Welcome to the Sport of Pigeon Racing
This page is for beginners, novices, experienced pigeon fanciers and people who just want to find out more about the sport. We get asked many similar questions via email, phone and social media, so here we've tried to answer as many as possible in one place. If you can't find what you need, don't hesitate to get in touch.
The job of a pigeon fancier is not to teach a pigeon how to come home — a homing or racing pigeon has this ability bred in. It is the job of the pigeon fancier to be a coach: to educate, exercise and train the pigeons to get them fit and in the best condition for racing. Any pigeon will come home from a race, but there is a big difference between homing and racing — and that's where the fancier comes in.
If you have a stray in your garden or you've contained it and don't know what to do, visit the RPRA stray reporting page for information on what to do next.
How is a Racing Pigeon Different?
There are several types of pigeon in the UK. The most common are the wood pigeon, collared dove and feral pigeon — none of which should be confused with a racing or homing pigeon.
Wood pigeon — much larger than a racing pigeon, with distinctly darker grey plumage and a white patch at the base of the neck.
Collared dove — smaller than a racing pigeon, beige in colour with a distinctive black mark at the back of the neck.
Feral pigeon — the most similar to racing pigeons and hard to tell apart to the untrained eye, but pigeon fanciers can spot the difference immediately. Few racing pigeons turn feral as they are unable to fend for themselves.
A racing or homing pigeon is the athlete of the sky. Pigeon fanciers spend their spare time caring for these birds, giving them the best accommodation, food and water to get the best out of them on race day.
Want to Start Racing?
If you live on the UK mainland or Northern Ireland, your first step is to get a free starter's pack from your governing body and find your local club.
Where to Keep Your Pigeons
You can splash out with a purpose-built loft — companies offer everything from a humble wooden loft with a flat felt roof to a deluxe painted loft with tiled pitched roof, automatic watering and cleaning systems. A better loft doesn't mean better results. Equally, a converted garden shed can work just as well and we've had great success racing birds back to them.
How Many Pigeons / What Size Loft?
To start off, you'll need a section to hold 30–40 young birds. Our section for this number is 10ft × 10ft (3m × 3m) — plenty big enough, or it can be 8ft × 10ft with a 2ft corridor. You'll also need an old bird section with at least 6 nest boxes (enough for 6 pairs to race). If this section is 4ft (1.2m) wide you can fit 2ft-wide nest boxes comfortably.
Racing Without a Loft — OLRs
If you haven't the time, space, money or ability to invest in your own loft, you can still take part in the sport through One Loft Races (OLR). There are plenty of options in the UK and abroad.
We supply birds to OLR customers regularly. It's straightforward: get the entry forms, fill in your details and send them to us. When the birds are ready we fill in the rest of the form and send the birds to the OLR. We'll send you pedigrees and photos so you can track their progress from day one.
OLR tip: If birds are sold at auction after the final race, you'll receive a portion of the sale price plus any winnings you've accumulated along the way.
Background on the Families We House
Click any family below to read the full background, principal birds and detailed history on their dedicated page.
Feeding & Watering Regime
This is the feeding and watering regime we use throughout the year on all our birds except the race birds (for which we use an adjusted system). All products below are available from Tumley Supplies.
| Day | Water | Feed Supplement |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | — | Garlic, parsley & linseed oil |
| Tuesday | Aviform 11 in 1 | — |
| Wednesday | — | Garlic, parsley & linseed oil |
| Thursday | Aviform 11 in 1 | — |
| Friday | — | Brewers yeast & lemon juice |
| Saturday | — | — |
| Sunday | — | Cod liver oil |
Old Bird Racing Systems
There are a number of ways to race yearlings and old birds. The main systems are:
Widowhood Cocks
Before going further, it's worth printing out the Widowhood System Week Planner and keeping it in your loft.
Download Widowhood Cocks Week Planner (PDF)Preparation
Look at your race program and find the date of the first race. Count back 12 weeks — this is your pairing date. Put your pairs together and let them rear one round of youngsters. Take the youngsters away as soon as possible. Let the hens go down again on their second round of eggs; at ten days take the hens away and let the cocks sit until they leave their eggs themselves.
