This is an article I found very interesting to say the least, let alone one that has practical commonsense in abundance. I first picked it up from Pigeon Digest!
THE HOME ENVIRONMENT: Part I
By Rod Adams
rod@rodadams.wanadoo.co.uk
The precise meaning of the word environment is, of course, "Surrounding objects, region or circumstances." My aim in this article is to consider the importance of the home environment to the racing pigeon and how it is affected by it. By the home environment, I mean both the internal environment of the loft and the external environment of the area in which it is situated.
Firstly, the internal environment will be considered. In actual practice, ideal situations are very rarely achieved and at best a compromise settlement is usually arrived at. Be that as it may, one thing is abundantly clear. It is essential that the occupants of the loft enjoy a sense of absolute security-- from external predators, from the weather, from hunger, from disease and excessive disturbance. Pigeons are nothing if not creatures of habit and do not take kindly to change. Therefore, to a large extent this sense of security, which is so essential to them, depends upon the way the individual fancier manages the colony of birds.
Management is all important. Good management is a great help in putting pigeons psychologically "right," which in turn has a direct bearing upon their racing performances. This is why I feel it is worth stressing the physical factors involved in good management as the psychological effects spring directly from these, the one affecting the other.
It has been written over and over again that loft design is of paramount importance and this is very true. It must be capable of accommodating all the intended inmates without overcrowding. This effectively means enough space per old bird plus what is required to handle the extra numbers involved during the breeding season. Overfilling the loft at a time when disease is most likely to occur is a sure-fire recipe for disaster. In most species overcrowding leads to aggression, stress conditions then arise and disease becomes much more likely to break out.
Inevitably, in most lofts, some degree of overcrowding will occur and to some extent adequate ventilation can compensate for this provided that there is a continuous flow of fresh air through the loft. Low level ventilation should be externally screened, not just to keep the weather out but also to prevent the occupants of the loft from being alarmed by the sight of sudden outside movements at ground level. Irregular glimpses of movements like these will cause the pigeons to mistrust the floor of their loft. They will become nervous and reluctant to land on it. Bang goes their sense of security and with it their faith in their environment.
Pigeons can withstand severe cold, like sunshine and abhor damp conditions so obviously all three things should be taken into account in any well-designed loft. Whichever direction the loft faces, and sometimes there is no choice involved, it should be kept dry and well-ventilated. In cold maritime climates like the one I live in, "closed" lofts with transparent panels or shutters which allow the light in but keep out the rain are very desirable and if adjustments can be made easily to compensate for seasonal changes so much the better. Timber built lofts are still in the majority here in the UK (although newer materials are now coming into use) and the vast bulk of these lofts are sited not on or in house roofs, not even in house gardens, but on allotment sites. This means keeping them well off the ground and properly weatherproofed. Dampness and vermin are taboo. A damp loft is an unhealthy loft. An unhealthy loft is an unhappy loft and an unhappy loft will not win many races!
Changes to the interior of a loft should be made as infrequently as possible and never during the racing season, nor for that matter during the breeding season. If for one reason or another change must be made it must be made gradually! All birds dislike change. There is a distinct survival advantage to a bird living in the wild state if it knows that there is a place for everything and that everything is in its place. It can make the difference between life and death.
Domesticated to a degree though pigeons are they still retain most of their natural instincts and are wary and mistrustful of change. And rightly so. Knowing exactly where the food and water are available within the loft and aware of the day to day management routines is of great importance to them. Changes to these routines, to the food, the water and the sitting of things within the loft have to be minimized or they will react with suspicion.
They will eat an amazing variety of foods once they are accustomed to them. If not used to them they will stubbornly refuse until hunger forces them to eat, so any changes in the diet should be gradual ones.
Resistance to change brings us naturally to the normal clothing worn by the fancier and changes in the people that the birds come into contact with. The "regular" owners in "strange" clothing are every bit as much strangers as strangers proper and the birds will react accordingly--with mistrust. Mistrust that should be avoided.
Having assured the pigeons, as far as possible, of unchanging loft conditions and a hygienic environment, I would like to discuss the subject of deep litter. If the deep litter system of floor dressing is in use dust can be a problem and must be dealt with. Only by experimentation can the best floor dressing be found for the prevailing conditions, but there is absolutely no doubt about it that, dust or no dust, pigeons love deep litter.
They appear extremely contented where it is in use probably because as a colony they are less disturbed by constant cleaning out. They much prefer nesting in it to using a conventional nest pan and box, and as I have observed it, territorial disputes are less frequent. The area being defended is very much smaller than in the nest box situation often being only pecking distance around the nest. I have watched hens perfectly happily incubating eggs and young amongst the deep litter with their nests less than six inches apart. The young when starting to move about do so with impunity and damage to them is rare. They run about squeaking for food then pile into the nearest nest scrape and are accepted. All in all deep litter is preferred by them to a scraped floor or grilles.
If the dust problem can be resolved why not let your natural birds enjoy the best of both worlds? Nest boxes for the first round then let them have the floor after that if they want it. And they will! Widowhood cocks have the boxes anyway!
If a scraped floor or grilles are more to your liking the golden rule still applies- minimize disturbance. Clean out when the birds are at exercise or gently and quietly move them to another section. "Clean" lofts please only the owner. The birds are totally indifferent.
