UkPigeonRacing

MIL wrote: ↑Fri Jul 05, 2024 11:34 am

Trev wrote: ↑Fri Jul 05, 2024 9:20 am
Training certainly does seem to be massive part of being consistently at the top these days, I think this defiinately shows in our Federation when you see that members right across the Federation from East to West, a spread of 60+miles, are clocking at the same time. This means that, from the shorter races in particularl, the birds are splitting almost straight out of the crate, in my opinion this isn't happening without training hard.

Training might play a pat in it - but these birds have got to be healthy and well motivated

Without that, a well trained bird is nothing

I know a bloke training 3 times a week at 50 miles and his performances are shiyte

Devo1956 wrote: ↑Fri Jul 05, 2024 6:28 am Every thing is routine when training young birds, so after their first stages of flying around the loft, and trapping when called. Basket training is needed, myself i would leave them in a basket overnight in the young bird section. then release from a short distance from the loft. Not long after this, they start to range and maybe go missing for up to 1 hour. This is all good education for getting to know their homing zone. Once they have done this, time for the road work to start. I would take them to a location that was safe to release around 5 miles, keep them at that point for around 5 days and move them on in distance to 12 miles and repeat for another 5 days. this would carry on from 20 miles then once they were at 35 miles. road training would then end before their first race. If you have the time to double up on training, even better it's all about knowing your birds are ready.

Dont forget, Feed to win.

Andy wrote: ↑Fri Jul 05, 2024 12:45 pm

MIL wrote: ↑Fri Jul 05, 2024 6:17 am

Andy wrote: ↑Thu Jul 04, 2024 9:17 pm I do thank and appreciate members for their advice.
Yes Neil I am looking at sprint racing now and I do want to get back to winning again. I probably haven’t got the right birds at present to do this but I don’t really want to go down the path of having to buy in a lot of new stock. I wouldn’t really get any enjoyment out of doing it that way. I would rather test and select from what I’ve got. You would be very hard pushed to get any pigeons in the combine results multiple times as there are hardly any pigeons from any member that achieves that. Every race this year has been won by a different member. This year I started out with high hopes and was enjoying the racing but because of all the personal problems over the past couple of months things haven’t gone to plan.
The next problem is the young bird program.
I have 9 youngbird races. 5 are from 34 miles, 2 from 57 miles, 1 from 102 miles and the longest 128 miles. How do members suggest I approach such a crap program? The bulk of the birds with the combine will be going 20 miles North of me and with the 3 counties probably about the same 20 miles South of me. I do only have 14 youngsters.

Andy

In order to best answer this can I ask what your intended goals are please?

If it's just experience, or to be compettive then the advice would differ (i agree its a woeful programme for you)

Hi Mike. I would like to be competitive with the youngsters and are going much more for sprint racing nowadays. I only have 14 youngsters and the youngest 3 are still squeaking, but are flying well with the older ones. I don’t do darkness. As has been said if I am going to be sprint racing they will probably only be any good for 2 or 3 years.
I have a couple of issues especially this year. Racing wise we have been racing with 2 different “combines”. Racing from the same race point the different combines will take completely different lines of flight for the majority of the birds entered. One lot well north of me the other well south. Also the races are so short.
On top of this I have other personal issues that is making things difficult at present. With losing our mum and Roxanna’s aunt within a fortnight of each other a month ago things have been so up in the air. Roxanna is executor for her aunt so we have lots going on there. Our plans for the future are a bit unclear at present but as it stands once both estates are sorted out we are going to sell our property and shop and move away and retire. This would obviously mean moving the pigeons and having to break them and to a degree start again. This could happen within the next couple of years.

king wrote: ↑Fri Jul 05, 2024 3:00 pm

Devo1956 wrote: ↑Fri Jul 05, 2024 6:28 am Every thing is routine when training young birds, so after their first stages of flying around the loft, and trapping when called. Basket training is needed, myself i would leave them in a basket overnight in the young bird section. then release from a short distance from the loft. Not long after this, they start to range and maybe go missing for up to 1 hour. This is all good education for getting to know their homing zone. Once they have done this, time for the road work to start. I would take them to a location that was safe to release around 5 miles, keep them at that point for around 5 days and move them on in distance to 12 miles and repeat for another 5 days. this would carry on from 20 miles then once they were at 35 miles. road training would then end before their first race. If you have the time to double up on training, even better it's all about knowing your birds are ready.

Dont forget, Feed to win.

I've always found this idea of basket training strange. You put birds in the basket and HOPE they find the water? Where is the training part? Unless you actually observe a bird drinking, how do you know ' your training' has been successful? And unless you dip EVERY birds head in the drinker you are hoping the birds just copy each other?
In the near 50 years I raced I never ever basket trained. The first time the YBs saw the basket they went training in it. My losses were no more than other fanciers, in fact I'd say they were less than most. My take on it was the same as when you wean the YBs, if the birds cannot copy other birds drinking, what chance have they finding there way home?
I have never had a stray YB in that couldn't find the drinker on the basket.

