Fly_caster

Out of how many ? Sorry - see 30 now - Steve

RIP - Shocking news - condolences to the family. Ní bheidh a leithéid ann arís. Steve

Family / Breed/ Strain please ? Distances flown usually ? Thanks, Steve

Thanks for the update - wish him wellforusplease. Steve

Excuse the ignorance......but how does this trap work ? Looks like you have used a front from a nest box which will swivel inside similarly to a bob wire system, except they all open at once ? Cheers, Steve

Following the discovery of feather lice on many of our birds last summer, we dipped them in Chlorocarb. Upto then they were not exhibiting any signs of irritation. After dipping, for approx. 2 nights, it was like Riverdance in the loft. When I asked an experienced fancier what was going on, he explained that the parasites were leaving the birds and they naturally stamp on them as the drop off. Incidentally, the birds are still clear of lice....super stuff and took no time at all to treat my entire flock of 100+ birds. Hope this helps in some way, ATB, Steve

Sending 11 to Roscrea, 145 miles from us. The Easterly winds will be better than the strong Westerlies last week, although a bit colder. That wind will be on the nose of 90% of the convoy into Belfast, Newry etc, will be interesting to see the birdage tonight - 24,000 last weekend with the blow home wind for them Good luck to all sending. Steve

I have 42 Darkness YB on deep litter ever since they were weaned. I started with a clean floor to which I added half a bag of Eazi-Bed wood chippings. The section size is approx. 11' deep x 8' wide, including a corridor and aviary to the front of the section. The birds own the corridor ! In fact, my entire lofts (60', 8 sections in total) are all on deep litter, even my Widowhood racing team. I also don't treat but I do vaccinate. My birds are as clean as a whistle, YB's are durable and you will spot the weaker ones early on, making it easy to deselect. My YB team is over 90 in number, and I've removed 3 to date, and don't expect to remove many more from sickness of any sort. Hope this helps, Steve

She'll be back Walter....later this afternoon and early tomorrow morning, as she will believe that she has left an "injured" one behind. Presents an opportunity to "relocate her" ATB, Steve

SH has been twice in the space of a week. Percy was a daily visitor last week - twice a day sometimes - the Cock mostly and without success. watched him a few days and he was just warming the birds up for me before serious training begins ! They are a part of the furniture around here, we just ignore most of the time because to take any notice would drive you insane. Cheers, Steve

Thanks all - trying to forget them at this stage Cheers, Steve

Congrats - very well done ! Best of luck in the final !! Steve

Fixed that for you Owen !

Hey Roland, Yes - delighted to see England win - really! Don't see where you get the Rolland theme from - he was neither that bad or biased I believe. More heart and skill shown by England in that game than all of the last 4 years. Roll on next week - it will be good. Steve

France & Ireland..........

Hey Roland, Blind patriotism shouldn't affect your judgement that much - that England team has yet to meet the two best performing teams in the 6 nations, and until they do, the jury will be out! France being the "class act"....not so sure about that ! Wales made a job of Italy today - as expected, but will have a tougher job against the French next week, irrespective of the result against England tomorrow. Ireland played well in patches today, and Scotland were poor in general! Whether we made them look poor or that they were poor all by themselves is a moot point, suffice to say they need a new manager - I think he's done wonders for them but they need someone else for the next level. That reminds me, what's Kidney done wrong to you ? LOL, Cheers, Steve

Happy Birthday all !

You are obviously talking about your own wee corner - c'mon over here to the west and see what it's like ! Not much different to Scotland, or the western side of Wales for that matter. We have evrything here except for the Goshawk......praise be for small mercies ! Steve

Great pic - well done to him.

Good luck with that project Fred X - sounds like you are the man with the plan !!! Keep us updated. ATB, Steve

Here's to a good recovery mate - best of luck. Steve

Hi all, We live in a very difficult location to fly to. Having just returned to the sport over a year ago we are still in the experimental stages of finding our feet and testing what works best for us with YB's. Last year we bred over 100 youngsters. Just about 55 survived. 20 are latebreds, specifically bred to be left alone until the yearling stage. We're hoping that there are a few gems amongst them. We will train these with the YB's this year and will be raced out to 200 or so miles, with larger questions to be askeed bext year if they survive. The others have been raced out to 130 miles and have a reasonable amount of training.This year we are breeding early and putting the YB's on the darkness - just to see whether the extra maturity it seems to bring the YB's will assist us in getting better returns from the birds. Our aim is to fly the distance, so not in any rush with the YB's - time will tell I guess. The yearlings will be sent to the south coast, 300 miles, this year and any remaining will be put by until next year when they will be asked to tackle the channel as 2yr. olds, and the French races as 3 year olds, if we have any left. You have to have a plan, even if it can't always be followed as one wishes, we're giving it a go anyway ! ATB, Steve

Hi, There is someone on Chat giving a 28' tiled loft away. A thread called Looking for a loft by Vindecator. Hope this helps. Steve

Good luck with your recovery ! ATB, Steve

Well done to both of you......you'll need another loft now you know ! Hope it all goes well for you ! Steve