I think it is a bad policy and a major cause of unrest during the breeding season if the nest bowls are cleaned out whist the young are still in them, or after the hen has re-laid. It is better left to the end of the season. Admittedly the accumulated dried droppings don't look very pretty but they retain heat and if regularly dusted with a suitable insecticide are harmless and natural anyway. Pigeons nesting in the wild in barns etc. often have pedestal type nests of several years' usage, hard as nails and forming perfectly compacted, dry and insulated nest bowls. Think about it.
Suddenly changing the old dark contents of a nest pan for bright new sawdust or straw, whatever, when the youngsters are about 2-3 weeks old will have one result and one result only. They will desert the nest in favour of the lesser hazard of the surrounding environment. The youngsters will be on the floor of the box well before they should be and the parents unsettled and suspicious. Not a smart move!
The immediate pre-fledging period is a dangerous time to meddle with the nests of any species of bird. In the wild if disturbed at this time all the fledglings will immediately desert the security of the nest (birdwatchers use the word "explode") in favour of taking their chances on the ground. Despite the obvious hazards. If undisturbed they would remain longer in the nest until they were better equipped for survival out of it All the dangers of life on the ground as faced by an ill-equipped, immature fledgling are instinctively preferred to an unsafe nest where remaining together is to die together. Being spread about on the ground increases the chances of survival, for some of them at least.
So, the situation is different with our pigeons. We all know that. The dangers almost non-existent I agree, but the basic instinct remains. There are still lessons to be learned here for anyone seeking to get the best out of their pigeons. Getting them physically fit is one thing, putting them at ease with their instincts is another? It demands finesse and expertise and is every bit as important. Maybe more so.
Driving pigeons out of their home to exercise without them knowing why they are being driven out is a big mistake. Obviously they must be gotten out if forced exercise around the loft is required. Opening the door and allowing them to exit themselves will seldom get the full team out (leaving some to be chased out), but providing them with a "signal" will. It is only necessary to move them out a few times whilst tapping a cane against the door frame for them to make the association between the cane and leaving the loft. They will thereafter exit the loft calmly and without any panic or any lessening of their attachment to it. They know what they have to do, because you, "the manager", have produced a conditioned reflex. One, if not the best, of the many techniques available to the fancier and certainly the most useful.
Whilst out at exercise they should be given another "signal" that signifies they are not to enter the loft. Anything will do. A flag, an upturned bucket, whatever. When that is removed, they come in and are fed. And will do so thereafter, on demand. An old fancier once said to me that pigeons have "more brains than half of the fanciers who keep them!" I don't know about that and the term "intelligence" as applied to racing pigeons are still one I am not happy with, but I accept the general idea!
The open-hole system where the birds can come and go as they please and enjoy their freedom all day has much to recommend it and the birds love it. It has some pretty obvious drawbacks, I agree, and it is not always possible to operate this system due to external factors and loft situations. Nor is it always desirable in terms of discipline and the aims of the fancier, but it undoubtedly gives the birds great confidence in the loft. Pigeons given this kind of day- long freedom quickly realize they have it and do not go far. Those birds with restricted freedom once given it tend to behave like children and make the most of it. Consequently, it isn't always easy exercising the right degree of control over them should circumstance demand it, especially if they have not been conditioned to respond as they should.
Watch this happen in the winter with hens allowed their freedom on a once a week basis. They will range far beyond their physical capabilities often returning to their loft late, flown out, or not at all.
One further thing, if the open hole system is in use, it makes good sense to have the access hole or trap in the door proper and not to one side or above it. Pigeons on this system will be coming and going all day, around blind corners and in difficult winds. Used as they are to aiming for a small aperture or trap in the door throughout the week ,they will experience no difficulty at all in going in through an open door on race days should the fancier decide that this is the method of trapping best suited to his needs. Pigeons on the open hole system are supremely confident of their rights of access and will trap very well indeed. But only if they want to!
Basic commonsense dictates that the easiest and best way to settle a pigeon from another loft is to make it want to stay in its new home by providing it with something that was lacking in its old one. At its simplest, this can mean a mate, a nest box or even a perch. Most fanciers are aware of this but fail to recognize that it can also be induced to stay by the general environment existing in the new loft. If the new loft is peaceful and the inmate’s happy, if the food and water supplies are adequate and regular, it all helps. It is incumbent upon the fancier himself to assess exactly what it is that the bird may have lacked in its old home and to provide it in the new loft.
The more often the bird is let out the quicker it will settle. Coming back once again to the open hole system, it has been my experience that pigeons that can come and go at will after previously leading a regimented regulated life know this and settle more quickly than those let out only infrequently. They get to know that the new loft is always open to them and even if on occasion they re-visit their old loft they soon return, being well aware they can always enter and that food is inside. The reverse process is not so easy. Old birds from an open hole type loft take a lot of settling to one which regulates their hours of liberty. This seems to me only to be expected.
Summing up. The fundamental requirements for a good internal environment would appear to be quiet and uninterrupted conditions, security of tenure, so to speak, protection from predators, disease and the weather, allied to loft hygiene, adequate ventilation and a sensitive and suitable system of management. Tie this in with the right number of pigeons for the space available, commonsense on the owner's part and recognition of the instinctive behaviour of their birds and you are nearly there. We are not dealing with machines but with living breathing organisms, all different, and most certainly not to be viewed as mere disposable bundles of feathers to be tested to destruction in the hope of a win in some kind of futile numbers game!
From the "Racing Pigeon"
