have some 10 feet from my loft and they will land on them. They were very high and flying in a perfect triangle formation. They still squeak, seem so young for such flight.


Yea, my little one that came in this morning after a 2 day excursion still squeaks. Amazing what they can do at such a tender age. Gotta luv em'


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## Grim (Jul 28, 2007)

It is now 4:12 still no birds. Assuming they do return should I lock them down for a while. They had no food this morning and still no return. Can I worry now?


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## Grim (Jul 28, 2007)

They all returned together just minutes before sunset. Ran and trapped. The oldest ne though is all puffed up and didn't eat. He must be tired.


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Grim said:


> They all returned together just minutes before sunset. Ran and trapped. The oldest ne though is all puffed up and didn't eat. He must be tired.


I would keep them in for one day and feed them good and keep an eye on them. Sounds like they had a pretty good work out today. Also, when they are gone for a long time like that, you never know what they might have gotten into.


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## ezemaxima (Jan 12, 2008)

learning said:


> Well, to make a long story not quite so long, I had 18 from my first round that were all doing well. I had done the initial trap training and they all seemed to understand the dinner bell and what it meant (shaking of the feed can). I had started letting them out and they would do nothing but go to the roof of the loft and sit. They would stay there all day. Then when it was time to come in for dinner they wouldn't budge. In my impatience I started throwing tennis balls on the roof to try to get them down to the landing board. This went on for about three days and then finally they all just went up. They got above the trees and were gone. Only four made it back over the next two days.
> 
> My mistakes were two fold. One they were not hungry enough to be motivated to trap and two, the tennis ball thing was a bad idea. I scared them into the air before they were ready and just taught them to be scared of me and the loft. I guess one lives and learns, but I hate to think that that many birds were lost because of my stupidity. The name of the game with youngsters seems to be patience, and I learned that the hard way.
> 
> Dan


I don't know about you guys but I would have let a few of my OB's (preferrably hens) out if my YB's has been out flying and gone for more than 1 hour.


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## learning (May 19, 2006)

ezemaxima said:


> I don't know about you guys but I would have let a few of my OB's (preferrably hens) out if my YB's has been out flying and gone for more than 1 hour.


That would have been my first thought too. Unfortunately, this is my first year back in the sport and I don't have any old birds! You are absolutely right though. If you have them at your dispossal old birds might just help bring home the stragglers.

Dan


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## Grim (Jul 28, 2007)

No OBs here either. Next year life will be easier.


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## Matt D. (May 12, 2007)

Grim said:


> No OBs here either. Next year life will be easier.


Don't bet the farm on it. Twice the problems you have now.


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## Grim (Jul 28, 2007)

Your probably right.. with my luck and all


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