breaking in birds

thats right don, its so easy to loose sight of things when your just starting again with pigeons.........i bought 6 birds and before i knew it i ended up with 50 now i need to get rid of half of them but if i had more control of my management at the beggining it wouldnt have come to this........

We have all made the same mistake and we won't be the last

going to be hard deciding who goes and who stays...............

Thanks David and Don. I'm really struck by the generosity of pigeon folk, both in terms of kind offers for birds as well as great advice and encouragement - I hope I'm able to live up to the examples set by the great people I've met either in the flesh or like yourselves over t'internet.

steve, without the help and advise ive had from our members on here i wouldnt have joined a club and had a few races........as things have changed dramatically since i last raced everything is new to me now....for example darkness for ybs, roundabout and all the different corns and suppliments that wernt around 20 years ago.......the competition is stiffer now and there has to be a more professional approach to pigeon racing if you want to do well, but you can still enjoy it and be happy when your birds get home weather they win or not..........

This is what the site is for Steve, we are all here to help mate

Thank you David, pic from internet shows how to cut the end flights( not cut all the wings, keep some parts incluld a bit of topt and the last two sides of end flights)

mmmm, looks very strange done like this..........wonder if this is the same as martyn suggested ?

SGWBrown wrote:

Hi Feral, thankyou that's a very tempting and much appreciated offer and one I would love to accept, however, I'm trying to limit myself to only a couple of birds initially so that I can learn to look after them properly (I'm really fighting the desire to have more), so will respectfully decline your offer at the moment; David has generously given me another pair of youngsters which, once I have proven to myself I can look after and keep happy, I will be looking to establish a racing team. I would be very grateful if when (hopefully) I get to that stage I might take you up on your offer (subject to availability etc).

Regards

good idea mate but best would be 4 y/bs hopefully you will have 2pr to breed off next year, only having 2 if theyre nest mates you cant breed off them, the 4 could be flying out stock birds

shame i didnt have any more for you steve, you could have had a little team flying around.....

Hi DAVID, those pics are interesting I think a bit drastic, I just cut the last 4 or five off completely, and nor strip them like that but its a good idea. If you look close they have done similar to me as they have gone only as far as the moulting feather. I just wait longer until they have dropped up to 3 or 4 from the end, this way as soon as they moult further they get some flight back and gradually they all moult out and they are back to normal.

I always cut them never do what was shown, but everyone to there own
what ever works best for you

if im honest, i dont really like the look of this method............id prefer to cut accross the end flights as i think it would be better for the bird.

it seems like that it isn't a good method then, is it?

But if you cut the flights only cut one wing because if you cut both the pigeons can still get up on what they call a short wing and this is something to do with balance

The only reason i say this is because i did the same and a van loon cock i brought went back to it's owner who told me only to cut the one wing and not both

And for Ian the fancier was Mr E C Carter from wednesbury who was a top flyer who passed away last year

yes, can understand what your saying don......balance would be a major factor with birds flight i should think, i was just not too sure about the method in the photo altho each person does what they think is best.....as ive tried soaping a yb and it worked for me it doesnt seem like many others are too fond of this method and prefer other ways......

As we have said before what ever works you mate

i also cut them down the quill as the photo shows dont like seeing them cut across

ian wrote:

i also cut them down the quill as the photo shows dont like seeing them cut across

alexhe wrote:

Thank you David, pic from internet shows how to cut the end flights( not cut all the wings, keep some parts incluld a bit of topt and the last two sides of end flights)

this methode is ok for droppers as the feathers dont grow back to fast unless you pull them out when moulting my friend in yorkshire uses this for his droppers becouse of that reason

i think its better for the bird to just cut accross the end flights, maybe on just one wing like don suggests....................