widow hood

feeding widowhood what systems does every body use amounts per bird and wot corn an supplements cheers

i havent flown widowhood only natural, 2011 will try widowhood, 2010 my 1st year back racing 8 late breds natural cocks then hens alternate weeks, 2 or 3 races each, only have 8 to race, so as you info needed on widowhood

if you have the time race roundabout,then you can race the lot on the shorter races instead of jumping them too far,even more so if they have,nt had any young bird racing

hi gareth i use marimans widowhood mix for my widowhood cocks but when i get further down the road say 300 mile plus then i mix maple peas with it to make the feed a bit heavier i feed 11/3 of an ounce per bird per day in pots in there box hope this helps a little if you want to know anything else if i know the answer ill be happy to help ian

is that 11/3 per bird morn and evning ive bin useing gerry plus and gems widowhood add bit of red band each day that soud ok to you

gareth when i raced, i used widowhood and feed in the boxes 2 ounes each day but i did train twice aday from 40 to 50 miles but if you only train around the loft reduce the food

But if i wanted to get the cocdks on edge i would feed them on the floor all together

never done this as ifeel its better in box they get more territorial

ian wrote:

never done this as ifeel its better in box they get more territorial

yes gareth, i would agree with ian on this.....i fed in the boxes too as i think it does make them more teratorial therefor keener to get back to the box and hen, i i remember correctly i fed 1 and a 1/4 oz per bird per day as when racing started the widowhood cocks were not trained, just exercised twi ce per day around the loft......

also another thing i did not do at the time but have recently learned......apart from the nestboxes in the w/hood cocks section there must be no perches fitted permanantly but available to fit sometimes to give the cocks a bit of incentive now and then......

in my widowhood loft the only place for the cocks to sit is in there box i even put next box fronts right to the front no ledge because if you loose a cock during racing and close a box off the others sit on the front ledge of that box if its set back even the drinkers are on a ledge just enough room to get a drink not comfortable to perch , got to keep them keen to their box this is what they fly back to

But if you train hard the pigeons need the fuel to train hard with

yes your right but what difference does this make if you feed on the floor or box as long as they get enough feed

When i feed the cocks on the floor i would add a spare cock just to gee them up

Some times did this as something different and make them start to think what is going to happen next

Ian only ever hadboxes for the cocks to rest on

its like when some fanciers hopper feed the birds, we would expect them to be greedy and always be full, but ive been told by fanciers who do this that they actually eat less ???? because they are not always scrabbling around for food and only eat what they need.......
altho i personally i dont think i would ever hopper feed my birds......

Ian here is something to think about

When the cocks loss there edge mid way through the season how about fitting a 6inch board the full length of all the boxes ???

See how they react to the change but watch they don't start fighting

would it have a similar effect to fitting a perch in the loft don.....?

Yes it is

But the cocks stay in there boxes

when i bought two cocks from a fancier, in the widowhood boxes he had a small fold down perch inside the box.......is this so the cock can sit on it during the racing season or when he was pairing up for the hen to be able to get out of the way of an agressive cock......?

More for the hen i would imagen