Lakeview Rollers Articles Page

This article is meant for those of you who are fairly new to the hobby. I realize some of you reading this have been around the roller circles longer than myself.

Now I would like to take you back in time to 1970 and reminisce a little. My very first exposure to a show was at a park in Kaukana, Wisconsin, in the summer of 1970. That day I had heard of a pigeon show going on and decided to take a little ride and witness what really took place. Again that fall I found myself at Elm Grove, Wisconsin showing some of my Baldhead Rollers for the very first time.

At this show I was introduced to a fellow by the name of Ted Nieman. After viewing his birds and having some conversation it didn?t take me long to realize I was speaking to a gentleman who had been at this game for a very long time. That very fall I acquired 3 pair of Nieman rollers and was hooked as a showman.

To take this along a little faster I will just say I have shown and attended hundreds of shows from that first showing in 1970. Along the way I made trips to Louisville and had the presence of Mr. Nieman with me numerous times. Ted has since left us 12 years ago, at the age of 87. He had pigeons for 65 years and a lot of memories to go with it. I will try to recall some of the conversations we had to the best of my knowledge.

In the early years Ted had shipped pigeons by railway to the shows. I remember him saying that he sent some to Utah and it took nearly a week for them to get there. He often wondered what kind of condition they were in on show day. He did get them back another week later, but oh what bad shape they were in. He had champion roller at Long Beach Ca. a URCA district show in the 1942. (Birds sent by rail.) I have the pleasure of owning the very trophy that he had won that day, given to me by Ted before his passing.

Ted was on the URCA committee, which drafted the first roller standard. He was also President of the URCA So he had some inside info that was told to me about its early years. Of course a lot of us who have been around awhile, has heard of the story that Pensom didn?t like the direction the roller was starting to go in, and other things that upset him, as to where he resigned from all ties with the URCA.

From that point on the roller standard had several revisions, and in the early years the majority didn?t want to give extra points for color and mark, because the Pensom roller was still a fly and performance bird. It was during this time that most started to notice that the roller really was becoming a dual-purpose bird. A roller had to be good in the air and in the show room. I recall Ted telling me several points were finally voted on and accepted for color and mark. The problem that surfaced though was some of the people that did the writing of the new standard took it upon themselves to leave the extra points out. Their feelings were if extra points were given for color and mark an undesirable specimen could win a show on color and mark alone and start to bury the real true spinner.

Mr. Nieman along with others continued to show their marked birds which included Baldhead Rollers, (just a marking in a bird, but very hard to keep the tail white and undercarriage white, head with the even encirclement etc.) As time went on it was almost taboo for a judge ever to pick a baldhead champion of a show, because they were first of all so inferior because one was trying to have the very same type, but working with the color and mark always put them behind, and second of all by picking a marked bird one might be helping the cause of ruining the spin in their rollers.

Several fanciers who had the marked birds became discouraged by this and eventually turned to the Pensom roller and showed with them. At many of the shows Mr. Nieman was the only one having baldheads. Then as time went on a few more took up interest and a mere 26 baldheads in a show were big numbers. That number continued to climb and at one time Ted told me that there were 25 black baldhead cocks at one show.

In the late 70?s the dual-purpose bird began to fall apart. Some decided that the heads and necks were getting to big and they would never roll again, so they broke away and just concentrated on the rolling end of it. More revisions of the standard appeared allowing a wider, heavier headed and neck bird to evolve around this time. The word show roller had now became evident.

Thus in 1979 the Wisconsin Baldhead Roller Club surfaced. A few of us fanciers decided upon ourselves, that we wanted more attention given for all our efforts, in getting that marked bird up front in the show room. (I sent out postcards to several people to see if there was enough interest to form a ?Baldhead Roller Club").

