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This is how I train my young birds please advised this is my method and
take in what you want, rubbish the rest.
Well after the young bird had hatched.
I usually wait until it reaches the stage of walking about or until
the young bird starts sprouting needle pins under it's arm pit.
This is usually at 22 days after hatching. I take them away from their parents as soon as possible.
The younger the better. If
you have a lot of time, I would recommend taking them away very young.
As young as when the tail feather starts to sprout and show. It's all about how much time do you have on your hand.
The younger they are, the more hand feeding you have to do.
Anyhow, once the young bird is taken away.
The training begins immediately.
I leave feed in the kit box for the first couple of days or until
they learn how to eat by themselves.
I usually monitor the young birds and hand feed as needed.
*Note*
Every time I hand feed a young, I would give the call of feed (by
whistling) or some guys like the rattling of a feed can instead of
whistling. Make sure you
whistle or shake the can Every time you feed them. This is a must!
The young birds will usually force themselves to
learn how to eat and it's amazing how fast they pick up this.
Each bird teaches the other how to eat and by no time they should
all be eating by their own. Take
away the feed tray by this time. By
this time, they all should be sprouting feathers underneath their armpits.
You should be taking the young birds out and let them roam on top
of the kit box roof. They
need to be aware of their surroundings.
At a month old, the training of them trapping should be promoted.
All this time, make sure they are fed until they are full.
Do you use bob's on your trap door?
Well I do and by this time, I force the birds one at a time thru
the bob's. I do this about 10
times each day or until they learn how to trap in by them selves.
At a month and a half old, they should be trained to come in when
you whistle already and the feed should be cut back gradually.
They also should be flying about around your kit box and to the
ground by now. Once they are
at this stage you have to show them no mercy.
Only feed the ones' that trap in when called.
Your kit should also be exploring their flying ability at this time
and it's not long before they hit the sky.
If they are reluctant to hit the sky, use a cage and release them
away from the kit box. Take
them further away Every time until they go up.
The first time they go up is always the shakiest.
Once they know how to come back down to your loft.
They should be good. At
this time, the feed is now ration to their flying diet.
You don't want your young birds too strong once they know how to
take off. My birds will
usually start dropping or riding their tails immediately after they learn
how to hit the sky. A week
later, my birds will start flipping or rolling shorts spins.
This is usually around two months old.
By this time, the training is complete and they should all be as
tame as can be. If any bird
doesn’t trap in when you call them, make sure you don't feed that
individual. Let it starve until it learns who is the master.
Don't ever let any bird get the upper hand, punishment starts as
early as once they learn how to fly about.
Hope this helps, this is my method and it has done
me good. You shouldn't have
any problems training old birds to be tame.
The key is keeping them hungry.
You must be feeding them a little too much or too fatty of a diet.
My kit birds, once trapped. Will
look all puffed up. If your
kit birds don't look like this, than they are too well fed.
No kit birds should be flying back and forth in the kit box and
strutting for males or females. This
means they are too well fed. A
kit of prime Rollers, should be all puffed up on their perch.
There should be no activity of moving around in the kit box if they
are hungry. They more than
likely should be conserving their energy, which in turns will give you the
puffing of their feathers look. This
of course is in the flying months. The
winter or non-flying seasons should be a whole different story.
But that's a whole different aspect.
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