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
i have a deep consuming love for my animals/birds that is allways present .
If i could get away with it ‘i would set up a folding bed and wood heater in my chicken/bird house’ and live there .
i love tending to them , fixing the pens , building breeder boxes and starter boxes .
Thanks ,
Shannon Nelson
Hi,Im from South Africa in Mitchells Plain Cape Town.I developed an interest in pigeon racing after seeing a movie on pigeons ( Champions ). I dont have much knowledge of racing pigeons other than what i read on the internet and a few freinds i made in the sport so far.Last year i started racing and did not fair well although i was told that as a new fancier i did good.I got a few places in the feds but nothing to write home about.In the middle of the racing seoson my birds got sick and lost a lot of birds in races after that.I started reading up on the sport and found out that really messed up during the preperation for the season and during it.This yaer however i hope to do much better by reading and implementing the information i read in your articles.This year im going back with a better understanding of the sport thanks to you.
However if anybody out there in my area or surrounds who have advice for me on the sport feel free to email me.
Im still crawling in the sport hope to be a dangerous man in our area.
Yours in pigeons
Anthony Matthee
Well my experience with racing pigeons started 1st of all when very young. My dad had birds on our farm but raced sporadically because we were far from the nearest club and was not possible to race actively so he gave them up.When I was 6 I asked him to build me a place to keep some pigeons so he gave me a roll of old chicken netting and some corrugated iron sheets and said”there you go, take one of the farm hands and get stuck in” Well off we went down to the poplar bush, chopped some straightish poles and knocked up a structure against what we knew as the engine room side wall. This is where the diesel engine and generator for our electricity was housed.So needless to say my birds didnt sleep for the 1st part of the night as the engine was running right next door!!!! until we went off to sleep and the engine was turned off!!!!Anyway I was given 2 pairs of culls by a friend of my dad and they started breeding. Fast.After about 2 years there were too many for Dads liking as he was supplying the feed so all except 2pairs were left and he packed the rest into a box and we left for East London where Dad had business to do and on arrival that evening we took the birds down to the beachfront and opened the box and off my friends went out over the harbour. Never to be seen again. We were 250km from home so there was no chance that my “commonies” could get home. Tears rolling down my cheeks and sad we went back to the hotel. It was full moon that night. We returned home 2 days later and I went to my “loft” and to my unbelievable joy I was greeted by my black pied cock and his blue bar wife sitting very contented in their nest box!!!Well on asking the foreman at home when the 2 birds got back he told us that Blackie was on the roof at daybreak the very next morning and his hen arrived mid morning. Blackie flew home by moonlight!!!! Dad was amazed and the word went out to his other friends in the club as to what had happened and a friend asked me to breed him 2 babies for which he gave me the rings to put onto the 2 babies. It was apparently a little joke that Dad had put his mates up to just to spur me on. Those were the 1st two rings ever that I had put onto birds.One ring was upside down according to Dad and his friend raced the two babies the next year and the “upside down” hen won 2 races!!!! I dont know what happened to her brother but 3 years later I had to go to boarding school so I had to basically give up my birds, and one of dads friends bought Blackie from me for 1pound. R2.oo in other words!!!! Blackie became a legend in his own right in the club in Elliot in the NE corner of the Cape Province ,South Africa. My love of pigeons was sparked forever. I have a fascination and that is what drives me. 45 years later my love and awe of these animals gets stronger each and every day. They are part of me but am only sorry that I never got Blackie back again!!!!
Back in 1956 when I was si years old I had watched a Walt Disney movie called “The Pigeon that worked a Miracle” it was about a young boy who was confined to a wheel chair do to an injury suffered while playing baseball he didn’t have the will to walk again he somehow got into raising and racing pigeons, he had a coop with a wheel chair ramp.He had one young bird by the name of Pigg, that fell out of it’s nest and got scalped by the older birds so he reared it by hand in his house with the help of his Mom,As Pigg got older he was entered into a Futurity race it was a smash race with many differculties along the way home, as he landed on the coop tired and hungry ,a cat began attacking Pigg, The boy started up the ramp in his wheel chair when it fell over leaving him hanging onto a side railing ,through his love of Pigg he began to “WALK” and got to Pigg just before he became dinner for the cat.and that was the miracle. that’s what inspired me so for my seventh birthday I got what I wanted a pair of pigeons There is more to my saga but thats for another chapter.
