training

[snowy]

hi, can anyone tell me ? i have had this 2005 bird off a local a few months now & she has been flying round now for a few weeks, she has now paired up & on eggs about 10 days, i have been taking her about a mile or two(graduly) in the same direction for the past 2 weeks to get her used to the basket, & this morning i took her the opposite way not even 100 yrds & she flew back to her old owner? how come? is this the norm?

im confused as i thought she would be straight back. thanks, snowy

[Guest]

snowy

 

its because youve changed the direction you train in. (train in a south direction if you fly in a south road federation or north if in a north road federation) because the bird is best educated as thats the way it will be coming home from races.always train that way because, they won't be used to it and always stick to that direction every time you train.

 

yours in sport

paul carter

[snowy]

thanks carter, im not in any club yet, just getting ready for next year i hope. thanks again anyway.

snowy

[Guest]

its o.k snowy thats what this forum is for ;D

[johnnysfarm]

I have trained in all directions. I can't afford the gas to go in the line of flight so I take them where ever I go. Sometimes two or three short tosses a day. I don't know if this is the right way or not but sometimes you have to do what you have to.

[Guest]

I think Johnnysfarm makes an excellent point. Just because everyone else trains on a line of flight doesn't mean that it's the right thing to do. For me it has two big flaws in it, and you'll benefit from other's posting their views on why they train this way. What exactly are we trying to achieve by training to a line of flight?

If I could (and its not always possible, for example if you don't have a car, or you can't get a bus or train that goes there) I would train round the compass, because I think it exercises the bird's mind and all the 'bits' that make up the bird's homing instinct.

Only my opinion, but the two BIG flaws I see in line of flight training are:

(1) There's no such thing as a line of flight. How the bird gets home (still a mystery) the wind, and where the majority of birds are going (some call it 'the drag') all determine which way the bird comes home - not an imaginary line drawn on a map between the racepoint and the bird's home.

(2) Nobody knows (thankfully) how the bird gets home. If you keep chucking it up in the same general palce, it learns nothing and exercises nothing other than its muscles. At least if you were able to train from points all round the compass, when the bird is released it is thinking  (swine... where's he/she got me now? hmm. yes, now where's home? That direction. Off we go)

 

[Guest shadow]

Snowy, Some time you find that when trying to break pigeons to your loft some persist  in returning to their old loft. I'm sure it has happend to a lot of fanciers. I have been given birds from a local fanciers and find them the hardest to break they always appear to be happy flying around the loft or training, but when put under pressure e.g. racing they return to their old loft. I usually return them to their old owner as they are no use to me if they do not come straight home just keep trying and I hope you succed.

fly hard fly fair

[jimmy white]

hi snowy,  sometimes we term these old birds from other members  as broken birds. and as broken birds ,can be quite unpredictable, and are liable to go back to the old loft for a variety of reasons, to give you an example, igot a bird in as a yb which was transferred to me,[belonging blackpool] i trained raced this bird right to th yb national, and the bird did quite well, as a yearling this bird was trained and raced on widowhood, the 4th race was 100 miles approx when he was 2nd in the race, sunday he dissapeared, i then got phone call from blackpool. the bird was back in his loft as if it had never been away the reason for this was looking for its hen. but this sort of thing can be put to good use i,e. ibought a pigeon for 8 £ from a chap who packed in, and moved house, this was about 20 miles from me, now this widowhood cock, every morning and every evening would fly back to his old place[no loft there] so in effect the bird flew 80 miles everyday of its own accord, this pigeon had 3 races then sent to the blue ribband national and was 15 in all scot.  so in fact the bird trained itself and when it wanted to and not when forced to..  but youll find out that pigeons have a memory that beats all , i had this pigeon till it was16  and it still done this, so put the memory test to good use , if your birds are trained to be tame as ybs they will allways be tame ,if they pick out of your hand as ybs theil allways do this ,and if you have a tame loft these birds are happy with their owner, and happier in their suroundings. which i beleive make better pigeons   , just to go back to one of my earlier posts, you wont go far wrong with the three c,s    condition, contentment, and control  and youll pick all this up as you go along,,,,,,, now apart from all this, my mouse is not working as it should,,so theres a moose  loose   aboot this hoose ha ha keep smiling jimmy

[jimmy white]

may i just add , as for training in the line of flight . just look up about the great blind fancier ,jed jackson . he won the pau national, south rd    just a couple of weeks previous to this, raced the pigeon  [genista]allmost  500 miles the opposite way,, food for thought???

