Training Young Birds.

Can anyone help please.

Due to circumstances - Starting breeding late, losses, hawks etc etc - I only have ONE young bird that is ready to train by car at the moment.

I have a further 3 birds that have only just started getting up off the loft for short spins round the loft.

I have been taking the ONE bird on short training tosses - maximum 10 miles - but on it's own.

I started with 3 x 6 mile tosses - then 1 x 10 mile toss. The first time it was at 10 miles, it made it back in 37 mins. The day after, I took it back to the same place (same conditions - very light wind on the nose and very god visibility) it took it THREE hours to get home!

I am not sure of what to do. I know it is hard on a bird to train on it's own - but what choice do I have?

Should I carry on training this one pigeon on it's own?

Should I stop it's training until the other 3 are ready in train by car?

What?

Any input would be gratefully welcomed.

Yours in Sport
Phil (blueskylofts)

yes i would carry on training everyday at the same distance and no further then put in first race best of luck

blueskylofts wrote:

Can anyone help please.

Due to circumstances - Starting breeding late, losses, hawks etc etc - I only have ONE young bird that is ready to train by car at the moment.

I have a further 3 birds that have only just started getting up off the loft for short spins round the loft.

I have been taking the ONE bird on short training tosses - maximum 10 miles - but on it's own.

I started with 3 x 6 mile tosses - then 1 x 10 mile toss.  The first time it was at 10 miles, it made it back in 37 mins.  The day after, I took it back to the same place (same conditions - very light wind on the nose and very god visibility) it took it THREE hours to get home!

I am not sure of what to do.  I know it is hard on a bird to train on it's own - but what choice do I have?

Should I carry on training this one pigeon on it's own?

Should I stop it's training until the other 3 are ready in train by car?

What?

Any input would be gratefully welcomed.

Yours in Sport
Phil (blueskylofts)

What may I ask do you actually want to achieve with your lone entry at this stage Phil race it this year etc or next year type of thing, because both would require a differant attack from my perspective.

shippy wrote:

yes i would carry on training everyday at the same distance and no further then put in first race best of luck

I agree with shippy phil, keep your yb at this distance until the others catch up with it.......no point throwing it away when you are starting off and wanting to build a team, when the others catch up and join in the training the older bird will help them.

Knackered wrote:

blueskylofts wrote:

Can anyone help please.

Due to circumstances - Starting breeding late, losses, hawks etc etc - I only have ONE young bird that is ready to train by car at the moment.

I have a further 3 birds that have only just started getting up off the loft for short spins round the loft.

I have been taking the ONE bird on short training tosses - maximum 10 miles - but on it's own.

I started with 3 x 6 mile tosses - then 1 x 10 mile toss.  The first time it was at 10 miles, it made it back in 37 mins.  The day after, I took it back to the same place (same conditions - very light wind on the nose and very god visibility) it took it THREE hours to get home!

I am not sure of what to do.  I know it is hard on a bird to train on it's own - but what choice do I have?

Should I carry on training this one pigeon on it's own?

Should I stop it's training until the other 3 are ready in train by car?

What?

Any input would be gratefully welcomed.

Yours in Sport
Phil (blueskylofts)

What may I ask do you actually want to achieve with your lone entry at this stage Phil race it this year etc or next year type of thing, because both would require a differant attack from my perspective.

I will NOT be racing at all this year. I just want to give my birds some education - as much education as I can really.
Phil

David wrote:

shippy wrote:

yes i would carry on training everyday at the same distance and no further then put in first race best of luck

I agree with shippy phil, keep your yb at this distance until the others catch up with it.......no point throwing it away when you are starting off and wanting to build a team, when the others catch up and join in the training the older bird will help them.

Really sound advice you guys - Thank You So Much!

I will do as you say Keep the one bird at the training distance it is now, give it a few tosses every week until the other 3 catch up, then train them all together.

Cheers for now
Phil

blueskylofts wrote:

Knackered wrote:

blueskylofts wrote:

Can anyone help please.

Due to circumstances - Starting breeding late, losses, hawks etc etc - I only have ONE young bird that is ready to train by car at the moment.

I have a further 3 birds that have only just started getting up off the loft for short spins round the loft.

I have been taking the ONE bird on short training tosses - maximum 10 miles - but on it's own.