Remove eggs and bowls. Clean the nest box and spray with disinfectant. Your cocks will sulk for a few days. This period is a good opportunity to treat for canker, worms, etc. Add one third barley to your breeder mix over this period.
The Mock Race
On the Friday night of the first full week on the widowhood system, prepare your cocks as if for a real race. Basket them, leave them for about half an hour, then transfer to crates. Put them somewhere safe overnight with a drinker in the morning. Ask someone to take them for a short training toss of 10–20 miles on Saturday. Wait for them to arrive exactly as you would on race day. Both you and the birds now know what to do. You're ready for the first race the following weekend.
Training Widowhood Cocks
Old cocks: Train while sitting their first round of eggs, picking the best days. Don't worry about long training tosses — you're only jogging their memory. Fitness will come from flying round the loft.
Yearling cocks: Bring yearlings in when the hen has laid her first egg of the second round — they're less excitable by then. A few short training tosses then increase to 30 miles to install the ability to race home as yearlings.
Pairing Up Timeline
| Total Days | Days Between | Stage |
|---|---|---|
| 10 days | 10 | Hen lays first pair of eggs |
| 29 days | 19 | First egg to hatching |
| 47 days | 18 | Hen lays 2nd round of eggs |
| 50 days | 3 | Youngsters at 21 days |
| 60 days | 10 | Take all hens away |
| 63 days | 3 | Cocks sit eggs until they desert |
| 67 days | 4 | Sulk period — bowls away, clean out |
| 74 days | 7 | On to widowhood system. Don't show hens. No racing |
| 81 days | 7 | Stay with system |
| 88 days | 7 | Mock/preparation race Friday/Saturday |
| 95 days | — | Ready for the first race |
Selecting Cocks for Widowhood
Your cocks will soon tell you who will make a widowhood cock. Nothing matters to them more than their nest box — they will guard it at all times. Cocks that sit anywhere else or are pushed out by others are unlikely to make the grade.
Once your team has 4–5 races, they're programmed. Experiment. Just show the bowls one week. Just the hens through the bars the next. Even no hens at all the following week — you'll be surprised how differently individual birds respond. This lets you get the full team winning.
Widowhood Hens
We consider this one of the most important areas of the widowhood system. It is not complicated to prepare your hens, but they must be right and receptive for the cocks to arrive home. The cock must feel wanted.
On taking the hens away, place them as far from the cocks as possible — out of sight, and ideally out of earshot. There are two main methods:
In the first week away, take the opportunity to treat for worms, canker, etc if needed. Use depurative or barley but don't push the depurative too far into the week. On Saturday morning let the hens stretch their wings and bathe, but make sure they do not pair — return them to their section to await their cocks.
See the Widowhood Hens Week Planner for the full feeding and watering schedule.
Download Widowhood Hens Week Planner (PDF)Young Bird Racing
Young bird racing is only one year — old bird racing is 5+ years. What you do as young birds affects them for the rest of their racing career. The first question to ask yourself is: are you racing young birds to educate them, or to win as many races as possible?
Training Programme
Race to Educate vs Race to Win
The Darkness System
We tried the darkness system in the early 1990s and although it succeeded in what it was supposed to do — keeping young birds in good feather for racing — we personally found it inhibited their performance as yearlings. Birds that didn't go through the darkness system, bred the same year, seemed to race better.
Our recommendation: Forget the darkness system. Pair up on 1st December instead. Your first round will be weaned by end of January. These birds naturally go through the body moult before the young bird season and hold their wing flights just as long as darkness system birds — without any of the hassle.
Pairing on 1st December means all breeding is done before the racing season starts. Once racing begins, all your attention goes to the race birds rather than splitting focus with the stock loft.
Pigeon Genetics
Pigeon genetics can be a fascinating — and occasionally baffling — subject. Here are a couple of useful starting points:
How to Successfully Breed Pigeons
We've put together a detailed step-by-step guide to the breeding season — including preparation from November, pairing on 1st December, lighting schedules, and how to achieve 95% lay and 95% fertility.
Read the Full Breeding Guide →