Pigeons are influenced more by ‘hours of light’ rather than temperature, so if you want to pair up before the natural light hours influence your birds which is generally in the beginning of February (in the UK) you might want to deploy some lighting.

I would use lighting systems that emit a full natural spectrum of light. Use the lights sparingly, do not leave them on all night that will have a negative effect on your birds whether racing or stock. I recommend that if possible you have dimmer on your lights so that the birds have a more natural environment and can settle safely and naturally before ‘lights out’. I would suggest that you only need to extend the daylight hours by 1 or 2 hours and then when your birds are on eggs remove the supplementary lighting and let nature take over.

In goes without saying that if you leave your paring until February you will NOT need to extend the daylight hours artificially or use lighting systems to encourage mating. 

I additionally on dull days I sometimes put on the lights either side of noon between 1/4 hour and 1/2 hours either side i.e. 11:45 to 12:15 or 11:30 to 12:30 the idea being this will reinforce the feeling of Spring/Summer with the birds and help bring them to form.

I have mentioned in other articles that Continental Flyers often provide their racing pigeons with a bath on basketing day and then submit them to radiant lambs so they can sunbath dry and relax.