white racing homer first release advice

Hello I am new to this site but was hoping to get some advice. I purchased 17 white racing homers 5 weeks ago that have never been flown and their ages range greatly although they are all this years birds. They have been in a new loft with a settling cage so they have had a good look around for 3 weeks. They go through the trap pretty well. I am scared to death to remove the settling cage and am wondering if I had them long enough to do that or if it would be wise never to let them fly? They do respond to my whistle at feeding time and eat out of my hands. Some of these could be as much as 7 or 8 months old and a few were right out of the nest when I bought them. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, Thanks

Were any of the pigeons settled to the loft from which you obtained them?.

If so and not too far away then they would, if not happy, go back, maybe, to that loft.

The others the sooner you get them out the better.

Those that were very young you should have no trouble with, would settle those first.

Otherwise you could wait until you pair up next year and should have no trouble then.

Best of luck and hope you have success with them.


Regards.

how old are the youngest ...would imagine at least 6 weeks now so for me I would wait until next spring and get them down on eggs then let them out but wait until they have been sitting the eggs for about 10 days ...if you let them out now they will get much attention from hawks as they are about again after breeding.we don't let our pigeons out from October to march for this reason ...not ideal but don't stop them performing but do have flights on each loft so they get plenty fresh air ,good luck

If you're in the UK they will attract hawks at some point in the coming months. I wouldn't let them all out together, as misty suggests maybe try the youngest ones. Could you make a simple mini aviary or cage up off the ground several yards in front of the loft, put these birds in for a few hours over 3 or 4 days so they can see the others in the settling cage you have on your loft. Don't feed them in the temporary aviary, maybe put water in. Carry them back to their loft and feed them on a evening only. After a week or so of this regeim open the cage and hopefully have them fly back to their loft to be fed. Choose the tamest ones, keep them very hungry and do this on an evening when they are looking for food, the ones in the settling cage might attract any that strike up. It will be testing and you will have to be prepared to loose a few unfortunately.
Alternatively it's a case of keeping them in till paired but again no guarantees they all stay with you. Best of luck whatever you decide.

Settling cage etc,. Good! They can see around. Personally I would keep them hungry and let them out. I have some whites and no problems. Hawks are around also. Trick I used years ago (on all pigeons) animal marker spray. Blue, green, no matter. One spray across the tail. Confuses raptors. Pic of
hawk last year.

Wow thanks for the great advice. I didn't think about the hawks! I have seen a few around recently. I was really looking forward to seeing them fly and might still try the young ones very late in the day. It sounds like it would be better to wait until they are paired up and in the summer. Thanks so much for the advice.

Hey Bernie, I guess because I am new to this I have this question. If I were to put the young ones in a cage near the loft wouldn't chasing them around the loft and capturing them every day make them unhappy or even not like the loft anymore? or is there a way of doing this that it easier on the birds maybe something I don't know about to get them.

pics. White hens this morning.

Reds are cocks.

In good raff Hal must be doing something right.

Like the loft style, same as mine, but with a lot of lime deep litter.


Regards.

Few more.

Moulting right now but no problems that respect. I use diatamaceous earth. Works well.

paloma blanca wrote:

Hey Bernie, I guess because I am new to this I have this question. If I were to put the young ones in a cage near the loft wouldn't chasing them around the loft and capturing them every day make them unhappy or even not like the loft anymore? or is there a way of doing this that it easier on the birds maybe something I don't know about to get them.

You need the birds quiet and content before you can do much with them. Are they trusting of you when you go in the loft or do they fly around wildly? Depends on how much time you have free to spend with them, I always liked mine to stand their ground on their perch and even peck at me when handling them. A lot will depend on the layout inside your loft, can they fly over your head,? Slow and deliberate movements while talking to the birds rather than grabbing out and snatching at them. Do you have box perches like these in Hal's photographs ? as the pigeons tend to back into these when approaching them, where V perches are pretty much open and easier to vacate when unsettled.redskin peanuts turn the wildest pigeons tame but don't overfeed these, only as a treat or a method of settling them down.

If catching them frequently is a problem you can, with time and patience, get them to walk into an open basket using peanuts as "bait". On the whole pigeons don't like being caught and handled too much so I appreciate your concern. You're new to pigeons so you'll have many questions, feel free to ask because it's better than just jumping in and taking chances. As long as your new birds can get outside and see the outside world in some form you're in with a chance of settling some and maybe all. When you do eventually try them do whatever possible to make sure they aren't going to get spooked, like neighbours kids running about or someone firing up the lawnmower etc. Good luck.

