# Letting pigeons out?



## WhereDidILeaveMyKeys (Mar 3, 2012)

I'm interested in buying two young pigeons some time in the future, and i'm not sure on the whole "exercise" regime. I definitely want ones that can fly and (excuse my ignorance) ones that look 'pigeon-y.' I'd also much rather keep them outside, except possibly during the winter months.
So how do I go about about letting these pigeons outside? Should they have an opening on the cage at all times? Should they be let out at only certain times of the day? Will a pigeon spend hours and hours outside, or just a few minutes? How do I get them to return, and after how long should I? Should a bond be established before letting them out? Ect, etc..
My naivety doesn't stop there- please help a noobie out, and discuss the general idea of letting pigeons out for a fly.


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## Revolution Lofts (Aug 7, 2008)

Well there are hundreds of pigeon breeds that you can keep so the first thing would be to determine what breed you want to keep.

Secondly, only flying breeds should be let out to fly. Racers, rollers, high fliers, tipplers, etc. They shouldn't have an opening to come out all the time. Instead, all openings should be closed at all times.

When you first get your birds, you need to settle them in a cage, and trap train them. When they are trap trained (they come inside when you shake a can of feed or whistle), they are ready to be let out without the settling cage.

The first time they'll probably just sit on the landing board or fly a bit, but soon, they'll start to fly more and more depending on the breed. You don't need to really form a "bond" with them, but its mainly that they must know how to enter the loft through a trap and come in while you do the feed call. 

With racing pigeons, you need to get them very young 30-35 days is best. Older pigeons may fly back to their original loft.


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## Print Tippler (May 18, 2011)

I would use the English tipplers. There are plenty in the UK I'm sure also. They can be tamed and relocated at any age. They also evade hawks well and won't get lost outside when following a few simple steps. But if i were you I would find someone with tipplers and ask for two squabs at a very young age say 4 and raise them from there and locate in there home and always feed them by hand. You could have them coming to the palm of your hand if you wanted. They could be blue bars which is plain feral look and they are also medium size. Bred for flying, record fly was 22 hour 5 mins for a 3 bird kit of English tipplers. That is a bit on the extreme but you can find 10 hour birds easy. So they are a strong breed for flying outside.


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