i was given 2 young racing homers

[adamant]

i was given 2 young racing homers that are 33 days old or so. they are the only two that i have now in my new loft. the bobs are up and there exit door is open to the landing board with a cage over them. it seems that there are not going on to the board. i placed them outside on it but they come back in . is thes normal? also i keep feed in the loft all the time. is that ok or should i remove the feeder in the morning and place it back in the pm and remove it at dark? all the books that i been reading only address adult birds.
thank you
anthony from n.j. ( new to pigeons)

[Lovebirds]

Originally Posted by adamant

i was given 2 young racing homers that are 33 days old or so. they are the only two that i have now in my new loft. the bobs are up and there exit door is open to the landing board with a cage over them. it seems that there are not going on to the board. i placed them outside on it but they come back in . is thes normal? also i keep feed in the loft all the time. is that ok or should i remove the feeder in the morning and place it back in the pm and remove it at dark? all the books that i been reading only address adult birds.
thank you
anthony from n.j. ( new to pigeons)

Give them a few days to start venturing out into the cage. They WILL in time. MY personal opinion is to leave the food 24/7 for a couple of days, maybe three until they get used to their new surroundings. At 33 days, they've been taken from Dad & Mom AND moved to a totally new place. Don't rush them. Let them settle in and get used to everything...........you got them at a good age.......you'll see a big difference in a few more days, when they get more confident.

[Brummie]

Originally Posted by adamant

i was given 2 young racing homers that are 33 days old or so. they are the only two that i have now in my new loft. the bobs are up and there exit door is open to the landing board with a cage over them. it seems that there are not going on to the board. i placed them outside on it but they come back in . is thes normal? also i keep feed in the loft all the time. is that ok or should i remove the feeder in the morning and place it back in the pm and remove it at dark? all the books that i been reading only address adult birds.
thank you
anthony from n.j. ( new to pigeons)

Anthony.
Thirty three day's old, and in a new loft. It's only natural they would be a little "skiddish". You have to let them find there comfort zone.
I alway's leave food out for youngster's...in a hopper. Anyfood that get thrown to the floor, I dispose of.

[RodSD]

That is normal behavior. They go inside because they don't feel comfortable looking outside. Sooner or later they will go voluntarily. But the way I "forced" mine is to have a door that locks them out and they can't get in. I do that with my 3 weeks old babies for 30 minutes to 1 hour for 3 days, then I put them back to their parents. That is their first training here at my loft. They seemed to have associated food call as well during those times. Once they get weaned, they seemed to have curiosity and they will venture out to see the outside with settling cage of course. Just give your birds time for now and train them food whistle first. Trap training comes later, then outside observation with settling cage(the one you are doing now) and finally unforced release. I think you can all do these in 4 weeks. The only thing I am worried is that by 4 weeks, they might be wing strong and if they took off suddenly, you can lose them. But that is the negative side.

So the plan of attack:

First week: Let the birds feel comfortable first and food whistle train.

Second week: Trap training. If they are smart birds, they can learn to trap in 3 days! You may wish to expose them to the outside now, too, with settling cage. Let them get inside the loft in respond to food whistle or call.

Third week: More surroundings exposure with settling cage. If they don't go outside voluntarily, then you may be force to catch them and put them there. Let them enter the loft with food whistle or call.

Fourth week: Take out the settling cage and let the exit door open so that they will come out voluntarily. Don't force. Let them come out and in voluntarily and be there. If you are lucky and they don't take off suddenly, then they will try to learn their surroundings more either by flying to the loft roof, etc. Sudden noise, hawks, cats can scare the hell out of them and they can get lost.

[Brummie]

Originally Posted by RodSD

That is normal behavior. They go inside because they don't feel comfortable looking outside. Sooner or later they will go voluntarily. But the way I "forced" mine is to have a door that locks them out and they can't get in. I do that with my 3 weeks old babies for 30 minutes to 1 hour for 3 days, then I put them back to their parents. That is their first training here at my loft. They seemed to have associated food call as well during those times. Once they get weaned, they seemed to have curiosity and they will venture out to see the outside with settling cage of course. Just give your birds time for now and train them food whistle first. Trap training comes later, then outside observation with settling cage(the one you are doing now) and finally unforced release. I think you can all do these in 4 weeks. The only thing I am worried is that by 4 weeks, they might be wing strong and if they took off suddenly, you can lose them. But that is the negative side.

So the plan of attack:

First week: Let the birds feel comfortable first and food whistle train.

Second week: Trap training. If they are smart birds, they can learn to trap in 3 days! You may wish to expose them to the outside now, too, with settling cage. Let them get inside the loft in respond to food whistle or call.

Third week: More surroundings exposure with settling cage. If they don't go outside voluntarily, then you may be force to catch them and put them there. Let them enter the loft with food whistle or call.

Fourth week: Take out the settling cage and let the exit door open so that they will come out voluntarily. Don't force. Let them come out and in voluntarily and be there. If you are lucky and they don't take off suddenly, then they will try to learn their surroundings more either by flying to the loft roof, etc. Sudden noise, hawks, cats can scare the hell out of them and they can get lost.

No offence , but if I was a newcomer, you would scare the bejesus out of me. This guy's new to pigeon's. Good advice. But slowly, gently is a way to thread. JMO

[RodSD]

I'll try Brummie! LOL! I am happy that the poster posted this because there were others that just released their birds and asked why their birds didn't come back.

I believe he/she needs to start training now. I am thinking he/she will search other training that he/she doesn't understand. Basically my plan of attack was an outline. As you may have noticed, it was not detailed enough. Someone should fill in the blank. But I do understand what you are saying! But that would be a lot to type to tell steps by steps training which probably has been covered already in different threads so I just gave an outline here.

[Brummie]

Originally Posted by RodSD

I'll try Brummie! LOL! I am happy that the poster posted this because there were others that just released their birds and asked why their birds didn't come back.

I believe he/she needs to start training now. I am thinking he/she will search other training that he/she doesn't understand. Basically my plan of attack was an outline. As you may have noticed, it was not detailed enough. Someone should fill in the blank. But I do understand what you are saying! But that would be a lot to type to tell steps by steps training which probably has been covered already in different threads so I just gave an outline here.

My favorite saying is" I love my friend to win"
This is a big commuity of pigeon flyer's. Some are new and some are very, very old. We, who have some experience,we should not be blatent in directing a new comer.Step by step.
Patience.

[adamant]

thank you all very much.
ant