Pet pigeons have black, purple-gray, or blue feathers with touches of white. They are fed sorghum, a grain used to make syrup, and small green peas. After purchasing pigeons in special markets, owners take the birds home and train them not to fly away. While professional pigeon-raisers exist in China, it is more often considered an amateur hobby. Pigeons mate for life, so usually a pair is kept and bred together.
Pigeons fly in flocks, so the adult pigeons train their offspring.
Homing a pigeon, or teaching it to return to the owner's home, takes a long time. A risky test of the owner's training skill, and of the pigeon's homing instinct, is to release the bird and see if it returns to the owner's home. The owner opens the cage and, pointing a stick with a red scarf tied to it, signals to the bird that it is time to go. A well-trained pigeon will fly to the roof and circle the house waiting for its flight mates. These are well-trained pigeons that lead the plate.