Widowood

[Old Pied]

Hi All

 

New member to list. From South Africa. Been following post last few days, very interesting.

 

Like to knw if any of you can think of reason as to why widowood could not and does not work in South Africa, as many fanciers here have tried it, but failed. Would like to try it myself, so any suggestions would help.

 

Regards

Old Pied

[OLDYELLOW]

Welcome to Pigeon Basics , we hope you enjoy the site

cant see it not working , some systems will suit one fancier  and birds but not others , flying a widowhood bird is easier and dont need training after first race and keep themselves fit , you need to take as much care of the hens as the cocks , the other benifit is the birds fly on a near full wing which gives it an edge on the natural birds but without knowing how they've tried the system hard to say what they did wrong

[Old Pied]

Hi OldYellow

 

I am going to 'try my hand' at widowood this year. In 2009 I raced +-70 yearling pigeons, and kept the 'best' (based on performance) 18 cocks. I only raced these cocks in 5 races from 230km up to 660km. These 18 all flew very well over these 5 races.

 

I have build a new seperate loft in which i have installed 18 widowood boxes (nice big boxes 600mmx600mmx600mm). I have settled these 18 cocks in the new loft, and they also know the new trap.

 

What is the next step you suggest. Our moulting season starts end of January till early march, and racing season starts beginning June.

 

Regards

Old Pied

[OLDYELLOW]

my suggestion is try and buy a copy of Dave Allens 'A Widowhood year'  it will give you the basics of the system easiest way of prepairing is to work backwards from your first race 3 weeks training + breeding + pairing +pre pairing = start date   the above book is usualy available through amazon

[Old Pied]

Thanx OldYellow, will try to get hold of it.

 

Regards

Old Pied

[OLDYELLOW]

no problem

[Guest youngboy]

i aslo heard about this in thailand!! many fanciers tried widowhood but there natural system seems to be doing it all for them??

its

[Guest ROCKYandRAMBO]

very gd book dave allens carnt go wrong with that book

[OLDYELLOW]

i aslo heard about this in thailand!! many fanciers tried widowhood but there natural system seems to be doing it all for them??

its

 

had a think about this , i would put it down to the style of the lofts used there more like avairys  , if cocks can see hens and vice versa whilst exercising the game is over its not impossible to fly widowhood but they would have to ensure whilst excercising they shutter up hen section whilst cocks exercising and vice versa also ensure no other birds like stock or ybs are visable for them to try to get to i think some sort of shutter system would work like a plastic roller blind

[Old Pied]

Hi All

 

Here in South Africa many fanciers claim that the reason widowood cant work here, is because we are racing in the winter, which is not the breeding season and as such the hormones of the pigeons are not as 'active' as in early summer when the breeding season starts, and as such the cocks are not so 'homed-in' on the hens in order for the system to be successfull. Dont know if you would agree with that.

 

Regards

Old Pied

[mark proctor]

 

had a think about this , i would put it down to the style of the lofts used there more like avairys  , if cocks can see hens and vice versa whilst exercising the game is over its not impossible to fly widowhood but they would have to ensure whilst excercising they shutter up hen section whilst cocks exercising and vice versa also ensure no other birds like stock or ybs are visable for them to try to get to i think some sort of shutter system would work like a plastic roller blind

 

very clever mark...your not as thick as you look m8,,i wouldnt of thought of that,,,100 points young man.. ;) ;) ;) ;)

[OLDYELLOW]

the widowhood system starts after the moult  then rearing one round of ybs before training then racing , if this can be done in that order im sure its possible when does the moult fall and the racing start are you racing whilst moulting  :-/

[Guest]

Hi All

 

New member to list. From South Africa. Been following post last few days, very interesting.

 

Like to knw if any of you can think of reason as to why widowood could not and does not work in South Africa, as many fanciers here have tried it, but failed. Would like to try it myself, so any suggestions would help.

 

Regards

Old Pied

 

welcome Old Pied , we have a couple of members already from SA. ,maybe worth speaking with them ,if they have tried before may answer many of youre questions ?/ good luck.   andy.

[OLDYELLOW]

 

welcome Old Pied , we have a couple of members already from SA. ,maybe worth speaking with them ,if they have tried before may answer many of youre questions ?/ good luck.   andy.

 

im sure Jack Barkel would have a better idea of the racing scene over there  

[pjc]

race the hens and not the cocks, you can get them rank at any time of the year/season!

[Guest]

 

im sure Jack Barkel would have a better idea of the racing scene over there  

hes is one on my list Mark , but didnt want to name them straight off . hope Old Pied finds his way .      andy.

 

[Old Pied]

Thanx for all the info.

 

The moult ends early March, and racing starts 1st week of June, so birds should be finish with moult. It seems like i'll have to pair them beginning March and let the rear one round, after which the training will start.

 

Why is it that widowood cocks do not need as much training once they started racing? Like you mentioned earlier OldYellow, widowood Cocks are 'easier and dont need training after first race'. Why is this??

 

Our natural birds get 3 tosses per week of 70km each, and then a furhter 200 km toss over weekends, and that is how most of the fanciers toss.

 

Regards

Old Pied

[OLDYELLOW]

Thanx for all the info.

 

The moult ends early March, and racing starts 1st week of June, so birds should be finish with moult. It seems like i'll have to pair them beginning March and let the rear one round, after which the training will start.

 

Why is it that widowood cocks do not need as much training once they started racing? Like you mentioned earlier OldYellow, widowood Cocks are 'easier and dont need training after first race'. Why is this??

 

Our natural birds get 3 tosses per week of 70km each, and then a furhter 200 km toss over weekends, and that is how most of the fanciers toss.

 

Regards

Old Pied

widowhood cocks will exercise freely and naturaly keep themselves fit when you fly this system you will see   but as said above the key is the cocks dont see any other pigeon whilst out other than the cocks there housed with  

 

 

[Old Pied]

Since my widowood loft has two windows in the front, I will make a plan to be able to cover them when other birds are training.

 

I have read that one should only allow the widowood cocks to feed young till 14 days, and then remove young with female before she lays again. Would you agree with that?

 

[owen101]

the way of covering the windows mate

easiest way is to get blinds in your loft mate

and welcome to the site mate

[OLDYELLOW]

Since my widowood loft has two windows in the front, I will make a plan to be able to cover them when other birds are training.

 

I have read that one should only allow the widowood cocks to feed young till 14 days, and then remove young with female before she lays again. Would you agree with that?

 

various methods on parting i like to move all hens and ybs same day some let them go down for a second round and remove eggs at 10 days if you manage to get birds all down with in a few days id leave till ybs are 17 days old and leave cock with one he prefers to feed to finish it off for next 4 days

[OLDYELLOW]

the way of covering the windows mate

easiest way is to get blinds in your loft mate

and welcome to the site mate

 

had mentioned a blind / shutter earlier

[owen101]

just come on didnt read all the posts

sorry lol

 

either way great easy and cheap

and i works in the uk  

[adam owen]

my suggestion is try and buy a copy of Dave Allens 'A Widowhood year'  it will give you the basics of the system easiest way of prepairing is to work backwards from your first race 3 weeks training + breeding + pairing +pre pairing = start date   the above book is usualy available through amazon

 

i used this book when i started its a good basic step by step book u cant go wrong it won me nationals and its so easy to follow

[Tony C]

race the hens and not the cocks, you can get them rank at any time of the year/season!

 

I would go along with this.