Devo1956 wrote: ↑Fri Jul 05, 2024 5:39 pm

king wrote: ↑Fri Jul 05, 2024 3:00 pm

Devo1956 wrote: ↑Fri Jul 05, 2024 6:28 am Every thing is routine when training young birds, so after their first stages of flying around the loft, and trapping when called. Basket training is needed, myself i would leave them in a basket overnight in the young bird section. then release from a short distance from the loft. Not long after this, they start to range and maybe go missing for up to 1 hour. This is all good education for getting to know their homing zone. Once they have done this, time for the road work to start. I would take them to a location that was safe to release around 5 miles, keep them at that point for around 5 days and move them on in distance to 12 miles and repeat for another 5 days. this would carry on from 20 miles then once they were at 35 miles. road training would then end before their first race. If you have the time to double up on training, even better it's all about knowing your birds are ready.

Dont forget, Feed to win.

I've always found this idea of basket training strange. You put birds in the basket and HOPE they find the water? Where is the training part? Unless you actually observe a bird drinking, how do you know ' your training' has been successful? And unless you dip EVERY birds head in the drinker you are hoping the birds just copy each other?
In the near 50 years I raced I never ever basket trained. The first time the YBs saw the basket they went training in it. My losses were no more than other fanciers, in fact I'd say they were less than most. My take on it was the same as when you wean the YBs, if the birds cannot copy other birds drinking, what chance have they finding there way home?
I have never had a stray YB in that couldn't find the drinker on the basket.

Well king its like i always say, we all have different views on training. The youngsters of mine would have plastic water drinkers on the box they were reared in, along with a food box so they were on the way when they were weaned in the box. So basket training i used for all my youngsters, they had to get use to different surroundings, and the basket was one of them. But hey i may be wrong.

Trev wrote: ↑Fri Jul 05, 2024 8:09 pm

Devo1956 wrote: ↑Fri Jul 05, 2024 5:39 pm

king wrote: ↑Fri Jul 05, 2024 3:00 pm

I've always found this idea of basket training strange. You put birds in the basket and HOPE they find the water? Where is the training part? Unless you actually observe a bird drinking, how do you know ' your training' has been successful? And unless you dip EVERY birds head in the drinker you are hoping the birds just copy each other?
In the near 50 years I raced I never ever basket trained. The first time the YBs saw the basket they went training in it. My losses were no more than other fanciers, in fact I'd say they were less than most. My take on it was the same as when you wean the YBs, if the birds cannot copy other birds drinking, what chance have they finding there way home?
I have never had a stray YB in that couldn't find the drinker on the basket.

Well king its like i always say, we all have different views on training. The youngsters of mine would have plastic water drinkers on the box they were reared in, along with a food box so they were on the way when they were weaned in the box. So basket training i used for all my youngsters, they had to get use to different surroundings, and the basket was one of them. But hey i may be wrong.

I have to admit that I always basket train mine as well, not so much to teach them how to eat or drink in, although that is part of it, but more so that they have no fear of the basket and are nice and relaxed in it by the time they have their first race.
As you say Devo, we are all very different which is what make this sport so enjoyable.

Devo1956 wrote: ↑Fri Jul 05, 2024 8:16 pm

Trev wrote: ↑Fri Jul 05, 2024 8:09 pm

Devo1956 wrote: ↑Fri Jul 05, 2024 5:39 pm

Well king its like i always say, we all have different views on training. The youngsters of mine would have plastic water drinkers on the box they were reared in, along with a food box so they were on the way when they were weaned in the box. So basket training i used for all my youngsters, they had to get use to different surroundings, and the basket was one of them. But hey i may be wrong.

I have to admit that I always basket train mine as well, not so much to teach them how to eat or drink in, although that is part of it, but more so that they have no fear of the basket and are nice and relaxed in it by the time they have their first race.
As you say Devo, we are all very different which is what make this sport so enjoyable.

Trev, i also had a large bird cage in the back garden. I would put the youngsters in to have a look at the surroundings, and watch the older birds enter the loft. They would spend a day there also i had drinkers and feed on cages.

Buster121 wrote: ↑Fri Jul 05, 2024 9:00 pm

Devo1956 wrote: ↑Fri Jul 05, 2024 8:16 pm

Trev wrote: ↑Fri Jul 05, 2024 8:09 pm

I have to admit that I always basket train mine as well, not so much to teach them how to eat or drink in, although that is part of it, but more so that they have no fear of the basket and are nice and relaxed in it by the time they have their first race.
As you say Devo, we are all very different which is what make this sport so enjoyable.

Trev, i also had a large bird cage in the back garden. I would put the youngsters in to have a look at the surroundings, and watch the older birds enter the loft. They would spend a day there also i had drinkers and feed on cages.

Remember that cage Dev