# Trapping - confused!!



## pigeonpoo (Sep 16, 2005)

I'm confused! It doesn't take a lot! LOL

I have young birds 45 days old. They are loft flying and know how to trap but, they will not come in when I call them! They sit up on the roof of my house (I have garden fantails up there) until dusk and then trap. I need to get them under control BUT (and this is where I get confused) I thought that young birds should have as much food as they want for growing. I feed once a day in the evening and then pull the food. So, do I feed them less to get them to trap? Is it too late to rectify their bad habits?


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## Jiggs (Apr 1, 2005)

No its not too late, If I understand correctly you feed once a day (evenings) and pull the food - how long do you leave the food? I think it should be about 15 min. I am not a big fan of that as I want them to eat all the different seeds. I would put down enough feed that they eat everything up in 15 min. Although once a week I give a little bit extra just in case 

My birds will also not trap if I am to close to the loft as the youngsters are very touchy then I feed whistle and move away then they come swooping in. The older birds are ok

If the youngsters are well fed then yes they will observe the countryside from the roof but yes I think they might be getting a little to much food as when feed time is whistled for they should come screaming in for the traps

I presume you feed after they have flown - I dont even need to whistle anymore as when they are flying they know my habits by now - as soon as I go to the feed bins they already start circling closer and when I put down the food bam!


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## pigeonpoo (Sep 16, 2005)

Yes, I feed in the evening after they have flown but, I let them out in the morning, so they have all day on the house roof; I read they should have an hour flying in the morning and an hour afternoon but, until they will come in I can't do this! I've been leaving the food about an hour and then spending ages picking up all the bits they have thrown out, so they don't have 'breakfast' left for them next day!! I'll try feeding for 15 minutes only.

I think that you might have solved my problem someway though.......I shake a can to call them in then stand either inside the loft or, hovering in the doorway. I know that they don't like me much, even though I have spent hours with them since they hatched...........I'll try leaving as you do and hope that makes the difference.

Thanks for your advice, I'll let you know how it goes.


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

Hi pigeonpoo!

Keep them hungry and you will soon have them trapping in the morning and at night. A tablespoon per bird is about the right amount to give them. They have been getting full enough at night that they are not hungry enough to trap.


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## george simon (Feb 28, 2006)

*The Fan Tails::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::*

PIGEONPOO, The first thing is get those d-- FAN TAILS off the roof when you fly your younbirds.The yb see them sitting and think its ok,so once again keep the fan tails lock up when flying your race team of young birds.I feed 1/2 ration in the morning and 1/2 in the evening.This allows me to fly my team twice a day. I also train the yb to trap when they hear the feed can being shook. At a young age I lock all the yb out in the avaiery. then put the feed down, all the time shaking the feed can if they don't trap they don't eat,they soon learn to trap when they hear the feed can being shook. Always make them trap to eat. GEORGE SIMON


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## Steelers Army (Mar 3, 2006)

*my method of trapping*

let them out in the AM, make about 20 mins exercise, open the trap door soon I see them land, then whistles to get their attention, from a distance I'll tap the landing board in that case they will get use to the hand signal like waving at them and when they are close enough to hear my tapping, shake the can or make a noise with the feeder covers, then I put the feed inside the loft for everybody to come down and eat, this will encourage them to get to the landing board and walk in the trap door as fast as the other go down to get their food...yea I agree get those hanging out bird off the roof or dont feed them at all separate them with your young flyers...if they choose not to go in right away that means they are not hungry at all. if they walked in and you already pulled the food out then they have to settle for water...Somebody once told me " *let them know you are in control dont let them control you* "...

Oliver


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

pigeonpoo said:


> Yes, I feed in the evening after they have flown but, I let them out in the morning, .



This could be one potential problem. You let them out in the AM and feed in the PM. They know this. That's why they come in, in the PM. They know it's chow time. If you fly them in the AM and feed in the AM, then by the next AM, (24 hours) they are hungry again. If I understand you correctly, you feed in the PM, and let them out "roughly" 12 hours or so later. They are not hungry then, but another 10 or 12 hours go by and now they ARE hungry. 
The fantails being out don't help either.............it only takes ONE bird sitting on the roof to keep all the other from trapping. "monkey see, monkey do" LOL


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## pigeonpoo (Sep 16, 2005)

OK, keeping the fantails in is a problem......they are free flying from the dovecote, I'm not sure how I can keep them in.

