Widowhood,in line or arc training?

[andrecrock]

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to follow Mark Caudwell's widowhood system.He suggests you train your birds in a straight line between your loft and first race point starting at 4 mile going to 12.I have always thought ,pigeons fly in a arc home and very rarely in a straight line.Is this a good idea training in a straight line or should i train 180' degrees to the first race point.Just to ad my birds are all yearlings and they all completed the y/b season.Thanks

[Wiley]

hi andre, we always train our pigeons in a straight line through every race point on a map, and its the line i want my pigeons to follow, which in my loft is directly north,

[andrecrock]

Thank you mate,goodluck!!!!

[Tony C]

It could be argued that sprint racing is won by A: at the lib point & B: the last few miles from home. I think the Idea of this training regime is to cover both bases. By training them on the so called line of flight you are teaching them to come out of the basket and head straight for home without even circling and repeatedly covering the last few miles.

[peterpau]

It could be argued that sprint racing is won by A: at the lib point & B: the last few miles from home. I think the Idea of this training regime is to cover both bases. By training them on the so called line of flight you are teaching them to come out of the basket and head straight for home without even circling and repeatedly covering the last few miles.

What you say mate is a good theory and I would have agreed. However I used to take my birds to work with me where ever. I'd take 'em as much as 60 mile in any direction, and they cleared without circleing. I used the same method with the babbies and had too many for the national. So my mate took half and I had the other half 50/60 mile toss from two different points single up for the first time ever. Of my 20 the last three birds circled and all the rest cleared immidiately. I never dropped one and they never did get to the national I think it was cancelled for some reason.

 

 

[Guest Owen]

I live in a valley. So I thought it would be good to get the birds to fly to the mouth of the valley and straight up. After a great deal of effort I my part I thought I had managed it. No. The birds use the road as a land mark and no matter what I do they always go to a roundabout and branch off from there. When I first realised what was happening I thought it was my fault because I had made mistakes training them. Again no. It happens this way every year with both young and old birds. What I have found is that, it is important to train the birds not to circle. They must come out of the basket and gain hieght as they head for home in more or less a straight line. I don't mind a dog leg or even a half circle but the are not to go round and round. If you want to get them to do this you have to first ensure that the birds are completely clean of canker and cocci. This is not always as easy as it sounds. After the stress of rearing and then the training basket these diseases are often quite hard to get rid of. I always check with my microscope a couple of days after I have treated to make sure that it is all gone. There has been occasions when I have had to treat again. The problem of the medication not working fully the first time is a big problem if you rely on the Vet to check for you. That second check is important if you want to be sure the birds are actually clear. To give you an idea how big the problem can be. I checked birds belonging to three other people last week. All had canker and cocci. But one sample had canker, cocci and both of the common worms. I showed the fanciers concerned what they had in the droppings so that they could see for themselves. The one with the bad samples was absolutely gob smacked. I asked if the birds looked ill. No, he said, and he reckoned that even the droppings did not look bad. It just shows you that the guessing game does not really work very well.

[jimmy white]

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to follow Mark Caudwell's widowhood system.He suggests you train your birds in a straight line between your loft and first race point starting at 4 mile going to 12.I have always thought ,pigeons fly in a arc home and very rarely in a straight line.Is this a good idea training in a straight line or should i train 180' degrees to the first race point.Just to ad my birds are all yearlings and they all completed the y/b season.Thanks

 

i can see no fault in this, training old birds in a straight line, if you prefer this, but in my opinion , you are really just training old birds to become fit and keen,, whereas with young birds your learning them, the area,[the lay of the land etc] ,if old birds are experienced,    in form, fit,and  well  motivated, they should come as direct as  poss. even if you dont train in a straight line [only my opinion ]

[just ask me]

well not easy one to answer it would all depend on where u live and way the birds come down coast if u know what i mean i would say in most cases a straight line and u cant go too far wrong as i say it will all depend on your own circumstances

[OLDYELLOW]

birds tend to stick to territory they know and use the same line if they can but wind pays a big part i train similar to MC  and works for me  

[jimmy white]

is it possible to train in a straight line????/ ;D  as the world is round,and   as chris said " columbas ;D that is" ,, any point from a to b ,,would have to be in a small arc ;D, i,e  the longer the distance,from  a  to  b,,, the bigger the arc only playing devils advocate :) im sure i know what you mean,though  ,