# Training birds in less than perfect weather?



## DEEJAY7950 (Dec 13, 2006)

Knowing that the weather can be somewhat unpredictable on any race course would it not be wise to train the birds in less than perfect weather so the birds are able to deal with it, now I'm not talking about storming weather but weather that is not quite perfect but still rough enough to give the birds a hard time!
At what point do you draw the line in training tosses? Does anyone ever train in light rain or light wind?


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

Use the daily forecast as your guideline, and if it is just light rain, and sprinkles I think they should fly, if its a monsoon, or hurricane type of conditions or thunderstorms, I would wait until they pass.


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## SmithFamilyLoft (Nov 22, 2004)

DEEJAY7950 said:


> Knowing that the weather can be somewhat unpredictable on any race course would it not be wise to train the birds in less than perfect weather so the birds are able to deal with it, now I'm not talking about storming weather but weather that is not quite perfect but still rough enough to give the birds a hard time!
> At what point do you draw the line in training tosses? Does anyone ever train in light rain or light wind?


Hello DeeJay,

Just about everyone will have their own ideas about such matters, so you will need to use your own judgement. I consider my pigeons as very valuable and they are treated as such. It's dangerous enough out there what with hawks, wires, nuts with shot guns, etc. so why increase the odds of an injury or worse ? I don't think that you teach a pigeon anything by doing road training in the rain or under bad weather conditions, except to show them that you are some sort of knuckle head. Now if there are some light rain drops, maybe a little around the loft training is OK, but not in high winds. During the race season I don't even let them out in bad weather, what is the point ? Show your birds a little love and concern, a little compassion, a little respect. And on race day, they will come through for you.


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

SmithFamilyLoft said:


> Hello DeeJay,
> 
> Just about everyone will have their own ideas about such matters, so you will need to use your own judgement. I consider my pigeons as very valuable and they are treated as such. It's dangerous enough out there what with hawks, wires, nuts with shot guns, etc. so why increase the odds of an injury or worse ? I don't think that you teach a pigeon anything by doing road training in the rain or under bad weather conditions, except to show them that you are some sort of knuckle head. Now if there are some light rain drops, maybe a little around the loft training is OK, but not in high winds. During the race season I don't even let them out in bad weather, what is the point ? Show your birds a little love and concern, a little compassion, a little respect. And on race day, they will come through for you.


*AMEN!!! *You hit the nail on the head!!


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## george simon (Feb 28, 2006)

HI DEETAY7950,If you care about your birds why would even think about shipping them to a race knowing that they would encounter bad weather? I may not have the best racers in the world but they are my birds and I will not put them thru those types of hardships. The way I look at it is there is always next week.The trouble is that to many that race are looking to win average speed or some other award or even money,SO that they can go around braging I won this or that WHEN IN FACT IT WAS THE BIRD THAT WON WHILE WE ON RACE DAY ARE SITTING AT HOME ON OUR BUTT WITH A BEER IN OUR HAND.  .GEORGE


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

george simon said:


> HI DEETAY7950,If you care about your birds why would even think about shipping them to a race knowing that they would encounter bad weather? I may not have the best racers in the world but they are my birds and I will not put them thru those types of hardships. The way I look at it is there is always next week.The trouble is that to many that race are looking to win average speed or some other award or even money,SO that they can go around braging I won this or that WHEN IN FACT IT WAS THE BIRD THAT WON WHILE WE ON RACE DAY ARE SITTING AT HOME ON OUR BUTT WITH A BEER IN OUR HAND.  .GEORGE


George, you and Warren are gonna have me shouting *"Halleujah"........:*(sp??) along with my AMEN!! LOL


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## DEEJAY7950 (Dec 13, 2006)

points well taken, not that i would send birds to a race in bad weather knowingly, but who can guarantee the weather ? no one i think, even with all the high tech stuff, crap happens and the birds have to deal with it, that's all I'm saying!


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## george simon (Feb 28, 2006)

Hi Deejay, You Are Right The Weather Can Come Up Real Quick At Times. .george


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## The Flying Kiwi (Jun 4, 2007)

Training in the rain i do it!
If they cant do 50miles in the rain how can you expect them to do 300miles on race day.
like it has been said you wouldn't send a bird to a race knowing the weather will be bad but two to three days before the race when we take our birds to the club for transporting who really knows what the weather will be on race day!!
lets face it the met office aren't correct as often as they are wrong! well thats the case where i live (small land mass very variable weather).


