FHS is ready to fly

Not many people know about the sport of pigeon racing, but the Florida Homing Society has opened its doors in order to share their love and passion for the sport.

With 37 races in a year, spanning thousands of kilometres around the country, pigeon racing is a fun and exciting hobby.

Pigeon racing is the sport of releasing specially trained racing pigeons, which then return to their homes over a carefully measured distance.

Pigeon fanciers or pigeon keepers are the people to go to if you want to purchase pigeons. According to club chairperson, Leon de Villiers, there are more than 300 fanciers in Gauteng, so those interested have abundant sources from which to obtain pigeons.

The sport of pigeon racing is steeped in tradition, with sources claiming it goes back to 22AD. Pigeon racing requires a specific breed of pigeon, the Racing Homer, which is bred for the sport. Competing pigeons are specially trained and conditioned for races.

Club members will see to it that their pigeons are ready a few days before race day. Members arrive at the club with their pigeons, which are divided into groups consisting of either hens or cocks. The owner of the pigeons then takes them to a handler to be put through a scanner and clocked to collect their data. Owners are not allowed to put their own pigeons through the scanner. A second handler will then randomly put each pigeon in a numbered basket after it’s been scanned. The baskets are then sealed and checked by the club’s chairperson before being loaded onto a truck. The truck will then collect more baskets at different clubs in Roodepoort before transporting them to the race venue on a Saturday morning.

The pigeons are all released at the same time and their owners, with a scanning device at the ready, will wait at home for their return. The scanner will then capture the date, the time and the speed at which the pigeon flew. After the race, members return to the club where they process the data. The pigeon that flies the fastest is the winner. The speed of the bird is calculated by dividing the duration of the flight by the distance covered.

Pigeons are tracked using RFID tags that help record arrival time. The tags are also fitted with a contact number in case the pigeon loses its way during a race.

“One of our training methods is to take the pigeons by truck all the way to the Parys turn-off, or Kroonstad, or Koppies, on Monday and Wednesday evenings. The truck driver will then free them and they fly home. For those who want to get started, I recommend they find someone who is already a member of a homing society and learn from them. Many years ago, this sport was known as ‘the poor man’s horse-racing’ , but that’s no longer the case. The sport is now accessible to everyone and is fun to be a part of,” said Leon.

Andrea Joubert, who joined the club last year, is one of the few women members of the club but she has not let that stop her from having a good time.

“The birds are incredibly intelligent – I only need to teach them a command twice and they understand. I am not competitive when it comes to the racing, I just want to see how the pigeons’ progress and how strong they are getting. I grew up on a farm so I love animals and know how to get down and dirty. This is a hobby I would recommend to anyone who has a love and passion for animals,” she said.

Her sentiments were echoed by Leon, who stressed that the pigeons were not harmed in any way and receive the best attention their owners can provide.

“They’re not harmed at all. These pigeons are well taken care of. We give them the best environment, best food and best medical care on offer. It is only natural for a pigeon to fly and we are not doing anything to harm them.”

The clubs’ most recent competition was a race over more than 600 kilometres, from Aliwal North to Johannesurg.

Do you perhaps have more information pertaining to this story? Email us at roodepoortrecord@caxton.co.za (remember to include your contact details) or phone us on 011 955 1130.

Also read:

Bird ringing at Kloofendal Nature Reserve

Conserving South Africa’s birds

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