birds won't come in

[aarongreen123]

as always, i have a problem. i had a bird get out yesterday, unplanned. he spent the night out, thrilled, and as planned came back today to beg for mercy ( and food), as always. he went between the house roof, the loft roof, to the shed roof, did a couple laps and repeated the same thing. finally as dusk was approaching i could tell he got freaked out and just wanted back in the loft, but for the life of him he couldn't figure out how to get back in. attached is a pic of my setup. the birds are to come and go via the aviary ont he side. while watching him freak out, i noticed that it was like he didn't even know the aviary was there, he would land on it, but didn't even think about going in through it. instead, he flew repeatedly at the wire door, a much bigger opening to the outside. it then occured to me that i had screwed up by placing the trap in the aviary, as even though they come out to hang in the aviary from time to time, they look out that big wire door allllll day every day rain or shine, and therefore their perspective on the world must at least be in part via that door. i figured i'd let him screw around and that he'd figure it out, but he didn't, and then during one of his laps he had a run in with a coopers hawk, the hawk came up empty handed but this pretty much made my mind up, that i needed to catch him and get him in or he'd be toast. he was easy to net, but i hated doing it as what a bad experience that must have been for a young bird returning to the coop who wanted to get in on his own so bad. what can i do here? should i just move the trap and integrate it into the door some how? or should i continue to watch and wait for them to figure out the aviary entrance? actually the pic won't attach so here's a link to it
http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/f14/pi...ion-27104.html

[Charis]

Some times it just takes them a while to figure it out. When you let the young birds out, let them out with experienced birds.
When my birds where able to free fly, I had a similar problem with some. Made me crazy with worry. I would wait until dark and climb on the roof to catch them. Most often I was able to catch them and the other times...those birds always figured it out eventually.

[hillfamilyloft]

One word

Over feeding

Ok two words. If my birds do not come in when I call and feed them, they do not eat until the scheduled feeding time. They will live if they miss a meal. Let them know who is in control. Miss a few meals sitting on the roof teaches them plenty. If they come in the next morning, make them wait until all birds fly once more. Kick them out then call all the birds in. They will most likely be the first ones in.

Randy

[maryjane]

None of mine fly out of the aviary, but when one got out a few months ago, he kept sitting in one spot. Finally after several hours, I went inside and cut a small hole where he was (wire cutters would work). He slipped inside and I repaired the hole. Maybe that will work for you. Good luck!

[aarongreen123]

you didn't read the post! i caught the bird in a net and got him in, i'm looking for a permanant solution. this didn't have anything to do with overfeeding as i don't fly these birds yet. this bird, and a few others who have escaped accidentally, cannot find their way in, they try to get in through the screen door to the point of being hysterical about it, they don't even try the aviary, even after days of trying. anyone ever experience this?

[re lee]

Make a landing board for the aivery entrance From what I see The birds just about have to fly through the door. With a landing board they could walk through the door then trap through the trap. I think that weould work and be an easy fix.

[DEEJAY7950]

Well this seems like a two fold situation, first the bird needed to be trapped trained and this takes more time then most will admit, also the birds need to be somewhat hungry to be motivated to trap when called, if you call your birds in to feed and they just sit there on the roof that tells you they are not hungry and will ignore you totally, no matter what you do, if they have been trap trained and are not hungry they will trap in when they are good and ready to, like when it starts to get dark or it's the only safe place to be when threatened with bad weather or maybe a hawk scared them into trapping! So always go back to square one with a problematic bird and start over with the trap training, you said you don't fly your birds? did you trap train them? cause if the birds don't know where to get into the loft you can't expect them to just find where to get back inside the loft, seems like you didn't do enough trap training on this bird? if you did any at all? Even if this bird followed other birds into the loft with a sort of "Flock Pull" thing that is not training, the bird must be able to trap all on it's own without the help of other birds! Also food has to be the first motivating factor in training, later food will be second to home,mate,and youngsters! You said they just escaped and I know this happens from time to time to all of us, that's why it's so important to first trap train your birds so they know where to get into the loft, so if they do get out and are not "prisoner birds" they will know how to get back in eventually even if not hungry! Your trap to the aviary seems fine especially if you are going to be letting them fly from there also, the only thing I would suggest is, Does the door open up as a platform for the birds to land on to enter the fly pen? If it's just an open hole that may be your biggest problem, just too small for a fly-in sort of thing, you could make a bigger landing board right where the door opens up, the birds will then land probably on the top first then fly down to the lower landing board to enter the fly pen, just one way to do it, or you could go like you said and make an entrance to the loft from the top of fly pen (just cover the top with a sheet of wood or 1/2 sheet if you need the sunshine) which seems like it would be best way to do it IMHO anyways! You've got a great set-up so the fix should be easy, does that window open up? If it does a simple drop trap right there and your set! Hope this helps some!

