# Iranian High Flyers



## sufiness

Hi

I was wondering if someone could advise me. i have just startd with some IHF tumblers. I have managd to breed 2 youngsters but I find that they do not fly. They are about 6 weeks old. They just sit on the top of the house if I chase them up.

I feed them in the evening a few ounces of food. The most idal time I can let them out is in the evening aftr 6 pm and I am in the UK

Any advice as to how I can get them up and alight?

Any help will be appeciated.


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## Ed

more time IMO
sounds like they aree too young to fly yet
also pigeons are flocking birds so they might not want to fly with it just being two birds


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## SmithFamilyLoft

sufiness said:


> Hi
> 
> I was wondering if someone could advise me. i have just startd with some IHF tumblers. I have managd to breed 2 youngsters but I find that they do not fly. They are about 6 weeks old. They just sit on the top of the house if I chase them up.
> 
> I feed them in the evening a few ounces of food. The most idal time I can let them out is in the evening aftr 6 pm and I am in the UK
> 
> Any advice as to how I can get them up and alight?
> 
> Any help will be appeciated.


I own my own breed of high fliers, and so I have no experiece with IHF, but I don't know of any breed of pigeon which does a whole lot of flying at only six weeks of age !! Give them some time to mature a bit, and I personally would not be chasing them off to fly, as they are still imprinting at this point in their lives. Let nature take it's course and relax a bit.


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## sufiness

*high flyers*



SmithFamilyLoft said:


> I own my own breed of high fliers, and so I have no experiece with IHF, but I don't know of any breed of pigeon which does a whole lot of flying at only six weeks of age !! Give them some time to mature a bit, and I personally would not be chasing them off to fly, as they are still imprinting at this point in their lives. Let nature take it's course and relax a bit.


Your probably right. I used to have some great Birmingham rollers which prformed very well. I just keep seeing IHF sites where thy say thir pigeons are usually flying an hour or so at 6 weeks.

Ive been away from pigeons for a few years combination of moving house hence no room to keep them and being cleaned out of my birds (stolen completely) three times which basically demoralised me.. Hence I am a bit rusty, thus I need your advise on a fw matters and basically because High flyers are not a breed I have evr kept.

1 How much to feed and when.
2 what you recommend for feeding the flyers
3 the best time to fly them... 
4 Any other tips you might like to share


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## Revolution Lofts

1 How much to feed and when.
If I am going to be flying them that day. (Make the tips of your thumb and index finger meet to make a circle) I gave each pigeon that much feed and just a little more. Do not over feed them because high flyers need to be light to be able to fly high for a very long time. Let water be available all the time. 

2 what you recommend for feeding the flyers
I gave mine chick peas, sunflower seeds, and a mix I bought. Give them a bit more protein. The thing you have to keep in mind is try to feed them at the same time everyday so that they are hungry at the same time as well. 

3 the best time to fly them...
It all depends on how long they are capable of flying. My Pakistani High Flyers flew for 6-8 hours straight so I only flew them on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and let them out at about noon time, and they came back inside the loft at around 6-7 PM. A lot of people fly them early in the morning at around 5 or 6 AM so that they are back around noon time. But for this to happen you're going to have to change their sleeping habits. (Cover up any source of light about 2 hours before the sun is supposed to set the day before so that they get enough rest)

It also depends on if you have hawks in the area. Find out if the hawks attack in the morning or afternoon first and then make a schedule. 


4 Any other tips you might like to share
What I needed to do with my high flyers was because they flew for long hours and sometimes I needed them to come down. Whistling/shaking seed or anything like that sort rarely ever works for high flyers when they are so high up in the sky that they are only specks in the sky. I bought a couple of pigeons that were not good at flying at all. (They flew for 10 mins and then sat on the loft). when my high flyers saw these pigeons they started to decrease in height and soon they were sitting on the loft. Just make sure you don't make the pigeons that don't fly good breed.


