The art of “Flag Training”
Steve Joneli,
Red Rose Lofts
When
Linda came here from England we spent many a night comparing the different
flying methods between American and English pigeon racing.
She had always relished flying “over the Brook”, the English Channel.
And had specialized in long distance flying. Flying strains I had never heard of, Barkers and
Kirkpatricks. And she flew mostly
hens on the natural system. Where I flew only cocks on the widowhood system.
Another
system of training she used that I had only heard of was “Flag Training”
Quite frankly, the thought of forcing your young birds to stay in the air
with a flag scarred the hell out of me. I
pictured our young team flying off never to be seen again.
But since she was giving in to my widowhood flying I let her take the
young bird team and flag train them.
What
she wanted to accomplish was to teach the young birds they were only allowed in
the air or in the loft. So coming
back from a race they would land on the landing board and trap right in.
I took a 16-foot fishing pole and we attached a piece of red satin about
2 by 3 feet to make our flag. When
loft flying any time anyone tried to come down she would wave the flag at them.
When we were done flying she would hide the flag and using our bell call
them in. And I have to admit, this
eventually worked quite well.
Now
this training became quite a competition between Linda and the birds.
Some would land on the ground to the left and when she ran over to flag
them another group would land over to the right.
Those smart little devils had her running back and forth like a ping-pong
ball, laughing all the while. And
then there was the day they had her running up and down the creek, splashing
water all over the place. But she was more determined than they were and
eventfully won. Just picture this.
You’re a young pigeon having fun and decide to sneak down for a bit of
sand. All of a sudden you see this
short little British lady running full steam down the hill at you, swinging this
long club with a pair of red knickers tied on the end, shouting obscenities at
you in “the Queens proper English” and trying to whoop you in the but.
You bet you’d take to the air, and right now!
After the birds became flag trained, all we would do was put the flag in
a holder and as long as it was up they would stay in the air. As soon as it came down we immediately ran the dinner bell
and down they dove. And you had better not be in the way or they would take your
head off. So coming back from a
race seeing the flag down their instinct is to dive for the trap to go straight
in.
Well
she made me a believer. We didn’t
win every race but did win our fair share.
But I can honestly say on every race they dropped from the sky, straight
to the landing board and trapped right in.
I’ve never seen birds trap so well.
Ant not a single bird flew off into the sunset, as I had feared.
So
if you want an edge on your club mates, give flag training a try.
It’s a lot of work but well worth it.
And if you ask Linda real nice, she might even give you a hand by
teaching you some “Queens Proper English”