The first baldhead meet was held at a lawn show at Watertown Wisconsin with 118 Balds. That was the beginning and the end of the baldhead being in the back corner of the show room. Since that time the WBRC (Wisconsin Baldhead Roller Club,) turned into a national club now called the AMERICAN BALDHEAD ROLLER CLUB with nearly 100 members.

There were a lot of bumps and curves along the way for everyone. The show roller people always-butting heads with the flying people and the dual-purpose arguments, the marked bird?s arguments and on and on. Looking back on it today, I feel it has been the best for all worlds. We now have a national flying roller club with 1500 members. This club is called the National Birmingham Roller Club and they put on a fly once a year that includes the entire U.S.A. and a very nice bulletin that comes out bi-monthly.

The URCA (The United Roller Club of America,) is still alive and they have a national show every year, which travels someplace different here in the U.S.A. along with several point shows. The Baldhead Roller Club having their own shows and judges awards etc. We likewise have our young bird meet at Louisville and our old bird meet travels somewhere different each and every year also here in the U.S.A.

We all have come to terms to accept and respect each other?s desires and we have better spinners, better show birds etc. If you are looking to join a fun club become a member of the American Baldhead Roller Club. Along with this article I will include some pictures of our Beautiful Baldhead Roller as they have progressed over the years!

Since reading my last URCA bulletin, recall coming across your plea for members to send in an article, so decided to put together something. Have tossed this one around for quite awhile and was hesitant to even think of writing it, as I am still very humbled by my 98 show season. I have written before when the new Baldhead Show Roller standard came into existence. That is when I almost threw in the towel because I had spent nearly 20 years trying to perfect the then present standard, and all of a sudden I was faced with an entirely different set of guide lines. It was drastic enough to question if I wanted to continue to breed baldheads for show. Well, now 9 years later the proof is in the pudding.

Yes, I took on the challenge and yes, it did work. It has been tough competing against all those Wegners, Guells, Barton's etc. etc. but with gritting the teeth, it had finally paid off. Winning one national in any one year will make any fancier very proud and humble, but to win the Y B. National, the 0. B. National and the state show all in one year, each show with a different bird was most gratifying to me. Especially when I had found my old gene pool continually resurfacing along the way. It was very hard to repress all those genes in which it took 20 years to set, and also to change that ideal in which I always wanted to go back to, wanting to keep many of the older style looking birds.

Many will never forget Merle Ed Emerson in the show roller circles and to some that is a positive thing and others a negative. I for one, if for nothing else, admired his continual accomplishments in producing birds, which judge after judge would pick because they were drawn to them. His string of national wins will probably never be broken. He also had a special way in how he marketed his birds and people flocked to his place to purchase them for unheard of prices. Today that still sticks in a lot of peoples crawls, but much of that other people created because, they continued to pester him for birds he didn't care to part with, and when they offered him a price only a fool would turn down, they were sold. Anyway, the three Amigo's came to mind in that they were all brothers and had won either champion of a show or reserve.

Now for the meat of this article! In the beginning I stated I was fortunate to win the YB, OB and state show all this past year. What I find interesting is that they too were all sisters, and all had won champion of a national or the state show. Thus I am not an Emerson and never will be, but I have labeled them "THE SUPREMES!' Not sure that will ever happen ever again for anyone, and do believe the odds must be very far out to do such a feat. Especially with all the competition which is out there today. I am very proud of that and feel very lucky to have been one to have done so well in the "'98" show season.

I am so pleased with the big changes that had to be made at "Lakeview" to have accomplished the inevitable. My thanks go especially to one of our past fanciers who had helped out numerous breeders, in one way or another, and that is Mr. George Petro, rest his soul. After making three trips to Pennsylvania over a three year period to George's place, I found George's birds crossed extremely well with mine, mostly because we seemed to have liked many of the same characteristics, and also building a family the same way step by step etc. It took some time to clean up the markings, and to finally be able to get back to my inbreeding and line breeding, but it finally clicked.

