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INTRODUCTION
WHAT IS A PIGEON LOFT? IT CAN BE A BUILDING OF ANY SIZE. THE HOMING PIGEON WILL FLY 100 TO 600 MILES (ALL DAY LONG, NON-STOP) TO GET BACK TO THEIR HOME, YOUR BACK YARD. THEY ARE A REMARKABLE BIRD. HOW DO THEY DO IT? MAN DOES NOT KNOW.
A PAIR OF PIGEON WILL MATE, THEN LAY EGGS TEN DAYS LATER, 48 HOURS APART IN THE LATE AFTERNOON. INCUBATION IS 17 DAYS. AFTER HATCHING THE TWO YOUNG PIGEONS GROW SWIFTLY. IN SIX WEEKS THEY CAN FLY. IN FOUR MONTHS THEY CAN REPRODUCE. IN THREE MONTHS THEY CAN RACE WITH OTHER LOFTS IN YOUR COMMUNITY. IT IS AN EXCITING EVENT EACH WEEKEND, EIGHT TO TEN WEEKENDS IN A ROW. RACES ARE NOT HELD IN WINDY/RAINY WEATHER.
THEY KNOW HOW TO HOME. IT IS A BUILT-IN INSTINCT. THEY FLY NON-STOP, SUNRISE TO SUNSET (500/600 MILE RACES) AVERAGING 45 MILES PER HOUR. RACES BEGIN AT 1OO MILES, THEN 150, 200, 250, 300, 400, 500 AND THE FINAL RACE OF THE SEASON IS 600, ALL TAKEN PLACE IN THE SPRING OF THE YEAR. EVERY YEAR THERE ARE 600 MILE DAY BIRDS SOMEWHERE IN THE USA. THEY ARE RELEASED A HALF HOUR AFTER SUNRISE. THE PIGEONS FLY ALL DAY, NON-STOP, LANDING ON THEIR LOFT BEFORE SUNSET. THEY ARE KNOW TO LAND AFTER DARK, BUT NOT OFTEN. THE SPRING RACES ARE CALLED THE 'OLD-BIRD' SERIES. RACES ARE 100 TO 500/600 MILES, LASTING ABOUT 8 WEEKENDS.
IN THE FALL, SOMETIMES BEGINNING IN AUGUST, THE YOUNG-BIRD SERIES BEGINS. THE RACES ARE 100 TO 300 MILES. THE YOUNG-BIRDS ARE ALL PIGEONS THAT HATCHED AFTER JANUARY 1ST OF THE GIVEN YEAR. THE YOUNG-BIRD RACES GENERALLY LAST 8 - 10 WEEKENDS IN A ROW.
SEVEN DAYS AFTER THE PIGEON HATCHED A SEAMLESS ALUMINUM BAND IS PLACED ON ONE OF THEIR LEGS. YOUNG PIGEONS GROW FAST. WITHIN 48 HOURS AFTER THE BAND IS PUT ON THE LEG, THE LEG IS TOO LARGE FOR REMOVAL OF THE BAND. THIS IS A PERMANENT MARKER OR NAME OF THE PIGEON. THE BAND HAS FOUR ITEMS ON IT. THE NATIONAL ORGANIZATION ABBREVIATION, THE YEAR OF HATCHING, THE CLUB OR FANCIER LETTERING, AND A NUMBER FOR THIS PIGEON.
IT'S ALL DONE IN YOUR BACKYARD. A 5' X 8' LOFT IS IDEAL FOR A 30 BIRD YOUNG-BIRD TEAM. THE LOFT IS EASY TO CLEAN. THE PIGEON DROPPINGS DRY QUICKLY IN THE WARM SUMMER MONTHS. THEY CAN BE SCRAPED AND SWEPT INTO A PILE AND PICKED UP WITH A DUSTPAN, THEN TOSSED INTO THE YARD AS FERTILIZER. A 5' X 8' LOFT WILL TAKE ABOUT 5 MINUTES TO CLEAN, IF THAT LONG. A FLAT HEAD SHOVEL FOR SCRAPPING AND A BROOM IS ALL YOU NEED.
PIGEON ARE NEVER ALLOWED OUTSIDE AFTER EATING. THEY EAT ONCE A DAY AFTER THEY HAVE BEEN OUTSIDE FLYING. FEED IS THE KEY TO TRAINING PIGEONS. THEY ARE ALLOWED OUTSIDE WHEN HUNGRY. YOU GIVE THE FEED SOUND, WHATEVER YOU MAY WANT TO USE, THEN THEY TRAP INTO THE ONE WAY TRAP AND ARE LOCKED INSIDE THE LOFT. PIGEONS LOVE PEANUTS. FIRST THEY HAVE TO GET USED TO PEANUTS BUT THAT DOES NOT TAKE LONG. IT IS LIKE MAN AND BEER! THAT DIDN'T TAKE LONG ALSO. NOW WE ARE HOOKED! RIGHT? I HAVE DISCOVERED LONG AGO THAT PIGEON MEN ENJOY THEIR BEER. ONCE THE PIGEONS ENJOYS PEANUTS THEY GO CRAZY FOR THEM. THEY WILL EAT OUT OF YOUR HAND WITHIN A WEEK OF ENJOYING THE PEANUTS. IT IS ONE FOOD THAT WILL TAME THE RACING PIGEON SWIFTLY. GIVE A HANDFUL TO 15 PIGEONS! JUST THROW IT ON THE CLEAN WOOD FLOOR. IT WILL ALL BE GONE IN SECONDS. GIVE IT TO THEM AFTER THE MIXED GRAINS ARE GIVEN AND TOTALLY CONSUMED.
