PigeonPete's CANADIAN HOMEPAGE
The training of young birds begins in the nest, the day they are hatched. Carefully inspect each youngster for any irregularities. At 1 week of age, each young should be banded with a seamless band, showing year of hatch, club, organization etc. Try to handle the youngsters each day to accustom them to human touch. At 3 weeks, introduce a small container of feed to the nestbox. The young will soon start feeding themselves as a supplement to the feedings received from the parents. Each day, before filling the containers, signal by whistling or rattling the feed can. The youngsters will become very excited by your appearance and by the sound of your signal and will look forward to seeing you enter the loft each day. The youngbirds should be weaned at about 4 weeks of age or when they are fully feathered under the wings. They should be moved to their own section equipped with perches only. Dip each youngster's beak into the fountain so that they are able to locate the water. At this stage, they should be offered 2 light feedings per day. If you have been signalling and feeding in the nest since 3 weeks of age, the young should have no problem adapting to their new environment. After a few days of this routine, it is time to place the youngsters outside for a brief look around. The morning before, cut the feed to 1 light feeding. The following day, place each youngster outside, on the landing board, with the trap open. Signal and call the birds in while filling the feeders. Most of them will probably jump back in very quickly out of fright but continue to signal and call until all are inside safely. One good feeding per day is all that is required from this point on. Be careful, however, not to overfeed. When all of the youngbirds are responding well to this new experience, you may lock them out for a period of time so that they can have a good look around. Keep a careful eye on them as things can go wrong(cats, hawks etc.) After a few days of this, the youngsters will begin to flap around a little on the roof to test their wings. This is a good sign and it is no longer necessary to place them outside as they will eagerly find their way out the release door and will look forward to their time outside the loft. Eventually the young birds will be airborne, flying in all sorts of zany trajectories. It is amazing that more youngsters do not self-destruct at this time by way of youthful enthusiasm. Soon the young will be flying in formation and clearing off for extended periods of time. Any youngster that is not conforming to the rest of the team(reluctant to leave the loft, sitting on the roof, returning early from exercise) should be eliminated. The young bird team will benefit from 1 extended period of early morning exercise just as they will benefit from 1 good feeding daily, so try to release them early in the morning when the air is still fresh and thin. When the team has been clearing off for 1-2 hours daily for at least 4 weeks, road training can begin. In Canada our young bird series begins the end of July, so I try to get my birds on the road no later than July1. Select a day which is clear and wind free. Basket up the birds and find a release point 1 mile along the line of flight, which is free of wires, traffic and any other obstacles. Allow the youngsters some time to adjust to their new environment and when the time is right, open the basket. Let them work their way out at their own pace. Do not chase them out. Soon they will be up and on their way home. Leave some feed for them with the trap open and they will trap themselves in. The last thing you want to see when you get home is your entire team of young birds grazing on your neighbours lawn. If everything went well, move them up to 5 miles. These 2 distances are simply an introduction to the training process and 1 toss at each location is sufficient. The next stop is 10 miles. This is a good distance to spend some time at. It is not too far to drive but just far enough for the birds to get the idea of what is required of them. From 10 miles, move them to 15, 25 and finally 50 miles. When they return promptly from 50 miles, they are ready for their first race. Good luck and good flying!
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GRAND RIVER VALLEY FLYERS