How can pigeons have higher homing ability?

Environment, seed selection and genetic solutions

It is said that "it is a good way to succeed", so as long as pigeon owners master the controllable and maneuverable parts, they can minimize the variables that affect success under the condition of good competition results. The author explains the authenticity of success to readers through how the environment, seed selection and heredity are manipulated artificially.

Talking about raising pigeons is a big and scattered topic, which can't be exclusive. If you focus on a fixed topic, you may miss the interrelated problems encountered in raising pigeons. Because raising pigeons involves many problems such as breeding, breeding, training, flying and so on, in the name of rambling, you can freely put out your personal views for the reference of pigeon lovers.

Geographical environment and route

First of all, talk about the influence of training route on pigeons. This question has been said for many years, and I'm afraid it has become a commonplace topic. But as for what geographical conditions have the greatest influence on pigeon homing, it seems that the influence of mountainous areas on pigeon homing has been ranked first for many years.

Is that really the case? I won't make a conclusion here, but I will put forward some questions that I think and I often think about for pigeon lovers to discuss.

Jingxing mining area, where I live, is about 50 kilometers west of Shijiazhuang, surrounded by mountains (the mountains are not too high), and the underground geological structure is complex (coal mining history of nearly a hundred years). I belong to Shijiazhuang Pigeon Association. I was busy before 1998, 500 kilometers from Qinhuangdao and 300 kilometers from Tianjin Railway Station. Before the 300-kilometer tianjin railway station flight, I basically used my own bike to train and fly 10~30 kilometers, and then I took part in the 300-kilometer tianjin railway station flight directly with a pigeon cart, and many of them went home. Pigeons can be seen on a slightly faster day. If the flight is better, pigeons can be seen at noon that day. This kind of training competition is also quite interesting, followed by the outcome.

However, after 1998, Shijiazhuang Pigeon Club changed to Xinxiang Station, Henan Province, 300 kilometers south of Shijiazhuang City, and Luohe Station, 500 kilometers south of Shijiazhuang City. It was this 50-kilometer trip that failed (we thought it was a good pigeon, but we were caught off guard and the homing rate was less than 50%). This makes us fall into the abyss of incomprehension and confusion, and also makes us fall into silent meditation. Later, through the understanding of homing pigeon lovers, I learned that the pigeons of homing pigeon lovers in Shijiazhuang did not fly very well when they were released from Yuanshi Station. Even some pigeons flying 500 kilometers and 700 kilometers north have been lost. This information is like? The basin of sewage drenched my head and made me more lost in thought. Why did the little Yuanshi station swallow so many excellent pigeons? What influences pigeons' understanding of homing and navigation? After searching for information, researching and thinking, I began to explore the answer.

The mystery of flight

Yuanshi Station is only 50 kilometers away from Shijiazhuang, and the road is flat, with no mountains, no big factories and no big power equipment. It is really incomprehensible to throw pigeons at such a close distance, and some of them are good pigeons, but it is true and even makes people laugh. I can't help it Is this the whole truth? Think about it carefully, I think these things make sense. There are caves near Yuanshi County, and both Yuanshi County and Lincheng are coal mining areas set up by Jingxing Mining Bureau. Due to a large number of underground coal mining, many holes are formed underground, which destroys the original integrity, continuity and regularity of geological structure and geomagnetic intensity distribution. Because the original regularity of geomagnetism has been destroyed, many unfavorable factors have been brought to the homing of homing pigeons. It is not difficult to understand that many homing pigeons were lost at Yuanshi Station. Maybe some pigeon fanciers will ask, is this really the case? I can tell you that this is no accident.

After nearly a hundred years of mining, Jingxing mine has become criss-crossing, empty everywhere, and the geological structure is seriously damaged, which is a carrier pigeon blind area with extremely disordered magnetic field. I remember a few years ago, during the training and flying season, there were many pigeons hovering over the Jingxing mine in the sky, and they couldn't leave for a long time, sometimes as many as hundreds, and some couldn't fly out of this small Jingxing mine for a few days. Most of these pigeons come from Shanxi. There are also some homing pigeons in Beijing, Henan, Liaoning, Shandong and Sichuan. It is conceivable that some of these lost homing pigeons must be excellent homing pigeons, but why can't they fly out of Xiaojing Mine? It must be caused by the destruction of underground geological structure in Jingxing and the disorder of geological and mineral resources. Attentive pigeon friends, do you have the same experience? Will the homing rate of homing pigeons drop significantly when the training site is selected in an old mine or a place with disordered geomagnetic structure? If you are conscious, I want to remind you, please pay more attention, and don't ruin your homing pigeon on your own mistakes and blindness.

