Pigeon Age

Okitsme · January 18, 2008

Hi

Until what age can you race a pigeon? When do you move them over to the stock loft after racing carreer is over?

Thanks

David

Merlin · January 18, 2008

I keep racing them till their performance diminishes on a somewhat regular basis,an this depends on bird in quest,a general yardstick is at 4 year old for widowers,they then go natural and on to chanel and distance.

Ideally they should only go into stock loft if they and the rest of their family are good performers racing/ you can have a top class bird with any amount of wins, from obscure lines,it certainly should be bred from, into a close bred bird of good working lines, I think a better percentage of good birds produced if all of its family have proven themselves,again a yardstick I use is crosses for racing,and inbreeding/close breeding for stock.this is my system,but to each his own.

Geraint Parry · January 18, 2008

It depends really. Sprint pigeons would race at top level until about 2 - 3 yrs old? Long distance pigeons will race well until 5 - 6 years old as theyhave a wise head. Best thing to do is to look at results, and look at the ring numbers of the winning birds.

If you have a good racer but s/he is also breeding the goods, it may well be worth stopping them sort of birds from racing, as in the end even the best will 'go down' if you push them to hard.

Just my opinions

Okitsme · January 18, 2008

At the moment I have not won anything yet being a novice. Its quite frustrating tho as you dont know wether your birds are good but your system is bad or if the birds are bad and your system is good. Just wanted to know how long to try birds for as a novice and dont wanted to be racing birds as geriatrics.

Geraint Parry · January 18, 2008

At the moment I have not won anything yet being a novice. Its quite frustrating tho as you dont know wether your birds are good but your system is bad or if the birds are bad and your system is good. Just wanted to know how long to try birds for as a novice and dont wanted to be racing birds as geriatrics.

Every fancier in the land starts as a novice, set yourself goals, don't be afraid to try something different. Take me this year for instance, with work comitments etc, i planned my season, going against the book so to speak, flying my pigeons completley different from everyone else. Started racing and at the end of the year I was top prize winner in the club, topped the fed and was in amongst the top 10 - 15 in the fed most weeks. Just because someone is winning doing one thing doesnt mean it will work for you. But the most important thing is to ENJOY YOUR BIRDS and think of getting a card / winning as a bonus. and in the end you will have your glory moment, and when you do milk it as much as you can, becuase with pigeon racing there are more downs than ups!!

Hogni · January 18, 2008

A fellow fancier had a bird born in 1991 race very well in ´92, ´93 and ´94 but this bird then became 1st ace of Iceland in ´95 and after that was retired to stock loft but i´m sure he had 1 or 2 good racing years left in him.

But i guess it all depends on the bird, you just have to keep a close eye on them and eveluate every bird as an individual and not look at the whole loft and retire every bird at say 4 years.