New in breeding homing pigeons

[Lady507]

Hello, I just got my first homing pigeon pair. I have always had classic frills, which care is a bit different compared to these. I would like to know any necessary information and advice you guys might have. How to breed, train, maybe a good place to sell chicks as these are high-quality pigeons. The best times to let them out and if they can be flown while nesting. Just advice and information a rookie should know. Thank you all in advance!!

 

[cavemanrich]

Welcome to our lofts. Here at BYC. I can start to explain and be here until morning, and my fingers bleeding from typing. A simpler solution is to direct you to 2 threads that are very active and with plenty of info you can gain just by scanning the posts.
Let me tackle your initial questions,,
How to breed.
You want to breed your pair, then it is also good to breed those of-springs to another set of different source pigeons, to diversify the DNA.
Train.
Start by loft flying the young at about 4 weeks or slightly older. They will keep returning to loft because they still get fed by pappa somewhat. Try to release them hungry. They hop out and turn around and go back to loft for breakfast. This trains them to come back inside loft.
The best times to let them out and if they can be flown while nesting.
You don't release your newly acquired breeding pairs until at least you are sure they are homeset. Adult pigeons usually need to raise 3 or more broods to be comfortable staying in their new loft. Some will not homeset regardless. Your newly born pigeons in your loft will homeset to your loft.
Times to let your pigeons fly depends on a few things. Your schedule, and factors like predators present. Different for everyone. Best to let them out hungry, and call them into loft with food. Avoid flying nursing parents, for possibilities of their loss.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/pigeon-talk.1276029/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/pigeon-bulletin-board.1174207/

WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[Hokum Coco]

How to breed, Avoid breeding siblings (parent to offspring is OK.) train, maybe a good place to sell chicks as these are high-quality pigeons. This site may help you. The best times to let them out and if they can be flown while nesting. I let my nesting pairs fly from the loft in violation of the main rule for Pigeon Fanciers NEVER FLY A BIRD YOU CAN NOT AFFORD TO LOOSE. Just advice and information a rookie should know. Thank you all in advance!!

@cavemanrich gave good advice this is my added 2 cents worth.

 

[biophiliac]

Welcome to the Pigeon forum @Lady507 ! Do you have racing homers or show homers? How about a pic of your birds.

 

[backyard pigeons]

To train your homers to come home from large distances you must first loft fly the OFFSPRING! I would not reccomend ever flying your adult birds even once they are homeset since they will likely become the foundation of you flock. After loft flying, you start to go on tosses. Tosses are where you box up your birds, then drive say 1 mile away and release. Theywill come home. Ive heard to do tosses thr distince in miles like money. 1 mile, 5 miles, 10 miles, and so on. You also should get a trap for your birds when they come in. I have both a bob trap and a sputnik trap. I would reccomend a bob trap. All advice above is good, especially @biophiliac , pictures!

 

[slorider18]

Welcome. I'm in the same boat. I just got two breading pairs and hope to get started in the upcoming months. Everyone here seems to have very sound advice. I'm also looking to find additional information online so if I find anything else I'll pass it along. Keep us posted and post photos.

 

[biophiliac]

Glad to meet you @slorider18
Two breeding pairs is a great start! You are right about finding info online, I devoured everything I could find for months to learn as much as I could before I got my first 8 racing homers in Dec 2017. I started a thread called Pigeon Bulletin Board where I linked to some cool stuff I found online - anyone is invited to post links, comment or chat. Especially recommend a very active thread Pigeon Talk, stop by and join in! We'd love to see photos of your birds and loft if you'd like to share.

 

[LamarshFish]

I posted a somewhat lengthy description of how I train my homers in the thread below, see this link, best of luck:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ons-to-come-back-to-there-coop.1284800/page-2

 

[slorider18]

I've been searching online but it's been tough. Some resources are just old and links are broken. I'm putting together a youtube channel with my kids to share what we learn. I have an uncle who had birds for years and I'm also going to reach out to a local club. Should be a ton of fun.

 

[biophiliac]

I've been searching online but it's been tough. Some resources are just old and links are broken. I'm putting together a youtube channel with my kids to share what we learn. I have an uncle who had birds for years and I'm also going to reach out to a local club. Should be a ton of fun.

I can recommend the series by Maney Lofts - to you and your children if they are interested. New content almost everyday. Here's a sample...