Can’t say I’ve ever weighed a pigeon.
You will over time get a feel for them Tony. I have one widowhood cock who won’t do much until he actually feels on the light side. But pigeons will vary quite a bit. Wiley obviously had a good way of monitoring his with his record keeping.
Tony-P- wrote: Mon Oct 19, 2026 4:39 pm
might be a daft question but from my point of view how would I know if my birds are ok with their weight ?
Tony,
I used to weigh every Tuesday, reason being they would have recovered any lose weight from Saturdays race by then. I'm stringent for records, and I would record where the pigeons came to the loft and in the club each week. Those that are scoring and winning clubs, feds, amals, I would set them up to be the same weight next time I sent them to their chosen race. What I would find when they was this weight is when they performed at their best.
That makes a lot of sense really, you are comparing it to a known data point where a good result was achieved by an individual, rather than aiming your whole team at an "ideal" paper weight!
Tony-P- wrote: Mon Oct 19, 2026 4:39 pm
might be a daft question but from my point of view how would I know if my birds are ok with their weight ?
Tony,
I used to weigh every Tuesday, reason being they would have recovered any lose weight from Saturdays race by then. I'm stringent for records, and I would record where the pigeons came to the loft and in the club each week. Those that are scoring and winning clubs, feds, amals, I would set them up to be the same weight next time I sent them to their chosen race. What I would find when they was this weight is when they performed at their best.
That makes a lot of sense really, you are comparing it to a known data point where a good result was achieved by an individual, rather than aiming your whole team at an "ideal" paper weight!
Matt this is why every bird is an individual, and that is why i always say you have to know your birds.
Re: The ideal weight
Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2026 6:32 pm
by Devo1956
Just wondering, could this be built into the data of the clock system? When a bird lands on the pad, it gives the weight of the birds. When i look at my greyhound racing, we would aim for different wieghts. A trial race weight, where the greyhound would make the grade for racing. Then working on getting the dog or bitch, in racing mode, tuning it up for a race. Just by this, we would find their true racing weight, but working with a bitch could be different. Season wise with the bitch greyhound. But at all times, the health of the Greyhound would be paramount. All about motivation.
Re: The ideal weight
Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2026 6:54 pm
by Devo1956
A small video on weighing the birds, to be honest, you dont want to stress the birds out cathing them.
Re: The ideal weight
Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2026 7:03 pm
by jack walker
Hi never thought about weighing my pigeons i know fanciers do i got digital scales and was thinking how to do it now i know thanks very much i will have to get a Amtrack box cheers jack
Re: The ideal weight
Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2026 7:10 pm
by king
Devo1956 wrote: Mon Oct 19, 2026 6:32 pm
Just wondering, could this be built into the data of the clock system? When a bird lands on the pad, it gives the weight of the birds. When i look at my greyhound racing, we would aim for different wieghts. A trial race weight, where the greyhound would make the grade for racing. Then working on getting the dog or bitch, in racing mode, tuning it up for a race. Just by this, we would find their true racing weight, but working with a bitch could be different. Season wise with the bitch greyhound. But at all times, the health of the Greyhound would be paramount. All about motivation.
Wouldn't you want to know the weight BEFORE the race, not at the end of it?
Because an 'ideal' racing weight would always be the same at the start, but a bird would lose differing amounts of weight of different distances, and in different conditions.
Devo1956 wrote: Mon Oct 19, 2026 6:32 pm
Just wondering, could this be built into the data of the clock system? When a bird lands on the pad, it gives the weight of the birds. When i look at my greyhound racing, we would aim for different wieghts. A trial race weight, where the greyhound would make the grade for racing. Then working on getting the dog or bitch, in racing mode, tuning it up for a race. Just by this, we would find their true racing weight, but working with a bitch could be different. Season wise with the bitch greyhound. But at all times, the health of the Greyhound would be paramount. All about motivation.
Wouldn't you want to know the weight BEFORE the race, not at the end of it?
Because an 'ideal' racing weight would always be the same at the start, but a bird would lose differing amounts of weight of different distances, and in different conditions.
Yes so on the bird entering the loft, loft flying or training you would know the weight before racing. Then you could monitor each birds progress or decline.
Re: The ideal weight
Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2026 7:19 pm
by Devo1956
Looking at my racing greyhound, he was 35 kg to 35.4 kg in his winning races. In Grade 1 in racing. So after his last race he finished lame, so 8 weeks of treatment and recovery. He as had 2 trials and things are looking good on his return to racing.
Tony-P- wrote: Mon Oct 19, 2026 4:39 pm
might be a daft question but from my point of view how would I know if my birds are ok with their weight ?
Tony,
I used to weigh every Tuesday, reason being they would have recovered any lose weight from Saturdays race by then. I'm stringent for records, and I would record where the pigeons came to the loft and in the club each week. Those that are scoring and winning clubs, feds, amals, I would set them up to be the same weight next time I sent them to their chosen race. What I would find when they was this weight is when they performed at their best.
thanks for that Wiley some good tips for the race season, what do you do for the winter / breeding season
