settling youngbirds basics

There are as many ways to settle and train young racing homers as there are spots on a leopard. We will cover a simple and basic way of settling young birds to their loft. First the loft and landing board are very important. The more fresh air and sunlight young birds can get the better off you are. We like the birds to see the sun rise in the morning and have the sun visible as long as possible throughout the day. You will loose less pigeons if this is the way your loft is set up facing the east.

Once you place the birds in the young bird loft let them get use to it for a day or so and then start placing them outside on the landing board while it is covered with a settling pen made of wire. This allows the birds to safely view the outside surroundings while remaining safe from hawks. Never let the birds outside after a meal. The idea is to call them in each time with a whistle or some other method. They should hear this call each time they are fed. Once the birds are calling in good which usually takes about 7-10 days you can let them outside without the settling pen. The first few times they are out free try not to let anything spook them such as a dog, cat, or hawk. Never let them out on a windy day. Let them come out of the loft on their own, just like they do when you open the window to the landing board. Call them in after a few hours and use the nets to coax them through the trap if need be. Never get angry with them!

After a few weeks of this the birds will become better at flying around the loft until they eventually begin to kit up or fly as a group. A few things to keep in mind are the birds will never be let out on a full crop. Always keep them on the border of being a bit hungry so that when you call them in they will enter the loft quickly. This takes a little patience at first because the young birds love to be outside and may be a bit stubborn . You can change that by adjusting the amount of feed you give them. Feeding pigeons is an art so you must watch and learn what they need and how much by the way they act. 1 ounce to 1 1/4 per bird is a good starting point. After your birds are flying in a group for 30 minutes to an hour pay close attention to birds that do not want to fly or are forming bad habits of landing on a pole , tree, wire or house away from the loft. These birds should be removed from the team before they cause other birds to follow their bad habits. Now you are ready to road train them.

Many flyers wait until 5 weeks before the first race to road train but with all the new systems in the sport, this will vary. You do not want to risk training to early and burning the young birds up before the race season starts. If you breed early you may want to train the birds out to 50 or 60 miles before the summer heat sets in . Later you can start them again with the later bred birds and work them into the race season together. Almost all pigeon fanciers have different opinions on how far to take the young birds for their first release. We like to take them 3 to 5 miles for their first toss as long as they are loft flying for over an hour. Always pick nice days with light winds and sunny skies for their learning stages. Release the birds in a clear area free from wires and traffic.

When they get home to the loft call them in quickly. Some fanciers train their birds every day, others every other day and for those who work early and stay late, they can only train on the weekend. All methods can be successful as long as the birds are kept healthy and managed well. We hope for those of you who are new to the sport that this gives you a enough information to help you along. There are many, many articles written everyday on the different methods that flyers use with success. Find the method that works best for you and keep it as simple as you can while you learn about this new and exciting hobby.