Regularity

[Darnaway]

Interesting point I noticed when letting the youngsters out and then calling them in for their feed shortly afterwards

 

From Monday to Friday due to work they are let out at 1700 and fed in by 1745 and they trap as if they are starving. Then on a Saturday and Sunday due to not working I let them out at 1600 and they are poor to trap

 

I know it might seem so simple but it just shows you how much of a creature of habit pigeons are, keep them regular and you have control lol

[Leroy]

Do you think that could affect their willingness to trap on return from training/race, depending on what time they return too? I know mine waste a few moments when they return from a race on their own compared to landing as a group from exercise or training. I put it down to lack of confidence. But I'd be interested to know whether people think their birds can be too regimented if you stick to a rigid timetable.

 

Another example, because of work commitments I only used to exercise and train in summer after 5.30pm. Then when I started training at 7am the birds took hours to come, and I put it down to them getting confused.

 

Lee

[Darnaway]

To answe your question I would give the example that when I let my birds out on Monday at the usual time I then called them in after 30 minutes and they trapped without hesitation so from my perspective routine plays a big part of being able to control your youngsters.

 

I use a tin filled with peas and shake this so that they relate the noise to food as per that old chap Pavlov who used the bell and managed through time to train a dog that when he rung the bell he gave the dog food and eventually he could ring the bell without food being present and the dog would salivate so in essence you are conditioning the animal to relate something to food

 

To answer your question about trapping if they are conditioned to relate the shake of a tin or a bell for instance to food then it would certainly help to trap your birds. However to help the youngsters I tend to have an old hen available that is put on the loft to help the trapping process

[greenlands]

A creature of habit and routine.

[C WRIGHT]

my yb are trained to the 1 hour system from the 1st time they wander out onto the landing board

as soon as out the trap is closed and they arent allowed back in until exactly 1 hr later with 1 sharp whisle and fed

this is done twice a day

as they begin to grow and fly out of site they know they aint getting in for 1hr till feeding as soon as whistle sounds

i have found once ranging they return almost on the hour and trap immediatly falling over each other to get through the bobs

works for me and works for them