ONCE THE YOUNG BIRDS ARE UP FLYING IN A GROUP FOR A WEEK OR TEN DAYS, YOU CAN START TRAINING THEM. THEY WILL LOAD THEMSELVES INTO THE TRAINING BASKET/CRATE AS WE CALL IT. JUST PLACE THE BASKET ON THE LANDING BOARD, OPEN THE ONE WAY TRAPS AND CLAP YOUR HANDS OR GET A DOWEL ROD AND HIT AGAINST SOMETHING AND THEY WILL JUMP INTO THE BASKET. YOU MUST BE IN THE LOFT ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE TRAPS. IT TAKE ABOUT A WEEK TO TRAIN THEM, BUT THEY LEARN FAST. YOU WILL NEVER HAVE TO PICK ONE UP AND PLACE IN THE BASKET ON THE FLOOR OF THE LOFT. SELF LOADING IS THE ABSOLUTE BEST WAY FOR TRAINING. IT IS SWIFT AND EASY.
THE FIRST TOSSES SHOULD BE ONLY 1 TO 3 MILES. GO AT LEAST TWO TIMES. THEN GRADUATE TO FIVE MILES TWO TIMES THEN TEN MILES TWO OR THREE TIMES THEN 20 MILES FOUR OR SO TIMES. THEN YOU CAN GO 40 MILES SEVERAL TIMES. I LIKE TO GO 90 MILES TWO TIMES BEFORE THE FIRST 100 MILE RACE. I ENJOY TRAINING AND LOVE WATCHING THE BIRDS FLY HOME. IN CALIFORNIA, I TRAINED FROM WILLIAMS, CA. TO REDDING, CA. THE PIGEONS GENERALLY FLY SIX OR TEN FEET OFF THE VALLEY FLOOR. HAWKS WILL NOT DIVE ON THEM WHEN THEY FLY LOW. I HAVE DRIVEN 30 MILES WITH THE PIGEONS ON ONE SIDE OF THE FREEWAY OR THE OTHER, FLYING LOW, NORTH TOWARD THEIR LOFT. I'M LIKE A KID IN THE ZOO!
DURING THE WEEK BETWEEN RACES YOU CAN LET THEM FLY ABOVE THE LOFT OR ROAD TRAIN THEM. BUT KEEP THEM HEALTHY AND IN SHAPE, IS THE KEY.
THE RACES ARE TIMED "FASTEST YARDS PER MINUTE." EVERY LOFT IS AIRLINES SURVEYED BY THE LONGITUDE AND LATITUDE OF THE GLOBE. THE CLUB RACE SECRETARY WILL COME TO YOUR LOFT AND TAKE A GPS (GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM) READING. ALL RELEASE SITES ARE GPS'ED ALSO. THEN THE RACE COMPUTER PUTS THE DISTANCE IN MILES THEN CONVERTS IT TO TOTAL YARDS FROM THE RELEASE POINT TO YOUR LOFT.
ON THE LEG THAT DOES NOT HAVE THE PERMANENT BAND, A RACE BAND IS ATTACHED. SOME PERMANENT BANDS NOW HAVE A SLOT FOR A SMALL RACE CHIP, RATHER THAN THE PIGEON HAVING A BAND ON BOTH LEGS. THIS BAND OR CHIP WILL RECORD THE TIME THE BIRD ARRIVED AT YOUR LOFT. THE ANTENNA IS PLACE IN FRONT OF THE LOFT TRAP. ONCE THE BIRD WALKS ACROSS THIS 8" X 16" ANTENNA AS WE CALL IT, THE IN-LOFT COMPUTER RECORDS THE ARRIVAL TIME AND THE BAND NUMBER OF THE BIRD. BINGO THE RACE IS OVER FOR THAT BIRD. THE FANCIER TAKES THE CIGARRETTE SIZE COMPUTER BOX TO THE CLUB FOR KNOCK OFF AS WE CALL IT. ALL TIMES ARE CALCULATED BY THE COMPUTER. IT IS DONE SWIFTLY AND ACCURATELY. TODAY WE HAVE A SYSTEM WHERE IT LIVE READS YOUR BIRD'S ARRIVAL TIME. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO GO TO THE CLUB FOR KNOCK OFF. YOU CAN GO ONLINE AND SEE THE RESULT AS SOON AS THE RACE SECRETARY CONFIRMS THE RESULTS. THIS IS DONE JUST HOURS AFTER THE RACE IS COMPLETED.