The Art of Endurance Pigeon Flying

“Dark training against the clock, Courtesy of Amir.P/2019”

(In 7 Pages and 7 Tips)

PART 1) Imprinting new weaned babies: (Start of week 6, Duration is 2 Weeks):

-When the babies finished their 5 weeks old with their parents (they have grown full armpit feathers and their eye colour
is still dark), separate them in another enclosed cage and put water and seeds 24 hours for them,

They will learn how to take care of themselves and pickup seeds in a week time, avoid any stress on them during this
period as they must finish off fully forming their immune system in this week.

- When they start week 6 of their life, then put them in your Hen’s section, feed once a day with other hens, just
after sunset by artificial light inside the loft,

Do this by whistling and also by presenting the droppers inside the loft with them for a week, then place water for them
half an hour after they fully finishing their seeds. Then extra seeds to be removed till next day.

** Some babies might not realise where to find their water, detect those slower babies and try to teach them where they
can find their water, otherwise they will be so weak in this crucial week by not having any liquid, sometimes you need to
take them in your hand and slowly without stress put their beak into the water, If they are so thirsty then they will quickly
drink and they will learn were will be the waterer for next day.

** Some people remove water till next feeding time and some people might leave the water in the loft till next day,

But even if you left the water till next day when is time to feed them remove the water and only present it again when
they fully finished their seeds, it will teach them first they need to pick up all their seeds as much as possible, also will
teach them to be patient for the water till half an hour after finishing all their seeds.

In one week, spending with others, they will learn how to behave with others and when will be their feeding and watering
time by your whistles and the droppers of course.

Last four days of week 6 put them on top of the loft in a closed cage to know the surrounding area of the loft, say 1 hour
before sunset, this point is their future landing point and they will be familiar with this environment.

At sunset time in the dusk, move their cage on the landing door, do it by some whistle and show them where is the trap
door to enter themselves, do it by some whistle while you are feeding inside hens, they will try to join others and pass the
trap door to join others for seeds in the feeding tray,

(I usually open one door of their enclosed cage and move them front of the bob wires by their small cage from the roof,
then as soon as they see inside birds are eating from the feeding tray then they will try to pass the bob wire off their cage
and join others for the seeds.)

For sure a good loft design is crucial for proper training too,

Basically your loft should have a nice flat landing roof, front loft should have a landing terrace door and this terrace door
is opening to a bob wire trap door, this trap door will let them to go inside but wont let them to get out from inside to
outside and is exactly front of their landing terrace. Let’s call it landing door which exactly will be opened and closed front
of the trap door. Birds will land on their loft roof then you open the landing door which is such a hinged terrace and as
soon as they see their second landing door is open they will come down on the landing door and will pass the bob wire
trap door to get inside.

They will learn how to enter the trap door and relax with the bob wires and get food after three times doing this.

(Be sure they know where the drinker and water is and all the time watering time will be half an hour after finishing their
seeds)

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 - Last day of week six not feed much and start of week 7 put them on the loft by a cage again,
Say about 1 hour before sunset,

Fly one or two old hen which they are good landers and when the flown hens landed by droppers on the loft then release
one baby slowly from your hand to see the other birds on the roof and join the landed birds relax on the loft’s roof, then
other babies one by one, same …

Releasing two babies at same time might excite them and they start to fly together, we don’t want it for now only one at
a time to land clean and quick,

(I usually pick one baby from the cage on the loft roof, I step back and when the baby is in my hand little bit far away from
loft then I show the baby where are others on the roof and where is the roof to land and slowly release that single baby
from my hand to land easy and quick beside others on the roof, this stage is so crucial as they have to be good landers for
their future, so, relax them and encourage to land clean and easy one by one by some whistles too.)

When all the babies and droppers and old hen are walking relax on the loft roof for only some minutes and only some
minutes not more, as they are hungry, whistle and show them the feed tray on the hinged landing door, they have to
come down from the loft’s roof and pick up some seeds on the landing door, then slowly without scaring them move the
feed tray inside, when they see others are picking up the seeds inside the loft, they will enter the loft from the trap door
easy and relax one by one (as they have learned how to enter, I mean before from their cage which I explained above)

Feed little inside and stop quickly, after one hour at sunset feed full and water half an hour after they finished their seeds.

