As Requested Some Pic's of Steve1 Pigeon Loft - Page 2

LAVK-9
They may look that way and i suppose they do have a reasonable Life but for a few months of the year they have to work and work hard In the race above Barcelona a pigeon will lose 50% or more of its body weight in the one race, So let us say let go at say 8.oclock this morning , i would expect the first arrivals the next morning around 8 to 9 oclock depending on the weather condition s and the Wind meaning is it a helping wind or a wind which the pigeon s fly into of course the wind direction changes many times but you will get what i mean So if the pigeons flys all day today until dark it will have about some 15 hours flying time Up again at 4.oclock the next morning to try again so some 19 to 20 hours flying it loses 50% of its body weight, if you or i lose that much in that time we will be on a Cold Slab
So you can see what such a race as 700 miles From Barcelona Spain does to them, Plus they have to get around the Pyrennes they cannot cross them so they go off course about 40 degs to come around by Perpignan that will add another 100 plus miles to there journey home
Just for interest should the person who wins such a race the value of the pigeon will be about 230.000 Dollars or even more, if you still have the parents and you sell those as well you can ask some 500.000 Dollars for the 3 birds 
That is why i would like to win the greatest Race in the Pigeon World of any country, but i have got to 55th postion in the three years i have flown it since living in Belgium which is excellent, and it is not an impossiblity that we will not do it But you need everything to go right
Steve1

Steve1,
So you have only been racing pigeon for three years?  It seems a short time to have acheived a very respectable scores.  Well done.  How did it all get started?  How many pigeons do you take to the race/ competition and do they all return?  Do they live long?  How does the pigeon technically trained to fly home?  Answer only if you have time ;)

I know of a friend who race pigeon in Holland but have never sat down asking him all these questions maybe perhaps its often a short stay and is all about dogs.  Rarely anytime for anything else lol.

Poseidon- I would think that if Steve had some good birds that it wouldn't matter if he was in it for 3 years or 1 year. It's like having a good dog and if you know what you are doing training you can do well the first year of competing.At least that is what i would think.
Steve- do you feed your birds anything special when racing? I have a friend here that use to race and had done pretty good racing them. I never knew about it till I met him. If a bird doesn't fly well then it becomes hawk food.I will try to get some pictures of them.His housing area isn't anywhere as nice as yours though.

Poseidon
I may have put it wrongly
What i mean is this
To start with Pigeons is the same as starting with a 8 week old Puppy So what i mean is when i moved to Belgium from the UK, i first had to build a pigeon Loft this had to go through Planning of the City Once the plans were passed then we started to build, but the winter was here and not much done So it was towards the end of the year when the Loft was Built
Now Our Breeding Pigeons were still in the UK all this time being looked after by a friend. When the loft was built we bought them over and bred in late August- September some 14 Young birds these are called Latebreds because of the time of the year they are bred, Normally you breed your young birds in Feb March
So we went on from there, 3 years later we have pigeons old enough and with enough experience to race from Barcelona 700miles the greatest and most presdigest race in the world in the pigeon sport, but  like a young dog you do not ask too much of them at a young age or are they even allowed to compete from that distance until they are at least 2 years old, then not many go
So perhaps you can now see what i mean by the three years
As for keeping and racing pigeons, I have been in the Sport for 60 years this year,
 In the UK we were Champions of the Short and middle distance races for many years, then we sold those few birds and went to a different family we developed to race to 700 miles Long Distance now in its 22nd year of developing by me and this is done by Inbreeding and Line Breeding with a couple of Crosses but pigeons from another inbred Line Bred Family not already products of a cross
We became Champions again of the UK at long Distance winning the Pau Grand National and Kings Cup, every Average possible to win in the all England Pigeon Nationals and 6 Royal Pigeon Racing Awards for Meritorious Performances with single pigeons, So Yes in the UK In National Racing in Three years prior to leaving we won 125 plus Positions in National Races with a ave team of only 30 Race Birds So we have done well
Top Prize Winner and Federation Champion too many times to know, That is why we moved to Challenge the Continentals in there own back yards From the Long Distance International Races all Europe competing as in Barcelona above post
So there is a brief explanation into our pigeon Life, We have done well but i only do things to prove to me not to prove to others that is not needed
From Barcelona in the above post we entered 14 pigeons in the race and won 11 prizes that is what 11 from 14 means  starting with the 55th Prize from 27.350 pigeons entered in the race

Wow!  Your pigeon koop is really deluxe.  Really pretty actually.