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## sufiness

*IH Tumblers.*

Thank You Gurbir (jazakallah)

I have made a note of your suggestions.

One more question what do you suggest about trying to make only 2 young chicks fly? my problem is I work between 9 - 5 hence I am not home to keep check on them at that time.

Is it necessary to let young squeakers/ chicks out everyday? 
Will the time I feed them affect the time I should let them out for flying?

At the moment I am feeding them in the evening after work. If I continue with this what time do you recommend they are flown?

At what age should they start flying by themselves without the need to "chase them up"?

I appreciate your help. Many Thanks


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## sufiness

*Highflyers*



Gurbir said:


> 1 How much to feed and when.
> If I am going to be flying them that day. (Make the tips of your thumb and index finger meet to make a circle) I gave each pigeon that much feed and just a little more. Do not over feed them because high flyers need to be light to be able to fly high for a very long time. Let water be available all the time.
> 
> 2 what you recommend for feeding the flyers
> I gave mine chick peas, sunflower seeds, and a mix I bought. Give them a bit more protein. The thing you have to keep in mind is try to feed them at the same time everyday so that they are hungry at the same time as well.
> 
> 3 the best time to fly them...
> It all depends on how long they are capable of flying. My Pakistani High Flyers flew for 6-8 hours straight so I only flew them on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and let them out at about noon time, and they came back inside the loft at around 6-7 PM. A lot of people fly them early in the morning at around 5 or 6 AM so that they are back around noon time. But for this to happen you're going to have to change their sleeping habits. (Cover up any source of light about 2 hours before the sun is supposed to set the day before so that they get enough rest)
> 
> It also depends on if you have hawks in the area. Find out if the hawks attack in the morning or afternoon first and then make a schedule.
> 
> 
> 4 Any other tips you might like to share
> What I needed to do with my high flyers was because they flew for long hours and sometimes I needed them to come down. Whistling/shaking seed or anything like that sort rarely ever works for high flyers when they are so high up in the sky that they are only specks in the sky. I bought a couple of pigeons that were not good at flying at all. (They flew for 10 mins and then sat on the loft). when my high flyers saw these pigeons they started to decrease in height and soon they were sitting on the loft. Just make sure you don't make the pigeons that don't fly good breed.


for your For your information I let them out this morning and thy wre sat on the roof when I left home. I left some dari insid the kitbox in case they came in. My wife phoned me at work to say she saw them flying aroud 3 o clock pm. I let them out again at 6 pm and watchd them circl the loft a 5 - 10 mins but wantd to come down when thy saw me probably because they were hungry. Anyways i gave them approx 2 ounces of feed once they came in..Just wondering what the next step is and if I could learn anything from this. 

You said you give them an amount of feed before you fly them that day... How many hours before do you do this?

Thanks for all the advice again.


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## Revolution Lofts

1. One more question what do you suggest about trying to make only 2 young chicks fly? my problem is I work between 9 - 5 hence I am not home to keep check on them at that time.

The thing with high flyers is, if one pigeon does not fly well they all start coming down and do not fly. How old are these chicks? A good age to start flying high flyers is at around 9-10 weeks old. Fly them a couple more times and if you could try to get your flying flock size to 4-6 pigeons. Just make sure all of them fly well. Since they are young, do not let them out if you aren't going to be home. A hawk could attack anytime since they aren't experienced yet. Fly them on days you have off. 

Is it necessary to let young squeakers/ chicks out everyday?
Nope, I only let mine out 1-3 times a week. But since they are young I would let them out so that they familiarize with the surroundings. 

Will the time I feed them affect the time I should let them out for flying?
I usually fed my pigeons in the morning, and let them out at about 3. Fed them at around 9-10. They usually weren't hungry. But never fly high flyers when they are fully fed. 

At the moment I am feeding them in the evening after work. If I continue with this what time do you recommend they are flown?