Now they know what the deal is, they now where is the loft and when is the feeding time,

Avoid any excitement and scary thing at this stage for them, we want them to come inside clear, quick and easy for now,
no flying at all for now.

Do above for three days more, on day four when they are on the roof with one old hen already flown and landed by your
droppers, instead of letting them all in, just slowly flag and clap them to fly little bit for some minutes in the sky then
whistle them quickly,

(flying with old flown hens also flagged droppers is crucial, they will guide the babies how to fly and where to land quick)

as soon as they see the droppers landed, they wanted to land and try to whistle now and help and encourage them to
land relax on the loft, then guide them inside by feed tray on the landing door as previous and feed them inside as above,

From know for two more days let them to fly little bit more by flagging and clapping them first and only once and when
they landed after right time by your decision and whistles by droppers, Strait move them inside and feed at sunset again.
(Don’t forget the already flown old hens must be with them to guide them land quickly)

Now your babies finished their week 7, they know what the sky is, how to land, where to land and how to enter inside the
loft by the trap door.

*Basically, whistle and droppers for now should be a sign from you to them for their landing time.

*A flag and your clapping noise should be your signs for them to fly.

“They have to know what you want from them, only flying otherwise inside the loft.”

** I strongly suggest to any serious flyer to do not let any bird hang out free for more than 5 or 10 minutes even your
droppers, as soon as all landed relax for couple of minutes then whistle them and they must move quickly inside the loft.

Now your babies imprinted very well to land from the sky for three times and just before sunset by droppers and they
know as soon as they have landed, they must enter into the loft quick and no fun to hang out free.

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PART 2) Night landing: (Start of week 8, Duration is 2 weeks):
The previous stages till now was only to teach new babies where is their landing point and how is little flying in the sky
and land relax, then when they have landed, they must move inside the loft easy and quickly,

Nothing more… as much as you trained them in the last explained stages, accurate and very well, you will have gentle and
on-time flyers later too,

In the previous stages slowly, you will detect fool babies and the ones which are not responding to your signs properly,
give them more chance and if they are not listening to you same as others, they will not listen to you later too,

Evaluate them well and see which ones are fool and not good landers, not good quick eaters and not clever ones, etc …
then pull them out of your flying kit without hesitation.

Now before moving to my procedures for night landing let me tell you one thing:

This stage needs patient and passionate hard workers and keen fanciers, if you are ready to be on time and disciplined to
follow below stages full of passion, then you will have on time birds in their future too, otherwise you won’t,

Simple as this,

“On-time flying birds, must be in the hand of an on-time disciplined and patient couch.”

Ok now is start of week 8, when they are hungry enough, put them in a closed cage again with one dropper free on the
roof hanging around them, when is sunset at dusk, turn on your night landing outdoor light and let them to get use to the
very sharp light on the roof and surroundings while they are still in the enclosed cage and when is getting darker and
darker, do it for ten minutes first day, move the cage on the landing door then open the cage door on the landing door
close to the trap door, dropper will land on the landing door too, as soon as they are moving out, whistle and present the
feed tray inside, all inside birds will come and the babies will join them for their seeds from outside on the landing door
to inside by passing the bob wire trap door,

(Same as before, but this time all of it is when sky is fully dark and the sharp outdoor landing light is on, we want to teach
them to be relax when is fully dark and the outdoor sharp light is into their eyes, they have to be familiar with this new
environment)

Do it for more two days and in last day instead of moving the cage on the landing door you can release the birds one by
one by from your hand to land easy and relax on the roof under the landing outdoor light, it’s when is almost dark and
light is on and droppers are on the loft’s roof with them no extra noise etc will help them to land clean and quick,

(Same as imprinting stage as explained previous, but this time under the dark surrounding area)

As soon as they all landed one by one from your hand, move them inside of the loft quickly, first whistle and show them
feed tray, put it on the landing door, they will follow the feed tray if they are hungry enough, when they picked couple of
seeds on the landing door then slowly, move the feed tray inside the loft and they will pass their trap door to get more
seeds inside,

Now after three evenings like this, they get use to the dusk and dark surroundings by a very sharp outdoor landing light,
they know what the darkness is now, and they will get used to it.