I wish George could have been here, to see what help his family of birds did, in improving my baldhead family with the use of his birds. He said to me once, "Bill, you're on the way and things look real good, don't let anyone change your mind for you, continue with your thoughts, and don't go astray, and it will workout for you!" THANK YOU GEORGE for those words of wisdom! Maybe some day the Murkley strain of rollers will help some family produce that National winner! The Emerson helped Petro; Petro helped Murkley and now its time for Murkley to help - (maybe it will be you.)

Until our new publicity director gets his feet back on the ground from building a new house this past summer, I was asked to submit something for our bulletins etc. The issue at hand was of course our most recent ABRC-MRC-URC YB National held on October 31,1998 at Louisville Kentucky.

As I sit reminiscing here about the events of that show, something came to mind. Some of us out there are country music followers and some are not. As you may have noticed the title of this article stands for Country Music Association! Now what would a YB National have in common with that? Here goes.

Over the years I have taken time to watch such an event on national TV several times. The MC normally calls off all the nominees for each category and then the letter is opened. Something like the end of the show when all the winners of each class are called off. Following this like the entertainer of the year, the winner of the national is called off.

As I was called up to receive such a prestigious award and I couldn't help but feel, oh what an honor! All of us breeders strive year in and out to improve our line - to be the winner of that award. We go to that show every year to see how successful our efforts have proven, hoping in the end it is our name called off to step forward and receive OUR national award.

Like the music award recipients in receiving that award, a special thank you is given and following that a sincere thank you to all those who made it possible. I would like to do just that. First of all, I want to thank God for giving me the interest in animal husbandry that it takes to even think of being here, to my parents for putting up with my continual desire to have a place for some birds. For all the sleepless nights they had imagining me climbing from rafter to rafter, and hand over hand on the hay fork, just to retrieve that beautiful commie, (if you will) with the white on it at our home farm. To my lovely wife who has put up with my late for supper nights, feeding my birds while I was away, leaving her alone while I have traveled to the weekend shows and being there to support me in my hobby I enjoy so much. To my mentor Mr. Ted Nieman who had birds for 65 years with more knowledge about our feathered friends than most of us will ever acquire, bless his soul.

To our fine Secretary getting all those fine bulletins out to all of us so we can stay in touch. To our Treasurer who makes sure everything runs smoothly with the monies involved. To our President who keeps a close eye on all the things that make a club run. And last and most of all to all of you out there who take the time, efforts and monies to get to the show so we have other birds to compete against and see how we stack up to one another's expectations. Without you this award could never have been possible.

I thank all of you from the bottom of my heart. Yes, the Country Music Association has done well over the years. Likewise the ABRC is a growing organization with a lot of built in camaraderie and on the move. There are several fanciers out there willing to help in many ways whenever called upon. The ABRC has continued to pull together for issues which needed addressing in its growth.

From its inception in central Wisconsin with only one member in 1979 to its now national recognition with nearly 100 members, we are on the rise. Make sure all of you continue to support your clubs interest. If anyone out there is looking for a new breed, you don't have far to look for a growing club and a beautiful bird which could cover the CMA Slogan! C-colored, M-marked, A-adorable!! That would certainly be fitting for our beautiful "BALDHEAD ROLLER." Thanks once again to ALL of you and I hope and pray that your day of stepping up front and receiving YOUR CMA award will come soon!

Having contributed a couple articles for the up-coming "Roller Special", I still felt a void in something I could write with interest and meaning. This article will deal with mostly meaning.. The main part will be that we as humans have a tendency to put off until tomorrow what we could or should do today. Or just plain wait until that subject is no longer with us and than speak up. It has been 20 yrs since I met this fine gentleman and I have covered this area about 10 yrs. ago and many have come and gone since that time, so its time to renew my article.