So, I feed twice a day, splitting one tablespoon per bird into two equal meals? I've missed this evening's feed so I can start in the morning on the new regime. Poor babies, they didn't go out today because we had high winds. No flying and no food - they are not happy pidgies!

Thanks everyone for the rapid advice.


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

pigeonpoo said:


> OK, keeping the fantails in is a problem......they are free flying from the dovecote, I'm not sure how I can keep them in.
> 
> So, I feed twice a day, splitting one tablespoon per bird into two equal meals? I've missed this evening's feed so I can start in the morning on the new regime. Poor babies, they didn't go out today because we had high winds. No flying and no food - they are not happy pidgies!
> 
> Thanks everyone for the rapid advice.


Oh yes, I remember about the fantails now. That could be a problem, but probably not a lot you can do about them. You're just going to have to starve your birds!!! JUST KIDDING!!!
I would start with 1/2 ounce of feed per bird tomorrow morning and see how they do. This will be hard to do, (I have a TERRIBLE time with it) but when you let them out in the AM, after they fly or whatever, call them in. Give them about 10 minutes to trap. If they don't trap, put the feed away. Let them trap whenever they want to. See, this is something that my husband and I disagree on every year while training YB's. You teach them to trap when you call them. We call, some trap, some don't. Then you spend the next 2 hours BEGGING the birds to come in, calling and calling........well, when they FINALLY trap, if you have called them, you should feed them. That's what you want them to learn. Problem is, if you feed them 2 or 3 hours later than the rest, the next day you'll have the exact same problem because they won't be hungry. Now, this is what we TRY to do. We call them, if they dont come in they don't get fed. Some will stay out and they may trap 5 minutes after the feed is pulled. That's tough. They didn't come in when I CALLED them, so they don't get fed. For the rest of the day, every time I go in the loft, here comes the late few, acting like they are starved and it just kills me!! LOL But for their own good and safety, they don't get any feed until the next day. Eventually they learn, if mom calls and I don't trap, it's a long time till chow...........
so.........if your birds don't trap when you call them, make them wait until they go out again to eat. In the PM, if you call and they don't come in (I suspect they will this time LOL) don't feed them. Try this again the next day. THEY WILL LEARN eventually and they will not die of starvation because they miss a meal or two. If they do good on 1/2 ounce per meal, then you can add some to that until you get up to the 1 ounce per day. 
I can hardly stand to see them "hungry" but if you see a hawk take one that won't trap because you didn't force the issue, it becomes a little easier. You are not being cruel, you're just trying to dicipline them and once they get it, you and they will be MUCH happier. 
God.........didn't mean to write a book!! LOL


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## pigeonpoo (Sep 16, 2005)

IT WORKED!!!! Well, I'll be honest.......it sort of worked! 

I know exactly what you mean about it being difficult though.....as soon as I entered the loft this morning they shot down onto the floor looking for some food......I shooed them out, cleaned out the breeding loft and called them in. Now, this is when they usually sit, in the house gutter, laughing down at me. They didn't come, so I shook the can again (the fantails came ) but the young birds took off for another fly around the field and THEN THEY TRAPPED!!!! The first time ever I've managed to get them back in the morning!!! 

They gobbled up their half ounce each.....came and pecked at my fingers for more.......but I was strong......okay, I felt in my pocket for a peanut but there were none.....so, fingers crossed now for this evening.

But is only one ounce a day enough for a growing bird? They were eating _much_ more than this!


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

pigeonpoo said:


> IT WORKED!!!! Well, I'll be honest.......it sort of worked!
> 
> I know exactly what you mean about it being difficult though.....as soon as I entered the loft this morning they shot down onto the floor looking for some food......I shooed them out, cleaned out the breeding loft and called them in. Now, this is when they usually sit, in the house gutter, laughing down at me. They didn't come, so I shook the can again (the fantails came ) but the young birds took off for another fly around the field and THEN THEY TRAPPED!!!! The first time ever I've managed to get them back in the morning!!!
> 
> ...



1 ounce is good for now. Work on getting them into a routine of trapping for a few days. Then, if they are doing a bit of flying say 1/2 hour or longer, you might want to give just a tad more. It will take a few days for them to adjust to a different feeding schedule. They were used to eating all they wanted once a day, but they'll come around in a few days. Good job.


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## george simon (Feb 28, 2006)

*Great*

PIGEONPOO, I am happy that you are having some inprovement with the traping. You got good advice from the Lovebirds. George


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## Jiggs (Apr 1, 2005)

Hi Pigeonpoo - hope its going well. Are you going to race these birds???


