Pigeon Racing (1 Viewer)

[DesertEmu]

Just wondering if anyone else here is into racing pigeons I am with a club in Ontario Canada

 

[splitshot]

Always looked like fun, I was into raising Rollers way back in my 4-H days.

 

[mloudy]

When I was teenager a man gave me a pair of racing homers he had brought back from Hawaii. My dad and I converted an old chicken coop into a loft and I started to learn how to care for them. I got a few more pairs of racers and they began to breed. I kept the original pairs separate from their offspring so I could let them out to fly. I trained the homers born in my loft to use the landing board and go into the coop via the one-way entrance and occasionally transported them and let them go. I added a few other breeds along the way. I was up to about 50 birds when a raccoon got into the loft one night and killed all but a few birds. It was asleep in a nest box when I went in to feed that morning. I had to catch the bus so I told my dad who went out and killed it. That was the end of my pigeon days.

The man who gave me those two racing homers 35 years ago still has a loft and homers. I still have dreams about my pigeons and being in that loft.

 

[120mm]

I've lived for quite a few years in Southwest Asia and while I don't actively participate, I am a big fan of watching Asian style pigeon racing.

The goal is different from homing races, in that they fly flocks around a general pattern, with points for both speed and how many pigeons defect from your rival's flock and come to roost with yours at the end of the race.

It is very visual and beautiful to watch.

War Doves: The Afghan sport of pigeon flying | Afghanistan Analysts Network