Racer/homing pigeon cull discussion

[tacothechicken]

Hi guys I wanted to start a thread and see if it could give any more insight to others on culling of birds in a racing flock. I myself have never culled and have had no reason to but I'm curious how often others cull birds and for what reasons/causes. Alot of people in my bird groups on fb tend to come across lost racers this season and the basic run through is 'i don't want to find the owner I just want to give it away cause I heard it's abusive and they kill the birds that get lost and then come back' obviously this is not the standard for us all but they aren't all that keen to listen. So for those that do cull birds I was wondering if you could give a overview on cause/reasoning, commonality in your area, flock size, culling procedure and if it really does benefit you or your flock. Others may comment and give a friendly opinion or ask questions but I'd like us to try and remain impartial in the face of a unknown or unfamiliar area unless outright abuse or signs to be concerned for total animal welfare should present itself. Thanks to anyone willing to give insight into their experience and I hope we can all remain cordial

 

[backyard pigeons]

Hey there! I haven't been on BYC much, but this thread certainly caught my attention.

I never cull. There is no need to cull, nature does it for me. When I toss my birds, I might lose one, which I hate. When I fly my birds, a hawk may nail it, which I hate. When I keep pigeons, they may get sick, and the weakest die, which I hate. This all sounds cruel, I know it does. BUT let me assure you! I love my pigeons, and they get the top of the line care. I am a young person that can easily see myself raising the same line of birds for 50-55 years. The more I lose now to natural causes, the less I will lose in the future to natural causes. Survival of the fittest is played out in my loft. I try not to medicate. I give them healthy conditions to live in, so they can stay healthy. When a bird gets sick, I try to refrain from treating them. They need to build up their immune system. For me, a bird that doesn't slow down the group, doesn't get sick, breeds well, produces good young, comes home promptly from tosses, flys well on loft flys, etc has no reason to be sold. I lose the ones I could have sold, but you cant tell which birds won't be good until they are out of your reach.

This year, I am going to separate my pairs March 1st. Hens in one coop, males in another loft. On April 1st, they will be joined back together. All this does is ensures excitement in the pairs, and them to all get started in a nest at the same time. This way, I have a batch of youngsters all within a week of each other, which helps training them. I will breed out of 8 pairs, so if all goes well, I will have 16 youngsters at the start of the year, the pigeon year, that is. I then will breed a second round out of the same pairs to give me 16 young ones to sell and give away to promote the hobby.Then throughout the summer, I breed out of new pairs and color projects, just for fun and reference for next breeding season. I always keep those birds as I need to know if the pairing produced racing homers, or pigeons. Haha.

As far as culling flying birds that do fine (the majority of my flock today) I rarely do. I dont like to sell unsettled birds, as that then means the person who bought them won't fly them which then means they are prisoners. I don't like captives. But, I do sometimes have to sell them, because of overcrowding. Right now, I have 65 or more pigeons. I like to stay under 50. Am I overcrowded? Yes... Is hawk season here? Yes... Will I be flying them through hawk season, accepting the loss of a number of pigeons? Yes... I like to go into hawk season with to many. I usually come out with about 10 less. Sounds horrible, I know. But when they leave the coop, they know the risk. They have seen hawks. But guess what? They still rush out for FREEDOM! If they could talk, they would say "Give me liberty or give me death!".

Sorry for the long answer. all that to say, no. I don't cull. I accept natural losses. Others in my area that I know may cull. But to be honest, that's okay. I have seen their setups, and their birds get good care. I would rather them eat their pigeons than the inhumanely raised chickens in the store. I can't quite bear eating my pigeons though, so I always sell them if I have to.

 

[biophiliac]

Hey there! I haven't been on BYC much, but this thread certainly caught my attention.

I never cull. There is no need to cull, nature does it for me. When I toss my birds, I might lose one, which I hate. When I fly my birds, a hawk may nail it, which I hate. When I keep pigeons, they may get sick, and the weakest die, which I hate. This all sounds cruel, I know it does. BUT let me assure you! I love my pigeons, and they get the top of the line care. I am a young person that can easily see myself raising the same line of birds for 50-55 years. The more I lose now to natural causes, the less I will lose in the future to natural causes. Survival of the fittest is played out in my loft. I try not to medicate. I give them healthy conditions to live in, so they can stay healthy. When a bird gets sick, I try to refrain from treating them. They need to build up their immune system. For me, a bird that doesn't slow down the group, doesn't get sick, breeds well, produces good young, comes home promptly from tosses, flys well on loft flys, etc has no reason to be sold. I lose the ones I could have sold, but you cant tell which birds won't be good until they are out of your reach.