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

Hi pigeonpoo!

I'm glad to hear they are trapping.  

Thanks for the update.


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## pigeonpoo (Sep 16, 2005)

WHOOHOO!! And again this evening!  
So, it's all down to starving the poor things??! 


No, seriously, thanks everyone for your advice.

As Lovebirds says, in a few days I can up the feed somewhat and, if they go back to their old ways, I'll know I'm giving them too much. I can't believe it's been so easy to rectify! My problem was thinking they had to have as much food as they wanted! The phrase 'Killing them with kindness' comes to mind! 

Jiggs, I am starting a 'dove' release business but, my husband has plans to race them in a couple of seasons. Hopefully, by then, I'll have them hitting the traps directly they arrive home. 

I'll update again in a few days to let you all know how it's progressing and, thanks again.


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

pigeonpoo said:


> WHOOHOO!! And again this evening!
> So, it's all down to starving the poor things??!
> 
> 
> ...



That is great news. Now, I probably need to go RE-READ my post and take my own advice!!! LOL


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## Jiggs (Apr 1, 2005)

Thats good - when you start road training it should work even better - you should feed just right so that when they come back they should trap right away for the food after they are used to that then if you want you can increase just slightly.

If they are white pigeons I dont know if your husband can race them well as they were probably bred for the colour not for the speed! But you never know -


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## pigeonpoo (Sep 16, 2005)

Jiggs said:


> If they are white pigeons I don't know if your husband can race them well as they were probably bred for the colour not for the speed! But you never know -


I don't think that they were bred for colour, they were certainly not bred for dove release - it's in its infancy here! They are Logans, it's an old breed and they were bred for distance racing. How fast they are, I have no idea..time will tell! One thing's for sure, they wouldn't have been going anywhere fast with the amount I was feeding them!!  

Only two trapped this morning. The third decided he'd rather sunbath on the house roof! He'll certainly be hungry by this evening!


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## Jiggs (Apr 1, 2005)

Hi pigeonpoo - could you please post a link about Logans as I dont know about them but would like to learn


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## pigeonpoo (Sep 16, 2005)

Hi Jiggs. I did a Google search and came up with this:

http://www.pigeonnetwork.com/articles/Logan.html 

I'll see if I can get a better one.


I have another 'problem'. My next round of squeakers are ready to move into the young bird loft (21 days). I tried to move them yesterday but the older birds pecked them as the squeakers were pestering them to be fed. I put them back with their parents! Will the young birds harm the babies? Also, how will I leave food 24/7 for the babies but at the same time ration the young birds so they'll continue to trap when I call them?


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

pigeonpoo said:


> I have another 'problem'. My next round of squeakers are ready to move into the young bird loft (21 days). I tried to move them yesterday but the older birds pecked them as the squeakers were pestering them to be fed. I put them back with their parents! Will the young birds harm the babies? Also, how will I leave food 24/7 for the babies but at the same time ration the young birds so they'll continue to trap when I call them?


21 days old is too young to move them. I would wait until they are AT LEAST 25 days old. That's when I move mine and once in a while I'll have to take a 25 day old and put it back with the parents for another day or so. Just depends on the baby. Mixing different rounds of youngsters is a problem, or it was for me too. If you don't have two different sections or somewhere to put that second round for a few days, then I would wait until the new ones are 27 days old to move them. The older birds may pick on them some but I've never had one to get hurt, just bullied a little. About the only thing you can do is either pull the new ones a couple times a day and feed them or just make them grow up a lot faster. They will learn quicker to eat once a day because of the older ones and watching them, but IMO, it's better to pull them and feed them separate for a few days. It's a pain I know, I did it, but luckily, we have separate sections so now I wean off my first round and second round into different sections.


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## pigeonpoo (Sep 16, 2005)

Thanks Lovebirds. I'm glad I put them back with the parents, poor babies! I'll definitely leave them until 27 days, there's no rush. 

I'll definitely pull the new ones and feed them separately when they go into the young bird loft. I can see I'm going to need more sections!


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

pigeonpoo said:


> Thanks Lovebirds. I'm glad I put them back with the parents, poor babies! I'll definitely leave them until 27 days, there's no rush.
> 
> I'll definitely pull the new ones and feed them separately when they go into the young bird loft. I can see I'm going to need more sections!