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

DEEJAY7950 said:


> points well taken, not that i would send birds to a race in bad weather knowingly, but who can guarantee the weather ? no one i think, even with all the high tech stuff, **** crap happens and the birds have to deal with it, that's all I'm saying!



** AMEN!!!!

We ALL LOVE our birds, and do what is best for them..


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## SmithFamilyLoft (Nov 22, 2004)

The Flying Kiwi said:


> .....Training in the rain i do it!
> If they cant do 50miles in the rain how can you expect them to do 300miles on race day......


 Hello Kiwi,

Everyone will have their own methods and ideas and far be it for me to say that I have all the answers, or even all the questions. You will do what you feel will give you an edge, and your training and management will be the major part of your local racing success. I doubt that anything I say will change your mind in this regard and that is the nature of our sport.

For other readers who may be new, or who may consider another point of view, then my two cents on this subject is for them.

It is my opinion, and again take it for what it is.....A fancier can go a long way in terms of racing success by using our human intellect to perfect a management/training system for our birds. It is very difficult for a YB to overcome the training and racing mistakes of the fancier. Most of my YB losses were the result of my mistakes, not the fault of the pigeons. I have always had that mindset, and I always assume there was an error on my part. A wise fancier will therefore study the methods of sucessful fanciers and try to learn from their methods. One only has to study the methods of the great European fanciers in order to avoid most amateur mistakes. The truely great Champions do not subject their birds to road work in bad weather. 

Part of the reason just may be because it is counterproductive. A really intelligent pigeon just may think to himself....."This is crazy" and go down to a barn to wait out the storm. That just might be the intelligent thing to do. Now, what have you "taught" that bird ? You taught him to become a "Homing" pigeon, instead of a "Racing" pigeon.  You have also greatly increased the odds that injuries and losses will occur, and how does that help develope a race team ? 

This also applies to many other aspects of a fancier's management system, besides taking into consideration weather. Jerking them down the road too soon, too often, too far, etc. etc. Please don't forget that we are dealing with immature YB's...really just babies....and bad tosses will not increase their confidence level, quite the contrary....it will increase the stress level dramatically. And what happens when you increase the stress levels of your birds ? A whole lot of bad things. 

So while my competition is jerking their birds down the road with storm clouds overhead, increasing the team's stress level, and loseing a few birds in the process. My birds are at home, resting and enjoying the day off, and enjoying my company. And should a race turn ugly, like in the UPC's 2004 four day 336 mile "Race from Hell" smash....my birds were home, because maybe those months of stress free living gave them the confidence to endure and make it home. While the poor birds which endured months of stress by training in all kinds of bad weather...just finally gave up and became part of the 1,000+ birds which never made it home from that sad event.

As my early mentor, Earl Ressel would have said....give the birds a chance, and when they hit a bump in the road, their love of home will bring them back. So create a stress free enviroment, where they feel safe and rested, give them the opportunity to succeed and build confidence, and if bad weather happens to hit the race committee by surprize, your birds will be much better equipped to do the job. At least that has been my experience as I have not had a "No Report" since I was racing as a kid. Earl and our European counterparts are right.


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## The Flying Kiwi (Jun 4, 2007)

All very relevant and well said
I am often impressed with what you have to say and bring to this forum


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## DEEJAY7950 (Dec 13, 2006)

kiwi and Warren a special thank you!

Thank you all for your points of view, I enjoy hearing both sides of the issue! I must admit though having grown up as a youngster around some old time pigeon fliers of the late 50's and early 60's has made me not to sensitive when it comes to pigeons as many on this site are, I mean i can't even bring up the "C" word here which is fine by me, many old timers know what I'm talking about, it was a standard practise back then and i was lucky enough to receive some birds just because I happened to ask if I could have a few but i believe i got better than those that were selected for a much worse fate! Lucky for me because even today I still have a love for the birds and hope to pass it down to my grandchildren!


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## SmithFamilyLoft (Nov 22, 2004)

*What Goes Around...Comes Around*



DEEJAY7950 said:


> kiwi and Warren a special thank you!
> 
> Thank you all for your points of view, I enjoy hearing both sides of the issue! I must admit though having grown up as a youngster around some old time pigeon fliers of the late 50's and early 60's has made me not to sensitive when it comes to pigeons as many on this site are.....



Hello DeeJay,

I know exactly what you are talking about, I have been there and also had relatives which were farmers, and until Viet Nam I was also a hunter. Many of the old timers, and even many fanciers today treat their pigeons like livestock. They treat their racing pigeons much the same way a chicken farmer treats his chickens. 

