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How to settle young birds
you have purchased:
- House the young birds in an area where they can
readily see the surrounding area. A wire aviary
is good, or else just a large wire cage that can
be set on your landing board so they can observe
their surroundings and at the same time learn how
to go in and out of your loft.
- Keep them hungry, so they associate you with
food. Do not starve them, but they should always
be slightly hungry. They need to know that it is
in the loft that they get fed and watered. When
you feed them, take away any leftover feed that
remains after about 20 minutes, and train them to
a whistle or some other auditory signal so they
associate that with being fed and will come
inside when they hear it. (But keep water before
them at all times.)
- Until you are sure they know how to find their
way back into the loft, do not force them to fly.
They can get disoriented and get lost if forced
to fly away from the loft before they are ready.
It is best if the first time they go out, they go
out on their own. For example, once you are sure
they know how to get back inside, just let a door
or window open and let them wander in and out.
Always do this when they are hungry, so you can
call them inside for food.
- If you feel they are too strong or too wild to
trust the first time you decide to let them out,
soak their flight feathers in soapy water so they
can't fly very high, but watch out for cats or
other predators. If the flights are wet, like
they are after the birds have been bathing, they
won't be able to fly so high or so far away that
they get themselves lost.
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Loft is the Pigeon's Home. Its best situation is the one
that has a Southeast entrance. The morning sunshine rays
are of great utility for the health and the form of the
pigeons. |
You must prevent the lack of
ventilation in a loft. Many times, the causes of failures
in a racing season are motivated therefore... The pigeon
needs air in such a way, as heat and Sun. Do not confuse
ventilation with airflows. Most important, it must be dry
and safe from predictors. |
If you want to be a good pigeon
racer in the natural method, you must pay
attention to the following: Besides having good fliers,
you have to be very scrupulous regarding the hygiene
question: to clean the loft in the morning and at night;
also at noon its a good advice, and if possible,
every hour, minute by minute. If you do that, you will
have the compensation later... |
Avoid the obsolete system of
crossing a great male with a small female, or vice versa.
Those that opts for such mates, with the idea of reducing
the size of the big ones or to enlarging the small ones,
will obtain descendants of average type and will only
have pigeons badly formed and unbalanced. |
The permanence of "grit "
in the Loft is not advisable. The dust that they
accumulate is some times, harmful to the pigeons. It has,
however, an exception: When the pigeons are breeding, you
must have "grit " in abundance, but always
clean and bolted. |
All the youngsters that do not have
a normal and growing development, as its brother in the
same nest, must be sacrificed without petty. The danger
to contaminate the other, as well as its parents, is
evident. |
There are two different and
practically irreconcilable things: To be a breeder and a
racer at the same time. A worthy reproducer of such
reward does not have to race. |
If you want your pigeons to be
obedient, with a few exceptions (there are pigeons that
such obedience is almost impossible) you can do it
with hunger. After twenty-four hours without food, even
the worst cases come to an end as soon as they detect
food in the loft. They will approach as a docile dog. |
For us, the best pigeon in long
distances is the one classified in all other distances.
The resistance necessary to fly during many hours and
sometimes at a high speed take us to judge it, that a
good pigeon in short distance is also good in long ones.
However, we know that there are exceptions for every
rule. |
For the selection of futures
fliers, the tests will have to be done rigorously. Its
necessary to take into account the physical constitution,
the vitality, the plumage and the resistance of the
pigeon. Eliminate without distrust everything what
physically, it is not capable to confront the hard tests
of the becoming racing season. |
If you fly natural, be carefully
with the jealousy game. The prudence advises not to play
more than one or twice the same pigeon (male and female)
in this system. You can have good results but you can
also loose a good pigeon. |
For me, its a big mistake
what many amateurs who play in the widowhood method, to not feed
their pigeons, after the return of a race. If they had
given their best, of course they need being well fed,
without excess. |
You know that you cannot possess
pigeons without band? Or banded pigeons, without a
property certificate, or still to band pigeons born in
one year, with bands of previous years? Also, you cannot
supply any official bands to anyone who is not a Pigeon
Racer as we, or a member of any Pigeon Club. If a lost
pigeon enters in your loft you should communicate
immediately to the Federation that it treats to identify
and to communicate to its owner. The owner will not only
be very grateful, as he can help you with offers. If you
have to charge something for the food, please be just, as
I knew some cases of feeding the pigeon " apparently
" with caviar. |
If the previous plumage of a pigeon
was good, the newer will have to be better! If not, this
pigeon never could be a hope for its owner. |