Homing pigeons

Question
What are the best strains for racing?  How would you know wich strain is the best to start out on. Which strains are 100,200,300,500, or even 1,000 mile birds. Im just starting in racing homers and reserch can get really confusing a times.

Answer
Hi, Leon.  Thanks for posting!

I don't believe in the concept that certain strains of birds are better than others at different distances.  Yeah, some people will say that Trentons are better for certain distances or that this strain in better for this distance, etc.  Based on my experiences, I think it all boils down to the quality of the bird to begin with (whether it's parents and grandparents were good racers), how the bird is trained, how smart the bird is (or isn't), etc.  I've seen people race what they thought was the best quality/strain of birds only to lose a race to someone who had inferior strains of birds.  And, there are too many things that can happen when the birds are released and during their trip back home that can influence how quickly they return home.

Take my advice...read all you can about homing pigeons in the books, magazines, from your racing club members, etc., but rely on your own common sense and put 2 and 2 together if you want to race homing pigeons.  There are too many people out there in the pigeon world who think they know a lot, but will mislead you because of their lack of knowledge.  Training plays a big part in racing, but you also need to study weather, sun spots, magnitism, etc. (how pigeons home, etc.)  You can have the best bird in the state, but if the weather doesn't cooperate or there are sun spots or solar flares and so much more, the bird is going to be affected!  Also, it's not so much the strain of a bird, but whether the bird can fly faster than other birds it's racing against and come directly home without playing around on the way.  Don't forget, too, that hawks and other raptors can play a big part in whether birds come home quickly if at all.

Start out with some good quality birds, breed them, train their babies, and go from there.  There are lots of tricks/tips about what constitutes good/bad birds for racing purposes, so study this kind of stuff more than specific strains of birds.

Chrys