This is where the training proper starts, not to mention that it's the fun part. Train your racing pigeons to fly home from a long distance by placing them at a definite spot. Just make sure to make an estimate of the distance before doing this since it's recommendable that you tally a graphical data in order to monitor performance and trends. Ventilation Like any other warm-blooded animal, pigeons need air as much as they require food and water. Make sure that the loft has openings where air can enter and escape. The openings can be placed on roof or along the roofline. If air is scarce in the location where the loft is placed, installing exhaust fans should be able to help. Also, while in-breeding does not have to spend that much money for bigger generation gaps (because the mating pigeons are IN the same generation), it may however end up becoming more financially-challenging because of the need to eliminate pigeons with non-ideal traits. Not to mention that you should be capable of culling. A Guide To Training Racing Pigeons Like athletes, racing pigeons can be trained as well. However, you must be ready to arm yourself with tons of patience because unlike human beings, they don't have much capacity to understand and obey you at once. You must be patient and determined to let them obey your commands. The best time to do it is when they are still young. A tender age is a great opportunity to curb any unwanted behavior. The good habits that they acquire will be brought on until they become adults. Discourage any display of bad behavior and give rewards or treats for good behavior. The Role of Basket Training Sure enough, the birds will be flying around their loft. Racing pigeon is the sport genre that includes the flying of especially trained group of pigeons known as the "Racing Homer". The training of these pigeons includes letting them fly between 100 up to 1000 km. When these birds are released to fly, the judges have to measure the bird's travel rate to cover the measured distance.