If you are putting your racing pigeons on the widowhood system and the males look like they are losing interest, and the females act like they want to start mating with each other, then you need to switch the sexes. Let the cocks sit on perches and let the hens have the nest boxes. You will have to lock the females in their box and most likely feed them in the nestbox, but this can certainly energize a widowhood team and produce excellent results for you. Once in a while I may even lock a strange male into the nestbox with a particular cock’s mate and then just let him see the stranger in his box with his hen before I ship. I usually make sure the race is under 3 hundred miles in length and no longer then 6 or so hours for the bird to complete for this motivational tactic because sometimes this technique can backfire on you. Some male pigeons get so hyped by any additional motivation that they wear themselves out in the race basket the night before and don’t have anything left when it’s time to fly home.

On the widowhood system, completely remove the bowls from the nest box and always show the bowl to the cock before the male is allowed to see the hen at the beginning of the season. Then as the longer races come up, put the bowl in the nest box with the male and let him get in it and start to call, then ship him. Once all the cocks are removed, allow the hens into the boxes with the nest bowls and let them have their way. You can even put a few old unmated cocks into the loft to steam up the females before you ship them. Remember this advice: “Ship the cocks cool and the females hot.” This holds true for most races.

On the widowhood system, if you have an especiallya particularly bad race, if one of your pigeons comes home extremely late, lock that bird in its nestbox (but not with its mate) for at least several hours, overnight would be even better. The race bird is tired, and having to deal with an excited mate will not do either of them any good. After a few hours of rest, put the pair together for just a few minutes, and then separate them again. This will tell your returned racer that, “Yes, your reward is here and waiting, when you are ready.” That pigeon’s sole motivation to race home may have been to see its mate. And after that performance, the reward is granted. But what that race bird needs most is rest. It’s a wise fancier who knows that this rest must be given.

These are just some of the fundamentals of racing pigeons on the widowhood system.