# How to??



## Bluecollar (Mar 28, 2011)

I am just getting into rollers and was wondering how you start them out once you get them into their loft.. My loft is 4'w x 10'L x 7'h, I have 8 Birmingham Rollers that are young, when can I start flying them and how??

Thanks,
Bluecollar


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## ptras (Jun 29, 2010)

Bluecollar said:


> I am just getting into rollers and was wondering how you start them out once you get them into their loft.. My loft is 4'w x 10'L x 7'h, I have 8 Birmingham Rollers that are young, when can I start flying them and how??
> 
> Thanks,
> Bluecollar


You need to start by trap training your birds. At feeding time, put them all out into the landing area, close the trap, then feed them using some type of signal. Some people whistle, others shake a can of feed, or there are many other sounds you can use. Make sure you use that exact sound every time you feed them. Once they are outside and fed with the sound, you may need to push them through the trap a couple of times before they understand that there is food on the other side of the trap. They learn pretty quickly, and will not need much prompting after a few days. In fact, my rollers all started heading for the landing cage every time I walked into the loft after about a week. They think that if they trap for me, they'll get fed. 

Once you have trap trained them for a few weeks (most people think that four weeks is a good amount of time to settle rollers to your loft), you can start removing the cage from the landing board when you put them out. Don't try to get them to fly, just let them look around. Some may be adventurous and fly to the roof of your loft or to the ground. Likely, they will just hang on the landing board rather than risk the great outdoors.

After a few days, the birds should start venturing out a little further and are ready to fly. Then, you can "flag" them up into the air. My mentor uses a typical plastic grocery bag on the end of a fishing rod as a flag. I use my net. You can use anything that is along those lines. Do not use your hands to flag the birds. You do not want them to be afraid of your hands, or it will make it difficult to catch them when you need to. The grocery bag idea is a good one, as it makes a rustling noise in addition to being visual. The birds will probably scatter when they see and hear it.

One more piece of advice...when you are ready to fly the birds, fly them hungry. Do not feed them the day before, and they are much more likely to trap in when you signal. Some people advise flying them for the first few times an hour or so before dark. I personally don't subscribe to that. My experience has been that hunger is the best control. If I fly them late and they're not hungry, they just land on the roof of my house, and will spend the night there - usually trapping the next morning.

Today I had three birds out who had done that, and I was witness to an aeronautic dogfight. A hawk went after the birds on the roof of my house at about 6:00 this morning. Two of them trapped immediately, but the hawk chased the third in a wide circle around my yard. At one point, I was certain that the hawk had his meal - he was about six inches behind the pigeon and they were traveling at full speed. Just as the hawk was about to grab him, he rolled and recovered flying in the opposite direction. The hawk turned and started to follow, but then a pair of crows that have nested in our area came along and chased Mr. hawk right out of there. That is one lucky pigeon.  You can bet I will not feed them in the morning when I plan to fly them that afternoon!


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## 2y4life (Apr 5, 2010)

If they are young (less than 3 months), you will be able to home them very quickly. The older they are, the longer it will take. Do you know about how old they are? Are the ceres still white in color and their eyes still dark (almost all one color)?

Anyhow, here's a "safe" quick step-by-step

1) Keep them in their loft/kitbox for at least 2 weeks.
2) During the first two weeks, and the rest of their lives, make some sort of noise every time you feed them so they will associate the noise with being fed. 
3) After two weeks, cut your feed back by half and then take them out into a settling cage. Let them see what the surrounding and get a feel for your area. Then when you want them in, use your feed call and they should trap in.
If you have an aviary, even better.
4) Keep the feed cut really low. After using the settling cage for 1 week and the birds are trapping good, remove the settling cage and just let the birds out. If they don't fly out, don't force them. Let them sit around or fly for 10-20 mins and then call them in with feed. The hungrier they are, the faster they will trap.
5) You are set.

I will say this, I've had rollers and homers that I never had to trap train when I had an 8 x 4 loft because of the aviary. I set the trap right on the aviary so the birds knew to just go right in because they could see the other birds eating. After 1 week, all my new birds just settled in easily. This is much riskier, though. Follow steps 1 through 5.

If you are pretty serious about keeping rollers, join the NBRC. It helps


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## Bluecollar (Mar 28, 2011)

Thanks for all the advice.. Will start trap training them tomorrow.. All the birds I got are young except for one breeding pair..


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