This site has over time, given me a different perspective and appreciation for my birds, and I think it is all part of a maturing process. Many times on a number of issues, I felt caught between two worlds and it was at times frustrating. Fortunately, many of the "Old Timers" on this site were patient with me and now I find myself seeing and enjoying many benefits to an even more compassionate care of my birds. 

This "softer" side, has in fact had a very positive impact on my birds. I have built a relationship with them based on trust and respect. Contrast this to the fancier who on race day must hide himself from view of the birds because they have learned to fear him. I have no doubt, that my bird's feeling of security around me, has impacted their desire to fly home and to trap quickly. This change of heart and thinking will not happen overnight, but I guarantee you, both you and your birds will enjoy each other much more and don't be surprised if your birds repay you on race day.


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## DEEJAY7950 (Dec 13, 2006)

Well said warren and I am listening, just hope people don't get the wrong impression of me, some times the typed word comes off wrong or the wrong word or wording can give the wrong impression of a person, everything i say and do comes from the heart and in a positive way and i love to debate subjects for and against without animosity towards anyone! God Bless all


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## lawman (Jul 19, 2005)

Hi DEEJAY7950,

Knowing that the weather can be somewhat unpredictable on any race course would it not be wise to train the birds in less than perfect weather so the birds are able to deal with it, now I'm not talking about storming weather but weather that is not quite perfect but still rough enough to give the birds a hard time!
At what point do you draw the line in training tosses? Does anyone ever train in light rain or light wind?

You asked a very good question and got all kinds of answers. None of which I believe really ansered your question did they?

So here goes on my take of what you asked;

No one not the most experience or the most naive of fliers ever should knowingly release their birds in gail force winds or in the middle of a torrential rains. No two ways about it, uour going to loose a lot of excellant birds that way.

Now with that said, I personely release my birds during periods of light rain, for instance I plan on a fifty mile toss for the day and the weather turns slightly bad, Iwill take them to 25 miles instead of fifty or they are flown around the loft.) The reason for it is simple: you cannot control the evironment on a race course. The birds are going to see rain, snow, sleet and hail on some race courses and dry deseart conditions on others. Then you have my race course, 395 concourse, where they literally can go from one extreme and fly right into the opposite extreme. I used to fly the east course combine, the birds are constantly hit with head winds from the moment they are realeased and begin heading home, so due to the race course you have no choise but to train in head winds as well.

Then depending on the weather your choise is often very simple. Choose to fly or stand down (not fly a particular race) or send birds no matter the course or weather conditions. I know people who fall into both catigories. 

Now with this all said; If your birds have never seen the light of day during light periods of rain, then they confront it on a race course. They will probibly panic and scatter to the four winds before they turn and head back towards home. 

Hope this helped:
Lawman


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## DEEJAY7950 (Dec 13, 2006)

yes you understand where I'm coming from, we must use common sense in these matters! Oh by the way common sense isn't really common any more! LOL


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## lawman (Jul 19, 2005)

yes you understand where I'm coming from, we must use common sense in these matters! Oh by the way common sense isn't really common any more! LOL

*YOU HIT THE PREVERBIAL NAIL ON THE HEAD DEEJAY7950*

LAWMAN


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## KO Loft (Jul 1, 2007)

*thought from former racer*

Take this from someone who "retired" from the sport, but we applied the same type of training methods that athletes did. Train your bird but show them the love that they need to be healthy when it comes time for the race season, when they will have to be at their peak. Had an old sports coach that wanted use as members practice during all type of conditions because that is what the sport required. We ended up playing short handed because during practice several members pulled muscles, sprained ligaments, or other injuries. I broke my hip that ended my career. Afterwards we asked the coach if he knew who was the best player when we were not concerned about the game, but rather just getting through without an injury. 

Take it for what its worth but had a friend who used to train horses at DRC years ago who had owner who wanted to train his horse to determine if he was a mudder. The trainer said that type of training would eventually cause the horse damage and possible death if it broke a leg. Training a bird in bad weather might not train the bird to race but rather to survive. You will lose great birds that way. just a thought...Former bird we found at our loft after bad weather training by another loft was one of the best breeders we ever had but former loft viewed her as a failure because she got loss during this training...our view was she just had more common sense than the loft owner and decided it was better to just get out of the rain and wind.


