What Do You Think is The Current State of Pigeon Racing?

This weeks discussion of the week is…

What do you think the current state of pigeon racing is?

For example do you think pigeon racing is growing or dying and why, express your views and share with others your opinions on the current state of pigeon racing by placing your vote in the poll below then posting a comment in the comment section below this post.

What do you think is the current state of pigeon racing and pigeon keeping?

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644 thoughts on “What Do You Think is The Current State of Pigeon Racing?

  1. I almost can not afford to race pigeons. I am a working man with the normal bills- car payment, mortgage, insurance etc… This bird racing is expensive. The feed medicine, the clock, club dues, race fees, AU dues, bands, crazy amount of fuel for training,the price of buying pigeons, and more. How do you get new guys involved? I tell guys right up front, this sport will consume your time and resources so make sure you like it before you jump in too deep. My suggestion is: the club should limit the number of birds shipped in a race to 10. This way a guy can afford to race with a small loft with just a few pigeons. He would have a chance with shipping 5 or 6 good pigeons.

  2. Foreveryone in the US, contact AU and have them send you info on how to get new flyers, our club did and gained two senior and one junior the first mo. that we used their info, we can set on our butts and do nothing then the sport will die. we need to make the public aware that we are here , you will be surprised at what we can do with a some effort.

  3. yes the youg do not like pigeon my son is 19 and he as a lot of mates there are 2 that like the pigeon and i said they could have some of the youg this year but there mum and dad said they are flying rats and you can get desec from them i think now days a lot more people think this than say 20 years ago sad my wife did not want me to get them she said we would get mice i have had them 3years and no mice ya ya

  4. Most everyone has made good points about the status of the pigeon sport. I would like to add that yes, we need to expose the younger people to the sport as a sort of an inoculation. As they grow up and are busy with college, jobs and family they may not have the time for the sport, but when they get closer to retirement the old racing pigeon bug can reel them back in. For this reason I feel we should market our sport to both the very young and the nearing retirement individuals. Yes, the young people have many easy distractions today, but that is a parent’s job to provide responsible developmental type activities. As far as the costs are involved this is not an issue as compared to any other common activities of our children today. Now time is something else again. To compete and care for racing pigeons properly takes a lot more time than kids or their parents want to expend today. Everything is instant gratification and not the journey to a goal.
    Another point I would like to make is the loss of a number of older fanciers and not by them passing away either. This is due (in Europe as well) to the fact that to win today one has to be progressive and adapt to newer proven methods. Not too long ago a “pigeon keeper” could win a race or two by just having well bred pigeons “on their day”. Well, today those birds have to be ready and at their optimum performance “on your day” to win. This has discouraged many of the old timers into thinking the sport isn’t fun anymore. In some ways this is true, but that is always the case when an amateur contest is turning into a professional sport.

  5. HERE IN SOUTH AFRICA THE NUMBERS IS DECLINING.I AM FROM VREDENDAL IN THE WESTERN CAPE ABOUT 300KM FROM CAPE TOWN UP NORTH.I THINK THE COST OF FLYING IS BECOMING TO HIGH AND COMPETE AGAINST 20 TO 40 PIGEONS IS NOT EASY.SANPO [BODY THAT GOVERN PIGEON RACING] IS ALSO LOOKING INTO THIS TO TRY AND MAKE IT MORE AFFORDABLE FOR NEWCOMERS TO THIS LOVELY HOBBY.I AM STILL OPTIMISTIC AND HOPE THE SPORT WILL GO FROM STRENGHT TO STRENGHT.

  6. Here in the Montreal area (Quebec, Canada), the sport is in a major decline. This decline is not due to the cost of keeping pigeons. It seems that the younger generation does not wnat to be tied up every day like we are with pigeons. With golf they take their clubs and go have fun. When they come back they store them without having anything to do until the next time. With pigeons it is every day even when there is no race. We like pigeons but even in winter time it is a burden without much pleasure. But we still love it. It seems that there is not much solution to sell our sport to the younger generation as they have a lot of choice for their hobby. Moreover, as the number of fanciers is low, it is unlikely that the youth came come in contact with our sport. I made several presentations on tv. We see an immediate interest but no desire to try it. On top of it, we start to have a structural problem as many cities forbid to build a loft or to keep pigeons. Presently we start to see a change of mentality following the actual financial crisis. Furtunately, there is still anough fanatic pigeon fanciers to maintain the flame burning. I saw a major change between 1960 and 2010. Even the weather is also a problem which discourages the good fanciers. I am still optimistic anyhow.

