  We investigate the roto-breathers recently observed in experiments on
Josephson ladders subjected to a uniform transverse bias current. We describe
the switching mechanism in which the number of rotating junctions increases. In
the region close to switching we find that frequency locking, period doubling,
quasi-periodic behaviour and symmetry breaking all occur. This suggests that a
chaotic dynamic occurs in the switching process. Close to switching the induced
flux increases sharply and clearly plays an important role in the switching
mechanism. We also find three critical frequencies which are independent of the
dissipation constant $\alpha$, provided that $\alpha$ is not too large.