Yeah, I’m old…but not as old as the tradition of keeping the birds. When I was a boy, I often daydreamed of being able to fly, to be able to see the Smokey mountains like a bird. I’d listened to stories that my grandfather told me of being a “pigeoneer” during WW1 and how the birds would fly past enemy lines over shotguns and specially trained falcons and hawks to carry incredibly important messages to our troops that would not only save lives, but dictate the outcome of the war…those birds changed the world that we all live in…
It’s hard to even imagine a world without computers, cell phones or instant messaging now, but every time I tend to my birds I remember when times were less complicated, when the fate of the free world depended on the abilities and homing instinct of a bird.
When I got back from Viet Nam, I bought several homers and have raised them ever since. I don’t race anymore but now raise white homers for “white dove release”
I think that the racing sport has become cost prohibitive for young people today and that organized clubs should simplify the racing rules to try and attract more younger breeders. Personally, I invite members of 4-H and FFA to my farm and loft and offer to give them a mated pair if they give me one of the first offspring…I offer to help them build their own loft and work with them training the birds. The rewards I have recieved have by far outweighed what I have given….it’s always been that way with my birds.
Good day! since my chilhood my brother start pigeon(native)and racing pigeon so everyday my brother teach me how to handle the pigeon and he gave me the best strategy related to pigeon racing.. after 5years my brother stop and sell the pigeon he said to me now you know what is my reason to sell my pigeon?!! all pigeon is not comeback..after 15years i try to apply company so i have a new friend,he joined the club and he have a pigeon quality. he asked me you know wha is the bloodlines of my pigeon? then after 2months i try to buy local bird(cheapy!)my friend he told me beware to buy the pigeon make sure the pigeon is ok or have the right bloodline or pidegre! my friend everyday visit my loft and give the tips and best strategy how to learn the pigeon racing. so her is my comment to all fanciers thanks and happy racing!
Hi Chris,
How did I get involved with racing pigeons? well I suppose like a lot of fanciers,pigeons have been in our family 60 odd years probibly thats how long me dads raced them, we, thats me and my brother had them years ago just as pets, when I got married and moved away. My brother started racing pigeons as a partener with me dad,Unfortunitly my brother passedaway 10 year age leaving me dad on his own at the age of 75yrs old, I think through the shock of my brother! me dad had a heartattack, while he was in hospiltal, he said we would have to get rid of the pigeons as he said he couldn’t manage that was 9year ago everythink ok,me dads now 86yrs and WE are still racing pigeons and looking foreword to the breeding and racing season, which will start March – April 2011. thanks Terry
I am a very competitive person that hunted hounds for several years. I got married and moved to town, but still had that need for competition. I searched for something to feed my addiction and found pigeon racing on the internet. I researched the hobby for a couple years before I decided to get the birds, and I have been in love with the sport since.
Hello, My Grandfather Sam Bennett of Windsor Ontario Canada {originally from Lancashire England} raised and raced pigeons in the late 1940’s and through the early 1950’s I remember seeing a large gold plated trophy in his home, first prize for winning an international pigeon race back in 1950. Grampa passed away in 1957 and his trophy went to a cousin…. after ALL these years I still think about him and what a great guy he was. He had many passions, Fishing, Hunting, His Pigeons, and anouther was his love for wood carving…. Gramp carved Duck decoys{He actually used them for hunting} and many fishing lures. I was just 10 years old when he passed on but he left a real impression on me. I’d like to be able to tell my 4 Grandsons ages 19, 14, 14, and 11 more about this wonderfull man…. is there anyone out there that can furnish me with ANY information about this race or this trophy? Thank You Wayne Bennett Kingsville Ontario Canada
I got started with pigeons when I was a young 7 yr. old helping my dad with his fancy pigeons. there is no better high as a young boy watching my dads rollers rolling up high up in the sky. I helped my dad feed and water the pigeons. I got my first computer and in search for some rollers for myself i found alot of homing pigeon organizations, looked up for one in my area and found and currently active in the south jersey pigeon club. my highlight so far was coming in 17th over all third aution and earning 600 points. my first year flying.