Post by hooky on Dec 9, 2005 9:34:51 GMT
here is some veiws on race fitness.i understand we all have our differences ect but this is what i think and my birds do ok lol >>>as the start of the seasons nears,it is imposrtant for the birds to develope thier race fitness if they are to acheivegood results..for pigeonsto win, they must have genetic qualities,be motivated,be healthy,and also be FIT.no matter howkeen a pigeon is t oreturn home,he will notbe able to do so in winning time unless,like any other athlete,he has t obecome fit.racingfitnesis the result of the interplay of a number of factors,including exercise,feeding,and the overall health of a bird..an important factor for succes is to understandthe priciples behindwhat you are doing,some fanciers have a goodseason and then for yearsafterwards theymimic axactly the same feedingand tossing routine,ect of that sucesfull year,but every year is different.racingcan be harder,the weather can be colder,and there can beunforseen hiccups,such as a bad toss.the skill comesin modifying a basic system s othat the birds can again be got into winning form.unfortunatly, there are no strict rules and it comes down to the experience,common sence even skill and observation of the individual fancier and to some exstent his ability to think like a pigeon,there are however some basic guide lines...first is the feeding.i will not go into this just yet i will make that another topic but lets just say i buy all my grains seperate and mix them into groups energy,and protien based...the other half of conditioning birds is the amount of exercise that they take,the amount of time that the birds spend on the wiong around the loft needs to belong enough to make then fit for the current races without being to long so that the birds are flattened,lose there naturalkeenes for flying or flyoff any racecondition they may have.idealy i feel that birds should spend1/2 - 1 1/2 hours per day on the wing around there loft.they do need to have some longish time on the wing t obuild up enzyme pathways that release energy to themduring the longer races when sustained flight is reguired..i do not, however. know of any consistly succesfull flyers whose birds fly for more than1 and a half hours per day around the loft.any longer than this and i think there is a risk that they may fly thererace around the loft during the week.simularly the amount of tossing givin to the birds must be accesed,apart from the early educational tosses,the fancier must acces what level of tossing his birds need to make them race fit..in tossing his birds the fancier should be making descisions thathis birds will benifit from this.after all , he is deliberatly giving the birds work in excess of the amount that they are voluntarily taking around the loft.some flyers believe that the more you toss, the better it is and more likely the birds will succeed. i feel that this is not necesarily the case and in factsometimes tossing can be veiwed as simply an attempt to salvage a season that is already going badly.if the birds are not raceing competivaly, it may be that they are underweight and tired.tossing will only worsen their performance.if, hwever, the birds are over weight and reluctent to fly, tossing maybe the answer. it seems that when everything is comming together well,and the birds are in form,eg feeding,helth,loft enviroment and exercise,the birds through there own vigourwill want to fly and winning form will come.tossing underthese circumstances is just not nececessary,once the birdsare fully educated,if you can open the loft door and a pigeon will fly voluntary around the loft for an hour or so.putting it in a basket is probably wrong.the bird may be being uneccessarily exsposed t oinjury and predation and is running the risk of becoming basket weary and losing the desire to race...as most flyers would appreiciate,there are however other factors involved.in some country lofts some birdswill simply not leave there loft through fearof falcons,while under some motivation methods birds are also reluctent to exercise. with my own 2 year olds, wich i fly naturally i find it is the birds that i do not clock that fly well around the loft.the clock birds keep comming down and checking there boxes to make sure that another bird has not gone in there . with my ow nbirds on eggs and in the afternoon the cocks will not come off there eggs.these birds, although motivated to win, simplylose pectoral muscle bulk to the point of being unracable unless tossed fairly hard.evenpost puberty cocks and hens racing to there perches are more interested in being flirty than working properly if running together..deliberate tossing of such birds has strong advantages.whentossing. i usually do not toss all of my birds but simply the ones i feel will benifit from that toss. i usually toss the birds 50 milelooking for an hour hour 20 minutes on the wing.birds that i feel will exercise around the loft well are let out for a fly before the toss birds get back..the fancier therefor must decide on what level of tossing to give to his birds.this will depend on how many hours they are spending on the wing around there loft and in recent races,their age,theweather,the method they are being raced under and many other factors that will vary from year to year..the skill of the fancier is in deciding.through handling and observation of the birds what level of training and feeding is appropiate for that season