[White Sky]

I have 20 new young birds and this is my first attempt ever to train homing pigeons. I plan to use the white homing pigeons for release events. I've been releasing them from loft over a month. Some have ventured out for several minutes and returned. However, most of them, hang out on my house roof, top of loft and walking around the yard. They do trap when I shake can and blow whistle. My concern is they have no desire to fly off and be gone for longer periods of time? I'm so ready to train them to return to loft, but I feel their not ready. I'm I doing something wrong? Any suggestions?

 

[spirit wings]

well I would lose the mad faces first..lol.. you are not doing anything wrong except perhaps expecting too much too soon from young birds. white birds tend to be a little more less concerned about routing than say high strung racing homers. I would get them up with a flag or something, let them do a few laps and do that for another month. then you can start taking them down the road so they will have to fly then and build muscle, after you have worked up to 30 miles with them you should be good to go 50 with them and start your releases. they get better with age so don't push them too much twice a week road training is about right when they have been flying for a few months, 20 miles or more can be stressful on too young of birds. remeber they are only around 12 weeks old!

 

[White Sky]

okay, im smiling now.....What is meant by "up with a flag"? I so appreciate your quick reply. Jobie

 

[george simon]

Well there is something worng here. Young healty homeing/race birds love to fly The birds might have sickness or you may not have true homers there have been people that sell so called homers to new comers that are the squabing type that are bred for the dinner table. Can you post a pictuer of your birds so we that have race birds can tell you that they in fact are homers GEORGE

 

[spirit wings]

okay, im smiling now.....What is meant by "up with a flag"? I so appreciate your quick reply. Jobie

a flag. ,,. material tied to a pole..lol.. wave it around in the air to get them up, only do this if they have been out for a month. do not do this to young birds just out of the loft.

as far as sickness that is always going to be possible. but mine act the same as yours and I have no sickness. believe me a racing stock bird is different than birds bred to be white. not all white birds are lazy and not all race birds fly like bullets. but I find the whites are not as zippy as the birds bred from racing pigeons. getting them flying is going to come down the line when they are ready, by taking them down the road so they have to fly. also don't overfeed, but it sounds like you got that handeld.

 

[spirit wings]

Here is what my pigeons do allot/some of the the time, sometimes they fly laps or even out further, sometimes they do this, which is fine, Im not expecting them to win any racing as I don't race them, as long as they come back home and call this loft their home that is all I need.

 

[White Sky]

Thanks for sharing a picture of your white homing birds....look just like my homing birds. My birds are not sick and have on occasions have ventured out and returned home and use the landing board and the trap very well.

 

[re lee]

Are they being fe before you let them out. If so stop. At 2 months of sitting They need to be jumped up. Made to fly. Perhaps taking them at least a couple blocks away They may get the idea.. The moner they sit the stronger they get and can get lost when they loft fly. It is not being a white pigeon It is learning bad habits. See many whites have not been cultivated to fly like thay should. And not selected well for breeding. That becomes the fault of the Owner. Even if they came from so so birds they can become motivated to fly well. And select breeding in the furure they better birds rise to the top. So work them to get them up. But traine them hard as you get them down the road. Keep track of the ones that come back faster As those will be your better whites. And use only the better birds for breeding to improve there line agin. expect to not see some get home. AND I would recomend getting some grizzle colored HENS using them over white cocks to bring in new blood in white color To increase there ability . Good luck.

 

[Rod Hultquist]

Any chance you are overfeeding? Heavy pigeons don't like to fly. On the other hand hungry pigeons don't like to fly either. I add barley to my race mix. By adding 20-30percent barley to your mix will help to regulate how much they eat. Additionally, if they have any repiratory issues they won't stay in the air very long.

 

[boneyrajan.k]

I keep and fly White homers,from my experience they start disappearing and routing by around 3 months of age.If i flag them they loft fly around the house for nearly 1 hour.If your young birds (of 3 months age) are coming down within 5-10 minutes of flying,they may be suffering from any sickness .Also tell us about your diet,it plays a big role,the birds need lot of carbohydrates to provide them instant energy while flying ,If your feed to not containing enough carbs they may not fly well.
Dont allow them to sit near the loft,soon after you let them out....you really need to flag them,otherwise sitting near the lofts becomes a habit for them.When you regularly flag them,after a few days the birds will start flying by their own as they start enjoying flying.Its all about,what habit you allow them to acquire
So to keep it simple :-
1.Ruleout Respiratory infections,Coccidiosis,canker and worms.
2.Make sure they have enough carbohydrate in the diet.
3.After ruling out 1 & 2 ,Flag them to make them fly longer

 

[hamlet]

wait or go slow in their training
loft train to do a few laps for another month
take them down the road after the month
after three months of training, road train 2 times a week
do not overfeed
do not feed before liberation
rule out baby fat : fat birds
rule out underfed: ;low on carbs
rule out health issues
breed from the strongest
add stronger blood from outside(grizzle hens)

THIS is what i got so far and i agree and thanks. I would like to add one more suggestion: keep the training feed the same once they are doing good: this is a hard one for me because whatever it was that brought them into shape could also make them underweight i am assuming.
To keep them from wondering in the yard: do they have access to salt block or grit inside their loft? Thanks