# pigeon not flying



## dvang (Sep 22, 2010)

my homers arent flying around like other pigeons...they would get out of the loft n sit on top of it for the whole day...whats wrong with them?


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## Pip Logan (Oct 6, 2009)

Are they young or scared? I know my youngsters used to sit on the loft for about a week or so, until they were comphtorable. Also they may have been scared so there sticking close to home.


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## MRDONEK (Nov 4, 2010)

First thing i will look at is if the all the birds are in good health , is there a hawk around , or just have the birds got lazy , i would try some drops try 1-2km from home at first depends on the breed you have not sure what you have if you are sure the birds can be tosed futher away do it try that for a week or so 
good luck


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## dvang (Sep 22, 2010)

they arent that young...i had one that would fly all over n they will follow him but he passed away n know these dont go anywhere...i think they just got lazy


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## JaxRacingLofts (Apr 11, 2010)

dvang said:


> they aren't that young...i had one that would fly all over n they will follow him but he passed away n know these dont go anywhere...i think they just got lazy


Healthy pigeons will want to fly.. If I was you I would have a experienced pigeon fancier or a vet look at your birds. Pigeons can carry a host of diseases and never show it. 

I'm not saying your birds are sick..I haven't looked at them. I am saying Healthy birds have no problem taking to the air. Usually the problem is getting them to come down. If you have never dewormed your birds that would be a good place start. That should be done anyway at least twice a year as routine maintenance.

If they have not loft flown and started routing for atleast 45min...I think you'll risk loosing them if you take them down the road for a toss. Like I said..Healthy pigeons will take to the air with no problems.


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

Once mine got familiar with their surroundings, they quit flying so much. They mainly hang out on the roof of my house. Once they started that I took them down the road. I had to go atleast a mile before they would quickly take off for home. I had to get them out to five miles before I thought they were acting normal. Jax's advice is great, but if it was me I would just take them down the road. Unless you got a whole bunch of money tied up in them.


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## R-Tune (Oct 26, 2010)

dvang said:


> they arent that young...i had one that would fly all over n they will follow him but he passed away n know these dont go anywhere...i think they just got lazy


toss something at them if one takes off the rest will follow...Dont feed them before u let them out..make sure they are hungry..where are u from?


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## RodSD (Oct 24, 2008)

You can't toss them if they haven't loft flown yet. They can get lost. Breeders, like at my place, don't feel like flying. All they do is chase their hens and go back to the nest boxes. Pigeons in molt don't like flying as well. Sick birds obviously don't want to fly. Fat or hungry birds will do the same. And there are surprisingly lazy birds! If the weather is too hot, they might just take off, do some short flying, and lands. If the birds are still new they will try to memorize the place before doing any of flying. You will have to do investigation on this. Roofers (which I call them) are pain in the ass.


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## birdkeeper (Jun 24, 2009)

does flagging make birds jumpy after a while?


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## RodSD (Oct 24, 2008)

My pigeons ended up hating me after I flagged them and they decided to land on my neighbor's roof. That caused me lots of stress because now I have to solve another problem. And how can I scare them when there is a fence. What I found out was that my birds were not flying because they were hungry. One ounce per bird per day was not enough for them. So I feed them more. Couple of months later I noticed that they are not flying again. It took me awhile to figure out that they have become fat so they wont fly! There must be balance somewhere.

It is true that healthy birds will fly. But there are lazy birds. I flagged some of those birds and they fly 1-2 hours! They were just being lazy.

I don't recommend flagging birds unless you have no choice. Figure out the problem first. Unfortunately if they keep staying on the roof it might become a habit to them and you have another problem to solve.

I also hope that you didn't get a cull birds.