I started with 3 x 6 mile tosses - then 1 x 10 mile toss.  The first time it was at 10 miles, it made it back in 37 mins.  The day after, I took it back to the same place (same conditions - very light wind on the nose and very god visibility) it took it THREE hours to get home!

I am not sure of what to do.  I know it is hard on a bird to train on it's own - but what choice do I have?

Should I carry on training this one pigeon on it's own?

Should I stop it's training until the other 3 are ready in train by car?

What?

Any input would be gratefully welcomed.

Yours in Sport
Phil (blueskylofts)

What may I ask do you actually want to achieve with your lone entry at this stage Phil race it this year etc or next year type of thing, because both would require a differant attack from my perspective.

I will NOT be racing at all this year.  I just want to give my birds some education - as much education as I can really.
Phil

Ok Phil Just remember thou your bird just had a 3 hour fly "not normal" & being a baby as such     thou it may appear in looks to be 100%, the head may need time to re focus sadly from my perspective.

Knackered wrote:

blueskylofts wrote:

Knackered wrote:

blueskylofts wrote:

Can anyone help please.

Due to circumstances - Starting breeding late, losses, hawks etc etc - I only have ONE young bird that is ready to train by car at the moment.

I have a further 3 birds that have only just started getting up off the loft for short spins round the loft.

I have been taking the ONE bird on short training tosses - maximum 10 miles - but on it's own.

I started with 3 x 6 mile tosses - then 1 x 10 mile toss.  The first time it was at 10 miles, it made it back in 37 mins.  The day after, I took it back to the same place (same conditions - very light wind on the nose and very god visibility) it took it THREE hours to get home!

I am not sure of what to do.  I know it is hard on a bird to train on it's own - but what choice do I have?

Should I carry on training this one pigeon on it's own?

Should I stop it's training until the other 3 are ready in train by car?

What?

Any input would be gratefully welcomed.

Yours in Sport
Phil (blueskylofts)

What may I ask do you actually want to achieve with your lone entry at this stage Phil race it this year etc or next year type of thing, because both would require a differant attack from my perspective.

I will NOT be racing at all this year.  I just want to give my birds some education - as much education as I can really.
Phil

Ok Phil Just remember thou your bird just had a 3 hour fly "not normal" & being a baby as such     thou it may appear in looks to be 100%, the head may need time to re focus sadly from my perspective.

Yes you are right and I took that into consideration this morning.

This morning, I just let it out of the loft with the other 3 young birds. They just had a 17 minute fly round, going this way a bit them returning overhead, then off again in another direction and then back on the loft, I then got them in. I thought that was just about perfect for this morning.

A Question - when calling birds into the loft - Do you have food down for them before they come in? Or do you wait until all the birds are in before you put food down - OR something else. ALSO - where do you sand when you call your birds in? Inside the loft or outside?

Thanks
Phil

I think it all depends on the management and the loft design phil......personally when I let my birds out they go through the open door, then while they are out exercising I close the door.....once they land usually as soon as I open the door they all fly in, but just in case I stand outside with a bit of small seed to tempt any who are reluctant, which isn't often.

I think fanciers who get the birds in via trap can stand either inside the loft calling them or outside, its up to the individual ......I do know some have small seed, red band/tk conditioner or peanuts down ready for the birds to eat when they enter the loft, this will soon tell them to trap asap because food is waiting.


some fanciers use a whistle to call the birds in, which is very effective once the birds know what it means....

a bit of canary/finch seed is ideal for trapping I chuck a pinch in the flight and they tumble in

anyone use peanuts...?

I use peanuts. Work wonders with them.

David wrote:

anyone use peanuts...?

Strange you should ask about peanuts David - when I had pigeons before I used to use peanuts with great success, it helped me tame the birds and control them to a certain extent.

But these new birds I have don't seem to know what peanuts are - or at least most of the stock birds I bought don't. I have tried my young birds with peanuts, but up to know, without much success, but I am working on it. I am also trying my stockies on them from time to time. A few are now picking them up, but still won't take them from my hand.

'Oldstrain' talked about canary seed - I have a mix which is called "Pigeon Candy" in Holland and Belgium and use that to help trapping and the like. I got the recipe from a mate of mine in Belg' and it seems to work really well. My young birds love it and will take it from the hand anytime. I find it works better than peanuts, because it does not fill the birds up like peanuts do, and a little bit goes a long way.

Good luck everyone with their y/b training.