In starting out with any breed or new project, there generally is a lot of study that needs to be done in order to meet perfection in that area. One can read, see first hand, listen to those educated on the matter etc. etc. Being new into the Baldhead circle at this time I had mountains of matter to learn. I read, I listened, I looked but I had a burning desire to learn more. My final decision was to go to the source, that being the one who has the best & had for 30+ years in the Baldhead circles. Who else but "Mr. Baldhead" himself Mr. Ted Nieman of Brookfield, Wisconsin. I was very fortunate to have such a celebrity of the Baldhead community right in my backyard so to speak.

"Mr Baldhead" Ted Nieman at age 73 and

Bill Murkley at age 28

Making a few arrangements I found myself inside of Ted's loft in the fall of 1970.. I will always remember the line up of quality I witnessed on that day. Creams, Reds, Yellows, Blacks, Red Bars, Almonds before my very eyes! UNBELIEVABLE!! Seeing is believing & being a rookie it didn't take an Albert Einstein to see why this guy was deemed "Mr. Baldhead"

I acquired 3 pair of real show rollers from Mr. Nieman to start with and several since. In the past 20 years I learned what makes Mr. Nieman tick.. Believe me, he isn't the run of the mill ordinary guy. I recall him telling me his father use to call him, "A diamond in the rough" when he was growing up. Today his father would be very proud of him and his accomplishments and would certainly say that he polished that diamond to its utmost over the years.

I would query him on many areas of the Baldhead and would always wonder and ask, "What do you do to get your birds in such tremendous shape and condition?" He would say, "I'm not telling you everything and some things you'll have to just learn on your own!" THAT DROVE ME UP THE WALL!

After several years he finally told me what he did when I couldn't figure it out. Here it is.... "NOTHING" It is bred right into them! At first I wasn't willing to swallow that simplified statement but after some more time in the breeding pen I realized he was being square with me. Anyway that's just one small area of the past 20 years we've covered together. I don't believe one person ever asked more then I did of Ted. He always was willing to help whenever asked on.

We traveled to several Louisville Nationals together and I enjoyed hearing of the roads he covered in his 30+ years of rollers and with such humor. Many of those who have come to know Ted realize he is one of a kind. So humorous and helpful whenever he can be and extremely witty!

He has brought the Baldhead to such perfection & distributed that perfection more than anyone Baldhead breeder could ever think of. He is always deep in quality and can afford to always help someone. He could have kept them all to himself like some might, but he would rather promote them and see others enjoy them as much as he does.

He has held many offices over the years, including the URCA, WBRC, WRC (the old original one back in the late 50's), NPA etc.

Ted was very instrumental in getting the WBRC (Wisconsin Baldhead Roller Club) off the ground, which has become very popular today. Having won champion Baldhead at numerous shows and very consistently for 50 yrs. What all this means is Mr. Nieman deserves to be called Champ whenever I call or write I address as such he will always say Ex-Champ. Ted will always be champ in my eyes. He has had some health problems in the past and just when your ready to count him out and down for the count he is back and competing in high fashion. He has taught me more about Baldheads, be it in the show room or in the anatomy and about life itself. For that I am forever grateful.

Yes, I am fortunate that Mr. Nieman lives in my backyard, just 80 miles away, but more so that he has been part of my life in which he has made a difference thru his teachings in my wins and in my association with others.

Marked rollers are called PENSOMS! I'll-make a motion Champ that Baldheads are called "NIEMAN ROLLERS"

Thanks for everything Ted, you have made a difference in my life and you will "Always be my Champ!!"

It had been 20 years since I first looked serious at the show scene and found myself in a dilemma. Do I want to continue breeding my Baldhead Rollers for show, like always, do I want to introduce something new to change them, or do I just throw in the towel? If I bred them like always and stuck to my views, I would just find myself at the end of the classes and show report. But if I change them, who do I go to? The latter is totally against my character as I am a competitor. Most all of this originally came from premonition on my part. I could sense that a majority of people wanted a change in our standard, which was adopted in 1979. Now you must realize I originally got my line from a Mr. Ted Nieman who had the Baldheads for 50 years and bred them for color and mark, etc. I acquired them in 1972 and had bred basically the same with a few minor changes.