[aarongreen123]

i understand the hungry part, i understand the trap trained part. i have caught every one of these birds 50 times and put them in the aviary so that they can trap through the closed bobs, they all do it just fine. i dont' even get a chance to call them they go in too fast. the problem is these birds have NEVER flown, other than when they go out. my dilema is that i feel like they won't be able to find the way in the loft. they trap through the bobs fine when they are put into the aviary, but they never seem to find the aviary when they get out. there is a landing board on it, it flips down from the front of the aviary. i am thinking about putting a 2nd trap and landing board on the door itself as this seems to be where they want to come to when they return to the loft. i am asking if this is a good idea or should i wait and make them find their way in the intended way through the aviary.

[Charis]

I think a second trap is a good idea.
You sure are having a cornucopia of problems lately. It must be frustrating.

[Lovebirds]

Do you mean they've never flown except when they escape out of the loft accidently??

[aarongreen123]

you are correct, they have never flown except when one gets out. just seems that a second trap would be safer. i'm all for them taking their time to learn how to get in, and i know once a few do it the rest will follow, i just don't want to lose birds to hawks because its taking hours for the birds to find their way in, especially if there might be an easier way.

[Lovebirds]

Well, the EASIEST way would be not to let them out........
However, the fact that the bird got out and didn't leave is good, so yes, a way in would be better than "hoping" it figures it out before it's too late. If you can stick a bob trap in that big door to use "just in case", then that's what I'd do. In fact if you do put in a trap, I would fix it so that it stays closed all the time except on the rare occasion that you might need to let a bird in through them.
However, I would NOT let the birds that you do fly regularly use both traps. Do you plan on racing? Can't remember.........anyway, if so, you're race birds needs to know ONE way in................

[aarongreen123]

nope, i plan to just keep a healthy flock and hope to give them as much freedom as possible, and keep them as safe as possible. my emphasis will be on letting them fly and getting them back in quickly, so i'm going to break my butt with the training so i can call them in. i've had them for 3 weeks now, i should probably let them fly huh. i think i'm chickening out:-(

[Lovebirds]

Originally Posted by aarongreen123

nope, i plan to just keep a healthy flock and hope to give them as much freedom as possible, and keep them as safe as possible. my emphasis will be on letting them fly and getting them back in quickly, so i'm going to break my butt with the training so i can call them in. i've had them for 3 weeks now, i should probably let them fly huh. i think i'm chickening out:-(

No, don't chicken out. They were meant to fly. Just let them out hungry. Be very calm around them when they go out the first time.
I don't think George will mind me saying this............when he let his two youngsters out the first time, he put them in the aviary, shut the windows and THEN opened the aviary and it spooked them a little and they just took off.
The first time or two, you've got to be calm with them. Open the aviary and the windows and just step back and let the birds decide whether they want to venture out or not. Don't rush them and don't MAKE them go out. They'll go out in their own time.
You'll be fine.........and we'll want ALL the details.

[aarongreen123]

i'll make sure to get them right with the food and then i'll let them out this weekend. i'll make sure i'll be around to tennis ball any hawks, i'll fill you all in.