Ranging need help

[muskokapigeon]

Hello

I have 13 homing pigeons and I just love them. They are 3 1/2 months old and are alot of fun. My question is how do I get them to start ranging. I let them out after work every day and they fly off for only about 15 - 30 min then they are back sitting on the loft roof already.

I really do not think that they are over fed and lazy because I feed them exactly 1.5 ounces of feed daily and it is am absolute feeding frenzy when I do feed them. They trap so amazingly fast literally only 15 - 30 sec when I shake the noisy popcan with some nails in it. It is crazy seeing them come in so quickly. Yeah but lets see that on race day eh?

Anyway I would like to start taking them for their first tosses but I dont think that they may be really ready since they dont range very far yet.

Does anyone have any ideas for me?

[Pigeonpal2002]

Hi Dawna,

Although I don't have any "ranging" advice for you, I just wanted to mention....your pigeon loft/log cabin is BEAUTIFUL! So well designed, airy and sturdy looking. It's one of the nicest I've seen....wow, great job

[TerriB]

Dawna,

Awesome loft! Got any pictures of the interior?

[WFL lofts]

WOW I love the loft do you have any building plans to post? could you post some more pictures of it?

[Royaltypigeon]

Muskokapigeon, that is a fantastic looking loft. Your birds are doing well staying out for 30 min. The only thing you can do is stand out by the loft and flag them to keep them from landing . At 3 1/2 mo. you should already be tossing them. You only have a small window to work with and its closing in on you. Go ahead and take them out a couple miles and then increase as you see fit. They have already been out more than 5 mi. just flying around. Trust your birds. They will do well for you.
Gary H.

[re lee]

They will range out on there own. Keeping them up may get them to range moe. If they are going out then back they are rangeing. . At 3 months They can go down the road. If you want to start them out.

[hillfamilyloft]

Something else you might try is to move your birds to the morning. It is hot this time a year and they might fly more in the cool mornings. Mine do 1 1/2 hours in the AM and about 20 minutes in the PM. They are pooped in the PM and breathing hard. In the mornings they are just a bit tiered. They range the 1 1/2 hours. I attribute this to the heat. Toss them in the yard first then move them down the road. Start with about a mile, somewhere they are familiar with. That is a nice loft.
Randy Hill

[qeracing]

Ha, I can't tell you anything about ranging but when I saw that loft photo... THAT is what I want now :P VERY VERY NICE!!!!! I'd like to see interior photos too, and where is the best loft award??

[WhiteWingsCa]

Flagging will keep them up longer -- maybe. Or they might just start landing on trees/houses/tv towers nearby instead.

Are you feeding twice a day, or once a day? How long does it take for the birds to finish their feed? It is possible you are underfeeding them, too. What type of feed are you using?

If they aren't ranging, you don't want to try tosses, for sure.

We went through this last year with our birds -- because of our schedule, they were only going out in the late afternoon/evening. (usually, we'd let them out morning and night right from their first time out) Hubby switched to mornings (let them out at 7 am before going to work). The first morning, some of them were gone for 3 hours! LOL After that, we flew them mornings and evenings again - and within a week, they were all ranging for an hour or more.

YB races start in two weeks -- unless you get them flying and training soon, it won't be a good idea to try and race them the first couple of races....

[muskokapigeon]

Hello again

I took most of your suggestions into concideration and this is what I have come up with and it has worked beautifully.

I would seem that the underlying problem is that I was not feeding them enough. They would go for an ultrashort fly and land on the loft to right away to get me to feed them.

So this is what I did.
1. I gave them all they wanted to eat Friday evening
2. I gave them all they wanted to eat Saturday morning.
3. I did not let them out as usual on Saturday evening
4. I did not feed them Saturday evening
5. I did not feed them Sunday morning
6. I let them out Sunday evening as per normal evening fly
7. I fed them their normal amount Sunday after their fly
8. I am now feeding them 20 ounce of food per day instead of 18 ounces per
day. I have 13 pigeons.

They now are ranging more and a little less frantic when I come in with the feed.
Everyone is much happier and they are not looking into my skylight for me anymore for me to feed them right away.

thankyou for all your help