Bachelors and Widowed Hens - an alternative racing method

 

By John Marles, Sylvan Lofts

 

 

At a recent meeting of the Up North Combine, Ken Foster approached me and asked if I had any information about racing bachelor cocks or widowed hens. Ken mentioned that there was interest on reading about these systems. Having raced some bachelors myself and after visiting lofts such as Omer Van Wallegham ( Winnipeg) and Robert Gianetto ( Montreal) who both employ the system of bachelors, I will try to give you an idea on how some people begin.

 

Quite often in the fall, after racing young birds we find ourselves with an unequal number of each sex.  Some years we may have as many as five or six of one sex extra. Of course the easiest way to deal with this situation is to eliminate the extra numbers that we have. If it is the case that all of these are quality birds then why not retain them and fly them celibate ( without a mate). There are many fliers who have made their reputation by doing this. They either fly bachelor cocks or widowed hens. The methods for capitalizing on these systems is varied, but there are a number of underlying strategies that remain constant. We will take a look at some of the methods used in these systems and hopefully next year we will hear back from future handlers as to how successful these methods are.

 

There are many lofts in Europe who annually race their yearlings on a bachelor system before putting them on widowhood as two year olds. These fanciers incorporate different variations on the same theme; that of not allowing the bachelor to mate and raise a nest prior to the season. Most handlers maintain them as bachelors in a loft which has perches only. Prior to racing, the bachelors are not allowed to mate and are kept on a lean carbohydrate diet. If you have a team on the widowhood system then these bachelors may be exercised at the same time thus conserving time. Plus, if you let the bachelors out approximately twenty or thirty minutes after the widowers this can work to your advantage by forcing your widowhood birds to fly longer. At the beginning of the year, bachelors are usually in very good condition. They can be utilized well in the first few races because of this excellent condition. Remember, they haven't raised any young and therefore have not had any of their reserves depleted. The diet of the bachelors in early spring should be tailor made with increasing their exercise time in mind. Therefore, I would suggest that at least 30-40% of their diet consist of excellent malting barley. The other 60-70%  can be formulated with the regular mixture of grains. Bachelors can be exercised twice daily and should be flying for at least thirty minutes each exercise period. There are no special loft requirements as long as it is dry, well ventilated and not over crowded. I feel it is an advantage to have this small group of bachelors handled in this slightly different method in a separate loft. In this way, if a problem does arise in one particular loft then you have a back-up loft to carry you through the problem time. I have flown bachelors to either perches or nest boxes and I personally prefer a loft where both can be utilized. In other words, when I want to motivate them for a race then I have the means. The purists would probably become very excited at this innovation for they prefer that the bachelors remain on perches. They feel that the bachelors, much like young birds, need to show their worth on this system flying solely to a perch. Whereas I like to motivate them using the nesting boxes as well.      

 

Pierre Dordin was definitely a purist and Dr. Tim Lovel in his book on Dordin states, "the yearling cocks were confined to a separate loft and were flown celibate (to a perch). If they proved to be satisfactory they were then given names and were transferred to the Widowhood loft as 2 year olds."  An interesting aside to note is that when the pharmacist Dordin was asked about medication, he responded, "Against, against, against!"  As Dr. T. Lovel reports, "He would not even give prophylactics against worms or trichomoniasis."  The purists agree that if a yearling bachelor is able to win his prize each week against widowers he will be an excellent candidate for the widowers loft. For my part, I'm not content to just race them on a perch; I need to motivate them. 

 

The few bachelors that I keep will be motivated each week as I feel an unmotivated pigeon is not racing on the same playing field as the rest of his competitors. During the week the bachelors are handled the same as the widowers with respect to diet, nutritional supplements, grit ( minerals et al. )  and exercise. Each week I try to motivate them a little differently. On Friday (day of shipping) at about two or three o'clock in the afternoon I will place a highly motivated hen in a small basket on the floor. It is interesting to observe how the different bachelors will fight for the rights to this hen. Another method I use is to release the hen  and let the bachelors fight for her. Make sure that if you have nesting boxes in this section they are closed so that no one cock can claim her. In this way each bachelor has the same opportunity to court her. You might also want to try this other routine. Assuming you have a team of widowers, once they have been taken care of, take their hens to the bachelor loft or section. If the bachelor loft has nesting boxes then open these and release enough hens to match the number of bachelors. If you have enough time then place a nest bowl (with warming nest pad) and some pine needles on the floor and observe the flurry of excitement. Sometimes I will allow the bachelors to fly out with their new mates if the day is cool and the race is short. If it is a particularly warm day then I will not let them out. I did this once and found that the birds used up far too much of their reserves flying in and out the open doors. So if you do find yourself with four to five extra cocks and you have the loft space why not give this bachelor system a try.

    

Widowed hens have gained a lot of popularity across Europe. One of the best middle-distance hens ever raced in Belgium, according to Victor Vansalen, in his book Masters of Breeding and Racing,

is Paula 5000 owned by Remi De Mey ( 56 prizes out of 71 races of which 13 are first prizes).  Mit Van Hove and Jos Deno are two disciples of Remi De Mey and know first hand the quality of racing that is achieved by utilizing the hens. These three individuals have enjoyed immense success with hens in hotbeds of racing.  Remi De Mey and Mit Van Hove have room for eighteen hens while Jos Deno races just 12. Keep in mind that each handler has his/her own techniques which they add to any system. Basically the hens are mated early in the year to get some early bred youngsters. Before they lay again, the hens are taken away to another section (this can be right next door, but must be a solid partition). The hens' section should have enough perches to allow only one pigeon to occupy at one time. In other words, a v-perch or something of this nature where two pigeons cannot occupy the same area. You must prevent the hens from trying to mate. Then make sure the hens cannot mate on the floor and perhaps the best method for this is to place a grill-like screen on a 75 degree slope from the floor going up the wall. In this way when a hen tries to land on the grill she will slide to the bottom. They must not have any place where they can mate. Even the water, grit etc. should have only a very small shelf, enough to support only one pigeon. Before racing starts they will bring the hens back to a section that has nest boxes and allow them to sit for 5 to ten days then separate them again. All three individuals agree that the hens must be raced every week. Before the hens are shipped to a race they are allowed back into the section with nesting boxes and remain with their mate for about one to two hours prior to basketing. After the race they may remain with their mate for about six hours (longer, if it is a long race). The hens are allowed to take a warm bath and if it is a nice day fly out with their mates. The feeding for the hens is very similar to widowhood cocks.

 

Hopefully this article has given you a few ideas as to how some fanciers are experiencing success with bachelor and widowed hen flying. The ideas I have presented are an alternative method to those that we read about most often. Thanks Ken for the suggestion and hopefully this article will spark someone's interest into trying one of these systems.