Pigeon Talk

[slorider18]

Oh, and one of my birds got out today. I thought she would fly back home to her old loft for sure. After lots of whistling and shaking of food in a dish she is safe in our loft. I honestly can't believe it. Not that I'm going to be trying to fly them any time soon but since I had her in my hands I wrote down her band number. She was born 2013. Can't believe she came home. I've only had them about two weeks. Guessing if she had gotten out with another bird they may have left. counting my blessings.

 

[Hokum Coco]

Can't believe she came home.

It does happen. I would say you were extremely lucky. One of my birds would be home before it's next meal at that age if at all possible.

You must be providing excellent care to your birds and it is in love with it's new owner and loft is my first guess.

Tip: Always fly your birds hungry on several of their first releases.

Second guess it may have poor homing instincts.

 

[CCUK]

@slorider18 good video update! I'm a member of the RPRA which is the UK racing pigeon association. It is the only place I can get rings that are registered to me and if I buy any I can transfer ownership to me for a £2 fee.
Its not much use to you being in the US but here's the link for interest or comparison to the ARPU. https://www.rpra.org/
I get a unique loft no. and if I want to race I must be a member first and then find a local club. Have you vaccinated your birds against PMV? This is also a requirement for racing.
They also do all the one loft races. It's not something I've looked into but I may depending on how this year starts out! That was lucky your bird returned! They do seem quite relaxed and eating from your hand means they are definately comfortable with you. When I feed mine I always shake a can of feed, say 'come on' and make a clicking noise so they associate that with me and that they are going to be fed. I do this every time regardless of wether they are out or in. I have a neighbour with racing pigeons and his loft is probly less than 20m from me so I must do a different call than him for them. He whistles and shouts. I also use aniseed oil in the feed to make them trap faster. Im getting mixed results with that but the best thing is to keep them hungry (not starving!) before you release them. I never feed mine in the morning that I fly them.They may get a few shelless sunflower seeds. They seem to go crazy for them!
This is my loft build. It's not ideal but I only built it as a temporary setup! Well you know how 'permanant' temporary can become! There may be a few ideas that you could use on a larger scale perhaps.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/pigeon-loft-build.74119/
I'm by no means an expert but this is what is working for me at the moment. There can be alot of trial and error and luck can also play a large part. But when you have it all sorted there is nothing more satisfying than watching your hard work come to fruition!

Edit to add.
Here's a link to my thread is started when I first started out. It's a bit of a read but there may be some useful snippets of information. It all started quite by accident really!
UK pigeon owners

 

[Fields Mountain Farm]

I wonder where @Fields Mountain Farm is? She is awol?
Hope all is well!

Ive been sick all wk..
Still not feeling top notch but getting better every day. My energy goes fast so its taking me forever to catch up on byc..
Im way behind here but gonna try to catch up.. It may take me bit tho..

 

[biophiliac]

Ive been sick all wk..
Still not feeling top notch but getting better every day. My energy goes fast so its taking me forever to catch up on byc..
Im way behind here but gonna try to catch up.. It may take me bit tho..

Happy you feel well enough to check in! Take your time and take care of yourself, we will wait for you!

 

[Fields Mountain Farm]

Happy you feel well enough to check in! Take your time and take care of yourself, we will wait for you!

Thank you.. Ive missed you all!

 

[WVduckchick]

Today I was planning to work on the new pigeon setup. But got to talking to hubby about it and he threw out some other ideas, so I’m a bit stumped at the moment.

I can’t decide whether to modify the existing area that I was originally thinking about, or modify the area where the first group is now.

Where they are now is a smaller enclosure, but it is attached to the duck run, which is net-covered, so I could eventually let them fly there. It’s a huge area. Or the other spot is twice the size of the current spot, but does not attach to the duck run. The only way I could let them “out” would be open air, out into my yard. But the enclosed area is large enough for them to fly also, just not as large as the duck run.
If I modify the smaller space they are in now, I would still have the bigger space for extra chickens cockerels, which are occupying it now.

I guess I can still work on the nest cubes today and decide where to install them later.

 

[CCUK]

Ive been sick all wk..
Still not feeling top notch but getting better every day. My energy goes fast so its taking me forever to catch up on byc..
Im way behind here but gonna try to catch up.. It may take me bit tho..

Glad your on the mend. It sucks being ill. I'm still trying to shake the last bit of my cold from before Christmas.

 

[WVduckchick]

Glad your on the mend. It sucks being ill. I'm still trying to shake the last bit of my cold from before Christmas.

It took me 2-3 weeks to fully get over mine too. The first week was horrid. I still have a nagging cough on occasion. The older I get, the harder it seems so get over the crap.

 

[Fields Mountain Farm]

@WVduckchick
Did your pigeons organize a Jail Break???
I may have spotted them
View attachment 1636611
More info as to where they are at. @2:27

Spoiler: Location

Beautiful video!

We are new to pigeons and BYC as well but seems to be a lot of good folks. I'm putting together a youtube channel with my kids to share what we learn. Got our first video up today.

A belated welcome! I love the video! You have some lovely birds.. including the ducks and chickens..

View attachment 1636924 This dove egg has an embryo in it. That means more dove babies. Thats good because the babies are cute and friendly but then I don't want to sell them.

Hmmm ok. You may have to contact the hubby for me.
He will think I’m planning to be overrun with them. I’m really not. I will keep the numbers in check.

Sorry.. couldn't help it.. and yeah, I know..Im the pot calling the kettle black..

Bugsy has some interesting coloring going on.
View attachment 1637252

She's sooo pretty!

Here is the video. They are all straight bar fronts so it may not be too bad making large quantities. I liked how they adjusted though. Super simple design too.

I like those! Thanks for sharing. Im still gathering ideas for my loft. This is very helpfull!

Don't worry Ingrid! Your secrets safe with me!

Glad your on the mend. It sucks being ill. I'm still trying to shake the last bit of my cold from before Christmas.

Thanks.. this stuff just seems to want stick around.. Its just awful. I hope you kick it soon!
Gone as far as can for now.. be back after a rest...