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The Art of Racing Pigeons

1 points by lnguyen 7y ago

jelliclesfarm 7y ago
How is this not animal abuse?
jelliclesfarm 7y ago
Basically they are exploiting the bird’s instinct to return home. It’s like pigeon Hansel and Gretel roulette. They get exhausted if they can’t make it back home and many die. [..] Pigeons can mate for life, and both the cock and the hen take turns sitting on the nest and feeding the hatchlings. Young homers are weaned and housed together at about six weeks old. After a few days of acclimation, a door in their pen is opened, and the birds begin to fly outside the loft but stick close to it. They’ll flock together, flying big circles, until the day comes that they stay aloft for an hour. That’s the signal, says Morse, that it’s time for road training. The birds are taken five miles away from the loft and released. “That first time, they make about thirty huge circles, figuring out where home is. But they do figure it out.” Morse will do five days at five miles, then two days of loft flying, a kind of weekend of rest at home. The next week, it’s ten miles. When the birds start arriving home before him, it’s time to stretch out their mileage—twenty miles, then forty, sixty, and so on, until they successfully do one hundred miles three times before their first race. The longer flights build endurance, but it’s the early flights that reinforce the notion of home and the bird’s ability to get there. In a race, you want a pigeon to break fast and sure instead of wasting time circling or succumbing to the flock instinct and following other birds. “People get in a hurry for training distance, which is a mistake,” says Morse. “The five- and ten-mile trips are imperative. That gets them confident.” [..]
- ksaj 7y ago
  This is correct. I have a pet pigeon who is very happy, and often quite insistent, to be put back into his cage once he's had enough outside time. He also makes it VERY clear when he doesn't want out of the cage. The pigeons are trained when they have eggs or babies in their nest, since they will be in such a panic to get back, they learn to be very quick about the travel. It's certainly not very humane.
  - jelliclesfarm 7y ago
    Pigeons are awesome. They have an instinct to nest and love and be loved. It is cruel to do this for sport and profit.
    - ksaj 7y ago
      It is true. My pet pigeon stomps his feet on the ground then joyfully runs to me pretty much demanding to be picked up when I enter the room if I've been elsewhere for any extended amount of time. And he likes to perch on my leg and sleep when I have my feet up on the foot rest.

1 points by lnguyen 7y ago

How is this not animal abuse?

Basically they are exploiting the bird’s instinct to return home. It’s like pigeon Hansel and Gretel roulette. They get exhausted if they can’t make it back home and many die. [..] Pigeons can mate for life, and both the cock and the hen take turns sitting on the nest and feeding the hatchlings. Young homers are weaned and housed together at about six weeks old. After a few days of acclimation, a door in their pen is opened, and the birds begin to fly outside the loft but stick close to it. They’ll flock together, flying big circles, until the day comes that they stay aloft for an hour. That’s the signal, says Morse, that it’s time for road training. The birds are taken five miles away from the loft and released. “That first time, they make about thirty huge circles, figuring out where home is. But they do figure it out.” Morse will do five days at five miles, then two days of loft flying, a kind of weekend of rest at home. The next week, it’s ten miles. When the birds start arriving home before him, it’s time to stretch out their mileage—twenty miles, then forty, sixty, and so on, until they successfully do one hundred miles three times before their first race. The longer flights build endurance, but it’s the early flights that reinforce the notion of home and the bird’s ability to get there. In a race, you want a pigeon to break fast and sure instead of wasting time circling or succumbing to the flock instinct and following other birds. “People get in a hurry for training distance, which is a mistake,” says Morse. “The five- and ten-mile trips are imperative. That gets them confident.” [..]

ksaj 7y ago
This is correct. I have a pet pigeon who is very happy, and often quite insistent, to be put back into his cage once he's had enough outside time. He also makes it VERY clear when he doesn't want out of the cage. The pigeons are trained when they have eggs or babies in their nest, since they will be in such a panic to get back, they learn to be very quick about the travel. It's certainly not very humane.
- jelliclesfarm 7y ago
  Pigeons are awesome. They have an instinct to nest and love and be loved. It is cruel to do this for sport and profit.
  - ksaj 7y ago
    It is true. My pet pigeon stomps his feet on the ground then joyfully runs to me pretty much demanding to be picked up when I enter the room if I've been elsewhere for any extended amount of time. And he likes to perch on my leg and sleep when I have my feet up on the foot rest.