[snowy]

thanks all for the advice, it seems mad though to take it a couple of miles one way, & its straight home, & then not even 50 yrds the other way & off she goes? as soon as i let her out, there was no hesitation she flew in the straight line( but the wrong way for me), & once when i was a kid & we went on holiday (apart from my dad, as he had a heart condition)(hereditry) & i took my first albino muffed pigeon to great yarmouth, & let him out(about 100 miles plus from birmingham) i phoned my dad up from yarmouth later that day & he said it was back at 7.30 that evening!  

the racing pigeon i have only went on one training flight before i had her & she was on eggs when i took her! oh well thats pigeons for you, their a funny old game...

& Jimmy,  all my birds eat out my hand, it does make them at ease & mee too.

thanks again all. keep the advice coming.

[Guest]

Snowy, I had another look at your first post. Must admit I misunderstood what you were asking (I didn't read it properly).  

You didn't say what time of day you took the hen training every day - did you take her off her eggs to train her every day?

If you did, you maybe broke her patience, by interfering a wee bit too much in her daily routine. Its her box, her nest, her eggs, her little world.

I know that sometimes when I went in to basket my birds for training it was clear to me that they resented me interfering with their normal daily routine. Maybe that's what your hen was trying to tell you - any more of this me lad and I'm off back to me old home?  :

[snowy]

yes bruno i think your right, i have left her sitting the last 2 days now. oh well im im slowly getting there.

thanks again

[Guest]

Not nearly as slowly as me, Snowy.  ;D

Sometimes with me I think the penny will NEVER drop.

Could tell you some horror stories about 2002, my first year, not racing, just training youngbirds.  :'(

HINT: Can you tell the difference between a weather forecast, and a weather report? And smoke and sea haar (FOG). Wisnae har har at the time, I can tell you.  >

[snowy]

report +weather already been

forcast= weather they are guessing?

i think

[Guest]

Yep, I'd agree with that Snowy.  

Forecast = Based on available info, this is what we think the weather will be like tomorrow or for the next few days;

Report = The weather system is here, and they'll tell you likely developments during that day: rain, heavy at times moving in from the SW; clearing away NE by 5pm sort of thing.

My FORECAST the night before was early morning mist clearing by mid morning; so when I got up 6am time I saw what I expected to see - early morning mist. Away on the train to Berwick, 70-odd miles with 6 youngsters trained to 30 miles; low lying mist all the way - but expected to clear.

Blue sky at Berwick; singled youngsters up. First one seemed to take a while to clear. No5 in the air when I saw what I thought was smoke drifting from the town over the station. Realised it was fog coming in from the sea and put no6 up, thinking 5&6 would work home together. 5 minutes later, complete blanket of fog, couldn't see Royal Border Bridge from the station platform far less the Tweed valley.

Home by train - fog all way up the coast, couldn't see the sea. Arrived home - no birds. 3pm before sun broke through. Dropped 5 out of 6, and my only bird home took 3 and half hours.

Had a look at the WEB weather reports South Scotland - FOG.  ??)

So - make sure you know what the weather REPORT is before you set out! :'(

 

 

[jimmy white]

OLD PIGEON SAYING ,,,IF HAT FOG WENT AWAY WOULD IT BE MISSED [MIST] ;D ;D ;D  JIMMY

[snowy]

great that was bruno, bet you will never foget that one!, & i bet you look twice at the weather REPORT now!  

[Guest]

Yep. Snowy. I wish I could say it finished there.  :'(

 

I bookmarked 3 web sites for weather info. But I had only learned half a lesson in 2002.   :-/  No point in having a weather report if you don’t appreciate what it means to have birds flying in it.   :B   Read on (but have your ‘calm-me-doon’ pills handy):

 

Left with 8 pairs. Decided to pair birds up on 1st January 2003 so they would be down on their second round of eggs for training during March/April.