If you could, switch that time to feeding in the morning, and flying in the afternoon at about 3-4. If you can't switch that then fly them before you feed them in the evening. Let them out at about 2 or 3, and feed them at around 6.

At what age should they start flying by themselves without the need to "chase them up"?

Since they are young it'll take about another month from what you've told.
Also, can you send me a picture or post here, a picture of the 2 chicks parents? I really want to see. Also who did you buy the birds from? I have seen a lot of people give away birds that aren't high flyers. If I can see the picture I will be able to tell if they are high flyers or not. (Send or post here a picture or both the parents and chicks)


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## Revolution Lofts

Most likely your pigeons were hungry thats why they came inside. Also could you ask your wife how long they were flying for if she knows?

I feed my pigeons either 5-6 hours before they fly or I feed them once they have flown. 

Try feeding them before they fly though. Like a few hours before, also have water available all the time. Good ventilation in the loft, don't over crowd, how many pigeons do you have all together?

If you have an msn account, my email address is [email protected] feel free to email me anytime.


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## kaftardoost

Give them some more time and they will surpise you. Also, try flying them early in the day, morning if possible. They know that 6pm is late in the day and therefore reluctant to take off and stay out at night, at least the youn ones.


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## Revolution Lofts

Fly in morning, feed in evening is whats best.


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## sufiness

*High Flying Tumblers*



Gurbir said:


> Most likely your pigeons were hungry thats why they came inside. Also could you ask your wife how long they were flying for if she knows?
> 
> I feed my pigeons either 5-6 hours before they fly or I feed them once they have flown.
> 
> Try feeding them before they fly though. Like a few hours before, also have water available all the time. Good ventilation in the loft, don't over crowd, how many pigeons do you have all together?
> 
> If you have an msn account, my email address is [email protected] feel free to email me anytime.


Thank you Gurbir I have made a note of all your suggestions and tips. i will be writing them all down in my "pigeon diary."

Many years ago I used to breed and fly Birmingham rollers but I had to stop as they kept getting stolen then I ad a problem with a nieghbour who moved in: she had 9 cats so I was unable to liberate them and then o to work, This really spoiled my pigeons and I had to move house so i don't have room anymore. Thus I made a small loft : one part small kit box the other breeding. I just have one pair of IHF tumblers whom I bought recently from a breeder in the Uk. He is from Iraq and gave me assurance they are truly high flyers. I did see his pigeons fly ( 5 mins) but I put that down to bad management of his pigeons.. So basically I have one breeding pair and I have pair of B'ham rollers whom I use to sit on the eggs so I can get more chicks back this year. I don't aim to keep many just 6 0r 7 as a hobby.. wont be joining clubs or flying in competition ,, but as you know with pigeons sometimes its hard to keep just as a hobby and not get serious. My intention was to fly Birmingham rollers again however once I saw pictures of IHF tumblers and read about the breed I became interested. Basically I like pigeons that fly and I love the performance. Iranian tumblers do both.

This is a link which shows picture slide of my chicks:



The chicks were born on March 20 approximately so now they must be about 7 - 8 weeks old, they are still squeaking.

This is a link showing pictures of the parents of the pigeons from which i have bred the chicks. 

Currently I have another chick that is 2 days old (under the rollers) and the hen has laid one more egg. 
A problem I have noticed is that the Hen has only laid one egg last 2 times, maybe thats why the pigeons were sold??

*THANK YOU ONCE AGAIN I WILL BE NOTING DOWN ALL SUGGESTIONS AND KEEPING A NOTE OF THEM. I HAVE MADE A NOTE OF YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS AND WILL CONTACT YOU*

_ONE MORE QUESTION IF I MAY ASK YOU (TECHNICAL QUESTION) : _

DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG THE FOOD STAYS IN THE CROP AND HOW LONG IT TAKES THE PIGEON TO DIGEST THAT FOOD BEFORE IT FEELS HUNGRY?


