JohnQuinn

Seen it Kevin, there was wan hunting last night directly opposite the new Ravenscraig sports centre at 6:40pm in the grey dark. Big birds !!

As I said earlier my original post was not meant to coz offence so rather than to and fro and making it personal I will just tell what I do and don't do. Right now my lofts are a riot and have been pretty much for the last 8 years. Prior to that I had Ybs going light on me left right and centre, had OEC in them every year treated with a pinch of Aureomycin into the eye. In 2008 I became stray officer put my scrapers away (done 3 times a day until then) and decided come what may I am treating for nothing. Since then I have gone out my way to expose them to as many disease possible. So my personal baskets became the stray basket as well so after aw the sick, run down strays were in them my Ybs were next in tae expose them to whatever the strays were carrying. Initially a was losing Ybs ten a penny but the parents of those were also away no matter where they came from or how much I had paid for them. More often than not my drinkers are topped up rather than cleaned and fresh water 2 or 3 times a day, like the old times, they are on their own deep litter and the scraper gets picked up about once a month. The feeders are permanently on the loft floors regardless if I suspect vermin are present. Those and other measures are taken to ensure they are continually open to disease. I vaccinate at 20-22 days against PMV and that's the last medicine they Ever get. I almost treated blind for canker before the national this year but left well alone as they were looking and handling very well. Gradually over the years less and less of my Ybs were taking ill and since last season I have the kind of doos I want, Strong, robust, constitutionally sound doos that when I do my part perform at the highest level. So for what it's worth and if ye can swallow the disappointments on the way, I advise everybody to follow my methods and YBS will be a thing of the past in less than a decade..

At the end of every document relating to Doping ends with the advice "this list is non exhaustive " to me that means ye canny take/give anything to a competing man, mamal or birds. I race Clean doos and am happy for them tae mix way Any other birds, even disease carrying birds but I do Not want them exposed in any way to chemicals from any source.

They should be testing the first 2-3 birds in each section as a matter of course. The minerals salts and potassium permanganate are all Naturally produced, am referring tae out and out chemicals made by man. I know fine ALLL medication is sourced from natural sources but the modification means the original ingredients are unrecognisable. The antiques roadshow which is the SNFC transporters mean my birds can be picking food out of sh*t passed by a bird being treated before the race and no one can predict what affect this has on Chemical free birds, MY birds.

£10.5k for 100 is a bit rich Johnny even for the biggest organisations and I reckon 100 would be a minimum number to get a picture of what's happening tae them when en route from races. It's the idea we've aw been waiting on but at those prices the wait will continue until the copycats produce a cheaper version.

Will elaborate on my response later as I am out tonight. Will say this though, if your birds are being medicated they should be barred from competing until chemical free.

Would you pm me it Ian and I'll put my tuppence worth in for ye.

Went back tae playin pool a couple of years ago after a 13yr break. Up to now I was oot every Thursday but am playin the Wednesday night this year as well..... I use the word Playing loosely coz am no half the player I was before packin up in 2001, a could pot them aff the lampshades at that time, noo am mare likely tae break the lampshades :emoticon-0179-headbang:

A didnae write it tae coz offence but it's interesting you mention Braspenning being friends with the vet. Have seen with my own eyes the amount of medication the average guy on the continent uses tae keep their Doos sound. Ye canny keep giving them medication tae get them racing coz the long term outcome is repeated sickness in yer birds, the fact he admits it doesn't surprise me either because they accept it as part and parcel of keeping doos. I don't know if you use antibiotics regularly or not but I would be very interested tae know what measures you took or what you done differently the year following it being in your loft to prevent its return.

Aye George that's another cause of immune deficiency that leaves the Doos open tae Every bug gawn aboot. They'll still be pumping them full of anti's despite all advice to the contrary !!

Can also state categorically that I haven't had yb sickness in my lofts Ever. I vaccinate at 20-22 days old in the nest, though wither that helps or not I couldn't guess. Personally I think it's because I keep them exposed to disease from birth and they're immune system can now handle it. I used to get them going light every year and was disposing of Ybs that went this way but this year I disposed of 1 (ONE) Yb that went 'off' and that particular bird had been handled umpteen times at a B/B sale the day before it showed signs of illness. I reckoned that it was stress as it was only 26 days old at the time, but that's a guess because I cannot prove it. Next year I expect to be in a position that not even 1 will have to go because there will only be 1 or 2 being introduced this winter and they will have to stand up to being in a rough environment before being paired up. IMO it is down to mismanagement over a long period of years. Guys who get it every year still keep doing the same things year on year and wonder how they keep getting it, the first sign of Madness is doing the same thing over and over again and Expect different results. They're gonna keep getting it until they change their ways, but I fear like all other things to do with the sport, it'll be everyone else's fault that Some fanciers get it.

It's a result of Decades of fanciers treating across the board for illnesses they knew/know nothing about. Antibiotics given for this that and the next thing, still goes on now. We've been getting told for just as long tae stop using antibiotocs before we aw become riddled way diseases that antbiotics canny cure any more. But whit do 'They' know !! Jmo.

Time in every old bird race...Done. Win a Red card....Done X 2. Time in fae the Gold Cup...Done and at the time I set myself Ypres to score fae as well thinkin we would be at Arras but it was Ypres with the SNFC but none the less I had 2 on both Fed and SNFC Result so ...Done. Have an almost completely different family of birds for going into 2017 with...Done. Brucie Bonus they bought all their own feeding etc tae. 😀

Aye that's what I seen Roland, but missed that wee comment about its validity.

Cheers Archie a never noticed. 😊

Anyone know who Digger Dagger is in 18th place, ??

Wullie Donachie has the first SU ring in the race. The doo you's think is an Ayrshire ring looks to me to be a GB doo as its prefix is UK like the other GB ring numbers.

I struggled to find the correct page for the birdage but one of the races a looked at had 4,000. Site isnae the easiest tae navigate. 114 birds obviously isn't as bad but you'd be disappointed if one or two of them were yours.

If they have libbed 4,000 Doos and there were none in race time they should be barred from running any more OLR's. Jmo.

Same here Wullie, only for breeding would I use that pairing. Usually do it Half bro/sis but would do full bro/sis if I liked Both of them.

Aye Andy, he was on the ball for you's ðŸ‘

Only a few tickets left to book so if ye are planning on coming Now is the time tae text me with your numbers, or ye may well miss out 😩😩

Yes Walter I know precisely the type you refer to.

If you have reached middle or old age and are a life or death fancier I can only say you are very fortunate indeed that life hasn't dealt you the hand that reminds you of just how Insignificant Any hobby is then you are blessed. Me? A was dealt that hand multiple times so if Sh*t happens with the Doos am not one bit perturbed by it because no matter how bad it is, it simply cannot measure against my Worst day and everything is measured against that.

Racer or fancy doo Stuart?