They have in the past run out of fuel and failed to finish. A better comparison would be aircraft, they typically carry more fuel than absolutely required for the planned flight.
Why Do It ?
What I mean is why give a bird 4 hrs fuel for a 2.5 hr race (talking sprinting now)
If it’s not home by 4 hrs then assuming it’s still alive it’ll call on its reserves that lie within
When I say ‘fuel’ what I mean is what we give it to burn without resulting in digging into the reserves.
They carry the extra fuel because there’s human lives potentially at stake - hardly a better comparison is it
You could say the comparison between an F1 car and a pigeon is not that good then. You can't lose the car if it runs out of fuel, but you can the pigeon.MIL wrote: ↑Tue Mar 18, 2025 11:30 pmThey carry the extra fuel because there’s human lives potentially at stake - hardly a better comparison is it
What Mike is getting at isn’t the amount you feed and he never sent his birds without a full feed that I know as his pigeons had all they want every day
It goes back to what I bang on about you feed for the race and that’s not quantity
I know this to be fact from my Thursday chats with him
My pigeons have 45-55 grams on Thursday so they are hardly left tight Then Friday they get what they want by 7am
Now I wouldn’t be feeding them again at 3pm Friday as that wouldn’t be doing them any good plus they will have packed 2 days corn in from Thursday night Friday morning so it’s now stored
Then what we feed for a 100 miles tail wind race is different, the mix wouldn’t be full of fats it would be a light carbohydrate compared to 250 miles where fats would be higher as they will be required for fuel
So when he says fuel levels and unused it’s not amounts
Grit is clear to me why put loads of stones in your pigeons Friday it’s dead weight
A lot of people seem to think sprint fliers keep there birds underfed for some reason but it’s the timing of when you feed and what you feed and not the amount
My pigeons have a hopper Saturday of fats and there favourites
Sunday a hopper again but not of corn they like
Monday they stay in the loft as I work to late so I measure the foods to get them looking Tuesday then wind is checked for the weekend and my base mix is adjusted from Tuesday onwards increasing daily so they are eating well
The base mix is the same a high carb fat mix which is adjusted
I use 3 bags in the base mix and the same 3 bags are added to that base depending on what we are looking to do
It goes back to what I bang on about you feed for the race and that’s not quantity
I know this to be fact from my Thursday chats with him
My pigeons have 45-55 grams on Thursday so they are hardly left tight Then Friday they get what they want by 7am
Now I wouldn’t be feeding them again at 3pm Friday as that wouldn’t be doing them any good plus they will have packed 2 days corn in from Thursday night Friday morning so it’s now stored
Then what we feed for a 100 miles tail wind race is different, the mix wouldn’t be full of fats it would be a light carbohydrate compared to 250 miles where fats would be higher as they will be required for fuel
So when he says fuel levels and unused it’s not amounts
Grit is clear to me why put loads of stones in your pigeons Friday it’s dead weight
A lot of people seem to think sprint fliers keep there birds underfed for some reason but it’s the timing of when you feed and what you feed and not the amount
My pigeons have a hopper Saturday of fats and there favourites
Sunday a hopper again but not of corn they like
Monday they stay in the loft as I work to late so I measure the foods to get them looking Tuesday then wind is checked for the weekend and my base mix is adjusted from Tuesday onwards increasing daily so they are eating well
The base mix is the same a high carb fat mix which is adjusted
I use 3 bags in the base mix and the same 3 bags are added to that base depending on what we are looking to do
I think Mike is referring more to races in the short/middle distance range.
The year before last I won a short race with a little late bred cock bird. He was clocked in 1 hour 31 minutes 31 seconds.
He was sent to the race on exactly what he had eaten every day of his life.
A team of pigeons which is in good health and fit will fly an hour every morning before breakfast. Mine do.
I can see no reason at all to be worried about 'loading' a pigeon due to fly an hour and a half to two hours. They will do that on a windy day at home.
Greetings from the land down under. 
Blessed is he who expecteth nothing, for verily, he shall not be disappointed.
Blessed is he who expecteth nothing, for verily, he shall not be disappointed.
I think you can over load a pigeon MurrayMurray wrote: ↑Wed Mar 19, 2025 7:42 amI think Mike is referring more to races in the short/middle distance range.
The year before last I won a short race with a little late bred cock bird. He was clocked in 1 hour 31 minutes 31 seconds.
He was sent to the race on exactly what he had eaten every day of his life.
A team of pigeons which is in good health and fit will fly an hour every morning before breakfast. Mine do.
I can see no reason at all to be worried about 'loading' a pigeon due to fly an hour and a half to two hours. They will do that on a windy day at home.
You can also slow it by feeding to much heavy grub so balance is required
You know I feed all small digestible grains similar to your feed I believe
I can remember over loading my ybs on fats once we we meant to be at 170 miles the lorry broke down and we had a 50 mile race early morning lib. I had fed for a difficult day and way to much fats as I was going through one of my trials on foods .when it turned into a 60 mph day . Pigeons that had trapped great all season suddenly wouldn’t come out the sky , these had been trained to be trapping in my normal way so I thought there’s a line between the use of fats where on a day like that barley would have done a better job
So my base stats the same but Wednesday night the wind / distance comes into my head and the base gets adjusted a little
What happens to the bird when the race turns out to be more testing than expected or if it is diverted by stronger winds or scattered by a hawk strike or some other event? We had a chap in our club that raced to the corn tin and he was still surprised at his his losses on iffy days or is it all about winning and never mind the birds?
I don’t think your reading the posts Bowbroom I don’t see the amount fed being cut back in any post on the subjectBowbroom wrote: ↑Wed Mar 19, 2025 9:53 am What happens to the bird when the race turns out to be more testing than expected or if it is diverted by stronger winds or scattered by a hawk strike or some other event? We had a chap in our club that raced to the corn tin and he was still surprised at his his losses on iffy days or is it all about winning and never mind the birds?
Mike fed all they wanted each night just increasing the time spent going around feeding as the week went on by keep topping up
I let mine have a hopper Saturday Sunday they don’t go out Monday or Sunday so Monday I cut my feed back so I know I can keep them eating as the week goes on , a different way to Mike but with the same idea behind it
Murray has mentioned many times he didn’t under feed on other topics
No one is underfeeding but I certainly wouldn’t be feeding a unlimited supply of there favorites sweets on Monday