Which Book(s) to Start With

[Frank A]

I am new to homers and planning to build a loft this Spring, get some young birds, hopefully train them to home and keep them healthy. I was wondering which books you guys and gals would recommend for a beginner to start his homing racing library? Thanks

[Pegasus]

To be honest with you, I learned a lot talking/sharing opinions with the members of Pigeon-Talk, sometimes the books is not going to give you enough info that you really need..The books give you idea about what you can do but something you are not aware of is not going to print in it...Like I always say, you will learn taking care and keeping pigeons once you have spend time with them every single day...The book is not going to tell you their extreme experience, you will end up buying so much books and still not enough info...There are advantages and disadvantages in the books but talking to your co-members will inform you more than the books...We do share our opinions here, there are some opposed to one opinion and there are some who agree with the another members opinions....In the books you only will believe what you read but here I say you will be better talking to everybody and post any kind of questions that you may have in the future and you will definitely will get some response...

[learning]

You can't go wrong with The Flying Vet's Pigeon Health and Management by Dr. Colin Walker. It should be a required resource in every fanciers library. Great information, great pictures, all from a vet who is a pigeon racer himself. If you get the book, check out the pictures of his lofts. His vet practice must be doing pretty well!

Dan

[maine123]

A book that has helped me is Pigeons by matthew vriends.
here is a link to his book.
http://www.amazon.com/Pigeons-Comple...1729683&sr=1-2

[fastpitch dad]

Originally Posted by Pegasus

To be honest with you, I learned a lot talking/sharing opinions with the members of Pigeon-Talk, sometimes the books is not going to give you enough info that you really need..The books give you idea about what you can do but something you are not aware of is not going to print in it...Like I always say, you will learn taking care and keeping pigeons once you have spend time with them every single day...The book is not going to tell you their extreme experience, you will end up buying so much books and still not enough info...There are advantages and disadvantages in the books but talking to your co-members will inform you more than the books...We do share our opinions here, there are some opposed to one opinion and there are some who agree with the another members opinions....In the books you only will believe what you read but here I say you will be better talking to everybody and post any kind of questions that you may have in the future and you will definitely will get some response...

Good advice, just ask.
People will respond.
and welcome to PT

[george simon]

I have over 50 books on pigeons,but I have to tell you that be very careful at some of the things that are said on the internet as there is much miss information. Now here are two books that I recomend if you are into racing Dr,Wim Peters has two books that I feel would be of good use for you,BORN TO WIN and FIT TO WIN, The book FIT TO WIN is a book on the health,diagnosis and treatment of racing pigeons these books are written in easy to understand language. BORN TO WIN is on the Management,Breeding Stock,Lofts,and much more. While Dr Peters is a veterinarian his books are written in easy to understand language. I would be remiss if I did not include Dr.Colin Walker's book The flying Vet's Pigeon Health Management, and last I would include the magazine RACING PIGEON DIGEST, these three books and the magazine are realy all you need. GEORGE

[DEEJAY7950]

One book you may like is---The pigeon, by Wendell Levi, it's been around a long time and is therefore dated but still has a lot of very useful information and like Dan said The "flying vets book" by Colin Walker, these are two good starting points for sure but be advised these two books are very pricey but worth every penny spent in my opinion!

[Lovebirds]

Originally Posted by learning

You can't go wrong with The Flying Vet's Pigeon Health and Management by Dr. Colin Walker. It should be a required resource in every fanciers library. Great information, great pictures, all from a vet who is a pigeon racer himself. If you get the book, check out the pictures of his lofts. His vet practice must be doing pretty well!

Dan

THE BEST BOOK you can buy.........well worth what you spend. I've got quite a few books and if someone told me I could only keep one, this would be it, hands down.

[Big T]

I ordered a book from Foys for the basics, but I must say the best information has come from this site. Someone from here sent me an ebook I found very helpful and still use it. The Stickys at the top of the page is also helpful. But it also depends on what you are looking for. If like me you want birds for enjoyment, peace, and for the pure love and care of the birds I find Lovebirds to be most helpful. But if you are planning on racing and want to be good, smithfamilyloft has the breeding down to a science. Mostly you will learn as we all have, once you get the basics down, there are many ways and ideas, which makes this site priceless. Everyone here is willing and honest to share for the love of the sport and the birds.

[Alamo]

If you HAVE to buy a book,get one that tells you how to keep your birds HEALTHY...That`s the #1 thing any racing pigeon fancier HAS TO DO !!! The book shows what a bad dropping looks like if a pigeon has a certain illness...And many other helpfull hints and advice on what to do day to day in your loft...Most of the other knowledge required you can get here on this site...Everyone here gives sound advice..We want everyone to ENJOY this hobby......Alamo

[Char-B Loft]

I just read Jim Wiley's book "The New Winning" Only 96 pages but it is a good book to get you started. Covers loft design, (Ventilation is paramount to healthy loft) Health Program, Breeding, Young Bird Racing and so on.
I have read many books on pigeon flying but I have learned more from club members...

[Frank A]

Thanks to everyone for your suggestions. I just finished the first 50 or so pages of Dr. Walker's book mentioned above and I'm thinking that instead of building a loft and raising homers, I'll just see if I can pass the MCAT and get into medical school. Wow, I had no idea pigeons were susceptible to so many awful diseases.

I really liked the last section of Dr. Walker's book, "The Pigeon Year." Does anyone know of an article along these lines which pertains to North America?

Thanks again.

[Lovebirds]

Originally Posted by Frank A

Thanks to everyone for your suggestions. I just finished the first 50 or so pages of Dr. Walker's book mentioned above and I'm thinking that instead of building a loft and raising homers, I'll just see if I can pass the MCAT and get into medical school. Wow, I had no idea pigeons were susceptible to so many awful diseases.

I really liked the last section of Dr. Walker's book, "The Pigeon Year." Does anyone know of an article along these lines which pertains to North America?

Thanks again.

Although there seems to be a lot of "things" that pigeons CAN get, the truth is that most fanciers, if they do things the way they should be done, will seldom see most of them.
I got my first pigeons in 2000. I have yet to see canker. Of course, I treat for it twice a year, but still, I've never seen it in my loft. I've seen actual worms twice and both times they were in birds that I got from someone else. I'm not saying that my birds have never had worms, but again, I treat for them at least twice a year, and I've never "seen" any worms.
Now, I may get worms AND canker tomorrow...........LOL......
A clean, dry loft, good feed and clean water and a bit of TLC, and the majority of pigeons kept by humans are pretty hardy.
That's why it's so VERY important to keep your birds healthy and isolate any new birds that are brought in. Just a little common sense can go a long ways.
Now, with those members that do rehab work and work mainly with ferals, that's a different story and that makes sense when you think about all the things that ferals have to contend with on a daily basis.