In going along with the pigeon racing promotion theme in this weeks discussion of the week we would like to know,
How did you get involved in pigeon racing or pigeon keeping in general?
You see, if we could figure out what got you interested in pigeon racing or pigeons in general for that matter we might be able to duplicate that to get more people interested in the sport and hobby. What worked for you should work for others right?. You already know my story you can read it here (About Me), I didn’t know anything about pigeons but when I realized how interesting and amazing they were I was hooked.
So go ahead and post your comments I’m looking forward to reading them! and see what we can do to help promote this great hobby of ours.
Discussion of the week, How did you get involved with pigeons?
The Leading Online Pigeon Racing and Racing Pigeons Magazine – The Pigeon Insider
Hey Chris,
I am wondering if it would be possible for me to import (racing pigeons) eggs from the US. I am fascinated by these birds and was in Oklahoma and New York on a working Visa and I thought of it then but with the bird flu doing the rounds at that time, there were alot of restrictions in place. Please let me know if it is doable. I live in Chennai – India.
I saw a friend of mine who use to have racing pigeons when i use to be 18 yrs old. Then i ask him if i could buy from him. He just gave me a pair and helped me construct a 30X30 loft. I’m not satisfied so i told him to construct me a bigger loft. Then i bought more pigeons but this time i bought young birds so i can make them fly. Weeks past and my young birds are now circling to the air and flying back home. I was so happy then when i see my birds fly into group, specially when flying high. Months past when i am staring at them inside their loft, i have observed they are sweet to each other because the male birds are courting the female and specially when they have sex. They are sweet to each other as pair, When they lay eggs they alternate in incubating it. When the eggs hatched they are responsible in feeding their young. They have a human like instinct because they protect, feed their babies. They make me feel good when i see those manifestations in them.
it was my brother who introduce on having pigeon as pets…when i was a young boy my brother was fun of pegions we got lots of pegion at hom..when i got to college i start buying my own pegion because my brther sell his pegion…at firts it was my hobby..but then some of my friends ask me to come with them on a loft visit with a pegion club member then i started to by good racing pegion for racing on the same club that we’ve met..
I grew up in the city of Dublin, {Ireland} in the fifties,we lived in a small neighborhood of red bricked houses, the only outdoor space we had was a very small yard,where a little coal house and a toilet were joined together. my little Pigeon loft consisted of two tea chests butted together and mounted on top of the coal house.I was about seven years old when i started keeping Pigeons, in those day’s there seemed to be Lofts on every street,most fanciers flew pigeons for fun,it was a joy to watch the various lofts flying their pigeons in the evenings,especially in summertime when the birds would fly for long periods.Colored pigeons were highly valued in those days and Sparrowhawks were rare,i was addicted to pigeons, and so was a few of my pals, we spent most of our free time snaring pigeons with cotton line and a bag of bread crumbs,always on the lookout for stray racers which every fancier seemed to want.Corn was cheap and i lived close to Guinness Brewery so i would collect the fallen barley from outside the malt house,My uncle kept pigeons in the back of a tenement house, his loft was well built, raised off the ground by four feet, and guarded by two fox terriers who were great ratters too, kids used to rob pigeon from unprotected lofts and sell them on,this was the main worry as you rarely lost pigeons when you didn’t race, as i never got to race pigeons when i was young, i never knew anyone who did race them, though you would occasionally spot groups of men with baskets of pigeons at the train station,as a teenager i drifted out of the hobby, mainly through working away from home, when i married in the late seventies i began breeding canaries and finches and took up shooting and fishing and working Gun dogs and after thirty years of that i am back with the Pigeons now for the last five years and enjoying every minute.The love of pigeons never goes away, its a great hobby, weather you are into racing or just fly, or show pigeons, the pleasure they bring is priceless. See my Pigeons on Youtube jackdillon888
Like so many had pigeons when a Kid, we caught wild one and raised from them. Doctor told me I need some thing to keep me busy both physical and mentaly (boy, he didn’t know how mental it is) since I retired. I really think that a new flyer must just have a liking for pigeons. That make the best type that will stay with it. I’ve seen a lot come and go that just wanted to win or make money. Those don’t last. BUBBA
