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racing pigeons

Nannymouse

Well-known member
Have had them since about 2011.

It's almost unknown by the general public, here in the states, but in other parts of the world, this is big sport.

I love these birds. Athletic, smart, beautiful.

anybody?
 

theclearspot

Active member
My dad had them in Ireland. He was passionate about it but my mum wasnt keen on the hobby when they moved to England. Im not sure now; but older fellas kept them was popular in british isles.
 

Nannymouse

Well-known member
Yes, England had quite the racers, and a few still fly. You will probably find more flyers around Denmark/Netherlands. Germany has one of the toughest race series. But there are pigeon races all over the world.

The birds were used in wartime for centuries, some of the old stories of brave and determined birds are quite entertaining...or sad. But the birds saved thousands of lives. Too bad they are now considered pests.
 

imiubu

Well-known member
A friend of mine raced pigeons years ago, back when most herb came with seeds. He had his friends save cannabis seeds for his birds. Word was the birds flew stronger/ longer when fed canna seeds prior to the race. I suppose the high protein content kept them in the air longer.
 

Snook

Still Learning
Veteran
Back in the 70s, my next door neighbor converted his 2 car garage into coups. He was a pigeon crazy person. Spent big bucks on breeders and raced them couple times a week. He was 15 years older than I was and I learned everything about drinking beer from him (RIP). We could be sitting beerin' up on a Sunday morning (or was it Saturday) afternoon in his back yard when he'd jump up looking into the sky saying here she comes... I saw nothing. When the bird came into my view it was the size of the head of a pin. How the hell did he see it? I dont know but hed tell me the number that was on the birds id band long before it landed and then show it to me and was never wrong. His races were all up and down the east coast of the US. I miss that guy, he was a good drunk and a pillar in the community.
 

Nannymouse

Well-known member
Imiubu, i keep thinkin about growing hemp for the birdseed. Super nutritious, Oil, protein, aminos. good for people, too.

Snook, there is a huge racing club in Fl, lots of racers retire there, just for the racing clubs. There's supposedly big retirement type clubs in Cali, too, but more expensive. Az is active, too. Clubs are scattered and thin compared to what Europe has going. Australia has famous races.

we've dabbled a little with the races, but mostly just enjoy them around the farm. They are entertaining. Rollers would be fun, too, and if you want to compete, there isn't the shipping, judges come to your loft.
 

rolandomota

Well-known member
I have heard about this it's cool ww1 was the pigeon war then we made huge mechanical gas powered metal birds with mounted guns.
They use GPS and time the birds to see who gets home first or something like that I think it's interesting you can send home some seeds with your own personal flying mailbird
 

farmerlion

Microbial Repositories
Mentor
Veteran
I would like to experience a race sometime. Seems to me that all the pigeons would just fly home. How do they know of a different finish line?
peace farmerlion
 

Nannymouse

Well-known member
FL, they do all race home. It is the starting gate that varies, in the race series.

In one-loft races, very young birds are sent to one 'handler', and all birds start their training from short distances from that one loft. They gain experience, confidence, and conditioning from getting out to more directions and by lengthening the distances. This is probably the best/most fair way of testing young bird speed. Some of these one-loft races will keep birds over winter and race again, in the spring as yearlings. After the race series, depending on the race, birds are sent back to their original home. Some birds can be 're-homed', some will forever think of where they learned to race as their home. I have even heard of VERY young birds that are sent to one loft races, to go back to their 'birth home', but that's rare. Some races are 'auction races' and the top birds go up for auction, after the series, sometime the original owner pays big money to get their birds back, lol. There are many ways that these races handle the birds.

In 'club' races, there are many lofts that start training the young birds to their own lofts. After the young birds are out to about forty miles of training(and usually from different directions), they all get put together and taken to one 'starting gate' which is called 'release point'. This is repeated at different release points, and usually the distances increase, each time. Helps to have all club members living somewhat close to each other, like all from the same SMALL community. In these club races, usually young birds are raced separately from old birds. Old birds race in the spring, before molting season, the young ones are usually raced later in the year. Many birds in these club races are flown lightly as young birds, as they may have several more years of racing ahead, and some of the longer distance birds are slower to mature than birds bred specially for one loft races.

Sometimes, two or more clubs compete (and co-operate with purchasing needed items in 'bulk', etc) and fly back and forth with each other, sometimes meeting half way, taking the 'others' birds back home with them, or along the way, or even farther out. Saves fuel costs and driving time. These groups sometimes for larger groups. Some race for points, some have money involved (think race horse futurities). There are lots of variations.

The birds LOVE to fly, it's what they do. Young birds fly for peanuts. Older birds fly 'to the nest', they are territorial, and being gone could mean losing their real estate, so that is their motivation...of course, coming home to peanuts is a plus.

This is all a very brief explanation. There are many variables, as far as the games are concerned. One of the reasons that i like this, is that i really like the birds...they can be very smart and goofy. Also, it is eighty percent luck, so they say. It is very rare that in good competition, that one bird is the winner, all the time. Old people can compete equally with young kids, and 'hobbyists' can compete with the pros. There is no family of birds that wins all the time, and some families of birds are best at sprint, some at distance, some in hard wind, some are likely to win on fair weather days, some are better at one-day races and get lost if they have to perch in a tree overnight, etc.

I hope that didn't confuse the issue, ha.
 

Nannymouse

Well-known member
Oh, farmerlion, your place would be a good spot for training releases, so it just may happen. The bad part is, that it is sometimes impossible to be at the release point and being able to see the birds come home. Hard to be in two places at one time. Having birds chipped and have automatic timers would be great. Have not doled out the cash for THAT, ...yet, ha.
 

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