# which to start with, short, middle, or long?



## EricV (Mar 15, 2016)

Is there such a thing as a short, middle, or long distance bird. With the right preparation and training can a bird win at all distance or are they really limited to their bloodline? I am an athlete myself. I use to sprint and run cross country for my high school. I trained and prepared well for both events and excelled at both. can the same be done with racing pigeons?


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## Alamo (Nov 22, 2008)

Yes...There are strains that can do it all...Very hard to find these birds though...If your new,get Middle Distance birds.....They usually give good results in all distances,especially when there is good weather,and a little tail wind.....Janssen pigeons would be a good if your a new pigeon guy....Good luck....Alamo


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## hillfamilyloft (Jun 22, 2005)

I will put it this way. Unless a guy has racing records for his birds, telling you if it is a sprint bird, a long distance bird etc is worthless. I have a pair of birds from Ace in the Hole that raises me winners. I would call them sprint birds. Why because they have raised top 10 birds for three years from 100 to 250 miles. After 250 the finish, but not on the top of the sheet. The best is 8th at 300 miles in three years. You can bank on them at 150. 
Mark knew they were sprint birds when I got them from him. Their parents won the short races and they were built physically for short races. Mark is one of the few that can distance a bird in hand. I am not there so I look at the race sheet.
I have a family of bird that have Gordon birds in their lineage. Thinking this might make them long distance birds I raced them. Their sweet spot is at 300 miles. My Janssen/Vic Miller birds sweet spot is 250 miles. 
In other words if a guy knows his family of birds he can tell you their distance with race results take it as face value, otherwise it is just worthless information.


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## jtronics (May 6, 2012)

I would further suggest that comparing sprinting humans and other racing mammals with sprinting pigeons is very much like comparing chalk and cheese ¨C which is no comparison at all. One group competes on solid earth, at distances up to a few hundred meters, and the other competes in the air above it, at distances up to afew hundred miles, 
Add to these points the fact that regardless of the distances of the so-called sprint/middle distance races in which our birds are entered, the birds utilise fat as the major source of fuel during these races, as they certainly do in long distance races as well. Conversely, sprinting human and other mammalian athletes utilise primarily glycogen as fuel in their races ¨C so once again, any comparison between human sprinters and sprinting pigeons just doesn't seem to be valid at all

look for the race result if you want to start, I know some fancier who don't train but hav a good result on race


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## wildcat hunter (Jan 17, 2014)

You touched on the solution ( fats). Your feeding certain grains, peanuts and how much and when will determine ( mostly ) what distance OR better said " how many hours on the wing " a bird will fly. " Its hours on the wing -- not distance. A slow 300 mile race could take the same amount of time as a fast 500. Fats = fuel= time on the wing. Of course breeding has a LOT to do with it too. But sometimes a fancier would get a surprise and clock his " speed birds" instead of the "long distance" stuff because of the feed.


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## bassrunpigeon (May 1, 2016)

wildcat hunter said:


> You touched on the solution ( fats). Your feeding certain grains, peanuts and how much and when will determine ( mostly ) what distance OR better said " how many hours on the wing " a bird will fly. " Its hours on the wing -- not distance. A slow 300 mile race could take the same amount of time as a fast 500. Fats = fuel= time on the wing. Of course breeding has a LOT to do with it too. But sometimes a fancier would get a surprise and clock his " speed birds" instead of the "long distance" stuff because of the feed.


Definitely agree with that. I'm a runner and it's the same with us.


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## rpalmer (Mar 10, 2011)

Pigeons also breath totally different than mammals (people). People also are not hunted by predator while racing. So I agree that you can not compare racing pigeons with people (or any other racing animal  ).

I , for what it is worth, recommend starting with what you want to race. It will take you awhile to get things right and once you do, why start all over with something else just to spend more time getting them where they need to be?

Get what you want and save time, money and everything else.


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