Trapping is a big part
of the race. If the bird comes home, but does not go in, the race
is not over. To win races you have to have birds that will trap on
command. This takes conditioning. You have to train over and over
when the birds are young, so that it becomes a natural habit for the
birds. They don't even think about it, they just do it.
I start this training soon after the birds are weaned. I put them
on the landing board with the front closed. I let them look around
for a while, then I begin pushing them into the loft. I use a push
stick that I made. It is just a long pole with a square piece
of plywood
attached. The corners are rounded and I made it smooth so it wouldnt'
hurt the birds. I use this push stick to maneuver the birds to
the
trap. They soon learn to go through easily.
I will push them inside, then put them back out on the landing
board again and repeat the procedure. I do it several times the
first day
and repeat it several times each day for a week or two. I want
the birds to know what is expected and I want the birds to get
accustomed
to me pushing them in, so that they don't fly off the landing board
on a race day.
All the time I am pushing them in, I whistle and talk to the birds.
I use the same command words, "Inside. Come on, inside." The
birds learn to associate these words and the whistling with the
behavior of going inside the loft. They are rewarded when they
get
there because their food is waiting for them. Soon the birds know
that if I whitstle they are going to get fed. They rush to the
trap
and enter the coop. Then they get to eat.
When I let the birds out for the first time and everytime I train
them, the birds are hungry. I only feed once a day and I do all
my
training before I feed. Because they are hungry, the birds are
anxious to trap and get inside the coop. The birds that don't trap
on command,
find that the food is all gone when they finally do go inside.
Next time I let them out, these birds will be the first into the
loft because
they are really hungry. They will learn the lesson that to eat
they have to trap when I give the command.
On race days, I rarely have a problem with birds that won't trap.
About the only time my birds don't rush into the loft is when another
flyer's bird comes to the loft. The strange bird is not used to
the
routine and it will sometimes throw my birds off and confuse them.
This happens only once or twice a season, and isn't a great problem.
Another
thing that I feel helps me, is that the only place for my birds
to land is on the landing boards. I don't have any power
lines
for the birds to land on. On top of my lofts, I have run pickets
with string back and forth to prevent the birds from landing
on top of
the lofts. I never allow them to stay there if they do it as
young birds. After conditioning them for this, they are good to
land
and
trap immediately on race day making it a breeze for me. I don't
lose the race because the birds wouldn't trap.
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