Who are you? How old are you? Are you married/single/kids? What is your job title?

My name is Paul Thao.  I'm 30 years old.  I’m married to a lovely and supportive wife and we have 3 kids; Brandon 9, Michelle 7, and Nathan 1 in July.  I am an Environmental Health Specialist for Butte County.

How long you been raising rollers? Explain your experience.

I’ve been raising rollers for a couple of years now, but have not been able to obtain my desired quality of stock.

Who was most instrumental in progressing you with your rollers? 

I was turned on to quality rollers from Ger Xiong on Yuba City.  Ger even gave me a pair but I later found out they were purchased from a local flea market.  I then found out about some stock being let go from another local breeder who had too many birds and was cutting back.  I had these birds up until about 6 months ago they turned out to be completely inconsistent. 

How many pairs do you currently have? How many kits you flying?

I contacted Dave a few time via email and preordered a few 2007 birds that he could spare and then he told me about the HFRF BBQ raffle that was in the Red Bluff area and was able to obtain 5 nice birds out of Dave and Joe’s stock.   I have predator problems so I really don’t want to risk flying them and will breed from them when they are old enough.  So currently no stock birds and no kit but hope soon.

Do you compete in any kit competitions? (WC and all others)

I am really looking forward to competition in the future but still nothing going right now.

How would you describe your passion for your rollers and your outlook for the future?

After meeting and talking to Joe and Dave recently I have really gotten very positive with the future.  It stuff when you invest time and money in birds you think are going to do it and they don’t.  I am hooked.

How do you get your roller information fix? (NBRC mag etc… or on the internet?)

I am not as active with anything except the HFRF and the news letter and emails from the HFRF.  They do a great job of keeping me informed however and have a great website and news letter which is totally free which is even better.

What kind of rollers are you working with? (family or strains) tell us about your favorite roller(s) and their qualities?

Currently just birds from Dave Henderson and Joe Urbon

If you could give one bit of advice on what you would tell a newer fancier to get going in the right direction what would this advice be?

I think the best advice I could give would be to start with a good family of birds from the beginning.  Go around, talk to guys and find out who has good birds in your area and see them first hand and try to obtain the best of these you can.  Always get as much advice on how to manage and handle these birds so you will have a greater chance of success right away.  I am really excited to see what the future has for me.