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## lawman (Jul 19, 2005)

Hi KO,

I understand your viewpoint, I just dont think you take it to the right conclusion. I look at racing pigeons like I do sprint and long distance running in humans. now it doesnt matter to much to me if your going out to the long distances or to the short races. The birds need a certain amount of training so they dont get the pulled mucles and spained joints that your talking about. 

Now this doesnt mean if they are going to be flying to the 300 on race day that you have to fly them to the 200 on the day prior. Your simply going to burn all the fat off of them and then they will begin to burn up muscle and go down. but by the same token you dont want to lock them up the entire week with absolutely no flying time ether. You have to find the balance and a lot of that will depend on the flying system your using. widowhood, double widowhood, natural, ect. ect.

Just the way I look at it,
Lawman


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## DEEJAY7950 (Dec 13, 2006)

All good and valid points but I always remember my scout motto--Be prepared!


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## KO Loft (Jul 1, 2007)

*re pulled muscles lol*

Lawman

I didnt mean not training birds but in the past I was aware of several local racers who wanted to train the birds in less than ideal circumstances including severe winds and in the rain (not sprinkles mind you). This would not be training the birds but almost eliminating most of their flock to produce supposed winners lol. Their view was that the birds might have to race in this type of weather and there view was to train them in more difficult conditions than they considered raceable so that they would never be in weather worse than those conditions they would experience. 

The sad thing I observed is those that trained like that seemed to produce the poorest birds lol. Had a football coach that knew you play in the rain, but he had his team practice in a thunderstorm with several lightning and through a tornado warning. His view was he didn't want his team to go without practice a few days before the game. What I learned from most people in the club is ask what they do. You will find that common sense is the most prevailing method of training (except the guy who actually put weights on his birds feet, but that is another story)

joe


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## lawman (Jul 19, 2005)

Hi Joe,

I take it the guy who actually put weights on his birds feet thought he would be building their wing muscles or something like that. Guess he never heard of the theory that massive muscles does not a runner make. 

Lawman


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## KO Loft (Jul 1, 2007)

He tried to translate pigeons with human athletes. He never realized with pigeons its a race to get home and survival. Guess for him to understand you would have to put him in pit with lions and have him run with leg waits and say do not worry, its training for the actual race when they use tigers because as we all know here in detroit the lions can not hurt anyone lol


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## lawman (Jul 19, 2005)

Hey KO,

I could probibly take your last comments a couple of different ways. However I think I'll simply say for you to look up Bill (the book) Richardson and some of his writtings on the subject of racing pigeons and how to develope and train them. He was a professional body builder at one time in his life and he uses his knowledge of body building a lot when describing the points he is trying to explain. 

Lawman


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## lawman (Jul 19, 2005)

For those of you who have never heard of Bill "the book" Richardson heres a free link to an article about him.... http://midislandracingpigeonsociety.com/mid_island_interviews.html

There is a virual library of articles by him also in the Winning Magazine, however you will have to become a member to access them.....
http://winningmagazine.nl/homeeng.asp?cook=w

Have fun reading all,
Lawman


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## SmithFamilyLoft (Nov 22, 2004)

*Are we asking the right questions ?*

Oh....and just to totally confuse the subject. Take the case of Wendell Ehrhart who is a member of the UPC in Pa. and placed right below me in average speed in our section, and he scored just a few dozen points less then me in the Loft of the Year report. 

In Wendell's case he neither trains in good or bad weather....in fact his birds do not do any road training at all....0...zip....nothing ! And yet he still beats 90% of the combine. He is getting up there in years and has a number of health issues, so for his birds, the first time they see the inside of a basket is on shipping night. This means he has a large team to work with because guess what ? He has zero losses from road work, so during the races, he has a large number of fresh birds to choose from. 

So in this example, he is able to do better then 90% of the Combine....and I presume those who train in all kinds of weather. Which leads me to believe that for at least 90% of the 100+ member Combine, their good weather/bad weather road training has not made much difference in regard to beating Wendell either way...... Which leads me to believe that there is no use in taking any unecessary risks. I stated that before, but Wendell's situation is one of the reasons I think that way. 

An extra little tidbit, this year I sent the birds down the road on about 25 fewer training tosses before the races, and stopped road training altogether this year after the races started. In my case how bad do you think it impacted my race results ?  

The birds did better !, plus I saved quite a few hours of driving, a hundred gallons of gas, and apparently a whole lot of stress on the birds. So maybe, just maybe....the question of road training in bad weather is not the complete question, or even the right question ? 

