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Economics of pigeon raising.Are the recent developements of our economic system having a toll on your bird raising? I have bought 100 bands for homers and decided not to raise or race pigeons this year. The cost and the way things are going I figured it best to just take a loss on buying the bands instead of raising a bunch of racing pigeons and trying to race later on this year. The cost of feed, taking them down the road for training tosses with high gas prices, the cost of joining the club, paying for measurements to release points, etc., I do not see happening for me, to be better on down the road. The idea of the entry into 'one loft races' are also out of the question right now. Are any of you fanciers having the same feelings? Are you 'cutting' back and selling or getting rid of what you now have? Just wondering if anybody else seems to be in the same 'boat' that I am being in. Or is it just me?
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No, it's not just you. And it's going to get worse.
__________________
 Renee www.lovebirdsloft.com People have the right to be stupid, but some abuse that privilege. For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness. If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything. Mark Twain Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you are a mile away from them, and you have their shoes.------ Frieda Norris
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I truly love both of your optimistic outlook.
 Pardon me, but I am a retired widower living alone. I am on a fixed income, and increased prices hurt, yes they do! Bit is that going to curtail one of the most important things in my life? The answer to that is Hell NO! I bought a hundred bands, mated my 18 pair of fantails, paid my dues to five pigeon clubs, buy five bags of feed and one of grit, meds for my birds (and some for me), pay all my bills on time, and certainly don't have much left over, but guess what? I make it in the long run. When it comes to show season, I have to sell almost all of the birds I raise to be able to pay entry fees, travel and shipping expenses and so on, but even if the sales aren't there, I still carry on and try to improve the quality of birds I have right here! The only way to handle a recession: dont participate.
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Amen! risingstarfans, We went to 40 hours this week, first time in my life i will be working a forty hour shift! Will it be hard? Heck ya! Will i cut back on my pigeons? my HUGH electric bills for my pond? Heck no, i plan on growing my flock this year, spawning my koi, and doing what i was put on this earth to do enjoying life! Dave P.S. BUT, Lovebirds is right, it has no way near hit bottom yet.
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got no intention of cutting back,i work 2 p/t jobs and study too,lived thru recession in 70s and 80s in uk,gonna keep on and on
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Ya, but for you it should be easy, SCOTS are a tough breed! Dave
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I agree it is getting ruf with the cost of everything going up up up
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Yep, it is getting rough. I'm in the same shape as Risingstarfans. Retired, fixed income etc. etc. But I can squeeze a nickle pretty good. Found out I can save enough on electricity by hanging clothes on the line instead of using the dryer to buy a couple of bags of pigeon food every month. And I haven't even really clamped down yet. Fortunately I'm old enough to know how to live without all the instant stuff like we did in the old days. Sound like a geezer don't I?
 I agree Lovebirds, it is going to get a lot tougher before it gets better. Now if I can keep the little rascals from sneaking under the loft and surprising me with oops babies..........I don't need more mouths to feed. Mine are mostly mutts and I can't even give them away. Margaret
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Those $0.99 burgers helped! Instead of buying those $4-6 burger I can get those dollar menus. The change I can use to buy pigeon feed. Being Asian I am used to eating noodles, too. Those are even cheaper. But pigeon feed may have more nutrition. LOL!
I actually now enjoy looking at coupons! We also seldom eat outside now. We cook and dine home. We also reduced our travels. Last year and this year we had no travel plans where we used to take trip every year to some place that can take 2 hours to 5 days to drive. I think everyone is affected. With my pigeons I have a fixed budget for one year. I can't exceed that budget so very early on I planned how many breedings I should have, etc. Last edited by RodSD; 23rd February 2009 at 11:45 PM.
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Funny thing about this is I am reducing the other animals on the farm, but have increased my loft space. Cutting down on pigs (You ever seen a pig eat? They eat like [C'mon, you knew this was coming] Pigs!) and I am going to give up the cows. As they become market ready I will sell them off. Should be out of the cow business by Sept.
