I feel it is important to handle the birds often while they
are young. This lets them get used to being held and helps to
tame them
so they are easier to work with later when you have to catch them
for shipping and training. I spend a lot of time holding my birds
both when they are young and when they are older. I can tell a
lot from the way a bird feels in my hands. By holding them often,
I notice
what they normally feel like and then on a day when they feel different,
it is very apparent to me that something is wrong.
If you never hold
your birds, they will not know what to expect when you do. It
is important that they feel comfortable being held, because on
race nights they
have to be handled by other flyers who may not hold them exactly
the same. If they are not used to being held, they will be stressed
over
it and they will not fly well the next day. My brother, my daughters
and my sons all hold the birds. I think this is good for them.
Each person
holds the birds differently and it is good for the pigeons to
get used to different styles of handling.
Another benefit of handling the pigeons is that they become accustomed
to different people being around them. If on a race day, some of
the family wants to be in the yard to watch the race, the pigeons
are not spooked by them being there. It is also good to have people
in the yard when I am training the pigeons, so they get used to
normal activity around the yard. Then if the neighbor happens to
mow his lawn when they are coming home from a race, they are not
spooked by it.
Pigeons will become accustomed to things just like humans do.
If you have a baby and you always keep the house quiet while the
baby is sleeping, the baby will learn to sleep only when it is
quiet. Any noise will awaken the baby.
If you take the
same baby and you let it sleep while the normal noise level is
going on in the house, then the baby will learn to sleep while
there is noise and will end up sleeping through normal amounts
of noise and even loud noises like thunder. It is all in the
conditioning.
Take the time to condition your birds so that they will endure
the normal kind of handling that they receive in the coop and on
race boxing days. Your birds will be much less stressed and better
prepared to race.
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