 

Started training on 15th March 2003 at 8 miles (SW).

Second trainer 20th March “unlimited visibility, wind WNW 8mph, temperature 11/12 celsius” dropped one, injured one, left with 8 racers.

26th March, 15 miles (N) one next day, one dropped.

2nd April 20 miles (E) ‘unlimited visibility, wind NW, 8mph”, one dropped.

 

9th April (can’t believe this!) 20 miles (E) 9 celsius, 14mph  (ENE), wind chill factor = ‘feels like 6 celsius’. Trained 3 birds in that!

 

To put the above temperatures into perspective: a fridge has an operating temperature of between 1 degree and 5 degrees Celsius. Only an idiot would train pigeons in temperatures that are just a bit warmer than the inside of a fridge.   ??)

 

Started racing on 17th April 2003 with 7 yearlings for 9 inland races. Obviously didn’t complete the programme.  :B

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest shadow]

Just my opinion but I start training my youngsters at 10 miles I think any less than that is not needed as they have been ranging farther than that for several weeks.  Once they start beating me home they are then moved to 15 miles.  Same again when they beat me home,they are then moved to 20 miles and kept there until 2 weeks before the first race when they are moved up to 30 miles then they stop there and go twice per week all through the race programme. this works for me but everybody has their own systems

fly hard fly fair

[Guest]

Have to agree with you Shadow. As you can tell from my posts, I've been trying to get the training 'right' for a couple of years now.

From 2004, youngsters are out first thing in the morning and usually disappear on me for an hour...off ranging the country, as you say. But I only gave them 4 private trainers up to 30 miles, starting the week of the first race, and I don't think that was enough. I also worked on the opposite assumption - start 15 miles and keep going out until they make a mistake, then take them back to that point for a chance to correct their mistake. I also trained twice a week 25 miles during the racing.

With respect to your own views, by 2005 I had learned that my 'private training' method needed some drastic improving, because it didn't teach the young birds to break from the bunch and they weren't getting a taster of what a race day would be like.

So I trained with a local trainer. From the club house. Using former race-baskets. Up with 1000 birds at a time. Started 10 days before 1st race. And 25 miles twice a week during the racing.

2006, as I've said in another forum, intend much the same EXCEPT after racing begins, no mid-week training. If they're still prepared to go off touring, I don't see the need to train.

 

 

[Guest shadow]

Bruno I find after I start training that my young birds do not exercise as well round the loft, they will do about 30 mins and then land.  Although if I leave them they will strike off again fly a bit longer then land In fact thinking about it they are acting like widohood cocks. Still as they say many roads lead to Rome

 

fly hard fly fair

[snowy]

wow! its not just me then? i suppose it will take a while for me to be ready, thanks again, im taking it all in

[Guest]

I'd been told to expect that, Shadow, but I'm pleased to say it hasn't been my experience.

Training days this year were Tuesday & Wednesday.

On their 'days off' I let them out 6 / 7am time and they were off. After giving them around 10 minutes to get away, I'd let the OBs out, but they usually just hang around, sort of away and back again, single sortie or up with another cock type of thing.

Get place tidied up, water changed and they're back 8.30 ish, in and fed 'first ration'.

Funny pigeons though; they all like out first thing, but none of them are the slightest bit interested in going out after 4pm time. No twice a day here!

So its a sort of open door 6am until 2pm time, for OBs, then close up for the day.

[speedbird]

well i started training about 4weeks before fisrt yb race this way there are not that many ybs training around this time leaving the sky clear & avoding bad classes then when everyone else starts mine have plenty of experience started with 33ybs & at the end of season ended up with 26 after having 1bad first open race & a few bad tosses all came home sinse that bad open race i didnt loose 1yb  the 7 i lost was before racing i did notice 2weeks before first yb race everyone were training birds everywhere so i took em early morning back home for 7am then back in the transporter at 10am giving experience at breaking for home with other birds worked for me won5 & other scores started at 8miles upto 50miles on own they always had between 4 & 6 tooses a week 1toss early 15miles & other 30miles or sumtimes 2 at 15miles if weather wasent that good to send with the transporter

not saying this is right but works for me