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
It goes Back to the grade school and I lived on my uncles farm and he had a barn. We use to climb up and catch them a put them in cages. Later in the 70’s My step dad got some kings and we raised a few and later my grandfather build me a loft we through walnut shells down on the ground and we did fine. had some fantails and helmets and others. Most of all we had fun. I Had one that went to a neighbors house and it came back with a note on its foot. I did take some out and they returned. Met a kid from school and his dad raced and had some imports but we were poor. I had no way of obtaining a clock (cost). Time went on some college travels and a moved to Hawaii family kids etc. I later found a bird and tried to return it in 1998 and the called the pet shelter who had a man call me who use to fly He told me I should fly so from their 1999 My first yb season and I have.nt stopped
It is always a good day coming home to my birds.
when i was in the 5th or 6th grade my father told me if i did well in school he would let me raise pigeons . my older brothers already had racing homers. they never raced them because it cost to much money and my dad would never pay for that but none the less it was fun just watching them fly around the loft for hours on end. when i finally did get birds i told my dad i wanted to raise all white ones and that is what he got me. after i grew up and got my own place i built a loft and began raising racing homers . to this day i still have several pairs of all white birds . i have joined a club a couple of times but i still have not raced any birds i am 55 now
Like most fanciers, I learned about homing pigeons when I was about 10 or 12 years old. I really believe most of us guys and gals got introduced to pigeons when we were in our early youth, before or teen years. A man in our neighborhood kept them in his back yard. I don’t know his name or can’t remember it. I don’t whether he raced or not. He gave me a pair and my mother was good enough to let me keep them. That was at least 60 years ago. I kept that pair for maybe a year and then my interest turned to sports or possibly girls. I’m not sure.
I married and had two boys of my own. I had to give a talk to a group of “Y Indian Guides”, similar to the Boy Scouts. A neighbor down the street had pigeons, and on my way home from work I stopped in and asked if I could borrow a pigeon for my presentation. Like “show and tell”. I asked my two sons if they would like to have a pigeon. Need I say more. I was in my mid 30s about this time and had no intentions of racing. I did’t know anything about pigeons period, much less racing them. I told an associate about my pigeons, the two of them, and before I knew it, a fellow by the name of Charlie Cullpeper showed up with ten baby pigeons, told me about his racing pigeon club, the Metairie RPC, and that was my reintorduction into this wonderful sport. Due to family and work,I got out of the sport for about 20 years. I’m retired now, and back at it, and I enjoy ever minute of it. You always have something to look forward to, whether it be racing, mating, breeding or just training. It sure gives you an reason to get out of bed. That’s a great thing.
In the City where I grew up there was a pigeon keeper on almost every block. Some kept them for food, some for pleasure, and some for competition, both in shows and in the races. It seemed as though almost every boy in my age group at the time (10 to 12 years) had to try out keeping pigeons. I travelled around until I obtained my first pair, a pair from an elderly lady that kept homers to raise baby white Kings for food. She sold me a pair of homers for $3.00. I brought them home and quickly converted a gardner’s shed into a pigeon loft. It was a 4′ x 8 ‘ building with 4″ selves on the insides that had been used for storage of gardening items. It had one window on one end and a door on the opposite end. I obtained several apple boxes for nest boxes, and punched a hole in one end of the building to set up a land building board and traps and I was in business. I soon filled that little loft with 30 or so pigeons that I had obtained from all over, and had a small flock flying around that I was so proud of. I lost those first two birds I had bought on a 30 mile toss but I soon learned there were others to replace them. My father loved my hobby, I had to mow the lawn on a regular basis to earn money to buy pigeon feed and they kept me out of trouble most of the time. My grandfather critisized me coniually until I started to win National acclaim with birds I raised myself, until that time he said I was only furthering others fame. Its been 47 years years now that I have kept racing pigeons and it seems like I have less time than ever to devote to my charges but I cannot see the day that I will not be involved in the sport or in promoting the sport. Over the years as I have travelled accross this country and abroad the pigeons have always given me an inspiational viewpoint from which to start my journey and Ihave always been able to find a place of common interest, no matter where I travel.
My Uncle Frank was a big pigeon man in Riverside NJ where I reside. He was the first to bring birds from the Karp strain in Cleveland in the 30’s. I was raised at the ancestral home and there was a pigeon loft remaining in the tool shed with a few bobs left and some nesting bowls. I always wanted to raise pigeons as a child. No luck.
When I grew up and was left to my own devices, I was able to get some birds from Bob Prisco who preformance bred rollers. I had them for about 20 years or so, then I purchased a few from Chas Hubbs, who had the same strain that my uncle had in the 30’s. When my uncle left for the war he gave his birds to Les Manz, who when he died left them to Hubbs. It was my privlidge to have been a friend of Charlies for some years as he was also a friend to my uncle who had since died.