Still debating on how far to cut the chicken flock. We make pretty good money on the eggs and hatching baby chicks... But, the price of feed has not come down with the price of diesel (Remember they said delivery cost was causing the prices to rise?) Anyway, we have cut back on dining out and do more things around the homestead. But yes, it affects our lifestyle, but no, no big impact on the pigeons.
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Not speaking to any specific fancier's situation, but in generalities. I have seen economic hard times before, specifically at least up to this point, the 1970's were much harder times. There were gas lines, then double digit inflation and much higher unemployment rates. And how people cope during these times depends in large part, the type of lifestyle they had before things started to turn south. Having been in banking, and a Federally and State licensed investment advisor, I know first hand that hard times affect people differently.
As an example, there are people who purchased homes which were a real stretch in terms of their household incomes, and layered on top of that new car payments on multiple cars, and also managed to carry large credit card balances in relationship to their incomes. With some of these people, missing a single paycheck could cause immediate hardship and crises. Then there are people who purchased homes well below their means, perhaps only owned one older car which was paid for, had no credit card debt, and saved a huge portion of their pay checks. Some of these people could literally go years without a paycheck and their standard of living would remain the same. In my experience, regardless of income, those who lived well under their means, always felt more secure and "wealthy" even if they were of modest means. Now, having said all that, having pigeons as a hobby, can be a very expensive undertaking, or a very modest and frugal exercise. We have a Jr. member for instance, whose parents require him to budget his $15 a week income from delivering newspapers, and pay for the vast majority of his pigeon expenses. Our combine and club and national organization dues and YB racing fees run $280 a year or $5.38 a week, add in feed, medical supplies and a supplement or two, and depending on the number of birds, perhaps one could spend as little as $15 a week to fly a YB season with a small team. If that is a little on the low side, one could perhaps imagine $21 a week, or less then a pack of smokes a day or one of the fancy coffee drinks. At that point, it may simply be a matter of priorities. I know that on the margin, that some fanciers may simply cut back on their numbers, perhaps cut some road training a bit, or reduce the number of birds sent to One Loft events. Overall, that may not even be a bad thing, since many fanciers keep too many birds in the first place, over medicate, over train, over supplement etc. I for one, chose to reduce other wasteful spending in my life, such as cruises to Bermuda, that unneeded car, etc. years ago, so that my wife and I could spend more time together and enjoy what was most important to us. I would no sooner rid myself of racing or my pigeons, as I would eliminate a member of the family, a family pet, or other things which bring so much joy to my life. If need be, at some point, there are other less important things I enjoy, which could be reduced or eliminated, before I would undertake such drastic moves. Personally, I could not imagine life without my pigeons, and to tell you the truth, dollar for dollar, my pigeons provide me the best entertainment value then anything else out there.
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My wife is still having a tough time getting a job for at least 2 years now. I am on disability income and still owe doctor bills. When in debt, my wife needs the job badly. Spent lots of money for schooling and no job. Keep cutting back till in a corner. Just wonder how others are doing out there. Helps when two have a job each. Wish I could win the lottery!
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if the price of feed would stay still it wouldnt be so bad, but when you go to get more feed an its gone up again it really begins to burn a hole in your pocket
I think my birds eat better then me these days 
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Warren, i agree with your statements, i lived though the slow down in the 70's, got out of high school in 73' i remember the lines in 79'.
I started a small, cabin venture at eagle cave near blue water Wis. I think it was Spring of 79, bought it on a real easy term contract from a friend I had little cash into it, because, i had little cash, i was depending on the HUGE, car traffic going past it. Sold first cabin in about three weeks. If my memory serves me, by mid summer, all i had passing was 2 or 3 cars passing a day, i do not need yo mention how THAT venture ended up. LOL! My wife was a Teller, when i met her, and here late father was a Senior V.P. in commercial banking at the, now defunct. Continental bank. He always said he had seen ups and downs, and it always gets better. BUT this one is shaping up to be worse than anything i have seen in MY 53 years. I really hope i am wrong. Dave Last edited by LUCKYT; 25th February 2009 at 05:00 PM.
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