It was now 1990 and time to get behind the 8 ball. At this point I had every bird standing on the perches going into the breeding season with 10/10 flights, clean undercarriage, perfect bibs and the style and type that was in the winning circles at that point and time. I had no Baldhead breeders to go to who could help me out with the attributes I needed. I went to some prominent Show Roller breeder's and started my mission with four new birds.

During the next two years I raised several youngsters and taking the F1s back to my original line. Some pairs I just continued to select in the direction I felt necessary. After viewing my F1 offspring, which I bred back to my old line, I discovered something-it will not work! My genes for color, mark, and type were so solid, that all young would revert back to my original phenotype.

At this time I had written several articles in regard to the change I wanted, but to no avail. I wanted to keep the graceful lines, size, color, and feather the way it had been for so many years. Not only because I liked it, but I spent eighteen years with this line trying to keep it that way. Also, I was afraid they were getting the birds too big, more like a Utility breed.

Soon, the new standard arrived with tremendous change, as expected. It was now 1992, and a few breeders were already on their way. Some were first starting out, and had gone out and selected some birds to work with. Some had a family of Balds, but not real solid in their gene pool, etc. New names began to surface at the top of the show reports. At this point I realized one must really deplete their old gene pool and surface new genes to the new standard. The big question I had to ask myself, "Where do I go for a group of birds to breed into my family?" I knew I must still go to a Show Roller breeder for the extremes I needed, then cross them with my stock to keep some color and mark in line.

After much thought and insight into some Show Rollers, I found myself at the door step of Mr. George Petro of PA. I selected some birds from his family for two different reasons, I liked his family of birds, and he selected his family very much the same as I had, only for different traits. So my mission was now in place and it was now time to put it to work. With the new influx of blood, I began to see a big change in my birds. With the number of mismarks and odd eyes, came a few well-marked birds. Suddenly, I saw an explosion in my birds in 1995! I now witnessed new type, style, and markings in depth.

In 1996, the real test was about to take place. On January 4th, 1997, the ABRC- URC National was to be held at Watertown, Wisconsin. While placing some of my birds to their correct classes, I began to notice we had quite a group of birds (247 to be exact) in the Baldhead classes. Not really knowing how I would really do in the competition, I was hoping to place very respectively, anyway. Surprisingly, I found in the finals, I had four of the top five young hens, two top five old cocks, two top five young cocks, one of the top five old hens. Now the count down had began and the real test was here. With the best old cock, old hen, young cock, and young hen up front, the judge thoroughly inspected them, turned, and pointed to the Tort Young Hen (#664 belonging to yours truly) and pronounced it CHAMPION!

How sweet it was! The ultimate, winning the National. To make things even nicer, were the thoughtful fellow fanciers who congratulated me. A few approached me commenting "I know how hard you worked to change your birds, I am so happy for you." Those were the nicest words one could hear from a fellow fancier and very much appreciated! Along with that, the mother of the champ was picked 3rd Reserve, and another young hen of mine was 4th Reserve,
My goal now will be to stay competitive, and try and help those interested in how I accomplished my mission.

The next step is now up to you in asking yourself, "To change or not to Change!" Good luck to all of you in your future showings.

Will it work? Should we try it? Is it time? Etc. Etc. All these questions pass ones mind whenever you're about to take a new undertaking. The month of May 1992 brought all of the new members together for the first time. Everyone was bubbling with enthusiasm for the start of a new club! Things discussed for the new club included rules, regulations and by-laws. No doubt the by-laws will find change with the passing of time, but certainly something to build on at the present time. The driving force behind all of this is Jim Lutz of Wisconsin Rapids.

He called me on one winter day and asked me if I'd stand by his side and help out in some way if called upon in starting a new flying roller club! My answer to that question of course was a great big YES. The very thought had crossed my mind many a time and was just waiting for the time to be right.