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## sufiness

SmithFamilyLoft said:


> I own my own breed of high fliers, and so I have no experiece with IHF, but I don't know of any breed of pigeon which does a whole lot of flying at only six weeks of age !! Give them some time to mature a bit, and I personally would not be chasing them off to fly, as they are still imprinting at this point in their lives. Let nature take it's course and relax a bit.


Thnks for your ADVICE. I guess maybe I m expecting too much.

How do you train your youn birds to fly. Any tips?


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## Revolution Lofts

Ok the chicks and the parents are pure high flyers, I can tell from their posture. (Should be lean for starters).

So the problem might just be that they are too young. Let them out in another week or two. High flyers have it in their blood to fly very high so its just a matter of time until they start too. 

Some of my hens only lay 1 egg too for some reason, but the babies from that one egg fly great so thats not a problem. Just make sure your rollers and high flyers don't breed with each other. Keep both breeds pure. Also keep track of which pair are the parents to which pigeons as they might come in handy in the future. Also if you haven't already get bands for your coming pigeons because high flyers tend to get lost when they fly too high. I've had about 20 lost last year and 14 of them were returned thanks to the bands. 

You can feed the pigeons one day. And then check in a few hours by feeling their crop, if there is a bulge then you will see that they still have seeds. Time how long it takes for the seeds in the crop to go, I am guessing 4-5 hours but I haven't tried this myself. Once you know how long the seeds stay there, feed them those many hours before you let them out.


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## SmithFamilyLoft

sufiness said:


> Thnks for your ADVICE. I guess maybe I m expecting too much.
> 
> How do you train your youn birds to fly. Any tips?


I allow good breeding and nature to take it's course. IMO, healthy well fed birds should want to fly well on their own. Now, keep in mind, my main focus is on my racing pigeons, and so my high fliers are fed the same diet and given the same loft flying at my YB racers.


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## sufiness

Gurbir said:


> Ok the chicks and the parents are pure high flyers, I can tell from their posture. (Should be lean for starters).
> 
> So the problem might just be that they are too young. Let them out in another week or two. High flyers have it in their blood to fly very high so its just a matter of time until they start too.
> 
> Some of my hens only lay 1 egg too for some reason, but the babies from that one egg fly great so thats not a problem. Just make sure your rollers and high flyers don't breed with each other. Keep both breeds pure. Also keep track of which pair are the parents to which pigeons as they might come in handy in the future. Also if you haven't already get bands for your coming pigeons because high flyers tend to get lost when they fly too high. I've had about 20 lost last year and 14 of them were returned thanks to the bands.
> 
> You can feed the pigeons one day. And then check in a few hours by feeling their crop, if there is a bulge then you will see that they still have seeds. Time how long it takes for the seeds in the crop to go, I am guessing 4-5 hours but I haven't tried this myself. Once you know how long the seeds stay there, feed them those many hours before you let them out.


I am happy you have confirmed they are high flyers. Hopefully with the right conditioning they should want to fly by themselves. 

I do keep the pigeons seprate so that there won't be any cross breeds, However I did keep one of the roller eggs and replaced the other with the high flyer eggs. Hopefully I can use the Birmingham roller as a dropper in the future. 

Pray that my pigeons fly as I really don't like seeing them sat on the roof lazing about.

Good luck with your rollers too.

Have you any pictures of your pigeons? if yes where can I see them?

Regards 

majid


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## sufiness

SmithFamilyLoft said:


> I allow good breeding and nature to take it's course. IMO, healthy well fed birds should want to fly well on their own. Now, keep in mind, my main focus is on my racing pigeons, and so my high fliers are fed the same diet and given the same loft flying at my YB racers.


could I ask you what your feeding habits with the pigeons are? Times, quantities and types of feed.

Do you have any pictures of your pigeons.

The very first pigeon I had was a racing homer. As a child i was always fascinated by a nieghbours pigeons who used to circle his loft every day. they were racing pigeons.


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