When putting your racing pigeons on the widowhood system and the cocks look as if they are losing interest, and the hens act like they want to start pairing with each other, switch the sexes. Let the males sit on perches and let the females have the nest boxes. You will have to lock the hens in their box and probably feed them in the box, but this can certainly energize a widowhood team and produce excellent results. Once in a while I may even lock a strange cock into the box with a particular cock’s mate and then just let him see the stranger in his box with his female prior to shipping. I make sure that the race will be less than 300 miles and not longer than six or so hours on the wing for such a motivational technique because sometimes this tactic can backfire on you. Some male pigeons get so crazy 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.

When racing the widowhood system, remove the bowls completely from the nest box and always show the bowl to the male before the cock is allowed to see the female 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 male birds are removed, allow the hens into the nestboxes with the nest bowls and let them have their way. You may even put a few old unmated males into the loft to steam up the hens prior to shipping them. Remember this advice: “Ship the cocks cool and the females hot.” This holds true for most races.

When racing the widowhood system, on an especiallya particularly bad race, if one of the birds 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 pigeon is worn out, and having to deal with an over-anxious 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 birds 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.