Phil

phil get them y/birds taking a handful of chopped peanuts in the tray waiting for them coming in from exercise difference between 1st and 2nd

shippy wrote:

phil get them y/birds taking a handful of chopped peanuts in the tray waiting for them coming in from exercise difference between 1st and 2nd

Thanks shippy - I will try that.
Phil

blueskylofts wrote:

shippy wrote:

phil get them y/birds taking a handful of chopped peanuts in the tray waiting for them coming in from exercise difference between 1st and 2nd

Thanks shippy - I will try that.
Phil

Just curious Phil how many tosses etc have you in mind this year for your big team there. There is education & there is education, if you get my
drift & it's a long long way to the 2017 season from my perspective.

Knackered wrote:

blueskylofts wrote:

shippy wrote:

phil get them y/birds taking a handful of chopped peanuts in the tray waiting for them coming in from exercise difference between 1st and 2nd

Thanks shippy - I will try that.
Phil

Just curious Phil how many tosses etc have you in mind this year for your big team there. There is education & there is education, if you get my
drift & it's a long long way to the 2017 season from my perspective.

I can't really tell you how many training sessions I will give me HUGH team. lol But as far as I am concerned, they need to have as much experience the year of their birth as is logically possible.

I get mine to fight my hand every night then I open my hand and they take the peanut.
when teaching the babies to take it out of my hand, if they don't take the peanut at first I leave it on their perch so they get the taste for them, after a few nights they all fight your hand looking for the peanut.

Some can't wait and hop on me when I enter the loft, I put them in my ears and they're always looking for them.

When I was a kid my dad used to put them in his turn ups and had them running round the garden after him, but I'd be scared I'd tread on them.

What peanuts do you use boosey, I've heard some stories about toxins in them

High grade redskin peanuts, they must be ok because at Perth, I gave them:
2 Saturday
3 Sunday
4 Tuesday
5 Wednesday
Then gave them a couple of handfulls with their breakfast on basketing day Thursday, uthey could basically eat as many as they wanted.
Their was only 13 birds in my club on the day and I had 3 yearlings.
I'm building them up now with peanuts as we basket for Thurso next Thursday.
I'm chucking in a handful of peanuts in the food trough before I feed them their evening meal.
I've had no problems with peanuts and I've seen no side effects so far.

http://www.stevenvanbreemen.nl/?Hints_2_Win:Unroasted_peanuts%3A_a_secret_weapon_%3F
worth the read.

This I will try.
""The soybean

is another excellent type of feed for our pigeons. It is the most valuable legume we know, and 60 million tons are harvested yearly(66% in the United States and 33% in Eastern Asia). Although for decades the soybean, with a protein content of 38% and a fat content of 18% has been on the top of the list as a valuable feed for cattle and pigs, up till now(this article was published and written in 1982; after pigeon feed firms read this article the soybean was introduces to the mixtures) it has never been fed to pigeons. The reason for this is that raw soybean contain trypsine and another substance, both making digesting the bean very difficult. When you heat the soybean, however, these substances are destroyed, or the so-called urea level is kept down to 0.5 mg, which gives the bean a higher grade of digestibility. This roasting of the soybean results in the beans losing size; they become too small for pigeon feed.

At present other procedures are used to rid the beans of the negative qualities of the raw stage. When you microwave them, the substances are gone, while the bean keeps its size. As a result they can now be used for pigeons""

halcanada wrote:

This I will try.
""The soybean

is another excellent type of feed for our pigeons. It is the most valuable legume we know, and 60 million tons are harvested yearly(66% in the United States and 33% in Eastern Asia). Although for decades the soybean, with a protein content of 38% and a fat content of 18% has been on the top of the list as a valuable feed for cattle and pigs, up till now(this article was published and written in 1982; after pigeon feed firms read this article the soybean was introduces to the mixtures) it has never been fed to pigeons. The reason for this is that raw soybean contain trypsine and another substance, both making digesting the bean very difficult. When you heat the soybean, however, these substances are destroyed, or the so-called urea level is kept down to 0.5 mg, which gives the bean a higher grade of digestibility. This roasting of the soybean results in the beans losing size; they become too small for pigeon feed.

At present other procedures are used to rid the beans of the negative qualities of the raw stage. When you microwave them, the substances are gone, while the bean keeps its size. As a result they can now be used for pigeons""

use a mix for Friday mornings last feed before basketing its called energy plus packed with toasted soya beans and fats