Remember all the time, we don’t want to make scared night landers! We only want to build them as relax night landers,

On day 4/week 8 now when is sunset (not dusk yet), light is on, droppers and babies walking on the roof, instead of moving
inside, don’t whistle at all, now flag and clap them,

They will take off to fly when is almost dark and by droppers easy and quick, very soon your droppers will land on the
roof, the babies will try to do same too but this time in the almost dark area which is so important and when their landing
outdoor sharp light is on, try to be calm as we want all of them to land quick and relax under the sharp outdoor light,

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Within next two days try to do same again in the dusk and when surrounding is getting darker, then by outdoor light
whistle and move them in quick as possible.

You can shift little bit more into the darkness and shift a little bit out into the lightness of the days,

So, when week 8 is finished you have trained them to fly in the dusk and land in the dark only by the artificial very sharp
outdoor light, this stage means: from now they only must land when the day is ending to the darkness and at same time
when their outdoor sharp light is on and when they only hear your welcoming whistle and only when they only see you
are releasing the dropper birds towards the loft’s roof for them,

By teaching and presenting all these explained circumstances to land for them, you will imprint them mentally for landing
at right time and only when you want them to be landed, otherwise they must fly and fly and only fly and no joke.

Start of week 9, Till now which is finishing week 8 of their life, there was not any resting or flying plan for them just spend
time as much as possible for you to teach them very clear, carefully and spot on,
And doesn’t matter if you teach them every day till now as they are not losing any energy, they are only learning their
surroundings, but later I will explain to you how to make a plan for flying and resting them to do not destroy their appetite
and energy for making good gut flying birds,
Its now start of week 9, Now let them to rest one day, they will get excited to fly after a day rest,
Second day when is 15 minutes before dusk release the babies by only one old hen into the sky one by one to take off and
fly together, flying with old hen is teaching them well to stick together,
I never fly babies without a guide hen at this stage, why? because I don’t want them to get far away from the loft at this
stage and don’t want to develop “hugly pugly” flying styles in their future, we want a nice kit of slow flapper flying birds
and on-time landers by our landing permission,
During this period if you tune their last evening feed amounts, then they will be little bit hungrier next sunset to be
controlled and land clean enough by your permission signs,

Now they fly for 15 minutes and light is off, its dusk and getting dark they try to land and don’t let them to land at all,
Flag and clap them, they will fly more by 5 or 10 minutes more, it’s getting darker and they are stressing out, keep the
dropper in your hand, turn the outdoor light on, when its almost getting dark, go out, now whistle, then release the
dropper towards the roof, start to whistle loud, and as soon as the outdoor landing light is on and they have seen the
dropper landed on the loft’s roof, then they will land easy,
Let them to be relaxed for couple of minutes by your whistle on the loft’s roof,
Then open the landing terrace door and show them their feed tray on the landing door let them to pick up only some
seeds as their gift while they are on the terrace, then move them inside by feed tray quick, let them to pick up some seeds
inside the loft too and then don’t let them to be full of seeds, remove the tray and after 45 minutes feed them full, water
only half an hour after finishing off their seeds.
From now each evening we try to release birds 10 to 15 minutes earlier comparing their previous days and try to push
them little bit more into the dark landing by on time clock-releasing them and also on time turning on the outdoor sharp
light plus using the droppers and whistling them all on-time during their landings and feedings.
This week is so fun and crucial too, you are seeing your hard work is paying off, slowly your birds are all landing only when
you want them to land and at the same time you are increasing their flying time back into the day light slowly,
If you have bred and selected good blood lines of your babies and clever good flyers, you will see true fascinating result
for sure, day by day as they progress and get on the wing’s muscles and use their brain for you.
At the end of week nine you must have about two to three hours evening gut flyers plus on-time night landers only by
your dropping permission signs.

