Gun Dog Forum

I'very attempted to start my homing pigeon flock. I had 4 young birds that I kept in the loft for 3 weeks. Over the last week I showed them the trap door entry and pushed them through several times. I pulled food on saturday then on Tuesday I let them lose right out of the loft. They hung around that day buto none re-entered the loft. I have not seen them since Wednesday morning, and they haven't touched the small pile of food on the landing board. Are they gone for good?

How young?
3 weeks isn't very long.
3 or 4 days without food is a LONG time.
If you were grabbing them to shove through and to put out, you scared them pretty bad. It's best to have a door and a settling cage and let them learn to go in and out on their own before you let them out. You don't want to scare them during this process.
Are they gone? Things aren't looking good.

I never push them through the trap. Once they are flying around well and eating and drinking on their own I just tie up the bob's and let them come and go on their own. Few days of that and I drop a bob. Then every third day drop another. Go all the way across the bob's skipping every other, then start over dropping every one. Don't forget to tie them all up to let them out.

They are about 2 months old now. They were going through the bobs on there ownbefore I let them loose, so they knew how to get in. The wife says she saw them last night on the roof, just wait and see I guess.

When you let them loose did you open the door and let them out on their own or did you force them out?