Questions From a Beginnger

[carrie307]

Hi,

I'm looking into raising homing pigeons to race. I've read a couple of books, but they're pretty outdated and don't have much information on the psychology(?) of pigeons. I have a few questions that I hope someone can answer!

Topic A) I don't want a lot of pigeons. Definitely under 10 and preferably under 5. Even just 2 would be great.

1) Can you have just two pigeons or do they enjoy living in a larger flock?
2) Can you have two males or two females or will they not be happy without a mate? Or if you have singles, will wild birds of the other sex show up?
3) I keep chickens without raising chicks by taking away the eggs and eating them. Is this ever done with pigeons? Will they stop laying and sit on phantom eggs like chickens? Or do they
just keep trying?

Topic B) I want the pigeons to be free range and happy.
1) Can they come and go freely or does that negate the attempts to train them?
2) Is there a way to race the pigeons without making them anxious by separating them from their babies or mate?

Thanks!
Carrie

 

[Tippler]

My answers are in bold

Quote:
Are you set on Homers and racing in general?
The only reason I ask is if you would rather spend time watching them fly at home then there are better breeds.
Homers route and will leave your loft for a couple hours then show back up.
Other breeds will not leave sight and still fly all day.
But if you want to race you are stuck with the Homers.
Something else to consider is unless you buy young homers around a month old you can not fly them at your house as they will in most cases leave. Of course you can make them prisoners ans fly their young.

 

[carrie307]

Hi,

Thank you for your help! Not sure why I'm not getting notifications that I got a response. I'll have to check my settings.

My first concern is alleviated, but I still have some thinking to do concerning the second. I'll look into the types of traps too. To answer your question, it could be fun to have some rollers or other types too, but racing pigeons were the main ones I was excited about.

Carrie