DinUtah

This is what we did to get some new flyers. Our Race secretary who is super pro pigeon racing, put an ad in the pet section of the local paper. (this is 10 months ago) Something along the lines of people interested in a competitive sport tied to good animal husbandry and so on..Of the many that responded, 7 were very interested and we all set them up with youngbirds for young bird races. All were late 20s and early 30s 4 baught electronic clocks and 3 borrowed clocks. 6 of the 7 are fired up for old birds this spring.. So the newbies are out there. We also added a category for newcomers so they could see their names on top of the sheet. 2 of them were competitive with the old timers. Anyway, every little bit helps the sport,, Denny

Wow So much info. Far more that i expected, especially the breeding plans. Some more info. I recieved 10 birds, late hatches, Most have orange/tan eyes a couple have top 2/3 eye orange and bottom 1/3 bull. The orangist eyes are all white birds. the mixed eyes have a black feather or 2 or edge of the tails blending from white to black,not unlike the double factor photo but to a lesser degree. Thats where Im thinking there is some grizzle in there somewhere that i might bring out. Maybe I can find a good winning bird that happens to be grizzle or a carrier or grizzle to get me on the right path or at least move it along a bit faster. Id like a good grizzle team thats competitive. Keep the info comming.. thanks again

Can anyone tell me how to make grizzles? I was gifted a few white distance racers and the idea crossed my mind. I know I may be sacrificing some racing ability just going for color but Im hoping for the best... Din

Exactly why Im here Jimmy.. The wisdom here is better than any book. From the way this guy talked i was thinking many people did it.. Im glad I asked

I know what your saying pulling a growing feather being bad, but, once I got a young bird from a fellow that had its wing tips clipped. i asked about it and he told me he did it to avoid the moult of the last 3 or 4 primarys. He told me after some time the feathers would pull out easily. Sure enough when that time came they were totally dry and pulled out very easily and 3 or 4 weeks later they were grown in enough to start routing .. I just dont remember any of the specifics about how much to cut off or when or anything.. just checking with the abundant knowledge pool here.. sounds like a bad idea to start with..Ill keep reading.. to see what else comes up.. Din

Wow. I paired up one year the last week in Nov. for Jan 1 banding. All seemed to go well as far as having very mature birds for young bird team. From reading all these responses Ill bet I opened a can o worms of problems that I didnt even realize. One positive was that often the first egg would over chill 'freeze' and the one baby would get all the attention..

Could someone tell me the timetable for cutting and pulling primarys of young birds? Along with that, the pros and cons of doing it.

I read of adding yeast as a supplement. Is this the same yeast as in bread making? I read of adding it to water, to feed, even a pinch in the mouth. Which is best, and, is it neceassary? Where do they get it if I dont give it to them? DinUtah

This spring I bought a few breeders from a winner in my club. Even though they are different familys, I was told they were janssen based so if the pairs got mixed it would be ok. I mention that to perhaps get some comment from whoever has wants to share. But my question is,, he told me that pearl eyes was a janssen trait. So does that mean that the young I have from them that have pearl eyes are closer to the real deal or just pearl eyed birds? Just wondering..DinUtah