* Be careful, pushing them too long into the dark flying will force them to get away from the loft in the darkness, so you
have to find a right balance here to know when to push them and when to stop pushing them and land them by turning
on the outdoor landing light and releasing the droppers at exact right time, before spoiling them.

That’s the art of endurance pigeon training and I do believe only true artists here will get the right result.

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 PART 3) Training for time flying: (Start of week 10, Duration: your lifetime)
From now this is my training and time recording plan:
I’m assuming you have selected and made right blood lines off your flying birds, you have fed them right seeds plus
vitamins and probiotics etc are all on the plans, dewormed them regularly and the management of your loft was well
enough and your birds are flying for about two or three hours easy, they have never landed in a day light at all and all of
them responding to your dropping signs clean, clever and quick enough, you want more and more flying time from them,
and of course if all explained above points are presented well so far, then you have to set a right plan for training and
resting the birds too and increase their flying time day by day, right?
Here is my plan till they rich up to 5 or 6 hours before sunset,
Imagine if, Sunset is 8:30 PM
Dark Landing is about 9:00 PM
Feeding time will be 9:30 PM
Watering time will be 10:00 PM, Then you can set two types of training and resting plan for your birds:

4 days consecutive in training

MONDAY: Rest
TUESDAY: Rest
1. WEDNESDAY: Evening Fly (For less than 2 hours)
2. THURSDAY: Evening Fly (For less than 2 hours)
3. FRIDAY: Evening Fly (For no more than 3 hours)
4. SATURDAY: Evening Fly (To reach 5 or 6 hours)
SUNDAY: Rest

Or 3 days consecutive in training

MONDAY: Rest
1. TUESDAY: Evening Fly (For less than 2 hours)
2. WEDNESDAY: Evening Fly (For less than 2 hours)
3. THURSDAY: Evening Fly (For no more than 3 hours)
FRIDAY: Rest
4. SATURDAY: Evening Fly (To reach 5 or 6 hours)
SUNDAY: Rest
** If you already made 6 or 7 hours evening flyers then you could add into their total last flying time by about two hours
earlier realising the kit, and increase their flying time records slowly and systematically to the whole day flying, from
Dawn Clock to Dusk Clock, but be sure they have this capacity before taking any risk of spoiling them, we don’t want any
bird to land in the day light at all, Basically in this method, if a bird land one time in the day light, then you might never
get true flying time from that spoiled bird again, for second time error definitely that bird is spoiled and you have ruined
all your hard works on that bird, simple as this.**

Whole day record plan,

Feeding time: 6:00 PM (About 12 to maximum 15 hours before releasing the kit)
First Watering time: 7:30 PM
Second Watering time: 5:00 AM \ 1 Hour before flying
SUNDAY: A morning gut fly to record the best ultimate time of your blood line which you have made so far
(Released from Dawn Clock till Dusk Clock)

In all above procedures all fool babies without the right flying style, bad landings and weak homing instinct plus no any
gut to respond to this plan and increasing their time by other birds, need to be detected and to be removed from your
flyers kit, If you are not clever enough to detect those fool and weak birds then your clever birds will not fly more for you
too and they will be spoiled with the weak babies so easy,

“So, for sure, clever right birds, need a clever patient trainer too.”

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Seven Tips:

Tip No.1- When you start to set the babies to the right time in your training days, (not your main time record day), for
pushing them naturally to fly to the exact time which you want from them, you can release the booster birds for them to
encourage them to fly little bit more to the right planed time for that training day, this will set their mind to know what
you want from them, it’s called imprinting them mentally,
The booster birds will be the ones which they kit up well with them, but they will fly for half an hour or one hour more
with them,
In this case your main birds will learn if they wanted to land too soon, then there are couple of boosters with them which
they must to keep up with them for more flying time to the exact landing planned time, which you expect from them on
that training day till dusk or sunset time,

Tip No.2 - Also make a white big flag and try to use it when sometimes at early stages they wanted to land soon, also your
clapping noise should be a sign from you to ask them to fly more and it’s not their exact time to land yet, and show them
who is their couch to listen.

