People have enjoyed keeping pigeons for thousands, possibly tens of thousands, of years. No bird, except for the chicken, has had such a long and intimate relationship with human beings as the pigeon. If you are considering getting some pigeons or have already discovered the pleasure and rewards of keeping pigeons and would now like to experience the excitement of racing them, then this is relatively straightforward in Victoria.
There are many racing clubs throughout the state, both in metropolitan and rural areas. To get started, the first thing to do is to make contact with your local racing pigeon club. In order to race your birds, you will need to be a member of a club. Membership has a range of advantages. Local club members have a wealth of experience, which they will be keen to share with you and get you started on the right track. Local fanciers will be able to help you design a loft that is suitable for the climate in your area. They will also help you acquire some good birds to race and be able to advise you on what to feed your birds, how to train them and general management. Your club will also be able to provide you with individual registration “life” rings. These are placed on the birds’ legs when they are in the nest and about a week old. These will permanently identify each bird and make them eligible for competition. Life rings will also help you to keep accurate records of your breeding and, if one of your birds strays, it can be traced to you and returned.
Racing pigeons respond well to a routine. Most racing fanciers let their birds out once or twice daily at about the same time each day. While the birds are out, the loft is cleaned. After a period of time, usually about an hour, the birds are called back into the loft and fed. The “call’ may be a whistle or a voice call from the fancier. The birds learn to associate this sound with a meal and quickly come back into the loft. Birds are usually hand fed into a tray until they have all eaten and no food remains. Racing pigeons love to fly. As they grow and learn and the days roll by, the routine of a flying session and then being called back into a clean loft for a nutritious meal enables race fitness to develop. It is not usual for racing pigeons to be left at liberty for long periods to “sit around”. Having birds under control shows consideration for your neighbours.
If you would like to keep and breed racing pigeons but would prefer not to race them yourself, entering your birds in a “One Loft Race” is a good option. In these races, young pigeons from many different breeders are trained to a single loft. These birds race to this loft against each other. One Loft Races allow you to breed some birds and basically have someone else race them for you. Most One Loft Races have quite large amounts of prize money available. For example, the 2022 Meadows One Loft Race in Melbourne will pay a first prize of $75,000.
It is a good idea to subscribe to Australia's national pigeon magazine, The Australian Racing Pigeon Journal. A monthly magazine, the Journal has articles on all facets of pigeon racing and is pretty much the only place you can read Australian reports on successful lofts. The Journal has a resident avian veterinarian who is available to answer any pigeon health questions you may have.
Online sources of information are available. Do be mindful, however, that some information relates to other countries and may not necessarily be applicable to Australia. Also, as with everything that is online, some information may not be strictly correct. Best to obtain information from reputable sources such as recognised large organisations in the sport.
Once you have established your loft and have a trained team of birds, you will find it tremendously rewarding to see them return to you, sometimes from hundreds of kilometres. Indeed, even for fanciers who have raced for 50 years or more, the pleasure and excitement they get from working with their birds to make them race fit and then see them return in good time and sometimes win never leave them.
Pigeon racing is something the whole family can enjoy. In many families, pigeon racing is a shared activity with parents and children and members of extended families racing together. You can set your own level of involvement from the large semi-professional fanciers who send 100 birds racing every week to the smaller fanciers who sends several birds on the weeks that they think their birds are “right”.
Welcome to the world of pigeon racing. Enjoy breeding and caring for your birds, enjoy watching them come home, and enjoy the company of your club mates. Below is a film titled The Hobby, The Sport, The Passion, which you may find interesting.