How pigeon racing works in WingDerby

You manage a racing loft, not a single bird. The game runs in real time: your pigeons age, recover and race while you are away. A few minutes a day keeps a loft in top shape; a week without care will show in the results.

A pigeon race, step by step

Every race in the game follows the course of a real race. This is what happens between basketing and the result list.

1. Basketing — Before the deadline you choose which birds go and pay a small fee per bird. Pick fit, rested birds that suit the distance: fast birds for the short races, stayers for the long ones.
2. Release — At the release time all basketed birds are set free together at the release point, for example Quiévrain, Orléans or Barcelona. From there every bird flies home to its own loft.
3. The flight — The distance is measured from the release point to your loft. Speed, endurance and orientation count, but so do form, fatigue and health — and above all the wind: a tailwind makes a fast race, a headwind a hard one. You can follow the race live while the birds are on their way.
4. Clocking — When a bird lands at your loft its arrival time is recorded. The distance divided by the flight time gives its velocity in metres per minute.
5. The result — All birds are ranked by velocity, not by arrival time, so a loft that lies further away is not at a disadvantage. There is a national result and one for your own region.
6. Prizes — The top 25% of the returning birds win a share of the prize pool in derbies and earn reputation for your loft. On hard days some birds do not come home.

The week

Every week has several races. Training flights (short, cheap) on weekdays build form. On Saturday the speed race is flown, on Sunday the middle-distance race. Every 2 weeks a long-distance race is added, and a few times a season the extreme classics — Pau, Barcelona, Perpignan, Marseille — are on the programme. You basket your birds before the deadline (12 hours before release), pay a small fee per bird, and read the result once the birds are home.

The race

Each bird is released at the liberation site and flies to your loft. Its velocity in metres per minute depends on its abilities, form, fatigue, health, the distance, and above all the wind: a headwind from the direction it flies towards slows every bird, a tailwind speeds them up. Results are ranked nationally and within your verbond, and the top 25% of returning birds share the prize pool. On hard days birds get lost — especially young ones, tired ones and those with poor orientation.

Breeding

Every pigeon carries two alleles for each of five traits: speed, endurance, orientation, recovery and vitality. A youngster gets one allele per trait from each parent, with a small chance of mutation. You never see the genes directly — only an estimate that becomes precise as the bird races. Pedigrees are public, so a youngster from a proven line is worth real money on the market.

Care

Choose the feed (basic, standard or premium) and the training load (rest, light or hard) for the loft. Feed costs money every day per bird. Hard training builds form but slows recovery. Sick birds need a vet. A full loft can be expanded.

The market

Any active bird can be sold at auction. Auctions last 48 hours, with a small commission for the seller. Bidding in the last minutes extends the auction, so there is no sniping.

All money in the game is counted in derbies (Ð). Derbies are earned by racing and trading and cannot be bought or cashed out.

The rules of thumb

• What you see of a bird is an estimate. It can be off by a star or more on a bird that has never raced, and it is exact after 15 races. Buying a youngster is a gamble on its pedigree.
• Feed is a flat weekly bill per loft, charged on Monday, whatever the size of your team: basic 20, standard 45, premium 90 derbies, plus 25 for a specialised mix.
• Form (0–100) moves every day: standard feed +1, premium +2, light training +1, hard training +3, rest −1, plus a little luck. A tired bird (fatigue over 60) loses 3 a day; a loft in the red loses 4.
• Fatigue comes from racing: a training flight adds about 8, a speed race 18, middle distance 32, long distance 50 and a classic 70. Rest clears about 14 a day, light training 9, hard training 4 — quicker for birds with good recovery.
• Illness is rare, but basic feed, low vitality and fatigue above 70 all raise the risk. A sick bird flies slowly and gets lost more easily; the vet cures it in one visit.
• Wind decides more than anything. A tailwind can add 20% to the velocity, a headwind takes it away and makes birds go missing. The forecast at basketing is right about four times out of five.
• Losses are a chance, never a certainty: higher on long races, in headwind and poor visibility, for youngsters under four months, sick birds and birds with weak orientation or vitality.
• Prize money: 80% of all entry fees plus the market commissions of the past days go to the top 25% of the returning birds, most of it to the first arrivals. Every prize and every win also earns reputation for your loft.
• Pairing takes both parents out of the race team until the eggs hatch (about a day). Life runs three times as fast as the calendar: a bird ages three pigeon-days per real day. Youngsters race from 30 pigeon-days old and can breed from 6 months.
• A loft houses 100 pigeons to start with (and can be expanded); every pair hatches two youngsters, three with the breeding mix if you are lucky. Birds you no longer need can be sold, or set free.
• The market has a price band per bird (30% to 300% of its estimated value) and a limit of three purchases per month from the same seller, so nobody can move money between lofts through fake sales.

Fair play

WingDerby is free to play with one loft. A future supporter package will add statistics, pedigree analysis and cosmetic extras — never faster pigeons. Nothing in the game can be bought for real money that gives an edge in the results.

Frequently asked questions

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