3 month old homing pigeons. to old to rehome?

[KWAK]

I was given 3 2-3 month old homing pigeons that have never been out of their old loft, are they to old to easily re-home?

 

[KWAK]

Any one?

 

[Tippler]

Can it be done? Yes it can, should it? Well some would debate that.
Yes lock them up and settle them in. Feed call them and trap train and they will be okay.
Do you already have Homers?
Many would say that if a Homer has gone 60 days without flying it is too late and will effect it's ability.

 

[Americana]

Can it be done? Yes it can, should it? Well some would debate that.
Yes lock them up and settle them in. Feed call them and trap train and they will be okay.
Do you already have Homers?
Many would say that if a Homer has gone 60 days without flying it is too late and will effect it's ability.

If they have never been out at their old loft they will train just fine at yours.
As far as a Homer going 60 days without flying affecting their ability? What?

My Dad races Homers. They have a young bird season and an old bird season. They break between the 2 for a couple of months, not saying they don't get out to fly around the loft at all, just not train intensely.
You can get a Homer in condition no matter how many" days it has not flown"

edited to add that they get out of the loft to fly around outside- not in the loft. LOL!

 

[sourland]

Non flown young birds will settle into your loft as readily as pigeons that you raise yourself. Use a settling cage and appropriate 'settling' methods and they will be fine.

60 days without flight affecting flying ability? More on this please.

 

[Tippler]

If they have never been out at their old loft they will train just fine at yours.
As far as a Homer going 60 days without flying affecting their ability? What?

My Dad races Homers. They have a young bird season and an old bird season. They break between the 2 for a couple of months, not saying they don't get out to fly around the loft at all, just not train intensely.
You can get a Homer in condition no matter how many" days it has not flown"

edited to add that they get out of the loft to fly around outside- not in the loft. LOL!

That is not what I mean. I am referring to birds that are born and never fly. Not taking a winter Hawk break.

Non flown young birds will settle into your loft as readily as pigeons that you raise yourself. Use a settling cage and appropriate 'settling' methods and they will be fine.

60 days without flight affecting flying ability? More on this please.

I know they can be settled in. In fact that is what my post reads. All I said was some and many will debate this. I am not one of them. I fly Tipplers and not Homers.

I am a member of a Pigeon only forum which has many racer folk. This is where this comes from. Most in fact would never even try to settle a bird that old. Not worth the time.
However if you have none then why not try? The only thing I am trying to get across is don't expect these 3 month old birds flight to be how their yet to be born siblings may be. The ones born at your loft that is.

I currently have around 70 Tipplers (25 for sale) and will be raising around 80 this year. I have re settled more then 40 very easily. Some have even been prisoners for 3+ years.
Some birds are easier then others to settle into new lofts.
I know a fellow who had a racer he sold and I think 7 maybe 5 years later it ended back in his loft.
They have better pull TMU being flown out of their home born loft.

 

[sourland]

As Tippler states there is a big difference between breeds when it comes to settling 'wing strong' birds. I once raised flights and older young birds were very difficult to settle into my loft. Until I built a settling cage with a 360 degree view of my property, I had problems upon occassion settling my Birmingham rollers. Homers - can't force them to get lost - that's a good thing. It's what they are bred to do - come home.

 

[KWAK]

Thanks everyone!

 

[ridinglizzard]

My first homers, which I acquired in 2009, had 2008 bands on them. I kept them in for a month or so, until they started nesting, and then have had an open door policy ever since. They always came back to me. In retrospect, I think that I was super lucky that I was able to 're-home' them so effectively, because now that I know a lot more about homers I realize that they should have probably taken off back to their original home (~40 kms away).

My friend down the road, who got her homers at the same time from the same place did the same thing and it worked for her as well. Now our offspring occasionally swap coops and the two flocks regularly fly together.

 

[Mary Of Exeter]

Yes, birds that are cooped up in the loft for months before flying can effect it in two ways:
1. Dumbs down the birds. I am a very firm believer in getting your YBs out to fly ASAP after weaning. They need to fly to exercise their homing ability. Just like human babies have to keep their brain busy in order to retain neuron connections, I believe baby pigeons do too. A brain is a brain and pigeons develop 9 times faster than we do.
2. Your main concern is fly aways. By the time they get out of the loft they will be ready to fly and stretch their wings. That would be good if they knew your area but they don't. Even a settling cage can't do it all. If they get up too high and route too far, or if a hawk chases them out of sight, they are much more likely to get lost and never show up again than birds that were hatched at your loft and allowed to fly from a younger age. Even birds that WERE bred at your house but kept locked up too long can do the same. It's happened to me and many others. You can tape the wings or soap the birds to prevent them from getting too far from the loft while they take in their surroundings from a 360 degree view and practice trapping while free.


Now of course there are exceptions to everything. I've had both good and bad experience from settling 2-3 month old homers. Usually 2 months goes perfect and 3 months can do good as well, but over that is pushing it in most cases. Since they were free you aren't losing anything if something happens to them, but if you had paid good money I'd definitely say keep them as breeders. I assume the guy is somewhat close so if they do disappear and happen to make it back to his house, you can go get them