How to make pigeons come back?

panovski · Post by **panovski** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 4:33 pm

I just got about 25 pigeons today and they are barn birds, most of them are a mix between wild and homers. Does anybody know how I can keep them in the area and make them come back to there pen for further training.

Thanks for the help!!!

panovski · Post by **panovski** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 5:30 pm

Anyone have any ideas that work?

smoothbean · Post by **smoothbean** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 6:06 pm

If they have not flown from another loft they should come back after they settle in to your loft. If they were caught probably not, maybe if they start to nest and you turn loose one half of a pair (leave the mate penned). It's still kind of a crap shoot.

mtlee · Post by **mtlee** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 6:16 pm

Keep them in your loft for at least 3 weeks without flying them. Open the door/tape up the bobs (if you have them) and let them leave on their own time. Let them free fly like this for a few days, each day drop a bob until they learn how to enter through them w/ all bobs down. Once they are free flying well and homing back you can start taking them and increasing the distance you fly them from. Take it slow with them and it should work out for you..That's what I did w/ my birds and it worked out well, but they were young.

panovski · Post by **panovski** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 6:32 pm

what are the "bobs" you are taking about?

mtlee · Post by **mtlee** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 6:37 pm

panovski wrote:what are the "bobs" you are taking about?

They make the entrance one way...birds can get in, but not out. You can buy them....

http://www.lcsupply.com/Product/Bird-Eq ... -Door.html

OR Make them out of PVC

panovski · Post by **panovski** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 7:17 pm

I thought you meant something else, i just call it a trap, but thanks for the picture, i will do a "bob" like that when i build my new coup.

Any other ways to keep pigeons coming back?

mtlee · Post by **mtlee** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 7:20 pm

panovski wrote:I thought you meant something else, i just call it a trap, but thanks for the picture, i will do a "bob" like that when i build my new coup.

Any other ways to keep pigeons coming back?

I'm confused...Do you have a loft you're keeping these pigeons in or are you just trapping them and leaving them in the trap until you use them for training?

The only way the pigeons are going to home back is if you keep them in some type of loft for a few weeks/month so that the loft becomes their "home."

ohiogsp · Post by **ohiogsp** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 9:01 pm

How old are the birds? Have they flown from anouther loft? Where did you get them?

mm · Post by mm » Tue Mar 04, 2008 6:32 am

I have birds that return from 3 miles away where I train. I want to train at another spot 40 miles away. How much can I increase the distance they will return from at one time. When I started them I increased them 3 tenths of a mile a day but that would take forever. I dont want to loose them because I am down to 4.
mm

Don · Post by **Don** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 9:02 am

The racers anound here don't call them "bobs' either. They call it a trap. But it's a bit different as the "bobs' get locked down for a race and the birds come back and have to junp down and are trapped by the "bobs". I have the same set up on my big pen but don't know why. I never lock the "bobs" down. Probably what it is is that the trap has bobs.

mm, I'd start moving them 5 to 10 miles at a shot. Probably get away with more but I don't. They probably fly farther than the 3 miles when you just let them free fly. Don't take them 10 mi and use them, thake them and release them all. I mark the birds I release with different color yarn on their legs so I know who's who. Mine are also a mix of feral and homer. To be sure, let them start nesting. Then you can't run them off.

snips · Post by **snips** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 9:11 am

I leave them up for around 3 weeks, then spend a week or so taking them around in my hand and holding them at the doorway, then let them push thru the bobs to get inside. You can see them looking around memorizing the entranceway. They seem to learn how to puch thru to get in...That is just how I do it...

gunner · Post by **gunner** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 9:48 am

My homers will beat me home from training grounds 45 miles away.
I allowed them to free fly once fledged from my loft, then I took them out 5 miles, then 10, then 20 then 40, then from the training grounds, trying to train on mostly sunny days.
Doubling the distance flown, from the direction you'll be having them fly from, on open sky days are worth remembering.

ohiogsp · Post by **ohiogsp** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 6:21 pm

Bobs are the bars or whatever you use that hang down. Bobs are part of the trap.

panovski · Post by **panovski** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 6:53 pm

I have them in a loft, but i will make a bigger pigeon coup and I got them from a friend, he used them for training.

Post by **ezzy333** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 9:48 pm

Don,

You put the bobs in the trap so they can't get back out. Te trap is actually the opening with a small cace inside.

If you want them to come back you need to tie a long rubber band around one leg so when they get so far away it will snap them back.

Ezzy

panovski · Post by **panovski** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 11:26 am

Once the birds start pairing and laying eggs, do you think they will come back? Is there any other ways to get them to come back?

panovski · Post by **panovski** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 8:34 pm

Can anybody give me a design for a pigeon coup that will hold 30 plus birds?