Different Distances

[THE FIFER]

How do you determine which birds are for the different distances, short, middle, long,

[OLDYELLOW]

Speed and recovery time

[Guest IB]

I think nowadays people choose families proven at the distances they want to fly.

 

I remember when I was starting back, reading BHW, Louella particularly classed / sold their families as sprint, middle & long distance.

[Guest Tooshy Boy]

THAT IS TRUE MATE.YOU PAIDED YOUR MONEY AND TOOK YOUR CHANCE .THE MAN THAT LOOKS AFTER THE DOO S . WILL KNOW WHEN THEY ARE READY . YOU HAVE GOT TO GIVE THEM THERE PLACE .////

[THE FIFER]

I think nowadays people choose families proven at the distances they want to fly.

 

I remember when I was starting back, reading BHW, Louella particularly classed / sold their families as sprint, middle & long distance.

 

yes done that not long ago m8, thought he still did,

[victorious]

Speed and recovery time

[Rooster J. Cogburn]

I've handled a pair of nestmates one of which was an RPRA award winner for best performances between 0-250 miles.In the same season the other scored a top 10 postion from a hard 500+miles national event.

 

This opened my eyes a bit on this categorising birds or families as sprint,middle,long etc. although there are probably birds that are not capable of winning fast sprint races and equally as much hard long distance races,but does management-feeding etc. have a lot to do with whether or not a bird is a sprinter or long distance racer??

 

Heard a few interesting opinions as well on the matter that I think hold some truth.One of them was if you were to give two talented stockmen-one of whom dedicated to sprint racing,the other dedicated to long distance,pigeons from the same source without telling them anything about them,within five or six years the sprint man would have birds capable of winning sprint races and the long distance orientated man would have birds capable of performing from the longer events.

 

This is obviously achieved by selecting the birds that pass the tests you set for them and breeding from them.

 

A clubmate of mines told me of his sons expeiences on the continent.His son had a friend who was interested in sprinting.At the end of the season he would cull the birds within his "strain" that did not pass the tests he set them or if they did not conform to the type of the birds that did.He was then challenged on this and it was suggested instead of culling these birds he should send them to the longer events.He did this and these birds scored prominently.

 

As for physical characterics I watched a video when I was younger called "Step by Step" starring Jim Hannah.He talks about when he was younger he believed long distance pigeons had to have a particular wing design etc. After years as a pigeon photographer,handling 500-600mile winning pigeons into the hundreds he came to the conclusion there are no physical qualities that connect these birds-they come in all shapes and sizes

[victorious]

i really do think thats the hardest bit of pigeon racing no matter what any one says, maybe just maybe mr basket will tell us but really i dont know its really the middle distance thing gets me if u know what i mean ,the 400/500 mile thing or should i say the 10/12/14 hour thing, you have put forward a good question but really i cant answer it properly.

[OLDYELLOW]

to me it's quite simple if you send your birds the ones that fly the quickest and recover fast can be pushed further and are usually bouncing in loft on return , the ones that take longer to recover are at there limit , but there's many other factors to consider such as wind

[victorious]

to me it's quite simple if you send your birds the ones that fly the quickest and recover fast can be pushed further and are usually bouncing in loft on return , the ones that take longer to recover are at there limit , but there's many other factors to consider such as wind

 

AND FITNESS

[OLDYELLOW]

AND FITNESS

Fitness does come in to it but I wouldn't send a unfit bird to a race So I was going on the bases the birds sent were fit then when there raced they can be judged on there performance and recovery

[victorious]

Fitness does come in to it but I wouldn't send a unfit bird to a race So I was going on the bases the birds sent were fit then when there raced they can be judged on there performance and recovery

[victorious]

i know what you mean but a lot of people use the shorter races to get them fit for the longer ones especially the guys that cant afford to train their birds due to rising fuel costs and lack of club trainers and that is a problem here,but i know what u mean mark by coming home fresh.

[THE FIFER]

what about breeding for distance, or sprint, and certain breeds are listed as short distance or long distance,

[OLDYELLOW]

what about breeding for distance, or sprint, and certain breeds are listed as short distance or long distance,

 

Categorising pigeons in to groups is only going on there performance of the last fancier , on the continent most fanciers specialise so hence easy to put them in to 3 category's . But if you specialise in sprint racing your birds wont be tested further who's to say these birds wont win from 700 miles , Bushearts winning from 50 to 500+ miles all-rounders perhaps another category ?????? A good friend of mine has one pair that breeds both sprinters and distance birds at random both winning , but the sprinters won't do the distance and the distance birds won't sprint and he's a good flyer so horses for courses if there comfortable at a distance use them to your advantage pointless pushing a sprinter too far if winning

[dal2]

You will always get exceptions to the rules but tend to loose more sprinters at the distance than you get and will be too far back with yer distance birds at the sprint stage more often than not!!!

[Rooster J. Cogburn]

The wing knuckle is apparently the way to tell

 

Anybody use this method??

[victorious]

The wing knuckle is apparently the way to tell

 

Anybody use this method??

[victorious]

no but have read about it and checked certain birds and found most i checked the knuckle was in the middle of thumb ,dont really believe in it i think the long /short back wing theory would be more accurate for telling long /short distance birds any try it on proven birds.

[THE FIFER]

[peter pandy]

Observation and manipulation is all that is required. I will set up my yearlings to win up to 200 miles, My 2 year olds to win from 200 - 400 miles and 3 year olds extreme distance. P.S. My team are bred from 700 milers.

[dal2]

Observation and manipulation is all that is required. I will set up my yearlings to win up to 200 miles, My 2 year olds to win from 200 - 400 miles and 3 year olds extreme distance. P.S. My team are bred from 700 milers.

 

 

You must be lookin for lots of exceptions to the distance that you birds are bred for? If you believe that the families only win from the distance set out by the originator of the family?

 

Personally think the bird does not know its a sprinter or other?

[victorious]

Observation and manipulation is all that is required. I will set up my yearlings to win up to 200 miles, My 2 year olds to win from 200 - 400 miles and 3 year olds extreme distance. P.S. My team are bred from 700 milers.

[peter pandy]

This is where observation comes into play. By sitting on your backside in the loft for hours on end instead of clumping about, chasing birds to handle etc etc, About the only time I handle birds is when they are going in a basket. But then again I do know what I am looking for and more often than not I only send the one.

[victorious]

were would any body get 3 year old pigeons nowadays this is 2012 pigeons dont make it past two unless you keep hundreds or dont race them ,weather,bad libs,radio waves,guns and no 1 hawks pity but true.o and cats and sickness and maybe more i havnt mentioned.