What system

[Andy]

I know some of you don’t race anymore but what is your preferred system for racing? Natural, Widowhood, Roundabout, Celibate, chaos or something different. I am changing my system next season to try to get more motivation into the birds. I know which system I am going for but interested to hear what others think.

[Devo1956]

I would say it depends on the distance the birds are racing, Sprint to middle distance Widowhood, long distance and time in the basket Natural. But others may differ.

[George and Morgan]

cock feeding a 14 day old yb on his own

[Buster121]

Natural for me on any distance

[Andy]

I would say it depends on the distance the birds are racing, Sprint to middle distance Widowhood, long distance and time in the basket Natural. But others may differ.

I would agree to a point. The problem with spending time in the basket on natural especially if from middle distance races is keeping them sitting the nest on return. I know some will re-pair for the distance but this would generally be aiming at just one race.

[Andy]

cock feeding a 14 day old yb on his own

That again would be aiming at just one race during a season. I was really asking about what system to use during a season rather than for a specific race.

[George and Morgan]

yes a national he would be training the few other racers

[Andy]

Going back into club racing I am hoping to compete on a weekly basis. It’s not something I have done for sometime. I hear people say that hens race better than cocks. Roundabout or celibate the best way to get the most out of the hens. They say hens are easier to manage. I personally think these methods are to the detriment of the cocks.
I have been racing natural for the 7 years I have been back in the sport. The trouble I have found with this is when national racing I could only get three or four races out of each pigeon a year. This year when club racing I just felt that they were just homing and not racing. The trouble with natural is that you have to know what nesting position suits each pigeon best to get a couple of good races out of them.
So with all this on my mind I have decided that I am going to have 12 cocks on pure widowhood. I know some think this is a waste of hens but I think the hens are as important as the cocks to get the best out of them. I always used to race widowhood and used to enjoy it. I will do a separate post on the system I used in the past. I will also have a separate section with 8 nest boxes in. I don’t keep any stock birds as such although do have a few that don’t race. All birds are flown out. In these 8 nest boxes I will have some pairs of naturals where I can race the older hens.

[Murray]

You got that right, Andy. Widowhood is the way to go.
Yes, it means the hens are not raced, but get a dozen cock birds on the system and for week after week they will fly like rockets. Some people say it is too much work. I don't think so. I think it is the easiest way to successfully race pigeons. Back in New Zealand when I was racing widowhood cocks I would show the hens before hampering for the race. Now most people don't even do that. The cocks know the hen will be waiting.
Here in Australia, it is a bit different. The racing is mainly in the winter and early spring, and it is mainly with young birds and yearlings. I have found that they are really only any good for one season. They are usually too hawk shy to go a second year. there are some that will, but not many. I found this year when training the youngsters that if I put last years birds in with them it was usually a bad toss, they came home broken up. The old birds see a hawk and dive for cover, and the young ones follow them.
Some people separate the sexes and fly one lot in the morning and one lot in the afternoon. I don't, I leave them together and while the cocks will show off to the hens they are too young and and the days are still short so they tend not to pair up. One or two might and I will just race them paired up.
Widowhood is not really an option here as a result.

[Andy]

I can’t see how people can say it’s to much work. I found it a simple system. You just need to be a bit more regimental with timing of flying and feeding.