Training Homing Pigeons

Chapter members George Hofmann and Chris Smith talk about Homing Pigeons..

I met George in the spring of 2005 while picking him up at his home. We were headed to a NAVHDA Handlers Clinic put on by the Heartland Chapter of NAVHDA in Western Iowa.

Once I got to George's House  he gave me a tour of his property.  George wanted to show me the training table that he built and in the same building I found something else that really perked my interest. In the building were a couple of empty pens that looked like they could house pigeons. I asked George about the pens and I found out that  one of his passion's is the homing Pigeon.  It turns out  that George has been working with Homers for years. A few years ago George even flew his birds in some high powered races, his birds were good enough to land him some cash. I was impressed by this man's passion and was excited to learn more. Homers can make great training tools for hunting dogs.

In June 2005 George was kind enough to donate several birds to our chapter. People purchased those birds and that money went into the chapters kitty.

What follows is a short explainantion on how to train Homing Pigeons

Settling Homers
- Start with the right birds.  Get youngsters that have not flown 

- Place them in a fly pen each day for two weeks 

- The fly pen is a wired area where the birds can get a good look of the area around the the loft

- Have feed and water in the loft so the birds learn they are fed when they go in the loft

- George locks the birds in the fly pen and lets them in to the attached loft when he is ready for them to eat

- The fly pen lets the birds see out but it is also the landing area when it is opened which is important for the next step 

- Open the fly pen and  let the birds fly.  They will fly crazy. Sometimes they will go straight to the ground

- Let the birds out only on clear sunny days with low wind speeds
 
- Don't scare the birds around the loft they need to feel safe there

- After birds start flying in a flock for a few days they should land on the flight pen and go into the loft to eat 

- Don't loft fly them in the afternoon

- Each time you let out the birds they should fly for a longer time

Training
- When your birds leave for about one hour they are ready to begin training

- Take your birds out 5 to 10 miles

- Only on clear sunny days with no wind

- Repeat #2 until the birds come right home (about 3 times)

- Double the distance and  release again. (about 3 times)

- Continue training up to 50 miles

- Point to remember George prefers early morning releases

- Once trained it is good to train them once a week during the summer and keep on training them in the winter on good days

- Some people say snow cover can throw the birds off and won't fly them. George does not see a big problem with flying birds on a day with snow cover but wanted me to mention it.

Care

- Have a perch for every bird

- Change the water every day (put a splash of Clorox Bleach in the water)

- Give your birds bath water (everyone feels better after a bath)

How do you tell if your pigeons are homers?

A barn pigeon will have a definate drop from the forehead to the beak line

A homing pigeon will have a pretty much flat line from the forehead to the beak  

Loft Size

George's loft is large with at least 3 main rooms. He can easily walk around in his loft. When he gave me the tour I became interested when he started handling day old chicks. He gently returned the chick to the nesting area and the chick continued to be cared for by the parents.

My loft is the size of an out house and is built in the garage. (mine is experimental I need to see if it works)

A pair of pigeons will become a partnership when it comes to hatching the babies. I asked George which was the female and which was the male. He told me the female sits on the nest at night and the male during the day time.

Pigeons are not like quail, they should not kill other pigeons if you find one that does get rid of it.

What makes Homing pigeons so great for dog training? 

Keep in mind that I am not suggesting that you use only pigeons for training. You need to use a variety of birds to help you shape you Gundog into the dog of your dreams. Simply put when you use a Homing Pigeons you do not have to card your birds. The birds will fly off and return home for another day of training.

In 2004 I was training with some other HAWKEYE NAVHDA members for the Utility test. I remember one session where a guy brought some homers. We launched the birds after the point and blanked the birds after the launch. The person who brought the birds lived miles away from where we trained and I asked him how confident he was that he would get his birds back. He told me that the birds should be back home before he gets there and if I remember correctly he lived about 40 miles from where we trained. It is hard to beat that type of scenero. One thing to remember when training towards a broke Gundog. Many people do not want a dog to retrieve every bird that is shot and when hunting or testing all birds will not be shot. Steady dogs should stand through it all.