# HOW TO TRAIN THEM TO COME BACK?!?!



## wisdom (Sep 9, 2003)

hi, i should be getin my first set of pigeons monday, and i was wondering how do i get them to come back to the coop? like train them and get them to come back w/o me making them, i would like them to go where they please as long as they come back to the coop... mine is 9 sqaure feet and has a double door.. i made it, it was my first one not the greastest, but it has wire mesh doors.. so all replys appericated.
anthony


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## Birdmom4ever (Jan 14, 2003)

Unfortunately it isn't as simple and carefree as it sounds. I once had the same idea, that they would happily fly about and come and go as they pleased. In short, NOT a good idea. It takes time and proper training to get them to home, and you will almost certainly lose some of your pigeons in the process.

First off, what kind of pigeons do you have? If they are homers, you may not be able to resettle birds born somewhere else--ever. I've heard of homers returning to their former loft ten years after being in a new place. If they are of another flying breed, such as rollers or flights, you may be able to resettle them, but I wouldn't count on it. If you have fancy pigeons such as fantails, don't free-fly them at all. Many of the fancy breeds are purely ornamental and lack homing ability. 

The safest thing to do is keep the birds you acquired elsewhere locked up and fly only their offspring who are born in your loft.

You need to have some kind of trapping device so the pigeons can go in but can't get back out. There are different styles such as simple bobs, stall traps and drop traps. For examples see Global's web site, globalpigeon.com

Young birds are trained by setting them on the landing bird when they first feather out so they know how to get into the loft. We have wire covered doors over our landing board so pigeons can be safely trained to go through the bobs.

Fly them only when they are hungry. If they have food available to them at all times they won't be motivated to come in and may just sit on the roof or cruise around the neighborhood. It's helpful to blow a whistle when you feed them so they know the whistle means food. Fly them when they're hungry, blow the whistle and they'll come in to be fed.

Keep in mind that there are many risks for free-flying pigeons: hawks, wires, cats, insecticides in neighbors' yards. Seeing one's pigeons wheel around the neighborhood is thrilling, but has its risks. I would not recommend letting them come and go at will, because if you do that they will get in the habit of hanging out on roofs, etc., and may become a nuisance to your neighbors or victims of wandering cats. If you do fly them, it's best to fly them hungry and call them in after a half hour or so.


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## WhiteWingsCa (Mar 1, 2002)

Birdmom gave you some excellent advice. If the birds are homers, and are over 6-7 weeks of age, the chances of you getting them to return to your loft aren't the greatest. The older the bird, the worse the odds.

If they're homers, and older birds -- do as she suggests, and raise babies from them, then train the babies. You might want to look into gettng a good book on how to keep pigeons healthy, proper feed, training procedures, a healthy loft, etc. You can find good books at any pigeon supply store -- Seigals, Global, even the AU,I think.

You mention "mesh" wire. I hope you mean the heavy, small square mesh -- sometimes called hardware cloth? Chicken wire is not advisable for lofts -- raccoons and other preditors can rip right through it, and make a tasty meal out of your birds.


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## jwt (Dec 19, 2002)

first off they can't just be any kind of pigeons, if you have any show breed you'll be feeding the hawks. and if there a homer they go back to the person you bought them from, if it's a roller or a type of highflyer they need at least 2-3 months in the cage and you need to show them were the trap is all that.


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

Hello there,

Indeed it is imperative that you find out if you have homing pigeons or not, but it doesn't matter how old they are. It is ideal to start with youngsters, but what matters most IS if they have homed somewhere else.

I received a Bandit that had lived in a cage for all of its life, its several years old, but we released him with the others, after 4 weeks living in our coop. He never homed anywhere so it was quite easy to train him with the flock. He learned quickly how to get in thru the bobs. He really just needed to get used to the great outdoors, and landing on a tree, he almost fell off! 

It is not hard but you have to follow a few steps. It is better to start off with young pigeons, because they haven't learned or picked up any bad habits, yet. They should be at your residence for at least 4 weeks...and the rest of the information has already been given to you by Birdmom.

One of the most important part is training the birds to go in immediately after they come down from their flight. You need a stick or long handle net, or broom, and gently coax them to the bob landing. Use the same guiding tool, each time. This will save them from becoming a hawks meal.

Also, they will initially land on the neighbors house, or your house or the telephone poles. We discourage that by throwing a soft ball to chase them off. Be consistent with this training and in no time at all..they will land right on the landing pad. 

Flying early in the morning before breakfast is the best time, most of the hawks are not up yet. Truely! Treesa


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## wisdom (Sep 9, 2003)

well i am getting rollers, but i still dont understand what the bobs will do, but at foys they have the bobs, and the beligum drop traps. can i use either of these? and can someone else explain me the whole process on where to put the bobs or we and all the other things? thankz
and btw thankz for the provious posts.
anthony


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## Birdmom4ever (Jan 14, 2003)

The bobs or trap must be framed into your loft. With bobs, they swing one way but not the other so theoretically the pigeons come in and can't go back out. In actual practice, some clever pigeons usually figure out how to go back OUT through the bobs by hanging onto the frame and flapping until they get a wing under, lifting the bob and then going out. 

I've heard drop traps and stall type traps are better. Someone else will probably come along and let you know. We have bobs and even after cutting grooves in the frame for the bottom of the bobs to fall into we've still had some birds figure out how to get out. 

We have rollers, too and they are suited for loft-flying, that is flying around their home, but not homing from distances.

[This message has been edited by Birdmom4ever (edited November 23, 2003).]


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