All About Pigeon Training
Pigeon training has had an explosion in popularity due to how many people have taken up pigeon racing as a hobby. This sport involves releasing these specially trained birds to return back to their homes after traveling a specifically measured distance. The amount of time that the bird takes is calculated and then compared with other birds in the race to determine the winner.
There is not any definite proof of when the sport began but it is believed that it started around 220 AD. Pigeon training became well known in the 19th century in Belgium. Since then it seems to have lost its appeal there and found its place in other countries.
Pigeon Training Process
All of the racing pigeons are kept together in a loft from the time that they are around four weeks old until the end of their career. This is their home and this is also where they must return to on race day.
After a pigeon becomes four weeks old, it is placed in a special section of the loft which is designed for the young birds. For the first few days they learn how to feel themselves and find water and are allowed to wander onto the garden under careful observation.
At about seven weeks of age, the pigeons will start to fly on short flights, generally just circling the owner's home. Once they gain a bit of confidence they will gradually leave the loft for longer periods of time and may stay gone for as long as a few hours. As the pigeon training progresses, they will be transported away from the loft and allowed to fly home. This is similar to a race format but on a smaller scale. This loft flying practice continues through the pigeon's racing career.
Some fanciers guard their birds through training and watch them very carefully while others use the widowhood method. The bird's reproduction desire is used as motivation to give it a sense of urgency on days that it races. This method allows the racing bird to raise its baby in a nest box but when the baby is weaned, it is closed off and only allowed to then see the baby and their mate again when they arrive home from a race.
Hazards
Pigeon training and racing is not without its hazards to the birds. Aside from the cruelty of separating them from their young, there are many things that hurt and kill a pigeon during their training and during a race. They often encounter falcons or other birds of prey and since they rely primarily on the magnetic field of the earth for them to find their way home, mobile phone towers are often responsible for interrupting their navigation home.
The Race
Summed up, the birds that are racing are taken from their loft and transported to a designated area where they are released to travel home. The amount of time and distance traveled are recorded and the fasted bird becomes the winner. Races are typically between 100 km and 1,000 km however, in the United States, there have been 1,800 km flights recorded.
If the pigeon is able to survive all of the hazards it encounters, it could race for 10 years but typically the average length of time is around 3 years. While competing, the bird has to keep a numbered band around its leg from the time that it is five days old. Some leagues of pigeon racing even have two separate divisions so the young birds and older birds have their own competition, making it more fair to the birds that have less experience and more challenging for the veteran fliers.