What kind of homing pigeon is a good pigeon?

My eight methods of identifying pigeons are: one surprise, two looks, three tests, four pulls, five scales, six presses, seven breaks, eight touches and one surprise.

A surprise: I never rush to reach out and catch pigeons before I identify them. I like to stand in front of a pigeon cage with five or six feathers, and observe the performance of pigeons after sudden fright by suddenly waving, high-fiving, stamping their feet or waving red strips. Excellent racing pigeons are always in a state of panic, showing a distinctive general demeanor. After being frightened, they just move their feet or blink their eyelids. When you are frightened, you will panic and have poor psychological quality. Interested homing pigeon lovers, when you have the opportunity to participate in the annual competition of homing pigeons at the municipal level (the pigeons participating in the competition are the top six excellent pigeons in each competition level), or when you are lucky enough to show the auction scene of pigeons in the cage before the auction after the final of the public shed competition, catch pigeons before the competition, and some racing pigeons will jump around and drill as soon as they enter the pigeon cage, occupying a corner and saving physical strength. This kind of racing pigeon has realized that it is going to compete and is doing it.

Second, look. Look at the pigeons first to see if there is an aura. Because of the elimination, training, refining and cultivation from generation to generation for hundreds of years, the quality and gas field of homing pigeons are gradually improving. A racing pigeon with a pair of "smart faces" and a halo is an excellent pigeon. A pigeon that looks dull at first glance, you should never have hope for it. Secondly, look at the size of pigeons. Pigeons used in short-distance races are medium or slightly larger in size, with wide and full breasts, which are convex and look plump. It doesn't have to be slim, but it should be short and symmetrical. Seen from the front, it looks like a trapezoid with a wide top and a narrow bottom. Viewed from the side, it looks like a half regular triangle. Seen from above, it looks like a regular triangle. Pigeons used in long-distance or ultra-long-distance races are medium-sized, slender and well-proportioned Seen from the front, they are trapezoidal, with the upper bottom slightly wider than the lower bottom and the height slightly longer. Viewed from the side, they are half of an isosceles triangle. From the top, they depend on the structure, pigment depth, accumulation, thickness and pupil contraction of the eye sand. I prefer clear sand and clear eyes. Pigeon-shaped eyes, yellow eyes are round, narrow, bright, orange-yellow, with obvious layered sand accumulation and regular pupil contraction; The eye socket of trachoma should be bright and wide, and the white-eyed sand from the inside out is layered and three-dimensional like a basin.

Three quantities. Take a pigeon in your hand and measure the length of the keel and the distance from the keel to the pubic bone (egg door). The length of the keel should be proportional to the size of the pigeon. Take the medium-sized pigeon as an example, the keel length should be about 7cm, and the vertical deviation should be within 1cm. Too long or too short is an inappropriate proportion. The distance between the end of keel and pubic bone, measured with middle finger, is about one and a half fingers. The width of the front end of the middle finger is generally about l.5cm, that is, one finger and a half is about 2.2cm. Regardless of the male and female pigeons, the pubic bone is hard and one side is slightly bent inward. When racing pigeons fly for a long distance, they must not only bear the air pressure, but also accelerate the flapping frequency to generate lift and overcome the gravity of the earth. When they fly violently, they will have a strong expansion force in their bodies. You can't bear this pressure without a solid bone.

Four pulls. Pull the pigeons as far away as possible, and then let them go back quickly. It feels tight and powerful when it is pulled open, and it feels fast, powerful and elastic when it is released, indicating that the muscles of the wings are relatively developed, and developed muscles are the premise to increase the flapping frequency. Secondly, whether the main feathers and auxiliary feathers of pigeon wings are neat, if the feather surface of the whole wing forms a slightly concave sector like a goose feather fan, flapping will form a large air volume, strong momentum and fast speed; Third, it depends on the length, width and thickness of the ten main feathers of the wings. The long, wide and thin ones are the best. It is best if the outermost three main feathers are flush and round.

Five seconds. Hold the pigeon in your hand, loosen the hand holding the pigeon relatively, and see if the weight of the pigeon in your hand matches its small size. People calculate the standard weight according to people's height, which has scientific basis. Being overweight is called obesity; Being underweight is called emaciation. Similarly, if you have a medium-sized racing pigeon in your hand, it should generally weigh 8-9. Heavy weight means that pigeons are too spoiled and lack proper training. Pigeons are fattening, not strong, so you must lose weight by strengthening training and reducing the input of high-fat feed. Personally, I don't like racing pigeons that are too fat and heavy compared with their size. Even if you can barely get back to the nest, it will never be fast. If you let him take part in the long-distance running, he is sure to meet an unexpected guest and leave his hometown.

Six major pressures. Hold a racing pigeon with four fingers under it and thumb on its back. At this time, there will be two situations in the pigeon's tail feather: First, the pigeon's tail feather is still tightly tied, horizontal or drooping like a sword. Second, the tail feathers are fanned out and upturned. Personally, I prefer the former. Another way to identify pigeons is to hold them in your hands, which will naturally relax and suddenly sink. At this time, the pigeons in your hand will also have the above two situations. I don't like pigeons with fan-shaped tail feathers.

Bye-bye. Open the racing pigeon's mouth to see if there are serrated cracks in its upper jaw, whether the trachea opening is large and whether the cracks are long and narrow. We know that when racing pigeons fly, the greater the air density, the greater the resistance; The faster the speed, the greater the resistance. When pigeons fly in competition, it is not only related to breathing, but also assisted by the opening and closing of pigeon's mouth. Open-palate pigeons are beneficial to the smooth inhalation and exhalation of racing pigeons, and the flapping frequency of open-palate pigeons is relatively high and the speed is correspondingly fast. Through the observation of many crown pigeons, runner-up pigeons and long-distance fast carrier pigeons in our shed, the upper jaw is cracked after returning to the nest, so I prefer open-jawed pigeons.

Eight touches. The keel shape of racing pigeons is directly related to the speed of racing pigeons. When the keel is flat or concave, the streamline on the back is high, resulting in low pressure at the top and high pressure at the bottom, resulting in lift and corresponding increase in buoyancy, which will slow down the speed. The keel is high and convex, with high upward pressure, low downward pressure, high pressure and low buoyancy, which makes it difficult to fly, but haste makes waste. The keel height of racing pigeon is moderate with its body shape, showing a certain radian and streamline, with little resistance and high speed in flight. I prefer a pigeon with its palm slightly bent and slightly scratched, its keel just in the state of four fingers slightly scratched, and its thumb just at the middle end of its back. In addition, if you touch the feathers of racing pigeons, you will feel soft as silk and have powder on your hands, and the feathers will be better; After touching, it feels rough and powder-free, and the feather quality is poor. Racing pigeons with poor feather quality have strong water absorption in rainy days and gain weight, which is not conducive to rapid homing.