The widowhood system is one of, if not, the most popular systems of racing pigeons and involves using the hen to motivate the cock bird through carefully controlled contact after racing or training chucks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
System for Racing Widowhood Cocks<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Below is the widowhood system as implemented by John Murray, a UK fancier well-known for his success racing widowhood cocks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The loft and nest box setup<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Before attempting the widowhood system it is vital to make sure you have somewhere to put the hens that is completely separate from the cock birds, i.e. another section but preferably a separate loft of some kind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s very important that the cocks do not know where the hens are.In their own loft\/section, the hens are kept on grills in individual boxes to prevent them from pairing with each other. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The hen boxes are cleaned out while the hens are in with the cocks at the end of each week ready for the start of the new week. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the widowhood cock section, the type of nest boxes used are slightly different from the standard nest boxes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The widowhood nest box<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
There are two compartments to each widowhood nest box, a compartment on the left for the nest bowl and a second compartment on the right for the cock bird with a partition in the middle that can be open or closed as required. This is so the hen can be locked in with the nest bowl and kept separate from the cock bird, therefore denying the cock and hen physical contact but still enabling them to bill and coo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n