Yes, two sections for your young birds makes things much simpler. It's not absolutely necessary, as many people don't have that option. We saw the biggest difference in our birds last year when we separated the rounds. The first round was out flying good because they didn't have the young ones to hold them back. We're just flat out behind on EVERYTHING this year. Hopefully we'll catch up at some point!! LOL


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## hillfamilyloft (Jun 22, 2005)

Great advice everyone. 
I race three rounds out of the same loft. I move the young birds over from round two and three when I see that they are drinking on there own. A trick I use is to keep all the birds in for about 3 to 4 days. during this time I feed them all they want and whistle when I drop the food. This gives the new birds the chance to find the food when they want and conditions them to the whistle. I then wean them of the food all the time, by reducing the food for the following few days until they get on schedule with the older birds. I then put them in a cage on the landing board and call them to trap when I feed them. About twice through the trap is all it takes. The process takes about 5 days. The older birds get a bit out of shape, but this helps because they usually do not rome,only loft fly. They will not take the newbees too far. Open the loft and the new babies watch the older birds fly. Some go out right away some stay in. Keep them a bit hungry and they will all come in toghether. If the newbees stay out for a bit they do not get fed. The birds that trap right away eat all the food. The hungry bird will most likely be the first bird in next time. I try and fly both morning and evening during this time period. I feed after each flight. They fly they trap they eat. This way there are no feeding between flights. The late birds will not be able to eat before they fly again. They then will be the first ones in next time. My best trapper was my hardest bird to train. He went hungry enough that he learned his lesson. He is always the first one through. When the birds get older, I chase them off the roof. If they are not hungry enough to trap, they are in the air.
I hope this helps
hillfamilyloft
Randy Hill


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## Jiggs (Apr 1, 2005)

Thanks for the link - I also did a search and came up with a few but was not sure if it was those birds from the Logan loft. Thanks. Where they all mostly white???

I would also agree that closer to 30 days would be easier to move. I dont really have a day to give you I do it by "eye" they just have this look that they are ready enough to move!


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## pigeonpoo (Sep 16, 2005)

Yes, they are all totally white and have bred totally white babies.

An old 'pigeon man' came by today to show me how to stamp wings. He took one look at the babies and said, "They are not ready to move at all" !!!! He made opening the wing and isolating one feather look sooo easy! I tried and need at least one more hand if not two!! 

Still trapping well - thanks guys and gals.


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## Jiggs (Apr 1, 2005)

Just one question. Why do you stamp the wings? I know that the wings are stamped sometimes before a large one loft race for verification


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## pigeonpoo (Sep 16, 2005)

It's an SHU (Scottish Homing Union) and RPRA ( Royal Pigeon Racing Association) rule that birds are stamped with your telephone number on at least three flights.
Although I'm not racing I thought that it would increase my chances of getting my birds returned if they get lost. I also use a coil ring with my phone number on - I think that would be easier for non fanciers to read. So, other than attaching leases to them I figure I've done as much as I can.


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## pigeonpoo (Sep 16, 2005)

The trapping is still going well, I don't think that you guys who are racing would think it's good - they take their time BUT they do come in within 2-3 minutes of my first call. Wouldn't win many races huh?  

Next question!! I've read of people who have trained their birds to basket themselves. Does anyone know how to do this? It would certainly make life a lot less stressful for the birds if they didn't need catching!


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## SmithFamilyLoft (Nov 22, 2004)

pigeonpoo said:


> ......Next question!! I've read of people who have trained their birds to basket themselves. Does anyone know how to do this? It would certainly make life a lot less stressful for the birds if they didn't need catching!



I will give you one guess, and one hint. You use the same tool that you train your birds to trap. Except now the basket is the trap....


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## pigeonpoo (Sep 16, 2005)

Oh, I'm useless at riddles and puzzles!! 

So, I shake the food tin and they all jump in the basket? I feed them in the basket? Yes, I can see that would get them in there.....did I get it?


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## WhiteWingsCa (Mar 1, 2002)

Two ways to get your birds in the basket without handling them...

1. Feed them in the basket... yes, with shaking the can, and/or using a whistle when feeding them. Takes a while to get them to do.

2. Create a door with a shelf on the outside to put the basket... and 'shoo' the birds into the basket through it.

Personally, I don't like "self loading" at all... it's always better, imho, to handle each bird each time, to make sure they are physically well, not too skinny, hens not about to lay, they aren't at the wrong flight in the moult, etc.

re: weaning yb's to their own loft.... we use the 'wet wing' rule.... Lift the youngster's wing...... if you can see skin through the feathers, they are still 'wet', and should be left with the parents a while longer. If they are completely 'feathered out' under the wing.... they are old enough to move.

