[ozarkbill]

I usually let my birds out 2 times a day. I have a sputnik type drop trap that I just open. At about 7 am I open it and leave it for about an hour. Then I close it so the birds have to trap to eat. I whistle them in and feed them at this time.
For you people with open lofts what do you do with squeakers that can fly enough to get out and on the loft but not really fly around. I do try to drop them through the trap at least 3 times but they sometimes don't trap and just sit a long time.
I do this routine at night also and again they are slow or don't trap. If they are out I close the trap to protect from preditors and leave them out. They have usually trapped the next day and no losses so far.
In an open loft do you just let them go in and out also? I don't have a separate place for them as I only have 12-14 racers at one time and a small loft.
How do you handle young birds going in and out?

 

[Lovebirds]

Open loft is great if done properly.
I put my birds on open loft, but that doesn't mean they get out every single day and they have some age on them before I let them out like that.
You should go through all the steps you would normally go through with trap training, loft flying, etc...........
ONLY after my birds are loft flying good, coming in when called and are about 4 months old, do I begin to open the loft.
A pigeon that's too young is just a sitting duck for a hawk or cat or dog or whatever other creature might come along.
Even the days that I give open loft, (well, most days) I let the birds out to fly, call them in and make them trap, feed them and THEN open the loft. Then about an hour before they would normally start roosting for the night, I close up the loft and any birds that are out will have to trap to get inside for the night.
If you've got squeakers in the same loft with older birds, then you either need to skip the open loft, or put the little ones somewhere that they can't get out.

 

[RodSD]

If you call them in for food and not trapping, then they are not yet fully trained. Retrain them. They may be not hungry as well. When you call them in for food, and you are on the way in front of the trap, you can get scratches. I usually duck when they are coming down. They know when it is chow time.

Now sometimes those squeakers ,because of their first time out, usually likes to linger and explore more. I allow that on my birds, but I have my limits. If I call them to eat, they should go in quick. Some trapping videos:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXReeNl0Ny4