  7. After a 20 yr gap I am finally flying pigeons again, and what I see is not people enjoying the sport of flying our beloved birds, but money races.What ever happened to just enjoying the sport for what it is,a fun hobbie. I like nothing better than watching my birds come home from a race at break neck speed, back wing and land on the board like a CHAMPION.It seems like most are more concernrd about the futurity races and how much they can win, nothing about the bird it seems.I understand the cost complaint, so cut down the amount of birds you have………..a no brainer if you ask me.If the flyers overseas can fly with 5-10 entries VS 15,000 birds why can’t we do the same. You don’t need a 100-200 bird YB team, or the same in OB’s to win if you have good birds and manage them correctly.We are killing ourselves with the quanity of the birds we keep instead of the quality,that makes the hobbie harder instead of fun.Try raising fewer birds and you might just enjoy yourself more….I did.As for the futurities……..I don’t fly them anymore, and enjoy my hobbie an birds that much more.

  8. I’m making a return after an almost 10 year “sabatical”. Where I previously participated, the sport was becomming far too commercialised with way too much money at stake. The result was “win at almost any cost”. Pigeon racing was a great SPORT when I satrted some 50 years ago but declined to become too professionalised and the backbones of the sport drifted away.
    Where I now live very little of this commercialised professionalism exists. This is great! Due to ever increasing fuel costs, birdages per race have been reduced to 15 per member, with alternate options of 10 and even 5, at the fancier’s choice. Lower birdage = lower costs as well as a better ability to concentrate on breeding fewer but better pigeons. No more “shotgun” approach, breeding great numbers in the hope of possibly producing a winner. Prize monies are pretty low but this is also a good development – the greed factor has been removed and those members that remain are true pigeon fanciers. The best result of these developments has been the return to the sport of many genuine fanciers that left for similar reasons to mine. WE have a race which allows the general public to be involved as well. Tickets are sold and each person (member of the public) has the opportunity of drawing a pigeon that will participate in a race the following season. The available prizes are split 33% each to the ticket holder, a preselected charity and the breeder of the pigeon. Works great and publicises the sport in our area in a very positive way.
    By the way I live in South Africa, home of the Sun City Million Dollar race. My attitude toward this race is that it is (mostly) good for the sport. Sounds a bit contradictory, but the SCMDPR provides the opportunity for those that want to compete for the money as well as those that want to compete for the glory (provided they can afford it)with the possibillty of syndicating, allowing wider spread participation. I will compete once I have established my team and have sorted the wheat from the chaff.

  9. In the short time i have been flying,I have seen just as many members come into the sport as well as as leave,that is on club level as well as fed level.
    So to say the sport is on the up or down is a catch 42! But what i will say is that we need more publicity about the sport This is to keep the young or elder generation coming into the sport.

  10. I have been involved in the sport for ths past 20 years. First of all when I was a rooky nobody told me I was getting into a sport that was unfair. Second none of the senior members in my organization offered me any advice or set me up with quality stock. The only thing I received was strange looks those that pigeons give one another when a new bird is introduced to the loft. When I beat the well seasoned competition mid way in my first Y.B. season,the looks stopped isolation took it’s place. I have served in all aspects of the political arena in regarsd to the sport locally. I have travelled overseas only to witness the same. You ask if the sport is dying? It is because of pride and selfishness. I witnessed my own organization recently split over a botched money race that should have never taken place because of faulty clock settings. So much for tecnology. We can’t blame affordability because we have control over our race schedules,shipping with other clubs or combines. Last but not lease if we don’t get rid of our selfcenterness the sport will experience a slow death.

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