Dandilofts Marathon Pigeons
The System
This is an in depth look at the System that is practiced at Dandilofts in order to highly motivate both hens and cocks to race over the distance of 500 to 1000 miles for at least 12 week if not a little longer. Commonly referred to as the Roundabout System, it enables a fancier to race both hens and cocks, providing he/she has enough space in the loft. What is a little different at Dandilofts is that the yearling and old birds are kept seperate for the whole year this is mainly due to the different race programmes they fly and therefore the different feeding regime that the two teams of birds require. The yearlings only racing to 360 miles and do not need such a heavy diet as the marathon birds do. Having said this both sets of birds are raced and trained in the same way, which teaches the yearling just what is expected from them in the following yearsof racing.
The loft lay out is very basic two sections one for the cocks with 20 nestboxes and the one for the hens with 21 V perches, Dandilofts have a team of maximum 20 cocks and 20 hens and the same in the yearlings loft, of course it may not always work out that there are only 20 birds , but ensuring that they have enough space without overcrowding is essential, hence the limit (overcowding is the biggest problem in many lofts nowdays, and is the cause of many of the health problems that plague the modern day birds and fanciers which can also in turn cause a high rate of losses from both old and young birds).
Having selected the Team for the coming season here at Dandilofts we pair the birds together for just 4 days in January just to get the pairs used to their boxes and their sections. This is the start of the Roundabout for all the birds. Here at Dandilofts the teams are out everyday in every weather, We realise this is not possible in every area due to the BOP population luckily however the losses here are very small and normally only the latebred birds that dont have the experience to cope with the Bops are lost.
Each day the hens are let out first from both lofts (yearlings and old hens)
For the duration that the hens are flying the cocks are moved over to the hen sections to wait there turn. The time the hens spend flying is really not important, what is important is that when they are first let out they disapear out of sight even if its only for 5 min this showing there willingness to fly which in turn means they are in good health, when they return and are ready to come in they must only enter into the cock section and subsequently to there nest box. They are not fed at this point and the section is then shut to allow the cocks to be let out. The same rule apply's to them they must disapear out of sight for at least 5 minutes, meanwhile the adjoining flap to the hens section is opened and the hens are called to eat in there own section, at first its slow and strange for the new inhabitants but after 3 or 4 days they know exactly what is expected from them and it all runs smoothly, the cocks are then let in and fed, after 10 min all foodthat is left is taken away and the loft and nest boxes are cleaned out. This allows me to see if the cocks are in good health and if they have rested over night, a very good indicator for the new starters is when the dropping are spread all over the nestbox the bird is not getting the rest he needs and should to be observed to ascertain the reason why. (other cock or Mice etc)
This whole procedure is then repeated in the evening if the light allows, another little difference that Dandilofts does is once a week the hens are left in the cocks section overnight with the cocks in the hens section this strenghtens the bond to the nestbox and its amazing the tenacity with which a hen will defend her box.
At the end of February the teams will be paired together and allowed to raise one round of youngsters,when the youngsters are 14 to 16 days old or when the cock starts driving ,the hen is put back into her own sections during the day, this is where the fancier needs alot more time, at approx 4 oclock the hens are let out and the cocks are driven into the hens section, the hens are then let into cocks section and stay there until 9 oclock the next morning,the reason I do this is to keep the strong bond to the box and the section from both sexes, as this love and bond for this section is what we want for them to race well .Also it allows the feeding of the young birds to be shared between both parents. When the young birds are 24 days old they are all taken away and the birds are back on the roundabout for the rest of the training before the first race. It is important now that there is no contact between the sexes until the basketing night of the first race.
Race procedure is different for the distance races as for the short training races .
The Short races
For the short races Basketing is a Friday evening the birds are kept in their section the whole day with no loft flying, Approximatly 1 hour before they are due to leave for the club, they are allowed together in the cock section, there is no hard and fast rule for the lenght of time they spend together I just see how they are behaving together and wait till they have settled in there nest bowls. As a rule of thumb its not more than 10minutes. The cocks are then basketed before the hens and go off to the club. I try never to overcrowd the baskets as it can be hot sometimes and they may have a long wait and so the birds would use up more energy trying to keep cool and avoiding the each other if its to tight in their baskets.
On return from the race they are allowed to stay together for about an hour before they are returned back to the hen section. It then starts again for the next weeks race. This system is used fot the whole season (12 races) for the yealings. As a foot note the hen section has metal grills on the floor to help avoid the pairing up of the hens!
The Distance Races
When I start the long distance racing after normally 4 weeks of short training races there is firstly a two 2 week rest and build up period which is also used to reaffirm the roundabout system with the twice a a day loft flying as was done at the beginning of the year. This is carried on up until the day before basketing, which is normaly a wednesday. The hens are then allowed into their boxes with the cocks for a 24 hours period, this is a highlight for the birds and they enjoy every second of the time together before on thursday morning the cocks are basketed. The cock are first and the hens always second and not until the cocks are out of the loft, (no reason just the way I like to do it) The old adage, “If it works dont change it“. On return from the race the birds spend a few hours together before returning to their own sections and the two week rest and reaffirm period starts again. I have the birds that are on this system racing over 550 miles four or five times over a 12 week period.
As you can see its not all that complicated but it does involve a bit of work and planning from the fancier ,but as I have said in previous pieces, the fancier needs to work as hard if not harder than the birds to get good results.
In 2020 Dandilofts sent 62 times over 550 miles and upto 805 miles from this 58 returned giving a 93% success rate with many placing in the top 10 in the sect. At Dandiloft we are ruthless in the execution of our objectives, onwards and upwards and good flying for both cocks and hens.
Regards David Reynolds
Good Luck