Thanks for taking the time Barnie sorry for spelling your name wrong before! they are getting really tame and I can just about pick them up when feeding them but I notice when I put it down I no longer have the trust for a few days.My loft is very different it is basically a 4' x 4' x 12' long. It is up off the ground about 3' with 1/2" x 1" wire bottom. So I have sliding doors and have to reach in 4' to the opposite side. A person cant walk around in it. I am going to see if I can figure out how to post some pictures of it to see what you think.

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Excellent pics and situation!

halcanada wrote:

Excellent pics and situation!

True Hal pictures make it some what simpler here I suggest etc. Now in relation to the catching scenario for Paloma if he is some what concerned with his flight & his pigeons there. Bob wires, one way into the flight there, maybe. Bob wires out, back into the main loft as such. Maybe a small alteration required for what I see by the pictures here, but no big deal for a handy man type of fella I would suspect & his birds will fall quickly into line in the early stages there when learning the art if fed to the tin      

now I see your set up and understand things better, I also see how its not so easy for manually catching all the birds. No doubt they are having a good look around, especially when on the shed roof. There seems to be a lot of tall trees surrounding so you need to try and have the birds go in and out for a while without striking up first time, if they loose sight of the loft from behind the trees they'll be a bit stiff winged then they could drop anywhere.
I guess one way to try them out would be locking the majority out in the cage then opening the wire door to let a few younger ones flit in and out and around the loft top but they need to be hungry so I'd make sure @24 hrs without any food before trying them on an evening, maybe 1 hr before darkness. I always settled mine late in the day when they are thinking about food and a perch for the night. Could you make a cage that goes on the door area so the birds get used to going in and out the loft for a while through this route? More chance of them feeling comfortable on the day that you do open the door, (if that's the way you decide to go). Also Knackered's idea of bob wires, maybe a shelf and bobs on the outside of the main cage with entry point or also possible fitted into the roof cage would be worth considering. Lovely looking birds by the way.

Release! Have them walking in and out the loft and picking up. they will soon trap into the safe and warm place if B.O.P. about. When strong on wing they will just fly above the S/H. But a Sparrow Hawk will chase them into a loft. A glass cage with canaries perched inside will soon deter those. Then let them range.

looks like yer set up in a wooded area ...need to be ultra vigilant with hawks ,are you based in the uk Paloma ? if not whats the hawk situation where you are,at least one can deal with the issue without onlookers but feel it could be a constant battle for you ,don't want to put a dampener on it but also don't want you to loose any as the hawk is a excellent hunter and ambush merchant ,the sparrowhawk and goshawk are the ones to lookout for here.

Oldstrain - I'm located in United States, South Carolina. I do see a hawk once in a while I think it might be a young red tail.
Daz - You sound old school, I like it and am thinking along the lines of going for it.
Barnie - I know you can't tell from the pictures, The opening to the settling cage has bobs - when I pull the string it raises them and they can all come out. So at the end of the day I call them out with a handful of food and then lower the bobs and go around and call them in from the other side where the sliding door is. Then they all trap through the bobs. I have been doing that for about a week. Today I am going to make a landing plat form for when I take off the settling cage. I always see in pictures a short fence at the edge of the roof does anyone know what that is for? Usually looks like a short picket fence.
Thanks Knackered & Hal

Pigeons look in good condition and all shown appear well into the molt.

The lofts look ample in size but if as I suspect you have used chip board, I would treat all areas subject to getting wet.

I made the same mistake years ago with rabbit hutches, and they went to mush.


How long have you been interested in the sport?


And what is the state of the sport in your area?.

Regards.

Pigeons look in good condition and all shown appear well into the molt.

The lofts look ample in size but if as I suspect you have used chip board, I would treat all areas subject to getting wet.

I made the same mistake years ago with rabbit hutches, and they went to mush.


How long have you been interested in the sport?


And what is the state of the sport in your area?.

Regards.

if they are fairly old, might be best to pair them up ..........also when ive had ybs that were not too old, but strong enough on the wing to fly off, ive soaped their wings to keep them down walking around the loft / garden.

Misty - I have only had pigeons for about 5-6 months and they are rollers but they got me the pigeon bug now I am hooked.
The rollers were very easy to home but I have no experience with these white racers. They sure do act a lot different than the rollers.
I have never raced pigeons but I thought if I got a good bunch homed and trained I could offer white dove release if not just for veterans funerals and such.
Racing pigeons is dead around here as what I can see so far. There is one club about 2 hours from me. If things go well I might reach out to local pigeon people
and we can fly our birds and do our own thing! Thanks for the tip about coating the loft with something I am thinking of some wood preserver.
As far as the hawk, It has scared my rollers a couple times but no losses yet! I am keeping my fingers crossed.