Both of them were Pigeoneers in WWII. I had always been a WWII buff and decided to become a WWII Pigeoneer reenactor. I have built a PG-68 Combat Mobile Pigeon Loft and I take it to reenactments and talk to people about what they did.
This got me into Racing Homers and I still have both in my coop at home.
If you let me know how, I will send some pix of the loft and what I do
I got into pigeons from very young age by going to the local dockland and catching them in the corn mills. I had liquorice alsorts, Tiplers, Tumblers, a madina as well as ex racers. But I was young and when I fell in love with my first girlfriend dad had to take over as they became second best. I moved on with life and got myself my own home to which first thing that happened was a pigeon loft appeared in the garden ‘as they do ‘ and this time I had found friends in the sport of pigeon racing and of course they helped me along. Three years later I had what I thought to be a good team of birds and was ready to give the sport a hiding with my rockets, I joined a small local club called The Stoke Flying Club, I entered about 8 races in the youngbird season and actually won the very first race with a bird bred from two strays! not to say that I did any good from then as I never won anything else but a 5th. That was my only season as I had hurt my back at work and became pretty useless for months, not being able to stand up let alone walk’ so not able to work, then the woman left me and the house had to be sold and me and the birds moved back in with mum bless her. After a while the birds became too much for me as well as the cost and they had to go. Twenty years later I met the most wonderful woman who for some reason fell in love with me’ I was the lonely man at the end of the bar and she was the barmaid, from there on we have now been together 7 years and during that time I took advantage of her garden shed which was only 5 x 4 but it got me started again. Obtaining wood from building sites saw me put up an 18 x 10 loft and I had my first season 2009 to which I won 3 x 1st – 2 x 2nd – 5 x 3rd – 3 x 5th – 3 x 6th but it seems that I love pigeons but they don’t love me because I’m out of work again and the fear of having to rid them all again is close! But I’m only 50 years old and recessions come and go, I’ve seen two now and I will have a fourth go at keeping pigeons. Who asked me How did I get started in pigeons?
How did you get involved in pigeon racing or pigeon keeping in general?
I grew up in a small town, People had chickens,rabbits,& hunting dogs. One of my neighbors was at a farmers auction and bought a crate of pigeons for 50 cents. He sold them for the same price. They were mixed birds (tumblers,show&fancy pigeons,and some homers.]This was about 1956,we had hunting dogs and rabbits already. The rabbits we stocked the woods to train the dogs and used some pigeons. We had to use the homers for this because they came back home. I had the pigeons until I went into the army. I got out of the army in 1968. I got back with pigeons in 1987 to race them. When a person is exposed to pets they want to have their own and to have the best.
my dad caught some squabs out of a tabbacco barn before it annual use, show me how to feed them. I was about 10 yr old. I dont remember know what became of them. Later a guy my dad worked for had a coop of about 20 birmingham rollers, I was about 21 yr then, Gave them away later,joined the US Army 1964 was enlisted in ary signal corp. Learned about Pigeons there. Later in yrs, like 1990’s bought some rollers again, had bad luck with them due to hawks, snakes dam cats ? Name it. So i was finally put out of keeping rollers. Now i’m sixty eight yr old bought 5 pair of rollers, and have sealed pigeon coop, floors walls hardware cloth 1/4 in. Have a couple of squabs comming on. I am now waiting for hawks, snakes cats, or what ever . It could be harmful to go near my loft, or bantam or guinea coops!!! Patiently waiting for the next event. Enjoy your informative webb site.
I think this web sight is on to someing with this kind of a dilog going on, who knows it may open some doors to others who would like to get in to the hubby as apposed to the sport but who can really not afford the start up cost of buying birds. barttering is the way to go although i have given guys in my comunirty starter birds for free just so that i was no longer isolated in my hubby, the bigs racing guys up here are to far and to few between. these dilogs are encouraging.
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my phone number is 828-817-0647 and i dont mind if people has my email address its [email protected] i live in columbus nc.thanks billy.
well guys be glad to tell what got me interested in pigeons i use to rais small birds you know parakeets finch love birds and cockatials,then one day i desided to get ride of all them after talking to some friends of mine so i started looking and found that i could not afored to by them i never did make money on the other birds i gave away more than i sold,so after seeing them fly and looking on the internet i desided to call all my friends that had birds and started trying to make deals sence i could not afored to by them,so one day one of my friends that lives a prety good ways from me who raised birds call me and started getting pigeons and he brought me some and i traded every thing almost that i had and know i have 18 standared tumblers and apair of american fantails,and she setting on two eggs now . the fantail is my choice but i cant aford them ither you have a lot of people like my self that would like to have the pigeons but cant aford to get started,you see i am disabled and have very little money to get started the way i would like i would like to have more fantails and would be willing trade some one 18 standard tumblers for 5 pair of american fantails or indian i love the pigeons and the fantail is the pigeon of my choice,but alot of people like my self cant aford to pay what people are asking for the even if they give you a good price on the you cant aford the shiping cost