The Pigeon Coup: Raising Homing Pigeons

Homing pigeons are domesticated birds that are bred and trained to find their way back home from very long distances that they have never been to. They can travel thousands of kilometers in a single race and fly at speeds of up to 60 mph. Homing pigeons were originally used as messenger pigeons as a way to communicate. Today they are used in races. Each bird is tagged with a collar on their foot that can not be altered or removed and driven far away. They are released and are clocked upon reaching their home if they get there at all. The risk is that they will be attacked by hawks and other predators but many return safely.

This great video series will tell you everything you need to know about homing pigeons, how to breed and raise them, what and how to feed them, training them and even how to prevent diseases. Our expert is a second generation breeder and racer who's father was almost single handedly responsible for bringing pigeon racing to India and he knows all there is to know to help you on your way to pigeon racing yourself!!

"My name is Joseph Shung Chiang Lee I am the member of the Calcutta Racing Pigeon Club. Now I am going to deal with the subject of the loft. There are two types of loft; one is for the racing pigeon and one is for the bedding pigeons means the breeding coup. The size of the racing loft is minimum 8 feet in length, 5 feet in width and 6 feet in height. The building material can be wood and the wire mesh and on the top roof will be asbestos. Of course some people also build a loft with the bricks like you build houses and all that. Usually the loft is fully covered at the back and the side with only ¼ of the front open. We always prefer to face the loft to the south or to the east. The loft should always be covered from the north side because in the winter the north wind is very bad for the pigeons; the pigeon fall sick. We make the loft face south because in the winter you get the sunlight. For the bedding coup, the size of the bedding coup is 3 feet in length, 3 feet in width and 2 ½ feet in height. Then of course inside the loft we have boxes. For each pigeon, will each have a box that we made. The box will be about 1 feet in length and 1 feet in height and the planks of the wood uses about 5 inches."