Flying Racing Pigeons (Columbiformes)

The government’s rules on how to manage racing pigeons during a bird flu (avian influenza) outbreak can be seen here.

For racing, you must apply for a general licence to gather your pigeons together at a club headquarters from the local APHA. If you are in a 3km protection zone or a 10km surveillance zone, the licence will not be granted. If the club headquarters is within one of these, it must be relocated beyond the confines of the zone and will require a new licence. In any other area you must follow strict biosecurity rules which can be found here.

The following provisions apply to all keepers of racing pigeons, doves or other columbiformes in the Avian Influenza Prevention Zone, including where there is mandatory housing in place:

• Keepers may temporarily let their birds out briefly before feeding each day to meet the bird’s welfare requirements for up to an hour. Lofts/bird houses must not be left open for several hours for the birds to come and go as they please. Contact between the racing pigeons, doves or other Columbiformes either directly or indirectly with wild birds must be minimised wherever possible.
• Pigeons from the same loft/pigeon house may be transported to a point some distance from the home loft/pigeon house and released/liberated and allowed to return to the loft/pigeon house as part of a training and conditioning programme. The vehicle used andbaskets/boxes must be cleansed and disinfected using a government- approved disinfectant.
• Provided the gathering is registered with APHA and the conditions of the “General licence to arrange a fair, market, show, exhibition or other gathering involving the collecting together of captive birds in England” are complied with, pigeon racing and multi-loft training are permitted whilst the Avian Influenza Prevention Zone is in force. Birds may be basketed, marked and transported to a liberation site and released to fly back to their home loft/pigeon house. The vehicle/transporter and baskets/boxes must be cleansed and disinfected using a government approved disinfectant.
• Pigeons, doves and other Columbiformes may be transported to another location and released to fly free at functions and events provided the birds are either gathered again and returned to their home premises as soon as practical or they fly to return to their home premises. Care should be taken to avoid locations where there are large numbers of wild birds or domestic poultry. An event where birds from more than one premises are present is a bird gathering and must be registered with APHA and meet the conditions of “General licence to arrange a fair, market, show, exhibition or other gathering involving the collecting together of captive birds in England”.

DO NOT RELEASE RACING PIGEONS IN A 3KM OR 10KM CONTROL ZONE! One or two RPRA approved liberation sites do fall within a 3km or 10km control zone, and the Racing Support team at RPRA Head Office can advise alternative sites: email them here. The APHA interactive map will show where current control zones are located and is updated daily – visit the site and put your postcode in the search bar.

The updated AI Code of Practice for Racing Pigeons can be downloaded here.

Race Organisers Please Note

A general licence for a bird gathering is a statutory requirement to notify Defra that there are a number of birds from different locations coming together for an event.

Therefore, you MUST obtain a general licence to gather pigeons at the club headquarters for a race and under that licence you should take note of the record keeping section of the licence conditions. You will not receive a confirmation, so you should retain the notification email for future reference if required.

In the latest update the organiser is required to ensure all participants have been registered on the Bird Keeper Register.

1.5 Record keeping

13) The licensee must require all participants bringing birds to a gathering, other than participants bringing racing pigeons to a race event, to complete and return a signed declaration form before allowing entry to where live birds are kept or gathered, confirming:

a) they have read the information provided and will comply with the biosecurity requirements; and
b) that to the best of their knowledge their birds have not been in contact with any notifiable avian disease agents and do not show any signs of infection; and
c) the address of the premises of origin of the birds, with confirmation that the birds do not originate from a premises within a Protection Zone, Surveillance Zone, Temporary Control Zone, Temporary Movement Control Zone or other notifiable avian disease controlled zone
d) that the premises of origin has been registered on the Kept Bird Register (for premises in England and Wales) or the Scottish Kept Birds Register (SKBR) for premises in Scotland, and that they have supplied details of the CPH number.

14) The licensee must make a record of all people who bring birds to their gathering, or take such birds from the gathering, and keep such record for at least 3 months following the event. The licensee must present these records when requested by an APHA inspector or Local Authority inspector. The record must be provided to an inspector if requested. The record must include at least the following information:

a) full name; and
b) home address including postcode and details of premises of origin of the birds if different from the home address, including the CPH number; and
c) telephone numbers (landline and/or mobile); and
d) email address (if available); and
e) number and types of birds exhibited, raced, re-homed, bought or sold, details of the origin and eventual destination of the birds; and
f) the signed declaration referred to in condition 12 (required for all participants except those bringing racing pigeons at a race event)

15) The licensee must require as a condition of entry, for all events or gatherings, that all participants check their birds for disease prior to departure from the event or gathering.