This year, I am going to separate my pairs March 1st. Hens in one coop, males in another loft. On April 1st, they will be joined back together. All this does is ensures excitement in the pairs, and them to all get started in a nest at the same time. This way, I have a batch of youngsters all within a week of each other, which helps training them. I will breed out of 8 pairs, so if all goes well, I will have 16 youngsters at the start of the year, the pigeon year, that is. I then will breed a second round out of the same pairs to give me 16 young ones to sell and give away to promote the hobby.Then throughout the summer, I breed out of new pairs and color projects, just for fun and reference for next breeding season. I always keep those birds as I need to know if the pairing produced racing homers, or pigeons. Haha.

As far as culling flying birds that do fine (the majority of my flock today) I rarely do. I dont like to sell unsettled birds, as that then means the person who bought them won't fly them which then means they are prisoners. I don't like captives. But, I do sometimes have to sell them, because of overcrowding. Right now, I have 65 or more pigeons. I like to stay under 50. Am I overcrowded? Yes... Is hawk season here? Yes... Will I be flying them through hawk season, accepting the loss of a number of pigeons? Yes... I like to go into hawk season with to many. I usually come out with about 10 less. Sounds horrible, I know. But when they leave the coop, they know the risk. They have seen hawks. But guess what? They still rush out for FREEDOM! If they could talk, they would say "Give me liberty or give me death!".

Sorry for the long answer. all that to say, no. I don't cull. I accept natural losses. Others in my area that I know may cull. But to be honest, that's okay. I have seen their setups, and their birds get good care. I would rather them eat their pigeons than the inhumanely raised chickens in the store. I can't quite bear eating my pigeons though, so I always sell them if I have to.

Great post my friend!!

 

[LittleGecko]

Hi guys I wanted to start a thread and see if it could give any more insight to others on culling of birds in a racing flock. I myself have never culled and have had no reason to but I'm curious how often others cull birds and for what reasons/causes. Alot of people in my bird groups on fb tend to come across lost racers this season and the basic run through is 'i don't want to find the owner I just want to give it away cause I heard it's abusive and they kill the birds that get lost and then come back' obviously this is not the standard for us all but they aren't all that keen to listen. So for those that do cull birds I was wondering if you could give a overview on cause/reasoning, commonality in your area, flock size, culling procedure and if it really does benefit you or your flock. Others may comment and give a friendly opinion or ask questions but I'd like us to try and remain impartial in the face of a unknown or unfamiliar area unless outright abuse or signs to be concerned for total animal welfare should present itself. Thanks to anyone willing to give insight into their experience and I hope we can all remain cordial

I have kept racing pigeons for several years and I have never culled. I have a mix of busschearts and van reets and after not breeding for two years I am looking forward to starting breeding again next year. Some birds do well as young bird racers and less well as mature birds, others do less well as young birds and well when mature. Some are better in cool conditions, some in warm, some are sprinters and great over short distances, others are better over long distance. You can get a lot of variation in a single loft even when using just one or two strains and it is difficult to breed a good all rounder. I would never discount any bird, particularly one who had got lost and I would always be delighted to get them back. There are so many reasons a bird can get lost, a sudden gale or storm on the flight, an injury or being attacked by a bird of prey can force a pigeon to land in someone's garden and remain for a while to recover. I got one of my best hens when she landed injured in my garden while on a race, I contacted the owner using the information on her wing stamp and he said it would be too much money to come and collect her so I could keep her, which I did! I love my birds and although I don't race anymore (local club closed due to too few members and the nearest one still operating is too far away for me as I don't drive anymore). Most lofts will sell on surplus birds as pets and to other lofts (that's how I got started, my first pigeons were the surplus birds from another loft). I personally don't agree with culling and would only put a bird down if it was ill or injured beyond treatment, but others have different views and provided that it is done in a humane manner I simply agree to disagree.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I don't raise pigeons (would love to, but dont have thr set up at current home). ButI have done research and have a friend who's kid used pigeons for 4H.

I don't think most people butcher the pigeons that don't work for them because from what I've read once they start flying, they get super tough super fast.

My friend when she saw ones she didn't want to keep, she would lock them out of the pen. Eventually they joined the local population (most of which now look fancy because she has done so so often)