Always watch the first couple of days when they are in their own loft, to make sure they are drinking. If any look a bit 'dumpy' (sitting puffed up on the roost), they might be dehydrated. Take the bird to the waterer, and stick their beak in ... a thirsty bird will immediately take a big drink. Sometimes, you have to do this more than once before the bird gets the idea... this is where the water is!


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## hillfamilyloft (Jun 22, 2005)

Warren 
Is that why you have a sputnick inside your aviary, for basketing? I always wanted to ask you why you had that set up. Send them to the aviary, then call them into the basket through the sputnick. 
Randy Hill
hillfamilyloft


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## pigeonpoo (Sep 16, 2005)

Slowly getting there! The birds are feeding in the basket now and today I basketed them by putting in just a couple of grains and in they went! So I took them half a mile away, they found their way home and trapped beautifully.  

I understand what you mean about handling each bird but, until I know what I'm looking for, I think getting the birds to self load is lot less stressful for them than me trying, unsuccessfully, to catch them. 

Thanks again for your help guys.


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## pigeonpoo (Sep 16, 2005)

*Oh no, where are they going?*

My birds are now trapping brilliantly and even basket themselves on command. I have three trained out to about six miles and, as I'm going to use them for 'dove' release, I then changed direction. All went well for the first few tosses but then they began to take hours to return home. I thought that they were getting lost but, then I took them only half a mile from home along with my second round of much younger birds which haven't been trained at all. I watched them fly straight back to my house, over the roof and off into the distance!! Three and a half hours later they returned but, I don't think that they had been flying all that time - they were hungry but didn't seem tired. Maybe they are landing somewhere? How can I 'cure' them of this? I certainly don't want my second round getting into bad habits!!


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## pigeonpoo (Sep 16, 2005)

*No ideas?*

Doesn't anyone have experience of this? Any suggestions would be really appreciated. So far, I have stopped morning training and limited it to just before their evening feed - they come straight home but, I'm leery of taking them too far when it is later because if they do get lost they don't have so long to find their way home and I don't want them to have to spend the night out!


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

pigeonpoo said:


> My birds are now trapping brilliantly and even basket themselves on command. I have three trained out to about six miles and, as I'm going to use them for 'dove' release, I then changed direction. All went well for the first few tosses but then they began to take hours to return home. I thought that they were getting lost but, then I took them only half a mile from home along with my second round of much younger birds which haven't been trained at all. I watched them fly straight back to my house, over the roof and off into the distance!! Three and a half hours later they returned but, I don't think that they had been flying all that time - they were hungry but didn't seem tired. Maybe they are landing somewhere? How can I 'cure' them of this? I certainly don't want my second round getting into bad habits!!


It could be that they are "overflying" the loft. I would venture to say that they probably were not flying for 3 1/2 hours but they probably flew a good portion of that time. We had a bad training toss last year. We lost almost have of the group. We found out what happend to 3 of them and every single one was North of our house. We had dropped them South of the house. One even flew 60 miles over and wound up with a friend of ours. That's another story.... 
How many birds are you flying now and what age groups? Who's been trained and how far? I also read your other post about "purring". I would pick a few of the birds up and put your ear against their chest and see if you hear any "rattling".......just to make sure there's no respiratory problem going on. 
We get to vaccinate our birds today. Joy Joy..........


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## pigeonpoo (Sep 16, 2005)

Thanks Lovebirds. I have an old fancier friend here who says he has never come across birds doing this in his life!! He has checked the bird over and tells me they're in perfect health. Incidentally, it is my fantails which purr - they are far tamer than the racing pigeons.

I have three 14 weeks old - they are trained to six miles in one direction and the same in the other direction. I've six 9 week old birds which I have tossed up to one mile but, they don't come straight home either! I've tried tossing them with and without the older three, it makes no difference - they go off towards the East and return some three to four hours later! I have now discoved that if I release in the evening they do come straight back home, it's the morning training that is going wrong.


