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Does anyone successfully race the channel races on widowhood. I have had some good results with widowhood cocks, but have never clocked on the day from a 550 race with one (always next morning), but get them really well from 400-450miles. As 550 is my main aim should I give up and pair them for the big event or just carry on with the widowhood. I prefer to have them on widowhood, as they exercise better, but are the normal motivation techniques too much for such a distance.

going to try widowhood this year at the longer races but i will pair the bird 30 days befor there race as they will only be getting 3 races at most befor the big one if we get 500 mile races  

sounds ok to me wings,how about racing a couple dry then there on the first youngun........

i will try that ribble thanks whould i just let them sit dummy eggs for there first round as they are paird just know ?

yes pot egg them till they leave the eggs.then take the hens away.

Hi Sbelbin
I prefer the distance and prefer the widowhood - I was experimenting from Bergerac
(MNFC) last year and I paired my widowhood cocks just seven days before the race and they flew worse than ever. In the week that they were paired, they lost all intrest in anything other than the hen.
Do you think it has any bearing on the type of birds that you fly?

I know someone who pairs his for the channel, but he does it a month B4 the big race. I used to take all the birds that were'nt going to the race out of the loft 3 days b4 and pair the others back up to send them driving, but they always seem to get to excited in the basket.

I never flown widowhood so I dont know how well it actually works for the distance but it must be able to be done pretty succesully look at Jim Biss results and he was all widowhood

I didnt realise he was totally widowhood, well thats enough confirmation for me, Ill stick with it.

wot a waste of good hens

Yep your right, but I havent got the time (or space) to race the hens as well as the cocks. Its hard enough getting the cocks and Ybs out on a morning B4 work and then on a night and still having time for other things in life. Somethings got to be sacraficed. Its a shame I know, but what can I do!!

sbelbin ur right, lots of other things gotta come before pigeons, but saying that last yr i was just going to race the cocks but let the hens out when i had the time. i started to race them. the cocks where out twice aday, the hens mabe only 3 or 4 times a week. then on the way to national marking i said to my mate 'next year adding 8 more cocks to the team and not bothering with hens. and what went and happened? that weekend a hen went and won a national for me!

back to the topic though, pigeons are sprinting out of 500 miles now, so id keep them on widowhood

The cock that I got last year from our 550 mile race, was previously what I would consider as a sprinter, as he had scored and won from 200-250mile and it was a last minute decision to send him, as he was bouncing the week B4. I have been considering building a little loft for the hens to race to, but I dont want to upset my neighbours by building more lofts. I have heard a lot of people win with spare hens, that they have given little attention.

i have raced both natural and widowhood at the distance and done well with both[also done bad with both] i think its a very difficult question to answer in a few lines.widow hood cocks, tend to eat less than natural birds especialy later in the season, so whether it be widowhood or natural they must have the fuel for the journey, so widowhood cocks have to be encouraged to eat a heavier than normal w .hood diet including ,peanuts[ which theyll eat ]tic beans and maples, w.hood cocks destined for the distance, should[ be in my opinion]started off later in the season, and off course youll get as many differant type of races as you will get pigeons, i.e the pigeon i won the combine with was doing 1400vel for a 505 race this pigeon won many sprint races, but there was no comparison to sir colin .who was 2nd nat  604 miles in a cold head wind,and scored well in many hard races 4 nationalsover 505miles his wing was broken at 4 years old, so who could say he wouldnt have scored again, as i said the question is a big one and couldnt be answered, quickly and easily, but fuel for the journey is just ONE of the important things, there are many more

Cheers Jimmy, the food aspect is always my main worry on the days leading upto the race. I used to show them their hen 2 days B4 the race and let them stay together up to basketing but always found they were to excited to eat. So the last 2 seasons I havent shown the hens at all, just took all other pigeons out of the loft a week B4 and left them to rest. The way Ive got round the feeding is to start a fortnight B4 on full corn, hopper feeding them and then 3 days B4 took all corn out in the morning and then fed them 1 ounce morning and night the next few feeds which seemed to work well, then their last feed, as many peanuts as they could possibly eat. Then I basket them and put water on one side and food on the other, and they seem to reallise what going on and have a quick feed and drink.

i went on a few loft visits in holland about 10 years ago.i asked at each loft,how long do you show your hens for on the long races.they all said the same about 40 mins to 1  hour so the cocks had tread the hens.they are more relaxed when in the baskets.try it on races when you basket two or more days before lib..........regarding the feeding try the high fat mixes for the last week.bamfords do a good one,and also had a look at bucktons and it also looks good.

Sbelbin
I dont have a lot of experience but I had a 4yr widowhood cock win for me from Thurso - only day bird club and fed. He was part of my widowhood team but he
only had that one race and one at the start of the season. He only saw his hen once that season and that was prior to basketing bfore Thurso. I thought I'd "flogged" him in the three years previous due to my own inexperience but I soon realised the benefit of setting a bird up for one particular race even on widowhood.
Every friday I put him in a seperate compartment and only put him back when all the hens are away.

i have raced both widowhood and natural looking at the hens in the shed on there own always seemed a waste to me. i have always liked to see what a hen can do racing. i dont like to breed off a hen that has done nothing just my opinion.

Hi Mark

Do you still race natural with the hens  or do you race roundabout?