UkPigeonRacing

Whilst I agree with most of what was said, fanciers should not see races in the terms of distance, but as time on the wing. The two are very different things. Also a pigeon CAN fly weight off, but will NEVER fly it on. I recall a very good widowhood fancier sending to a race held at my club and his pigeons in my opinion were very light for a 400 mile fly. I told him this. He then handle some of mine which he said were very heavy. I myself agreed that they were a little more heavy than I liked them, but compared to his I agreed they were heavy. The race turned out a tough one, with the leading birds over 11 hours. Only one of us took our clocks in

Most pigeons are either two heavy
Not good enough
Or lacking brilliant health
Iv marked thousands of pigeons on basket night 98 percent of birds marked ain't ready or right in my opinion.
Frank mcloughlin is a friend of mine and he speaks alot of sense.

Devo1956 wrote: Thu Apr 25, 2024 2:14 pm https://mclaughlinlofts.com/are-your-pigeons-heavy

Good info there thanks for the share

Anthony webster wrote: Thu Apr 25, 2024 3:22 pm Most pigeons are either two heavy
Not good enough
Or lacking brilliant health
Iv marked thousands of pigeons on basket night 98 percent of birds marked ain't ready or right in my opinion.
Frank mcloughlin is a friend of mine and he speaks alot of sense.

Mine would be to heavy but as I no longer race doesn't really make any difference

Buster121 wrote: Thu Apr 25, 2024 4:02 pm

Anthony webster wrote: Thu Apr 25, 2024 3:22 pm Most pigeons are either two heavy
Not good enough
Or lacking brilliant health
Iv marked thousands of pigeons on basket night 98 percent of birds marked ain't ready or right in my opinion.
Frank mcloughlin is a friend of mine and he speaks alot of sense.

Mine would be to heavy but as I no longer race doesn't really make any difference

Ya for sure pal I'm only on about racers, like pet dogs to working dogs when weight in concerned

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35kUnhP17c4&t=354s

Also and interesting video by Gaby Vandenabeele about his feed exercise schedule.

I tell novices if they don't understand
A table tennis ball is light n buoyant
A new potato same size round but heavey
Can't keep it much simpler
Light buoyant with muscle like a pumped up bike inner tube.

I must have handled 100s of winners and I've been surprised how different winners can be. A birds weight is only part of a bird which the fancier can change. Everything else is genetic. I've handled loads of birds which fit your hand lovely and then seen them beaten by a worst handling bird. There is no perfect weight, only the perfect weight for each pigeon.
Fanciers may get away with sending old birds light to the short races but it's not so easy the further you send them. And YBs are something different all together, many try to race them and get them to handle the same as old birds. This again may work on an easy day, but when the race is harder than expected, many of these fail to return. Birds can fly weight off, they can't fly it on.

Here's something many may not know.
The weight of the Olympic 100m champion has generally increased since the first Olympic Games, from around 60-70 kg (130-154 lb) in the early Olympic years up to 94 kg (207 lb) Usain Bolt.

MIL wrote: Sat Apr 27, 2024 2:13 pm

Anthony webster wrote: Sat Apr 27, 2024 12:23 pm I tell novices if they don't understand
A table tennis ball is light n buoyant
A new potato same size round but heavey
Can't keep it much simpler
Light buoyant with muscle like a pumped up bike inner tube.

Yep, I'd agree with that.

I can tell a "light" pigeon the moment it hits my fingertips. It's almost like an "ill" feeling

Buoyant are still strong and powerful but their weight is presented differently

Yes pal I agree n some familys just seem to handle that way there whole life.