Hamid Laakvand
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Tips for the novice - Basic Widowhood system
Widowhood On the continent most fanciers adopt the widowhood system of racing which means, in essence, that they only race cocks. Basically, in this system, after the pairing and rearing of the first nest of youngsters, the cocks only see their mates just prior to or just after returning from a training spin or race. The fanciers who practice this system say the work involved in bringing pigeons to, or keeping them in a fit condition for racing is less worrying than under the natural system. The complete system is as follows: the birds are mated in mid-or-late December and , after they have reared the first nest of youngsters and have settled down on their eggs, the hens are taken away from the loft, the young birds weaned and the cocks left sitting on the eggs which they will neglect after about two days. From this stage onwards the cock is alone and comfortable in his own nest-box which is also his perch, there being no other in the loft. The cocks are exercised regularly for at least an hour each day, after which they return to the loft and are fed and watered. Often darkness is achieved by louvre blinds lowered in front of the loft so the cock birds will be completely at rest. There will be no flying and no fighting. When training begins the hen is introduced into the nest-box, but on the other side of a dividing partition, so that the cock can see the hen but cannot have contact with her. On return from a training toss, the cock is allowed in the box with the hen for a very short time, but as soon as he begins to nuzzle her or gently coo or call to her, the hen is moved until the next time the cock is basketed, either from training or racing. Some Fanciers, after the first nest of young birds have been weaned and the hens removed, leave the nest-bowl in the box but turned upside down, then when the cocks are out exercising or on a training spin, they turn the bowls up the correct way and introduce the hen, so that when the cock returns, the hen is standing in the nest-bowl. After a period of this sort of encouragement, it has been known for fanciers to race a team of cocks very successfully with out introducing the hens before the cocks go away. Click her to go back to the Tips page |