How do the pigeons know where they are racing to? 

Michele

Steve all of your work is amazing and well thought out.  Gorgeous birds, I love the irridescence of their feathers.  When you release the birds for the race, do they do all the birds at once or in separate flocks/waves?  Not sure of my terminology here but you will know what I mean.  Thanks for sharing. 

60 years in racing pigeons.  That's a long committed sport in one lifetime.  Must be hard decision to pack up as you've expressed on previous post but hey, you can proudly say, "Been there, done that, and medals to provef"  to oneself of course :)

What's the lifespan of these racing pigeons?  The bird flu epidermic must have impacted the sport.   Will there be a final race this year?

Debisue
Yes, all the pigeons are released together, What happens is this
for Barcelona the pigeons are race marked on Sunday afternoon, they have special duplicate rubbers put onto there legs by a machine, The Timing clocks are set by a Master Clock in every Marking station in every country to go right into it would take several hours but suffice to say it is very much infallible to cheating
The Pigeons are carried to the race point by Road Transporters each one carry's about 5.000-6.000 pigeons
The Baskets or now containers made of Aluminum with Corrugated Cardboard with Fine Wood Shavings for the pigeons to stand on and be comfortable
These Baskets are on each side of the Transporter, Through the middle is an automatic Water system which fills up a central trough so the pigeons can drink now non spill able
However once the pigeons are in transit they are Fed only once a day on the evening stop, that is enough
There there get water which stays on until ready to move off next morning, Now the water can be left on during moving to the race point when they stop for the night it is drained fresh water and the pigeons are fed, Notably Maize for its Carb content during transit to Liberation
Once the pigeons join up with different transporters from different  countries they are lined up Each Transporter Has its Driver and another experienced Guy to look after the pigeons welfare
When release is due each transporter Guy stands by a lever on the word go he pulls the lever the Baskets open in tiers and each transport is released within 20 seconds Odd pigeons may not go but each Basket is double checked to see all are out, So you get 20.000 to 30.000 birds in the sky together i have seen 24.000 go up and it isa rare sight
Now i would say that at a minimum the value of a transporter carrying 5.000 of the best .long distance pigeons in Europe would be in the range of one Million Dollars, If you own the winning pigeon then you can command a huge amount of money and if you have its parents then you could become a Dollar Millionaire, I would put that much value on them International racing is the highest form of Pigeon Racing in the world there is no stronger competition on the Planet and that is the sole reason why we moved to live in Belgium, Why that i cannot tell anyone The English thought us mad the Belgians even more so that two Englesman should dare take them on in there own country, Now after 3 or 4 years they are thinking differently they treat us as one of them respect has been earned and they know we are not there to play about

Cont

So that is what happens in transit
To prepare a team for this race starts now in April, We try and get then loosened up by flying round home twice a day then we take them by car about 15 miles let them go a couple of times at that distance increasing it to 80 miles, Then we enter them in a race of about 200 miles twice then 350 miles etc building them up for the big one we do not bother to use these as a race you cannot put top form on them at this time of the year when you want that form beginning of July You must work it so they peak at the right time, So for the Barcelona International race of 700 miles to us I will give them race work of about 900 miles Plus the normal training privately another 500 miles, So much goes into it
Feeding is an Art, You do not feed to bring on form only on the last 10 days to the Barcelona Basketing then all changes regards what they are fed Plus the work rate By this time i want to get the pigeons Muscles blowing up a little every day When i handle them to basket on that Sunday i want to feel the pigeon through my fingers, i want to feel weighlessness but i truth it still has its natural body weight,
I want to see a clean rosy breast colour with no scale as if  the skin is transparent
I want to see a clear Bright eye and Nose and i want the respirtiory of the pigeon calm that i feel in the finger tips i can detect anything wrong inside just though the touch of the finger tips, I want the feet clean and warm and the pigeon with a slight clammy feel in the hand so you can feel the vitality of the pigeon in your finger tips something really great when you feel it
I could go on but i guess some of you Guys will be a little bored by now, Then when we here the pigeons are liberated we Check the route for weather conditions track the wind direction take the hazards into context then give them an arrival time and just wait hoping you will be the one to hold that Gold Trophy above you at the celebration Dinner, Who knows we can all dream
Steve1