Homing pigeons didn’t come back

[Nimure]

I’m pretty new to homing pigeons. I’d been letting my birds loft fly for about a week and they hadn’t really been flying a lot. Just a little. But not routing. I did have one get scared off by a coops and the bird still came back an hour later.

I was kinda worried about them getting lazy. I’ve had the birds since December ish, all young birds, and they had the settling cage from Dec-mid Feb. Then loft flying for the last week. I had put off loft flying due to cold weather and more hawks around for winter.

Anyway I tried to push them a bit into flying today. Several of the birds flew really well and circled the loft several times. It was nice to see. After a few minutes of this I tried to call them in for food, however they did not come down and eventually flew out. I hoped they were routing and would come back.

Unfortunately they did not come back. I waited until dark. I am hoping they will come back tomorrow. I’m really bummed and mad at myself because the three that flew off included two of my best birds. I shouldn’t have pushed them. I did it only because I’d been struggling to find info on how long it takes birds to start routing, if they do it on their own naturally, and how one might encourage it vs them just hanging out on the loft.

As far as feeding and routine goes, I’ve been feeding them around 5pm. I had started loft flying around 4:30 and was letting them out a bit earlier each day. Last two days they were let out around 3pm.

They all trap though not as quickly as I’d like. For food I typically feed them only 1x per day and let them eat as much as they can in 8-10 minutes. If I skip a day (which I did once or twice to try and get them more motivated to trap), they don’t fly much at all except to fly to me in the yard (clearly hoping for food).

Guess I’m just posting here to find out what my chances are at seeing these birds again. I’d hate to think I lost my best birds one week into loft flying bc I made a stupid decision.

If they do come back, anyone have any advice on how to handle things going forward? I’m trying to train them like racing birds (though at the moment I am not planning on any races).

 

[Qwerty3159]

Did you get them back today?

Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon to lose pigeons on their first real excursions away from the loft. On the bright side; it’s also not uncommon (in my experience) for this to happen and then they’re back by the next day. They could’ve been spooked by a hawk and flown off a ways, choosing to sleep somewhere rather than try to return back to the loft and it be dark.

Pigeons are remarkably resilient creatures. I will never forget the time I did a quick evening loft fly, a falcon scattered my pigeons, and they ended up circling for a while until it got too dark for them to land back on the loft. As the last light was slipping away for the day I saw them eventually land in some large trees in my yard. They sat in the trees through an overnight snowstorm and were all alive, well, and back in the loft by the next morning.

Starting out, it can be tough and demoralizing. But it sounds like you are doing all the right things. In my experience they’ll start routing sooner or later, I don’t think there are any specific things you can do to urge them along in this process

 

[Nimure]

Did you get them back today?

Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon to lose pigeons on their first real excursions away from the loft. On the bright side; it’s also not uncommon (in my experience) for this to happen and then they’re back by the next day. They could’ve been spooked by a hawk and flown off a ways, choosing to sleep somewhere rather than try to return back to the loft and it be dark.

Pigeons are remarkably resilient creatures. I will never forget the time I did a quick evening loft fly, a falcon scattered my pigeons, and they ended up circling for a while until it got too dark for them to land back on the loft. As the last light was slipping away for the day I saw them eventually land in some large trees in my yard. They sat in the trees through an overnight snowstorm and were all alive, well, and back in the loft by the next morning.

Starting out, it can be tough and demoralizing. But it sounds like you are doing all the right things. In my experience they’ll start routing sooner or later, I don’t think there are any specific things you can do to urge them along in this process

As of this morning they still had not returned. I had to leave eventually to go into work, but I will try to go home around lunch and check. I didn’t feel comfortable leaving the loft open as they’re still getting comfortable with the trap so I don’t have all the bars down yet. Which means the others could leave before the lost birds return.

I really hope they come back. They were some of my best birds. I know there will be losses but gosh it hurts to lose half my flying youngsters in one go.

 

[Nimure]

Two birds flew by while I was home for lunch. I let the ones in the loft out for a bit and the wayward birds did a second fly by but did not land yet. I had to head back in but I’m feeling hopeful having seen at least a couple of them still alive and around.

 

[Qwerty3159]

That’s awesome news. I’m hoping for their safe re-entry.

You could also try leaving the trap open with all the bobs down, hunger after being stuck outside all night might give them the encouragement they need to complete the learning process.

 

[Nimure]

Unfortunately they did not come back to the loft today. Fingers crossed for tomorrow

 

[Qwerty3159]

Any luck?

 

[Nimure]

Any luck?

No. I keep hoping, but we got some bad weather last night so I figured it’s a lost cause. Still leaving the trap open with the bobs down in case they come back when I’m not around. I also let some local pigeon folks know in case the birds go home with another flock. I am super bummed.