Lazy Tumblers

[mobien1234]

Hi all, I have just bought six Tumblers and have them flying from my little set up. The problem is that they fly for just about six or seven minutes, and then land on my neighbours roof. They will come in when I whistle at them.

How long should they fly for ?

How can I get them to fly longer ?

Is there any way I can discourage them from landing on my neighbour's roof ?

How much food per bird should they be getting and how often, do I fly them once or more in a day ?

Thanks

Mick

[bigislerollers]

Aloha Mick.

Welcome to the site.
Couple questions for you.
What type of "tumblers" do you have?
How old are these birds?
What and how much are you feeding them?
When do you fly the birds? Mornings, mid-day, evenings?

Sounds like most of the problems you have are possibly from overfeeding the birds.

As far as quantity of feed, for my birmingham rollers I feed about a (U.S.) cup of feed for 10 birds, so your 6 birds should get a little over 1/2 a cup. You can start from there and adjust up or down according to how the birds react.

Flying time is also controlled by feed. Too much and they'll be fat and lazy or fly for hours without any "tumbling". Too little and they'll fly straight back to the loft for food. Again, start with the 1/2 cup of feed and adjust from there.


"Is there any way I can discourage them from landing on my neighbour's roof ?"

Make sure the birds are hungry when they fly. Sound like you already have them trained to the whistle, thats good. When you see the birds coming down and getting ready to land, whistle them down onto the loft before they land on the neighbors.

Here is a way that has worked for me when I have a stubborn bird that wants to land somewhere other than the loft. I don't feed him for a day. The next day I don't let him out with the rest of the birds. When I call the other birds in and feed them, I let the problem bird eat a few grains then I catch him and take him about 20 feet from the loft and let him go. He should fly straight to the loft and trap right away. I'll do this again and after the second time leave him with the others to eat. I'll repeat this again in two days (don't let the bird out during this time) and the bird should be trained. Sounds a little cruel to not feed the bird for a day but I feel it's better than having irate neighbors and an untrained flock of birds.

Good luck with your birds and remember control comes from the feed can.

P.S. The best advice you can get regarding your birds would be from the person you got them from.

[mobien1234]

Hi Dexter and thanks for the help.

I got these birds about a month ago.

I was told they were dutch tumblers, and that one was pure bred. [ what does that make the others]
One of the birds is ringed for last year and there are two of this years, the others I don't know how old they are.

I fly them in the morning and feed them when they come in. I give them about 1.5 ozs of mix per bird. [read this on the internet] but there is always some feed left when they are finished eating.

I forgot to mention that they are going through the moult.

[Avion]

If there is feed left when they are finished eating, you are feeding them too much. Try cutting back on the feed a little at a time. Try to keep them just a little hungry. You will not have any trouble getting them to return when they are hungry and they know that feed is waiting. Just my opinion.

George

[bigislerollers]

Aloha Mick,

I agree with George. Try cutting the feed back a little at a time and see how they respond.

The molt can also affect how/if they fly, especially if they are moulting the 8,9 or 10 primaries. (The last three flight feathers at the tip of the wing) Some birds have been known to not want to fly when these new flight feathers are coming in. If this is the case just rest them up until they are done moulting and give them a little extra high fat seeds. ie. safflower, flax.

Enjoy the birds and good luck.

[mobien1234]

Dexter and George : have cut back the food this morning. Usual short flight time, called them in just before they landed on neighbours roof. They only sat there for a couple of seconds before coming to the loft, and trapped straight away. When they are flying they don't gain any height and fly just over the rooftops. They are shedding the primaries.
Will follow the advice from you both and let you know if there is any improvement.

Many Thanks.