Being one of the original founders of the "WISCONSIN BALDHEAD ROLLER CLUB" I felt I could offer something in getting the new club off the ground. We have taken ideas from several different flying roller clubs and put them together into a package which will form our new "WISCONSIN FLYING ROLLER CLUB!"

In our first competition fly we went on the one-two system. That was in September with 11 young birds flying for 15 minutes. Now I could rattle on who had the best kit and who had the worst etc. What is most important is that we did get together having the same interests at hand, enjoying one another's company, promoting and learning more about our wonderful performing rollers!

    In the future we will build on our friendships, knowledge of putting a good kit of birds in the air that can perform with velocity, style and frequency!! Our main goal is to just have fun and make this club fun to belong to.
    Jim has really gone out of his way to make this club work. It hasn't been easy at times and mistakes will be made, but we will learn together and do the things it takes to help make the new club run smoother and easier. Jim does deserve a round of applause for getting 11 new members rounded up and all the hard work he has put into the club up to this point. Also we have Marc Dailey from Marshfield who has given a helping hand in many ways. To these gentlemen, the club members would like to give a heartfelt "THANK YOU!"
    Until next time keep them rollers flyin' and a spinnin'!!!!

    Flying Rollers, Spinners, Performing Rollers, etc. etc. Yes, we can call them anything we want, and several will always approach with that special question, "Why do they roll!?" I'm not going to get into that subject at this point and time, as that is a long subject in itself! Anyway, I'm sure we all have our theories on that matter, and that will not change the reality that they do roll and to different degrees. What matters most of all is we as hobbyists must manage them to the best of our ability in order to bring the very best out of them, from the very first time they hit the roof as youngsters, to the time their placement is decided in regard to their real worth. This may mean that bird or birds may be in next years holdover kit, in the stock loft, or just plain culled!
    One of the very first things I learned from early on was; have patience. If most of you are like I was, once they're on the roof a day or two we have to flag them off, and get them going. DON'T DO IT! Let them settle into their surroundings for a couple of weeks etc. (This I had to learn the hard way!) Give them a chance to know one another better at this time, and when they begin to take some short jaunts above the loft, and they seem to be familiar with their new surroundings, I will then begin to get the flag out! The first time or so I will just shag them off and let them land whenever they please. After a few times of this the business begins. Since I have arrived at this method I have lost 0 birds on the first time up and they are much easier to control. When one is impatient, you will find yourself constantly trying to get them into the air. Not only that but they will have a tendency to be landing in the trees or the neighbor's surroundings.

    Backing up a bit; I know a lot of you use cages on the roofs, to get them used to their new surroundings. That is fine if that is what works for you, but as I stated above, since I have patience in getting them settled in, I no longer have any problems. But if that method is what works for you, that is fine.
    At first I don't mind if they stay up only for a minute or two, but as time passes I expect more and more out of them. Now during this time there will be a few who will insist on landing early or landing elsewhere. These I set aside when the rest are liberated and when they are about to land from their daily exercise, I will hand toss the problem bird or birds into the kit. After repeating this a few times, those problem birds seem to know what is expected of them, and from then on, I have no problems with them. When everyone is kiting and they are flying 10-15 minutes the REAL BUSINESS begins. This usually will take a couple of weeks once they are on the wing.
    Flying Rollers is a lot like showing Rollers, in the respect that you will get out of them whatever you yourself put into them. This can be anything from a few minutes a day to a few hours. As most of you know, for whatever reason, I have always been one to shoot for the latter, in both areas! That doesn't mean one will win everything in sight. But it does mean, you most certainly will find yourself in the upper half. As the ole adage goes: "You get out of something whatever you put into it!" Whatever you decide is fine, as you have to enjoy them to the degree you feel comfortable with and necessary to satisfy your desires.

