# how long should it take for a pigeon to home



## Southwing (Feb 7, 2008)

Hello, I am new to racing homers and i had some 07 late hacthes given to me they were never let out to fly. I had 10 and I know have 4 that will stay around the loft. I have one pigeon that when for the frist time i let him out he flew for a long time and when it got dark and took off. 3 days later he shows up with some missing feathers on his wing and bleeding. But anyway i have taken him down the road 3/4 of mile and it took him 45 min to show up at the loft. 2 days later i took him 1.5 miles and he had a good two hours to make it home and did not. He was waiting to get in the next day. So is he not very good or is he still getting to know the area? Thanks


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Southwing said:


> Hello, I am new to racing homers and i had some 07 late hacthes given to me they were never let out to fly. I had 10 and I know have 4 that will stay around the loft. I have one pigeon that when for the frist time i let him out he flew for a long time and when it got dark and took off. 3 days later he shows up with some missing feathers on his wing and bleeding. But anyway i have taken him down the road 3/4 of mile and it took him 45 min to show up at the loft. 2 days later i took him 1.5 miles and he had a good two hours to make it home and did not. He was waiting to get in the next day. So is he not very good or is he still getting to know the area? Thanks


There's really not a difinitive answer to your question. I would ask the age of the birds, but logic tells me that if they were hatched in 2007 and even if it was Dec. 31st........that makes them 4 1/2 months old now. You don't say WHEN you got them, how long you had them before letting them out the first time or how much time they spent flying around the house/loft BEFORE you took them "down the road".........a bird that is 4 1/2 months old should be very wing strong, meaning he can get up and fly far and fast and be miles and miles away before realizing he doesn't know exactly where he is. 
So, I guess a bit more info would help.


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## Southwing (Feb 7, 2008)

they are about 7-8 months old, I have had them a littile more than two months. I let 3 of them out a couple times a week for the last two weeks. they fly around the house but thats it, I was thinking that since the bird was gone for 3 days and found his way back that he had flewn around to know the area. am I wrong? Maybe he needs more flying time around the loft?


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Southwing said:


> they are about 7-8 months old, I have had them a littile more than two months. I let 3 of them out a couple times a week for the last two weeks. they fly around the house but thats it, I was thinking that since the bird was gone for 3 days and found his way back that he had flewn around to know the area. am I wrong? Maybe he needs more flying time around the loft?


Well, I've never tried to train a bird that old. The fact that any of them came back is amazing to me. Just because a bird was never "flown" at it's original loft doesn't necessarily mean it didn't know where it was. I've heard stories of youngsters finding their way back to their "home" loft at very early ages. He MAY have been out flying trying to find his way to what HE considered his home. There's really no way of knowing. He obviously knows where he's supposed to come back to, so I'd just keep flying him around the loft for a bit longer. He just might turn out to be a good bird one day.


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## re lee (Jan 4, 2003)

Southwing said:


> they are about 7-8 months old, I have had them a littile more than two months. I let 3 of them out a couple times a week for the last two weeks. they fly around the house but thats it, I was thinking that since the bird was gone for 3 days and found his way back that he had flewn around to know the area. am I wrong? Maybe he needs more flying time around the loft?


 You should fly the bird around the loft At least till you noitice it ranging out. Say fly around the loft at least 30 days. Now younger birds Say loft fly for 50 to 60 days before you train them down the road. That would make them say 12 to 14 weeks old


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## Southwing (Feb 7, 2008)

How long will it take them before they start flying out? About how many weeks? Thanks


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## re lee (Jan 4, 2003)

Southwing said:


> How long will it take them before they start flying out? About how many weeks? Thanks


Give them acouple of weeks And encourage them to fly when you let them out Soon they will be hitting the sky For a good exersise.


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## george simon (Feb 28, 2006)

Southwing said:


> Hello, I am new to racing homers and i had some 07 late hacthes given to me they were never let out to fly. I had 10 and I know have 4 that will stay around the loft. I have one pigeon that when for the frist time i let him out he flew for a long time and when it got dark and took off. 3 days later he shows up with some missing feathers on his wing and bleeding. But anyway i have taken him down the road 3/4 of mile and it took him 45 min to show up at the loft. 2 days later i took him 1.5 miles and he had a good two hours to make it home and did not. He was waiting to get in the next day. So is he not very good or is he still getting to know the area? Thanks


 HI SOUTHWING,Why are you trying to train a bird that come home missing feathers and bloody!!!! This bird is hurt and needs rest to heal up. If you were in an accident and broke a leg do you think that you could race in a 100yard dash. Get this bird healthy before you train him. .GEORGE


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## Southwing (Feb 7, 2008)

Thanks for concern of the bird George but it is much better. I would do nothing to harm any of my pigeons, i put a lot of time and caring in and would never want to see harm come to them. Thanks


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## DEEJAY7950 (Dec 13, 2006)

how long should it take for a pigeon to home

Well in most cases they will beat you home from a training flight when properly trained!


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## richardtheman (Jul 24, 2007)

Ha! first time I did it with my birds, two pure breed white homers... I went like 1 mile away. They made it home by the end of the day. When they were taking so long, I notice they were just hanging around relaxing and not even trying to make it home. The next time I did it, I just took them like 15 miles away and they made it home pretty quick! I was shocked... from 1 mile to 15 miles.. pretty Good birds. took them like an hour the 2nd time. They changed suddenly. They didnt like to fly when I let them out, but after their long homing flying... they were awaken. They then love flying when ever I let them out.


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## DEEJAY7950 (Dec 13, 2006)

Richard, you haven't seen a thing yet, wait until you release those birds and they beat you home it's amazing, only bad thing is that you don't know who showed up first?, unless you have an electronic timer that shows who trapped in and what order? although that still doesn't show who arrived first and still needs work trapping, so the best thing is to have someone else take the birds to whatever release point you want and then you can sit by the loft with a cold one and wait to see who arrives first and who traps the best!


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