Widowood systems....?

will be racing standard widowood next season as im not experienced enough at the moment to attempt roundabout.........can any of our members explain a good system for widowhood cocks eg feeding, what corn, how much etc.....exercise etc ?

no one got any info then..................?

Would say for me feed the cocks in the box, always let them have an hour but as long as they have a good 20/30 mins hard fly doors closed then next 30 mins free time with door open

DAVID wrote:

will be racing standard widowood next season as im not experienced enough at the moment to attempt roundabout.........can any of our members explain a good system for widowhood cocks eg feeding, what corn, how much etc.....exercise etc ?

my advice on this would be go round to the top flyier in your club (fed) and see what he does and pick up some tricks from him

robbiedoo. wrote:

DAVID wrote:

will be racing standard widowood next season as im not experienced enough at the moment to attempt roundabout.........can any of our members explain a good system for widowhood cocks eg feeding, what corn, how much etc.....exercise etc ?

my advice on this would be go round to the top flyier in your club (fed) and see what he does and pick up some tricks from him

thanks for the reply robbiedoo, but no one in my club will tell anything.........not a chance, and to be honest i wouldnt even ask them, i get more help and advise off here

thanks anyway.

Robbiedoo, some top fanciers will not let you in the garden ever mind them give you tip mate but i know were you are coming from, but in this sport it is hard to find some fanciers that share tips unlike this site were we try to help everyone

Cheers David

Don Webb wrote:

Robbiedoo, some top fanciers will not let you in the garden ever mind them give you tip mate but i know were you are coming from, but in this sport it is hard to find some fanciers that share tips unlike this site were we try to help everyone

i know but up here i have been the top fanceir for the last few years and am always willing to help anyone . this year after our feds 5th race a fanceir from the club stormqueen is in phoned me as he was,nt doing to good i told him to come in and see me he did i showed him my racing and feeding system coincedence or not but he went on to win the averages in his club

Robbiedoo my hat goes of to you mate wish i was living next to you for when i start up again, it is hard to find this kind of help down here

You can forward to system to me

well the things i still need to know now are mainly feeding widowhood cocks, how much per day and how often ? twice a day ? what corn do i feed them on ? i use super diet and all round for ybs so can i use super diet and widowood mix for the w/hood cocks ?

Don Webb wrote:

You can forward to system to me

and me...........

DAVID wrote:

well the things i still need to know now are mainly feeding widowhood cocks, how much per day and how often ? twice a day ? what corn do i feed them on ? i use super diet and all round for ybs so can i use super diet and widowood mix for the w/hood cocks ?

i cant explain it on here but if you want to pm me your phone number before the season starts i will tell you what i do remember it works for me but maybe not for you but it is so simple . another thing is i have food infront of my doos 24/7 i dont do well in the short races but over the 250 mile mark am always in the mix

DAVID wrote:

Don Webb wrote:

You can forward to system to me

and me...........

me too please

Rene A wrote:

DAVID wrote:

Don Webb wrote:

You can forward to system to me

and me...........

me too please

bet he wishes he never replied to the topic......

thing is tho robbiedoo, i am only interested in the short to middle distance racing at the moment and will not be racing channel for quite a while if ever.....

[quote="DAVID"]

Rene A wrote:

DAVID wrote:

Don Webb wrote:

You can forward to system to me

and me...........

me too please

bet he wishes he never replied to the topic......

thing is tho robbiedoo, i am only interested in the short to middle distance racing at the moment and will not be racing channel for quite a while if ever..... :: [/quoscratchte]

then go to a fanceir near you that is in to sprint racing you will get advice locally if you ask around . good luck

not a chance robbie.................

Don Webb wrote:

Would say for me feed the cocks in the box, always let them have an hour but as long as they have a good 20/30 mins hard fly doors closed then next 30 mins free time with door open

don you methods are oldhat mate , no disrespect mate but they are much better methods now

If you are putting your racing pigeons on widowhood system and the cocks appear to start losing interest, and the hens act as if they want to start mating with one another, switch the sexes. Let the cocks sit on perches and let the hens have the nest boxes. You will have to lock the hens in their box and probably feed them in the box, but this can certainly energize a widowhood team and produce excellent results. Sometimes I even lock a strange cock into the box with a particular cock’s mate and then just let him see the stranger in his box with his hen before I ship. I make sure that the race will be less than 300 miles and not longer than six or so hours on the wing for such a motivational tactic because sometimes this tactic can backfire on you. Some cocks get so hyped by any additional motivation that they wear themselves out in the race basket the night before and don’t have anything left when it’s time to fly home.

On the widowhood system, remove the bowls completely from the nest box and always show the bowl to the cock before the cock is allowed to see the hen at the beginning of the season. Then as the longer races come up, put the bowl in the nest box with the cock and let him get in it and start to call. Then ship him. Once all the cocks are removed, allow the hens into the boxes with the nest bowls and let them have their way. You can even put a few old unmated cocks into the loft to steam up the hens before you ship them. Remember this advice: “Ship the cocks cool and the hens hot.” This holds true for most races.

On the widowhood system, on a particularly bad race, if one of the birds comes home very late, lock that bird in its nest box (but not with its mate) for at least several hours. Overnight would be even better. The race bird is worn out, and having to deal with an over-anxious mate will not do either of them any good. After a few hours of rest, put the pair together for just a few minutes, and then separate them again. This will tell your returned racer that, “Yes, your reward is here and waiting, when you are ready.” That pigeon’s sole motivation to race home may have been to see its mate. And after that performance, the reward is granted. But what that race bird needs most is rest. It’s a wise fancier who knows that this rest must be given.

You may have adopted this system while there will probably be some who have dismissed it because they think it will be massively difficult to put into practice. It is really, very straight forward and is great to use with all the other systems (i.e. the Roundabout System) .
It is basically splitting the cocks and hens from each other and only letting the mates be together for between fifteen and thirty minutes before a race and up to two hours after racing.
By then racing the hen she will really need to get home as soon as possible, to see her mate (who she has been seperated from) and to sit on her eggs.
The hen will now be very eager to return home, if racing, because she will really want to tend to her eggs and to see her mate.
All it really is is only allowing your mated birds be with each other directly before and after a race. To race the hen while she is sat on eggs she will have a greater excuse to get back.
How to implement this

Do not let the cocks and hens have any interaction whilst on this system.
That means letting them out for their exercise at different times and training them separately.
Let the pigeons to spend around half an hour together before placing them in their travel baskets.
After the race let them stay together in the nest for between an hour and two hours.
Start using the UV lamps in the loft about fourteen days into the racing season begun
Extend the amount of light the birds are getting so that their days are around sixteen hours in duration, tricking the pigeons into thinking it's the middle of summer and slowing their moult.

DAVID wrote:

not a chance robbie.................

You wan't to move down south then David I get told different methods from the top guys round here.

Ian you always say my methods are old but it is funny, when reading your 2 post that is the same info i talked about when i first started on here