Just a thought............if I ever come up with the total answer, not sure I would share it anyway.


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## DEEJAY7950 (Dec 13, 2006)

Very interesting Warren, so is it just a case of large numbers of birds being sent verses only a few (that are ready) ? since there were no losses at all because of no training? I know of a fly-er that only trains a couple of times to twenty miles then stops! BUT is it to have more birds available to fly (more ready birds to choose from) than any thing else? With all these METHODS it sure is hard to choose one to start with, especially when most books say train, train, train, coming from some of the best pigeon fly-ers of the past! Or are they just throwing us a curve ball, lol just kidding, they wouldn't do that!
P.S. your last line Warren scares me lol !


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## SmithFamilyLoft (Nov 22, 2004)

DEEJAY7950 said:


> Very interesting Warren, so is it just a case of large numbers of birds being sent verses only a few (that are ready) ? since there were no losses at all because of no training?......... P.S. your last line Warren scares me lol !



Well in our case locally, there is a 20 bird shipping limit and a 3 bird clocking limit, since our Combine is flying under IF rules.....and they don't want someone taking all the prizes, as they want to spread it around a bit. If one is working with a smaller team, then the guy with a larger team still has an advantage since he has more birds to select from. Not really talking about the guy in some Combines who is able to ship 60+ birds hoping that a bird or two among the mob will make it home into the clock.

This three bird clocking limit does make it difficult from a Combine perspective to tell which birds are really excelling, and which one's are not. I had a number of birds that were very consistent, being the 4th or 5th bird to loft, which may have qualified as Combine Diploma winners, had it not been for the 3 bird clocking limit. Which is one of the reasons every race at my loft, is in fact a One Loft race. At the end of the season, my software allows me to evaluate the entire team against each other, and not just the first 3 birds against the combine. As an example, I had a number of birds which flew 8 different races out of nine possible, which only managed to be in the top 3 once or twice, but were still home in the clock in very respectable time. I may value such a bird higher due to the consistent performance, more then the bird which had a very good showing only a couple of times. I know there were a number of situations where the hen or cock which won the 1st in club, was simply better motivated because of sitting on a bowl full of eggs etc.

As far as my last statement in your above quote.....please remember that this is after all a very competitive sport. I don't particularly see any reason to share everything so that my competitors can have an advantage of some sort..... ...there are those who are very effective seminar givers, and video tape sellers, and article writers, and they have their place, I simply want to be one of the achievers.  I sometimes think I talk too much as it is, because everyone knows that there are fanciers which really talk a good bit, and perhaps even write very authoritative articles.....but they are often strangely missing from the race sheets, or their past success may have been decades ago, perhaps when they lived somewhere else with a great loft location. 

So, my humble advice concerning all pigeon related advice is to take it all in with a grain of salt. Simply because the advice may be from an article in a pigeon publication, or from a book, does not make it true. From my perspective, there is an awful lot of misinformation floating around out there.


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## k-will (Dec 15, 2007)

smithfamilyloft,i gather that is upc-united pigeon combine?you probably know my cousin doug williams who flew there for years.anyway,i also am enjoying your posts sir.i am coming back to the sport after a 4 year layoff.just in that time away from the magazines,etc. i see much has changed,but also nothing is changed either.training a bird,especially a young pigeon in any questionable weather only teaches the pigeon one thing.1)he doesnt have a very smart master.b)how to get wet?i can teach them that in the back yard.seriously,dont ever purposely train pigeons in bad conditions thinking you will get an advantage.you wont.been there done that.adds unwanted stress to birds that will be their undoing later when the going does get tough.something always drives me to let the birds out in a non violent rain a couple times just so they can see it and fly in it.i wonder if they are looking down at me thinking-"look at that idiot down there standing in the rain watching us fly."-the less stress-they give their best


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## lawman (Jul 19, 2005)

Hello K-will,

Welcome back to the sport my only slightly younger than me brother in arms. Don't think anyone ever said they purposely trained in bad weather (course it would be nice to know your def. of such). I think the term that was used was torrential downpours and such. Light rain to just sprinkles as we see here in the west (most of the time) prove no problem for training in or for that matter just flying around the loft. Course the choice is yours! I don't beleive anyone said they actually train in torrential downpours.

However, I can tell you this; in the last four or five years one individual has stood out among all the rest in young birds and it wasn't for sitting on his laurels. He had bird’s ether win or in the top ten birds clocked in the combine almost, but not quite all of the races he flew. He trained bad weather or no.......... Guess he wasn't a very smart master HUH. 