Tip No.3 - If some babies not landing on time and they don’t respond and move inside quickly even by showing them their
feed tray, cut down their feed to set their brain for next day they have to move quickly with more respond to you, as soon
as they set their mind and imprinted well then give them proper amount of their daily food and do not overfeed or cut
their body size under or over a healthy situation.
(Based on their condition, each flying bird requires 1.5 to 2 table spoon daily mixed seeds, even for some types maybe
only 1 table spoon daily would do the job perfectly, specially males get fat quickly.)

Try to use these tips not a lot and only in your trainings days and only if you realised its necessary for them, if birds didn’t
respond well and didn’t recognise what to do for more than two times, then leave them to land and try next time and if
you saw they don’t have a proper gut to fly right for you, then those birds are not right birds for timing in your kit and
remove them sooner than later, then only focus on the right responding good birds,

Tip No.4 - As explained above commonly I settle the birds and teach them their landing points in the sunset and their very
first landings will be almost the day light, right? but sometimes you can settle them completely in the dusk or even dark
under a sharp outdoor light, for their first-time landings on the loft’s roof, then teach them to land in the day light after
they completely learned how to land under the very dark surroundings,
This way is a little bit risky too and you might lose some babies easy, especially if they get excited or scared from something
and get away from loft in the dark, so this trick need little bit more patient plus good droppers and little bit more mastering
in imprinting the birds for first time, but I have experienced if they learn how to land in the very dark surrounding for their
first time in their life, then specially these birds in their future will be very good spot on, relax and clean tail landers too.

Tip No.5 – Do not train and fly birds with different flying patterns and abilities, even in one hatch from same blood line
you might get two different babies from exact same parent and as soon as you have detected they cannot play well
together in the sky separate them as the undesired traits in one baby could easy spoil other team members of your flying
kit, so the aim is to make a uniform high quality flying kit based on what is in your mind and do not waste your time on
the other type of birds.

Tip No.6 – if the babies started to moult, do not stop them from training and flying, carry on flying them as usual and they
will moult easy and very normal, if you rest them, they will go through a heavy moult period and lose lots of feathers at
one time, which you have to stop flying them till end of their moulting period to not get frustrated from flying.

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Tip No.7 – How to up-skill your current trained good birds? Sometimes if all the babies of your current under train kit are
all doing well together, you have to prepare them for harder conditions such as : windy days, surprised rainy hours in the
flying day, or even scary things when the weather is so dark and they are at the risk to don’t land at right time, I always
apply a hard casual situation for them to teach them they have to stick to the rules even in the case if something happened,
in this way they will learn how to act right, casually under a moderate rain or wind, I do fly trained babies with master
birds or droppers, sometimes I try to push them more and more into the darkness and very casually, etc …
This way you will find which birds are stronger birds comparing others, also whole team will be prepared and up-skill
themselves very nicely for harsh condition.

And at the end after all you must only keep bests of the bests, try to have right breeding plans to maintain the blood line
in your loft,
If you have plus 10 hours flyers get rid of the rest which they are not giving you right time and only breed from top ones
by the right breeding methods, breed balanced birds in any aspects and only the ones who responded well and gave you
more time day by day, try next season again and hopefully you will detect improvements year after years, with a hope of
making marathon flyers, one day in the future and at the end:

“Always remember even good flying birds need to be imprinted mentally for true flying and landings, otherwise they
will be imprinted to land very soon by each of your single mistakes.”

(In the current time I’m writing my training methods, I already developed and settled plus 10 hours endurance flying blood
lines for myself from zero, which I have trained and tested my flying birds by the exact above explained methods several
times in New Zealand, so now I’m so happy to dedicate my methods with full of honesty and passion between other keen
fliers which they are willing to build endurance flying birds for their future.)

Good luck, enjoy the hobby and wish you all the bests in this journey which is, The art of endurance pigeon flying.

Courtesy of Amir.P/2019
Kind Regards

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