My Kit Box

[NetRider]

Originally Posted by Lovebirds

Well, that's cute. No one has ever been able to explain to me the purpose of such a small space for these birds.
Homers are kept in a regular loft and can fly for hours if trained properly. Why do Rollers have to be kept in a tiny space like this?
What's the difference in what they do and what a homer does besides the fact that a homer "homes" and a Roller doesn't necessarily? They both can and will fly for hours.
Homers can live in a "regular" loft, chasing thier hens and just doing what pigeons do and still fly 400, 500 and even 600 miles with no problem.
Rollers, as far as I know, go up high and roll down and I guess they do this for long periods of time, except they tend to stick close to home. So they do their flying in a semi-local location rather than across many miles.
Homers fly in "flocks" or "kits" if you will. I understand that Rollers fly in "flocks" or "kits".
So, has anyone told YOU why this is? I just don't understand why it's ok to keep 6 or 8 or however many Rollers in a space this small, but if someone comes here and posted a picture of something like your kit box and told us they had 6 or 8 homers in there, we'd very quickly tell them they were overcrowding thier birds.

Good question Lovebirds.

I believe its to make sure that the birds don't pair up, as they believe the sex drive will make these birds perform less.
I know that tippler fanciers also keep the birds in kit boxes, sometimes only one bird per box, and the bird stays locked up there the time which it aint out flying, some even keep them in there all winter!

In a homing pigeon you want to increase the sex drive so that the homer will fly home as quickly as possible to unite with its mate, while in a high flier or tippler the sex drive will make the cocks clap their wings etc etc and waste energy doing that. I dunno if that apply to rollers as well.


I keep my high fliers just the way you keep your homers, they fly around in the loft, in and out of the aviary etc etc. I do have experienced a problem trying to fly some of these birds though, the first few times you let cocks out they will be too eager to fly back inside to their hen, but once they have been in air for a few days they will get back to flying for long hours, and forget all about the hens. Sometimes flying the pair together actually gives you more time in air.


I have also heard that people keep these birds in kit boxes to make the birds kit tighter. So once released the birds will be so happy to see their mates, that they will keep flying together. Also they get sick of the tight space, and will be happy once they get a chance to step outside. Guess its like keeping some sled dogs locked up, and once u let them out they just wanna run run and run. Whether this makes any sense, I have no idea.