[ALnaturAL]

I let out 6 birds out last Fri. 1 came back Fri. night 3 came back Sun about noon so I have 4 birds, since then I put cage outside and been using the food call and the birds are responding well (less food seems to help) I have put them through the trap by hand. Are they ready to come out? I am new to this so any advice would be helpful. THANKS!

 

[RodSD]

Wow! Your procedure was the reverse of things we do. Usually we teach them food call first. Then we teach them how to trap followed by surroundings familiarity. Finally we release them.

If they are responding to food call, then you are finish with that step. Trap training follows. They should trap by themselves after food call. Are they ready to come out? Well, they already did! Your goal right now is to teach them how to trap. Depending on what trap you have you either have to teach them by shoving them inside the trap or just put them on the trap and call them in. Depending on how smart the birds are, 3 minimum training sessions should be followed. If you have the bob trap, then put some settling cage to prevent them from escaping, put the bird inside the trap, then call them in. If they don't go inside either you have to catch them and shove them in. You can release the birds once they trap themselves when you give food call.

 

[ALnaturAL]

Thanks for the help. I'll give it a try

 

[ALnaturAL]

Thanks for the help.I'll give it a try.

 

[ALnaturAL]

when I went to do some bob training one bird flew out and came back in ten minutes later. I let them all out about 2pm and they all traped around 6pm. Not to much flying around mainly just sat on the garage roof. Glad they made it back.

 

[RodSD]

Usually a settling cage prevents them from escaping. Our forum member does this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogIM_9tptps

Your birds, I believe, are settled. Congrats!

 

[ALnaturAL]

great clip thanks, I have let them out a few times now and they trap after the food call but there not flying around to much maybe like ten minutes and then sit on the roof should I do something or will they start venturing on there own.

 

[Lovebirds]

great clip thanks, I have let them out a few times now and they trap after the food call but there not flying around to much maybe like ten minutes and then sit on the roof should I do something or will they start venturing on there own.

They will get up in time, on their own. They have to work their way up to longer flights. Sort of like us trying to run 10 miles the first time we go running.......when we should just try running around the block........LOL

 

[ALnaturAL]

How often and when sould the birds be out? Should I be handling the birds more they are very hard to catch or do you have any tips.

 

[RodSD]

Renee is right. They will sooner or later fly longer and longer until they can fly for 1 to 2 hours. I only allow my birds to fly 30 minutes for now, but some are lazy bastards. They are fat, too. This spring and probably up to summer I plan to release mine everyday. I release my birds in the afternoon because I can attend to them that time. I can't do it near sunset anymore because the hawks usually comes back by then. Sometimes I just let them have open loft maybe 2-3 times a week for 1 hour. That is just me. They seem to be happier that way. But they must come in when I call them for food. No exceptions! Hand feeding them seem to tame them a bit. I myself have difficulty catching them unless they are in the nest box or those box perches. I only catch them if I do some training toss or just to feel their bodies.

They will probably be ranging/tripping out (venturing out) around 3 months old. Before that they actually have to route first flying in circles, and figure 8 around your loft. Once they developed their stamina, then they go somewhere. That is the scary part because you don't know where they go. They can come back 30 minutes to 1 hour later. At least that what my other birds did.