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

I think you can jump them out some. If they are gone that long, they are doing quite a bit of flying and are seeing quite a bit of territory. Everyone will tell you, the further away from home they get, the quicker they come home. Obviously they feel like flying and when you let them go, they head home but get there to soon and just keep on going. That's my reasoning anyway for what it's worth. And when they are gone that long, they are not flying in a straight line away from home for 2 hours and then turning around and coming back the same way for 2 hours. They are traveling and only God knows where they go and how far. I don't see this as a problem though. Flying is the only way to get them in condition and I bet they are in great shape. And flying is how they learn how to come home from where ever they are.


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## pigeonpoo (Sep 16, 2005)

*Thanks*

Thanks again Lovebirds,

I have promised to take the birds to a local school on Wednesday - they are doing a sponsored run in aid of a child who fell from a tree and was killed. I dare not risk loosing them before this but, I'll take them out further straight after.

Is it OK to take the younger birds out further, even though they have only been to one mile? They are still squeaking when I pick them up and I thought you could not fly them far at this stage? Do I just jump them to the six miles and then ten - will they simply follow the others home?


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

pigeonpoo said:


> Thanks again Lovebirds,
> 
> I have promised to take the birds to a local school on Wednesday - they are doing a sponsored run in aid of a child who fell from a tree and was killed. I dare not risk loosing them before this but, I'll take them out further straight after.
> 
> Is it OK to take the younger birds out further, even though they have only been to one mile? They are still squeaking when I pick them up and I thought you could not fly them far at this stage? Do I just jump them to the six miles and then ten - will they simply follow the others home?



I personally would not take a bird that is squeaking on any training toss, but that's just me. If they went a mile and came home, that's good but I don't think I would push them just yet. They will eventually catch up with the others. You can't always depend on them "following" the others home. I learned that last year the hard way. Took 2 late hatches that had not been trained, along with 4 Old birds and 6 older youngsters that had been trained thinking the little ones would follow the others home. The 4 and the 6 came home but the two babies never did. Then 7 weeks later, one of the two babies shows up on the loft and raced the YB seaon. No win, but our first bird home every week that he was shipped. Go figure, huh??? Just keep doing what you are doing till after the school thing then try jumping the older 3 out to at least 10 miles, you can probably go even further but that's your call. It's hard to tell people exactly what to do sometimes cause if you loose a bird or birds because of what I tell you to do, I would feel awful.  But eventually you'll have to make a bigger jump. 2 or 3 miles every jump is really a waste of your time at some point. If they can come home from 6 miles, then 4 more miles is not that big of a difference. Then after 10, if you go 13 or 14 miles........see what I'm saying? Look at it this way.......you nor I really TEACH the bird "the way home".......all we do is teach them that when released from a basket, home is where they go. We don't take our birds on a 300 or 500 training toss. They either "got it" or they "don't". And there's only one way to find out................ the only thing we can do is make sure they are healthy and that they have decent weather to fly in and once that's done with some training, the rest is on the bird..........


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## pigeonpoo (Sep 16, 2005)

OK, I understand. I will basket 'by hand' and if they squeak, they stay home! It will be interesting to see if the squeakers go off loft flying for a few hours without the others leading them astray. I'll let you know how I get on and, once again, thanks, I really appreciate your advice.


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

pigeonpoo said:


> OK, I understand. I will basket 'by hand' and if they squeak, they stay home! It will be interesting to see if the squeakers go off loft flying for a few hours without the others leading them astray. I'll let you know how I get on and, once again, thanks, I really appreciate your advice.



I would definately let them loft fly and if they DO take off and are gone for any amount of time......then I'll retract my advice........at 9 weeks old, they SHOULD be ALMOST through sqeaking........... Different people do it different ways,,,,,,,,,but we've discussed that already. We haven't starting road training our birds yet and some of them are 6 months old. Now we did get a little behind this year and have some catching up to do, but even if we WERE training, they probably would only be about 15 to 20 miles out.


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## pigeonpoo (Sep 16, 2005)

It was very hazy today and the hills, which I think they use as a landmark, were barely visible so I didn't risk any going out. Hopefully tomorrow...


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Don't blame you a bit...................good night.


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## pigeonpoo (Sep 16, 2005)

*My fault *

I should have waited a little longer... they were through squeaking, just grunting as I picked them up..I took them out three miles, that went well then, I took them six miles.....one hasn't come home! It's nine hours now and falling dusk...I feel so bad..the rest came back in a group...we don't have hawks here, so I suppose he must have hit a wire or somehow become separated? I hope he joined up with some other pigeons and is in someone else's loft. I was too impatient to get on with the training and, at the end of the day, there was no rush.


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