How to Race Homing Pigeons
Homing pigeons are amazing birds whose use by humans has been documented as far back as ancient Egypt, Carthage and Rome. Caesar used them in his defeat of Gaul. Use of pigeons spread to India, China and Greece. In fact, China had a postal service that relied on homing pigeons to carry the mail. The Reuters News Service was created in the nineteenth century and relied upon the use of homing pigeons. Homing pigeons were used in the twentieth century in war, and are still used today to pass military communications, as well as rescue operations. They are currently raced around the world. Read on to learn how to race homing pigeons.
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Instructions
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Train the racing pigeons in groups first. This helps to build their confidence.
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Take young pigeons some miles away from home and release them. The bird has an inherent ability to return to its home. By starting to release the pigeons a short distance from home, you awaken the ability with which the birds have been born. Enticing them with tasty treats and grains also helps.
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Increase the pigeons' distance from home before releasing them again, and continue to increase the distance for each flight.
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Allow a pigeon to fly solo when you feel the pigeon has the confidence to do so.
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Time the homing pigeon's flight. After a while, the pigeon's flight home will get faster and faster.
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Enter your homing pigeon in a race when you think your bird is ready. You may find races listed through such sites as The American Racing Pigeon Union, or even around the world at such sites as The Royal Pigeon Racing Association (United Kingdom) and The Dubai Racing Pigeon Club (United Arab Emirates).
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Try more races as the pigeons' time improves. The first five finishers are considered the winners.
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Consider marathon racing. Release your homing pigeons in a town the pigeons have never seen before that is hundreds of miles from home. Not only will the pigeons be judged on their speed, but also their ability to find the fastest route home. These events may be found at the sites listed.
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