Old Bird Training
Widowhood: As most of the birds I fly will be widowhood cocks I'll concentrate on their training method.
The cock bird must always be able to find his hen in his box whenever he goes basket training. It doesn't matter if the birds are just let out for exercise but whenever they are taken away from the loft the hen must be there when they return. This will encourage them to return quickly to the loft as they know the hen will always be waiting. The cocks must never mate with the hens on their return from training so a widowhood type nest box is needed where the hen can be boxed in. Train as often as possible building up the distance slowly as a lot of yearlings can be lost in the early stages of their first year racing. Training does not have to go further than 30 miles it is not needed. You are trying to concentrate on teaching the cock bird that he needs to return quickly. Release birds in batches of six to ten, tosses of one or two birds tend to hang around and join up with next batch so you might as well let more go together. A regular shorter distance, say 20 miles from the same liberation site will do more good as the birds will set off for home without circling, useful when liberated in large flocks as they will break for home quicker. On return from training let cocks see hens for about 10 minutes or so and then remove all hens from loft again. Now the cocks must rest, if possible cover open windows with sheets or similar to eliminate all distractions from outside. Training can start about three weeks before first race but continue training until about third race. After third race no more training needs to be given, the races will be the training.