where did i go wrong?-update

[DJ]

hi all,as you were all so helpfull with help/advice on my disasterous 5ml training i thought id let you know that ive had one more yb return from training which makes 6 out of ten back now,  the 6 have now gone on to 10 miles and were all home within 2 hours(i bet that sounds really slow to all you old hands) but ive also now got another 2 strays that refuse to leave-the owners have offered to transfer them over to my name but would they ever be any good to me if i started racing? should i keep my pigeons at 10 miles or should i increase the distance? basically i just want to know what pigeons of mine would be any good for racing and what distance to take them ?  

                                      debbie

[Guest]

keep them at the ten miles untill they start to come home a bit quicker ,i sometimes let my youing birds out for an hours fly before i take them training in this way the just come straight home ,you maybe find that with only a handful of youngsters they are getting caught up with larger batches and going for longers flies ,good luck ;D ;D ;D ;D

[gangster]

dj even the best get lost and some do race and win for there new owners..have a bit of faith in them........... ;)

[Guest]

Don't fly them out on saturdays till you are dead sure of them...they could get caught up with race birds and end up lost,also if you get any strays do not put them in with your birds,quarantine them for a while incase they are carrying anything

[Taylorsloft]

sounds like u are feeding them to much

[Guest]

watch out on wednesdays as their maybe midweek racing. i lost 2 yb to midweek racing.  good luck with them 8) ;D ;D ;D

[DJ]

thanks for all the replies, as the strays seem to have settled i think i will keep them and take them with my others on their next 10 mile training run-how long should it take them to home from 10 miles? im feeding them on 1 and half ounces each of versele lage best all round mix daily after excercise so hopefully im not overfeeding them? they also get pink or black minerals and pigeon grit daily        debbie

[JADE]

I wouldnt toss the strays with the yb they might try to head to their old loft and drag the yb with them

[Guest]

I give my birds 1 oz  each per day to just mentain weight [obviousley they need more at different times of the season,like breeding then as much as they can eat when feeding young] but for what you are trying to do at the moment ie make them keen to come home you need to make sure they go out hungary and are fed immediately on their return,they will soon learn to race back to where the food is,but if they are not hungary they will mess about.