When I was about 8 years old, there was a Barbershop about a block from my school. Every morning around 9:30am I would see birds flying in a circle for about 1/2 an hour. That’s when my search began. I found out that the the birds belonged to the man that owned the barbershop. He lived 10 blocks away from me. After a few weeks of watching the birds I got the nerve up to go in and talk to him. He was an old immigrant and spoke broken english. He had no wife or children. He told me to come back on a Sunday afternoon, and he would let me go into the loft. When I first laid eyes on them, close-up, that’s when I got bitten by the pigeon bug. The old man let me work in the shop, sweeping up hair and scraping the coops, which I simply loved doing. He even threw a couple bucks in every once in a while, for me to spend. He didn’t race the birds,just kept them for his enjoyment. On Sunday afternoons we would let the birds out and I could see the joy in his eyes. At the time I did’t know what he was thinking,but it must have reminded him of being back in his own country, with his family and birds. After a few years my old friend died and left me in his will. He left me his loft and all his birds. I have had pigeons ever since. I am now the President of my club,and one of the top flyers in the nation. Thanks for listening, John
Back in 1958 all of my friends had some kind of pigeons of some sort or other. There were a lot of kids in surranding areas back then that loved raising pigeons and it was a good way of getting them off the streets. They were involved in good productive activities that would teach them a lot about life itself. I live in a poorer side of town were kids didn’t get much parental guidence. The rasing of pigeons was a wonderful hobby for those kid also. I really only had one parent back then which was my mother and she couldn’t afford to help me buying pigeons or buy the materials to buy a loft. (I don’t know back then it was called a loft, I just called it a pen.)
My next door neigbor was a home builder and he and I got to be good friends. I would go over to his gargage at night when was was working on restoring a old car a 1918 Nash. I would be there to aid him with whatever he needed me to do. I would polish the crome hand him his tools and I loved doing that for him. I got to be a good handy man for him at the age of 8 years old. My own father was very ill and couldn’t leave the hosiptal for many years. My next door neighor’s name was Mr. Bangter and he help me build a Loft with the extra lumber he got off some of the jobs here was doing. well, that was half the battle is getting a home for the birds.
I lived about a mile from a railroad yard that bought in rail cars full of whole wheat that they would drop in to a large opening under each of the rail cars holding the wheat. After the train would leave a large number of pigeons would get a belly full of that wonderful wheat the spilled during the time it was being unload. I was able to catch me a few pigeons but they were really dirty and smelt bad, so I let them go.
I got a job at a corner grocery store cleaning up the meat trimings that fail on the meat department floor. I would work for about two hours a day and the owner would pay me each day after work. He would pay me two brand new shiny dimes. Before I knew it I had me enough money to buy me my first two bar homer. It was as young one so I could train it to home to my Loft. Soon I was able to buy a young hen that costed me $1.75 and by the way the cock that I bought earlier cost me $2.25. Boy did I think that was a lot of money. I also went the the rail yard and picked up whole grains of wheat for my birds along with some food from the feed store back then. I
I loved my birds, I would watch them by the hours and see what they did all the time, I couldn’t get enough of watching them. They mated and started a family of there own. Boy was that the most interesting thing to watch what they did to take car of the two eggs, the feed their babies. I could go on here but it was better than any course of nature I could ever get. I learned to love birds of all kinds and how to take care of birds by cleaning their loft. I am now 60 years old and I am getting back into the hobby of raising pigeons.
i lived across from a co-op found a baby .now 36 yrs. later a friend here in ft.wayne in.(darl) has a family called golden nugget (jansen based) i bought 2 hoping to breed but ended up with 2 cocks now 2 yrs later ,they are beautiful ,fast .smart ,i cant posibly think if i had them all my life, like most of you.but now its all i do ,my wife says id sleep out there if i had a cot.
Hi guys,my father had pigeons all his life. I got involved when my farther introduced a junior section in there club whereby you could nominate 10 pigeons for your son/daughter and they compete against each other during the season.You were allowed to nominate 10 pigeons for any junior who was still at school even if he was not your son/daughter. The only criteria was that that junior had to be at the club on basketing night and at the strike out.By doing that our club grew and when the guys started working they carried on with there own teams.
Regards
Johan