# How much food to feed tumblers daily



## joshuaspencer_ (Aug 3, 2021)

Hi all 
I have 7 tumblers in my loft 
When I let them out of the loft they scatter all over the place until they eventually gather on the roof of my house around 2 minutes later 
After that they just sit around and do nothing until I call them back 
I suspect I may be feeding them too 
much so how much should I feed them 
All answers are appreciated


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## hamlet (Oct 26, 2004)

hello. sounds like my birds, when i was young. i think your birds are new to the area and young. since health and happiness is priority 1 forpigeons, the worming, canker and cocci issues must be met. then the space requirments. then sunshine requirnment. then the food and grit. r your birds overfed and overweight? : maybe. i feed mine once a day or every other day, in summer when not flying: they need more when its cold. if u r sure they r from good flying stock, and requirnments are met, it will b hard for u to stop them from flying. maybe weigh them to begin with. And start treating for the three mentioned health issues. then, find out when is the lockdown season in your area: i mean hawks start chasing your birds like mad if u dont. thats not a time to start training/settling your birds. feed/reward them as soon as they are locked inside from their outings. if u got smart old birds, then they will reserve to fly unless something bothers them: like a flag & pole, baloon, a cat , a hawk, load noise. some folks and i box them up and release from nearby streets( some call it tossing), at the middle of their training. some folks never let them sit on their roof but a few seconds, with use of droppers. its a controversial move , based on the flyers' near by. some flyers, not i get a joy of capturing a stray pigeon, therfore u dont want to use the droppers as signal to land. and some birds are bred to b independent and not to respond to droppers. 
my feed of choice are millet or wheat or barley for flyers. 11% mix every other day for beginning flyers. pellets for breeders. peanuts for the skinny ones. and rice in the summer time as an experiment in overcoming the very hot weather. millet for flying would be my 1 st choice if i could afford it always. u will c that your birds are not trying to fly much after their coop release and will b looking for u to feed them: if they are underfed. thats when u can measure a precise amount(maybe 10 wheat grains or equivillant in millet or milo or flax per bird) of feed and scatter them on their feeding tray. mine would get pretend to get spooked after they were done with the seeds, and start flying without my encouragement. 
i used to eliminate the birds that did not start flying voluntairly, but i have changed because i wish to breed stubborn flyer that dives when in danger. in my town, lonf flying, slow birds that are so tired from flying, get eaten as they land or in the air. Soooo, your birds are doing whats natural for a smart pigeon to do, which is to sit and watch the neighborhood while sunbathing. thats why some folks use an attached wire enclosure to the loft , from which they can do this safetley. 
to answer your question shortly, call them in shartly after the two minutes. if they dont listen then they r not hungry. thanks.


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## joshuaspencer_ (Aug 3, 2021)

hamlet said:


> hello. sounds like my birds, when i was young. i think your birds are new to the area and young. since health and happiness is priority 1 forpigeons, the worming, canker and cocci issues must be met. then the space requirments. then sunshine requirnment. then the food and grit. r your birds overfed and overweight? : maybe. i feed mine once a day or every other day, in summer when not flying: they need more when its cold. if u r sure they r from good flying stock, and requirnments are met, it will b hard for u to stop them from flying. maybe weigh them to begin with. And start treating for the three mentioned health issues. then, find out when is the lockdown season in your area: i mean hawks start chasing your birds like mad if u dont. thats not a time to start training/settling your birds. feed/reward them as soon as they are locked inside from their outings. if u got smart old birds, then they will reserve to fly unless something bothers them: like a flag & pole, baloon, a cat , a hawk, load noise. some folks and i box them up and release from nearby streets( some call it tossing), at the middle of their training. some folks never let them sit on their roof but a few seconds, with use of droppers. its a controversial move , based on the flyers' near by. some flyers, not i get a joy of capturing a stray pigeon, therfore u dont want to use the droppers as signal to land. and some birds are bred to b independent and not to respond to droppers.
> my feed of choice are millet or wheat or barley for flyers. 11% mix every other day for beginning flyers. pellets for breeders. peanuts for the skinny ones. and rice in the summer time as an experiment in overcoming the very hot weather. millet for flying would be my 1 st choice if i could afford it always. u will c that your birds are not trying to fly much after their coop release and will b looking for u to feed them: if they are underfed. thats when u can measure a precise amount(maybe 10 wheat grains or equivillant in millet or milo or flax per bird) of feed and scatter them on their feeding tray. mine would get pretend to get spooked after they were done with the seeds, and start flying without my encouragement.
> i used to eliminate the birds that did not start flying voluntairly, but i have changed because i wish to breed stubborn flyer that dives when in danger. in my town, lonf flying, slow birds that are so tired from flying, get eaten as they land or in the air. Soooo, your birds are doing whats natural for a smart pigeon to do, which is to sit and watch the neighborhood while sunbathing. thats why some folks use an attached wire enclosure to the loft , from which they can do this safetley.
> to answer your question shortly, call them in shartly after the two minutes. if they dont listen then they r not hungry. thanks.


Thanks you for your reply. Since my post, my pigeons began to leave the loft all at once voluntarily when I open the trap. They kit well but they still didn’t fly for long. However one day they all of a sudden flew for 15 minutes (I timed them). The next day they flew for 25 minutes. Then they flew for 30 minutes the day after. But then much to my disappointment they returned to their old ways. They started flying for a few minutes and then return. I can’t seem to get them to fly like I did just days earlier and it’s been like this for weeks now. I’m not sure if they are over fed because as soon as I begin to call them, they come rushing back in. Am I under feeding them or maybe food isn’t the problem. They have been treated for worms, cocci, canker and external parasites. I used a 4 in 1 soluble treatment. They are given mineral powder and grit freely. They are give apple cider vinegar once a week. I really want to get them flying for an hour a day to put on a nice display. They do tumble really well. They came from a man who competed with tumblers. I bought a pair off him and bred the rest.


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## hamlet (Oct 26, 2004)

hello. how r they now? is it not lock down season by you? thers a book i read How to breed, rear & train the Macclesfield tippler and the high-flying tumbler pigeon : Smith, G : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive Have u? since u said that u bred from one pair: my question is did these ever produce good flyers, before u got them? if no, then maybe its in their genes to not want to fly for long. otherwise?: whats the protein % at breeding? and what is it at flying? i went from 16 to maybe 21% if i am correct, for breeding. and 11% or under for flying. And all flyers got the same single seeds(either millet, wheat, barley or rice) the day before liberation. but on the day , after their flight, they got mix pigeon food : the lowest i could find. if possible, ask the original owner what worked best for his/her team. that book says, if they tumble too much, it cuts down from their flight times. and also to eliminate the bad flyers if they dont improve while on his regimen. are they sucking air(panting) after a short fleight? birds can not be let to b free like ferals, because soon their non flying, survival instincts kick in and, they just eat and sit on guard. i got a suggestion, if they were mine. i would test them in twos: feed and house them like competition tipplers. the first two: increase their carbs the day before. the second two: increase their protein the day before. the third group: decrease their total calories by increasing fiber. and my last suggestion is , incase they are in good shape and not over/under fed,, to start tossing them like homers. but very gradually. it would b nice to c a picture of your birds here. thanks.


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