I pay very close attention to the ones that begin to roll early, with authority, depth, and velocity. From here I will watch that they continue on a regular basis and that they have control. These will be the ones which will find themselves in my holdover kit, stock loft, etc. The ones which don't meet the standards, of course, will be the culls!!
From here, one of the hardest things one will find in raising and trying to have a kit of excellent performing Rollers, is what I call "FEED MANAGE". This is something that can only be learned with time and experience. There really isn't anything magical about it, other than paying very close attention. Here is the point in time when you must let them tell you what they need. If they land early after 5-6 weeks they are leaned too much and need more feed. Generally speaking if they fly high on a continual basis that also is a sign they are getting too much feed. Here is where it can be a bit tricky as they may do this if they are too lean also.

Paying very close attention will tell one which it is. When handling them do they feel paper light? Are the wings far outstretched while eating? These are two very good signs that they are being leaned out too much! FEED THEM UP A BIT AT THIS TIME! During this time you will get a few who are spinning too deep or landing elsewhere, etc. These again I set aside for a week or so and then hand-toss into the kit before they are landing. Continue to watch these few birds and they will usually come around after a few times of holding them back. Not all will turn out, but in my family and loft, I find I have about 95% success.

In the past 4 years or so, I have had very few birds lost dues to overflys, rolldowns, or just plain not returning to the loft after their exercise. Those that go up-up and away, I think are too paper light. When performing and flying too long, if leaned down too much, they seem to get up into that upper atmosphere and the up lifts have a tendency to take them up higher. Not having enough stamina I feel they become lost or not able to return. Often these will be the very best of spinners you have, as they spin so much they tire faster and are weaker. If they are fed up a bit more, having more energy will enable them to have more stamina and thus able to return. More birds are lost in overfly's in my opinion because they are underfed and not overfed. Another thing I have learned, if your birds are accustomed to flying in the evening hours, don't fly in the early morning.

The only losses I seem to face now are those that are too hot into the spin and for whatever reason after exercising they never return. I think they spin so deep and frequent and burn themselves out, that they don't have enough stamina to keep up with the rest of the kit and therefore get lost or roll down out of sight somewhere!
One of the next hardest things to accomplish is to have them just right on fly day, if you are flying in competition. This is all controlled by the amounts of feed you feed. I am convinced that the kind of feed you feed is nowhere near as important as how much you feed and when. Let me tell you what they need. If they land too early, give them more, if they fly too long, cut back on the feed, etc. On fly day if they are too lean they will perform their little hearts out for a short
time and be exhausted. This will usually result in not flying the time. If they are fed up too much they will usually fly fast and roll very sluggish, flying for two hours or more.

I cannot give you a specific amount of feed to give. Some strains of Rollers are longer and larger, develop later, etc. Maturity, weather and several other things may enter into the picture. So that is why you have to know your birds better than anyone else. You as the "LOFT MANAGER" has the control to regulate this. One can dabble in different feed mixes, amounts of one particular seed to another etc. This may be helpful to a degree, but I have found the amounts given are by far more important! So yes, it takes time and patience on ones behalf, but when that special day arrives and you have them just right, performing at their best, somehow it makes it all worth it. There is nothing more satisfying when others are present and they really turn it on. You yourself have probably seen them do it on several occasions but when others are there to share in the fun in what you brought them to, it is just GREAT!!
That about does it here from "LAKEVIEW LOFT'S" and I hope in some small way something in this article will inspire someone out there! The above penned lines are just something I have learned over the years by trial and error and credit must be given to some of those I visited on many of my cycle trips over the years from one state to the next. Some of those I visited and spoke with are what we call, "OLD TIMERS IN THE HOBBY", but very well versed in the flying of Rollers. From their ideas I tried to capitalize on them, and from some of my own ideas along with them. GOOD LUCK TO ALL OF YOU IN YOUR FUTURE HAPPENINGS, and don't forget, "LET THEM TELL YOU WHAT THEY NEED!"