He has almost all of the top fliers in our area vying to try and get his birds......... he doesn’t let many out let me tell you. Those few who are able to obtain some of his birds count themselves very lucky indeed.

It's my personnel belief that your birds adapt to you, your training style, conditions you fly in ect. Point is if they don’t adapt they aren’t there for very long. Then most fliers try different blood, if the birds they have aren't working out.

Think about your departments swat or multiple enforcement teams. They tend to train rain, shine, snow or sleet, don’t they? I know mine does....... we have one of, if not the highest reputation in our area and it’s not because we sit on our laurels my brother. It is just the opposite!

Course some on this site say you can't equate a pigeon or birds to human training standards. I personnely think they are wrong and have the opposite opinion. 

Lawman


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## SmithFamilyLoft (Nov 22, 2004)

k-will said:


> smithfamilyloft,i gather that is upc-united pigeon combine?you probably know my cousin doug williams who flew there for years.anyway,i also am enjoying your posts sir.i am coming back to the sport after a 4 year layoff.just in that time away from the magazines,etc. i see much has changed,but also nothing is changed either.training a bird,especially a young pigeon in any questionable weather only teaches the pigeon one thing.1)he doesnt have a very smart master.b)how to get wet?i can teach them that in the back yard.seriously,dont ever purposely train pigeons in bad conditions thinking you will get an advantage.you wont.been there done that.adds unwanted stress to birds that will be their undoing later when the going does get tough.something always drives me to let the birds out in a non violent rain a couple times just so they can see it and fly in it.i wonder if they are looking down at me thinking-"look at that idiot down there standing in the rain watching us fly."-the less stress-they give their best


Hello K-will,

Welcome to our Pigeon Life/Pigeon Talk site, and yes we are talking one and the same...The United Pigeon Combine or the UPC. Sorry the name Doug Williams does not ring a bell, but then I have stayed away from all UPC functions for several years now, in order to focus on our local club the YRPC.

Glad you are back, although a 4 year layoff is not all that long..... I agree that although over the years much has changed, much is also very much the same. That applies to not only the pigeons, but also pigeon fanciers....


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## k-will (Dec 15, 2007)

lawman,yeah i can respect that.as i said i trained birds in rain and questionable weather before.i just didnt see the benefit from it.someone told me once in the pigeon sport there are "many roads to rome".i guess you got to try what works for you and find out for yourself.


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## Goldenbars (Nov 28, 2020)

SmithFamilyLoft said:


> Hello DeeJay,
> 
> Just about everyone will have their own ideas about such matters, so you will need to use your own judgement. I consider my pigeons as very valuable and they are treated as such. It's dangerous enough out there what with hawks, wires, nuts with shot guns, etc. so why increase the odds of an injury or worse ? I don't think that you teach a pigeon anything by doing road training in the rain or under bad weather conditions, except to show them that you are some sort of knuckle head. Now if there are some light rain drops, maybe a little around the loft training is OK, but not in high winds. During the race season I don't even let them out in bad weather, what is the point ? Show your birds a little love and concern, a little compassion, a little respect. And on race day, they will come through for you.


I tend to agree. I live in a place where rain is a theme. And my birds really want to go out on rainy days. They seem agitated when I don't let them out. We have high winds to period as most people do I imagine but I live on the coast of British Columbia and storms come through quickly so that means that a good deal of the time the wind ends quickly so I'll just look at the hourly forecast and then let them do their training or flying or just relaxing around the loft when the wind and rain dies down. But today it's very rainy and I don't think I'm going to let them out and they are going to be cranky. But it's like you said I want them to be warm and dry and it's still a lot warmer in The loft and they want to go in the rain they like it and it's good for them however it's pretty rainy and that's going to decrease their flying abilities it's really really big raindrops. so I don't want their feathers to get that wet in that uncontrolled setting where they'll have less you know technical flying ability. So instead of letting them get drenched on the roof today or sitting around in my trees I am going to fill up their bath water and put it in the loft and treat them with ivermectin and just let them do their own treatment they are slavish to a bird bath.
it seems counterintuitive to give them a bath on a rainy day but if I let them out they'd be way wetter and without that treatment coming in for multiple birds issues. I'm also going to feed them a bunch of fruit and vegetables and water with lemon and give them some nest building materials at least so they can do some arts and crafts on this rainy day.


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