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

RodSD said:


> My pigeons ended up hating me after I flagged them and they decided to land on my neighbor's roof. That caused me lots of stress because now I have to solve another problem. And how can I scare them when there is a fence. What I found out was that my birds were not flying because they were hungry. One ounce per bird per day was not enough for them. So I feed them more. Couple of months later I noticed that they are not flying again. It took me awhile to figure out that they have become fat so they wont fly! There must be balance somewhere.
> 
> It is true that healthy birds will fly. But there are lazy birds. I flagged some of those birds and they fly 1-2 hours! They were just being lazy.
> 
> ...


That is interesting as I have wonderd about flagging.. did not think of the consequences.. some days my birds fly alot..a few do what I call marathon flying.. and other days they do not want to even come out of the loft.. usually a cloudy blah day.. they seem fly when the sun is out.. The Advice about getting them checked is important..I would do that as your first option of solveing this.


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## jeff houghton (Jul 17, 2010)

The trouble with flagging birds is they will just sit elsewhere where you and your neighbours wont want them.I wouldnt recommend just tossing stuff at them to scare them up either.
If my birds dont fly around the house then its in the basket for them then they must fly.


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## atvracinjason (Mar 4, 2010)

I had my birds do the same thing....I left them in the coupe for a week and they went back to flying after that. I have also used a "6th man" rather than flagging, when the others land and I believe they should still be up I release another yb that I didn't let out at first...him coming off the bench will get the others flying again...I rotate the "6th man".


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## dvang (Sep 22, 2010)

i guess my pigeons was just lazy cuz i drop them pretty far away and now they are flying around again


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## blongboy (Nov 10, 2009)

dvang said:


> i guess my pigeons was just lazy cuz i drop them pretty far away and now they are flying around again


if it's that then give them less feed


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

Told ya'll lol/jk. That is the first time I've really offered advice to someone and it worked. I guess my cherry has officially been popped. Not to say it couldn't have been some other reason, but my birds did the exact same thing and once I took them out to a mile and further their attitudes changed. Glad it worked out for you. Now you can really enjoy them if you don't mind driving. Since I'm on a roll, I'll tell you what I did again lol. I took them to a mile twice, then to five miles twice-but then got busy and had to stop road training for the winter. But I noticed that the further out I got the better they performed.

Sorry ya'll I just had to toot my horn, but I owe EVERYTHING I know (which isn't much yet) to the guys on here. Dvang, if you listen to what these people tell you, you can't go wrong. Ok, I'm done.


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## JaxRacingLofts (Apr 11, 2010)

dvang said:


> i guess my pigeons was just lazy cuz i drop them pretty far away and now they are flying around again


I'm glad the "sink or swim" method worked for you. Seemed to have worked for Caden also..I never seen a pigeon too fat to fly so maybe they just did'nt know they could do it intill you took them down the road.


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## RodSD (Oct 24, 2008)

LOL, Caden's Aviary! I suppose you are a professional now. No more of that newbie stuff if you know what I mean! You are now becoming a teacher.


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## inline (Nov 20, 2010)

I don't want to hi-jack your post but I am having a very similar issue with my first birds they are about 90 days old and had never been flown by their breeder. I trap trained them with a settling cage and they have been flying for a week now but they will just fly from the coop to the house and then head right back to the coop with in a few minutes. Can anyone offer any insight?


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

Take them at least a mile out and let them go.


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## RodSD (Oct 24, 2008)

inline,
If they have been flying for only a week, that is normal. They don't feel confident yet. And they need to develop their muscles first. Sooner or later, I hope, that some of them will fly in circles. Now if they just do what they have been doing for 1 month, then there is definitely a problem and post again. They should attempt to fly in circles in 2 weeks. My young birds will attempt to fly in circles after 2 weeks of being released. Some of them will even try to do it in one week.


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## inline (Nov 20, 2010)

Thanks for the reply Rod SD.


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

Yea, I jumped the gun on that one. I missed that they had only been flying a week. I was paying more attention to the fact that they are 90 days old.


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## RodSD (Oct 24, 2008)

It may not surprise you that at 90 days old some will just take off and be gone (very strong on the wing). But I did notice that unflown birds are like what inline experiences. They feel initially stiff.


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