Breeding first starts with quality, proven birds. As you read in the “About Me” section, I went after the best of quality, and bred the quantity. By this I mean, I went after three pairs of the very best that I could buy and worked with this family, exclusively, for three years. I definitely believe that in-breeding and line breeding will make you successful. I cannot see how you can possibility have breeders that have not proven themselves, either during a roll or in a nest box.

This is a good place to discuss what a quality bird is and what to look for. If a bird rolls 30 feet, does that make it a good bird to breed from or a bad one? That sentence does not contain enough information. Read the page on “Preparing the birds for a roll ... my way!!” You will learn that the bird learns to roll further the first couple of times (but not learn to stop) than any other time in its life. Maybe, just maybe, the 30 foot bird that you have, early in its life, rolled 150 feet. But now, it knows how to stop and does just that after 30 feet.

I am telling you this because you need to get birds from an experienced breeder that has records of what the birds and its siblings have accomplished. You have to know if you can trust the breeder to tell you the truth about his breeding records. Ask for references! Seriously, ask the breeder if he can tell you someone that he has given or sold birds to that has had success with those birds. Why wouldn’t you ask, especially if you are spending serious money? Also, you could ask for the Certification Certificate from the APRA. These certificates are given to birds that roll over 70 feet in an APRA meet.

One other consideration can be taken when deciding to purchase breeders, and that is, why buy the long distance bird, why not buy its parents? Think about that. The bird that rolled a long distance is probably for sale because the breeder still has the parents to breed more. Will all birds that roll long distances become a breeder of long distance birds. You already know that the parents will breed them!
Talk to the Master Breeders of the APRA for advice. When you acquire a few good pairs of birds, you will not have to add a bird to your loft for a long time. Work and develop a family of your own.

Now, we have acquired our pairs of breeders. How should we mate them? One of the considerations should be the pedigree and what direction you want to go with the family. If you are in-breeding, will you be trying to breed toward the sire or dam’s direction. This is assuming that you know the parents of the bird or have been given a pedigree with information to help you decide what bird you are trying to “clone”. You have to have a plan for the future. Father-daughter, mother-son, brothers and sisters, half brothers and sisters matings. If you purchased the birds right, you may not have to look for another breeder for years.

Let’s look at distances. It is a no-brainer to mate long distance parlors to long distance parlors. The trick is to know when to introduce a short distance bird into your program. I had a black cock that rolled out 120 feet and turn around, come back 60 feet to the 60 foot mark. This bird did not certify (at this roll), but he has been in my breeding pens for the last three years and breed birds that certified each year. Why did I keep 60 footer as a breeder? Because my show records told me that he was a longer bird than 60 feet!! I have a pair that Kirk Milnor sent me, which produced nothing but 100 foot rollers. They are nest mates, and the cock rolled 50 feet and the hen rolled 53 feet. But the background of these birds has nothing but Champions and record holders. The first year that I mated them, I raised three youngsters and they rolled 130, 136 and 141 feet. I use these birds for my outcrosses.
Bet you are really confused now. Proven birds from a proven fancier … period!!
Now it is time to mate.

One of the things that I do is switch eggs to feeders. Throughout this article you have read that you start with quality, then breed the quantity, this has been the theme of my success. I generally breed out of 12 pairs of birds, plus a few pairs (that raise their own) for different color patterns. I switch the eggs of the 12 pairs to around 35 pairs of feeders. I use Birmingham rollers as feeders. This is just my preference because I like to have a few kits flying during the summer.

When my parlors lay, I mark it on a card that is kept in a clear envelope next to the nest door. I also, mark the cock’s number on a calendar that is hanging on the wall. When the second egg is laid, I mark the cock’s number with a magic marker on the eggs. The eggs are switched to the foster parents. Then I have a diagram of my nests in the Birmingham rollers section, where I mark the parlor cock’s number on. Also, I have a 3 X 5 card tacked to the wall of the nest of the foster parents, which I mark the parlor cock’s number on. This is cross references so that I have accurate records of my birds.

One of the controversial things that I do is to switch the eggs immediately after the second egg is laid. My birds will lay every 9 to11 days.

But, I give my birds oyster shells daily and put calcium gluconate in the water. This helps the hens with the production of the eggs. I will mate my birds around the first of March and by the middle of July (21 weeks), they will lay 15 times. I have hens in my loft that I have done this with for the past 4 years and it has not hurt them.

Do the math … I can breed out of 12 pairs, switching the eggs every 10 days and during the 21 weeks, if every egg is fertile and raises, that makes 360 youngsters. I don’t raise that many, but it could happen.

One other thing that I do that may seems strange, is if a bird lays and for some reason, there isn’t a foster pair to switch the eggs to, I throw the eggs away. The reasons are simple. If I let them raise the eggs, I could have lost at least 6 more youngsters from the pair. While they are raising the youngsters, the hen is not laying.

At the end of the breeding season, I always let the parlors raise the last pair of eggs. This keeps them happy and lets their instincts be fulfilled.

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