How Do I Train Them To Fly Back 2 New Home??

[nusdogg]

So i just go a few pairs of adult racing homers, and so i was wondering on how i could train them to fly back to their new home, instead of flying back to the previous owner. So does anyone here have any ideas or experienced it before? please help?

nusdogg

[upcd]

Know where the breeder lives.Because you will be visiting alot to get your birds back. Older birds let them breed for a year. Get thier young flying. Then try the parents one at a time.

[Skyeking]

Originally Posted by nusdogg

So i just go a few pairs of adult racing homers, and so i was wondering on how i could train them to fly back to their new home, instead of flying back to the previous owner. So does anyone here have any ideas or experienced it before? please help?

nusdogg

UPCD is right on.

It is best if you want to start training right away, to purchase youngsters between 4 to 6 weeks of age and train them. They home incredibly well, with the older birds it is very "ify" even after they have had babies. Sometimes they will and some won't rehome, if the old owner allows them back in, then at least it is safe to try.

Treesa

[Jiggs]

I have made some success in that area BUT you need (as mentioned in the above post) to be able to fetch them from the place you got them from.

If you can fetch them regularly I will explain how I did it but you need to get them on eggs first anyway so it will take some time.

How old is adult and did the other loft fly the birds?

[SmithFamilyLoft]

Originally Posted by nusdogg

So i just go a few pairs of adult racing homers, and so i was wondering on how i could train them to fly back to their new home, instead of flying back to the previous owner. So does anyone here have any ideas or experienced it before? please help?

nusdogg

Although possible, best to forget the process. Raise Yb's from your location.
I want birds which home, months, years, after release. In spite of eggs, young, etc. A bird which returns after eggs, young, etc. to my loft, is not returned. They have earned a second chance. I really want that bird back that returns, after years and years of captivity. I figure that a bird which returns after 10 years of captivity, was a lost opportunity. He or she has earned a life time pension. That is the type of homing instinct, I want !!!

[lawman]

Originally Posted by nusdogg

So i just go a few pairs of adult racing homers, and so i was wondering on how i could train them to fly back to their new home, instead of flying back to the previous owner. So does anyone here have any ideas or experienced it before? please help?

nusdogg

In WWII the pigeon/signal corps used a coil at the top of the mobile lofts, they would ground the loft then within 2wks the birds were homed to the new location. The coil was made of copper and was a flat coil on the roof. start from center making ever widening loops/circles, make sure none of them touch, once to outermost part of loft take the copper and ground it at least 3' into the ground. In the old books it describes using 1/2" copper, little expensive if you ask me so I use 1/4", it seems to work out just fine.

[Jiggs]

Mr lawman

Now this sounds interesting!

I dont have an idea of what you are talking about - could you explain some more or post a link please.

Are you saying the copper coil makes them home. The war had moving lofts if I am right and the copper? Please tell me more!

[Jiggs]

Yes Smith Family loft I agree that that pigeon is never "returned" to your loft and you would never be able to race it etc and the chance is there that it will one day decide to leave. But I see it as a favour as to let them do what nature intended and let them fly a bit. So will have to deal with the fact that they will return to the origional owner.

And yes Nusdogg should buy some youngsters or raise his own from his two birds if he wants to fly properly. As I am trying to do at the moment but when waiting for eggs it seems as if an eternity is passing 'sigh'.....

[lawman]

The copper coil doesn't make them home, if they have no homing instinct in the first place. What is a Racing Homer except a fancy, Rock dove that has been breed for generations to fly home from ever increasing distances and at faster speeds.

The rock doves originated on cliffs in Europe, those cliffs are covered with magnetic rock. I believe the Pigeons "home" at least in part by being able to follow the earth’s magnetic field back to their place of origin (home).

Try this, take a copper wire any size will work. Make a flat coil, similar to the heating element on an electric stove top; keep an end on it that can be placed at least 6 inches into the ground. Have the coil at least 10 inches above the ground and turn it so the main element, the coil is flat to the ground. Now an oscilloscope would work best here, but you can use a multimeter (analog not digital) and observe something very interesting. Place the meter on the most sensitive setting you can get for alternating current. Place one probe into the ground hold the other probe in the open air. now depending on where you live, (the results will vary), in the city you should get a lot of random bouncing of the meter, out in the country you will still get some, just more random. Now take the end from the open air and slowly move it to where it’s in center of the area between the ground and the coil. The meter will no longer move or random bounce at all.

By placing a coil on the top of the cage, you've given the birds an edge, by making the cage similar to the caves they originated from. It’s grounded to the earth for your area. Now you can take any bird, have them live two to three weeks inside a loft that has this type of earth grounding and it should be homed in to this new loft.

Now unlike the military we all have different styles of lofts and trapping systems. So you will still have to get your birds used to your loft, but they will be homed in to your loft location.

[Jiggs]

Jeepers

[WhiteWingsCa]

Military lofts were only moved a short distance each time - and the birds never staying in any one spot for a long time - so they were used to looking for their loft in different places.

If these birds have "raced" - then they have had a lot of training and experience being taken possibly hundreds of miles away, and finding their way back to their home loft. While possible, it is difficult, and sometimes NOT possible to "re-home" a bird. We once tried to re-home a bird, after having him for 3 years. He had a mate and youngsters in the nest -- and still returned to his "old" loft -- which he hadn't been at since he was 7 or 8 months old! Thankfully, it wasn't too far from our place, so retreiving him wasn't hard. His previous owner had converted his loft into a garden shed -- he said the bird was sitting on the ground outside the shed, looking at him to open the door. When he did so, the bird walked right in like he'd been living there all along! LOL

If it is important to you to keep these birds, and raise youngsters from them, don't let them out, ever.

[lawman]

Well I guess the military histories are wrong then, Ive heard of some lofts that had to be moved back 50-75 miles from their original locations for fear the Germans would locate and distroy or capture them. And still the birds would re locate to these new locations. I dont think their war to many birds you could do that with and still have them return to a new location within 2 to 3 weeks, even if they were trained to do so.

I've read the books and seen the diagrams of the old military lofts and each of them was outfitted with a grounding coil. The therory is that it helps aid the birds in finding home especially in bad weather and geomagnetic disturbances. Whcih artillary shells would cause a lot of......

So far I've seen no reason not to keep this system on my own loft.

I say if you want to fly the birds give the system a try and see what results are obtained for yourself. It certainly cant hurt to try....

[nusdogg]

Thanks alot to all the pigeon breeders out there..... for all the advice you guys helped me Everybody have a great wonderfull day with your pigeons and be safe plus pigeons.....

[Skyeking]

You are very welcome!

...and you and your pigeons have a wonderful day!