In addition, I learned in a magazine a few years ago that it is difficult to put pigeons in Yunnan because earthquakes often occur in this area of Yunnan. If an earthquake of magnitude 3 or above occurs on the same training flight line, many homing pigeons will disappear in the meeting 230 kilometers away. The reason is that the earthquake destroyed the geological structure of the stratum and the geomagnetic field changed, which seriously affected the navigation function of homing pigeons and lost its navigation function. From this point of view, the primary factor affecting homing pigeon navigation is geomagnetism, which is only the result of my exploration in recent years. Of course, it is a personal opinion, which is only for pigeon lovers' reference. As for the high altitude and thin air, it can only affect the physical strength of homing pigeons when flying, but it is several times more important for navigation. Speaking of rainy days, if it rains heavily and pigeons' feathers are wet and they can't fly, how can they go home?

Experience sharing

Next, I want to talk about how to train a pigeon and how to evaluate its advantages and disadvantages. I bought many pigeon magazines when I raised homing pigeons at the beginning of the year. In these materials, there are some people who say blood origin and eye sand, and some who can't explain it. They hold their own words and do not give in to each other. It seems that what they said is also reasonable, and there are examples to prove it. Because it is the first time to raise homing pigeons, I have no experience and practice, so I have to take theory and practice as evidence according to various theories. And the result? Contrary to expectations, there is little chance of success. I have introduced pigeons that have achieved flying results and returned them as seeds. The first offspring can't fly, and sometimes they can fly at close range. The first thing to explain here is that I introduced homing pigeons with good pedigree, not world-famous pedigree. And I have no conditions to introduce the world famous blood. For most homing pigeon lovers, I don't think I have such conditions. Because raising pigeons is not only an economic investment, but also an intellectual investment, otherwise racing pigeons would not have such great charm.

Author Xu,

Forward!

The annual early spring training in Guizhou begins with homing at noon. How to master the distance of training and flying, so that pigeons can go home without fatigue and achieve the purpose of training and flying? Summing up my own pigeon-releasing experience over the years, combined with the geographical and climatic characteristics of Guizhou, I think it is better to go back to the nest at noon in early spring training in Guizhou. The climate in Guizhou in early spring is abnormal, and the temperature changes greatly with sunny and rainy days. In case of rain, the temperature is low and foggy in the morning; Sometimes it's foggy on sunny days. If you don't take shelter from the rain, there will be Mao Mao rain on the feathers after the pigeons are released. In addition, the temperature is low, and pigeons will fly with heavy loads during the flight. Similarly, pigeons will fly in the fog, and pigeons will fly with heavy loads. Coupled with poor visibility, it will create an excellent opportunity for eagles who can't find food for a long time. Hungry eagles can easily catch pigeons, so throwing pigeons is inevitable. I have a friend who got up early, packed up the pigeons and set off at 5 am. When I got to the place, it was foggy. He also said it was a good opportunity to exercise pigeons. At 8 o'clock, the pigeon was released, and then he drove home. Dozens of pigeons didn't go home until 4 pm, but some pigeons were exhausted and some never came back. On the same day, in the same place, I stood the pigeons myself. When I saw the fog, I waited for two hours. After the fog cleared, the weather became clear. Pigeons were released at ten o'clock. When I got home, I counted them all. In recent years, I have summarized that no matter how far you fly pigeons within 500 kilometers, you should first observe the weather, seize the opportunity, and calculate the distance and speed. As long as your pigeons can return to their nests at noon, they can get exercise, eat and drink enough at noon, and get a rest, which will achieve the purpose of training and flying. The purpose of this kind of training is to lose pigeons as little as possible in the process of training and flying, and to save strength to participate in the official competition of pigeon club. If pigeon lovers think that your pigeons should exercise through rainy and foggy days, wait until the weather improves. Generally, the temperature reaches 18 degrees in the daytime and above 15 degrees at night, so we can experiment boldly. But it's also best to get your beloved pigeon back to its nest before noon. At one time, some pigeons were planted from 12 to 4 pm, and finally more than 200 pigeons were released. Results Only 10 pigeons returned to their nests in the official competition. This lesson is profound.