Selection methods part i by verheecke marc degrave martin on 09 09 2012 by the end of september most of the competitions in pigeon racing will be completed by the end of october the 2012 racing season is over. Racing pigeons also known as homing pigeons or racing homers are the product of crosses between a number of previously existing pigeon breeds followed by 100 years of strong directional selection for extreme flying and spatial orientation capabilities with the purpose of producing faster birds blechman 2007. Selection methods learn from the masters part iii by verheecke marc degrave martin on 22 09 2012 in the first part of the book a history of pigeon racing in belgium geschiedenis van de belgische duivensport by jules gallez there is a chapter that discusses the pigeons of the then world famous huyskens van riel family p 78. Pigeonpixels and simulplus made a series of films for hans evert jan eijerkamp this is one of themin this video evert jan eijerkamp explains the 7 pigeon. Racing pigeons need to be exposed to strenuous exercise from time to time to advance their general fitness to top form this also helps improve the birds mental readiness you need to determine the average time the pigeons are expected to spend on the wing by analysing the distance to be flown and the expected weather conditions of the race event