Merlin

Got to be race birds and Birmingham Rollers.

Wonderful Tomo although its a misreable damp and wet morning here,did you get sorted with those Badges.

Fresh air via Loft Ventilation is the best preventive,to treat its Naserline.

Virkon S at the rate of a level spoonful to two gallons of drinking water.

Glad to hear Tammy, rumours of your pigeon demise and input to site have been greatly exagerrated,and look forward to your further input

My own thoughts echos Gangsters,inso much as there are many and varied reasons for such extraordinary young bird losses,but I would reiterate what I said earlier,its an uncanny coincidence that most losses occour,when the Falcons are hunting in families,as for ets,we dont use it as yet over here, yet losses are compatible with anywhere else,just last weekends racing on this side was almost a disaster,return wise,the K Index Factor showed it was clearly dangerous to train/race pigeons for that time, yet racing went ahead.,I think the real reasons are much more complex and are now too well entrenched,to do anything about,once this win at all costs scenario is prevelent among young bird racing,we with the input of sky pirates,will always be taking one step forward,two back with young birds.

These losses have been there for years Vic,before E.T.S. was ever introduced but mind you they do coincide with the period when young falcons are learning to hunt,and this being the only period in their lives,they hunt as a family of 4/5/6,and this incidentally is when most young bird losses occour,for the last month,and possibily another month,after that our young birds are mostly survivors,and will undoubtly have to contend with the falcon issue on an ongoing basis,for the rest of their lives, this is the worst and most dangerous period in our young birds lives,and its when most losses occour,while I dont assume that falcons are dirictely responsible for taking every bird that goes missing,they are definitely responsible for the reasons,that causes many of them to go a.w.o.l. especially in our young birds for reasons stated above, now for the good part,next young birds season will be worse,and so on. We as fanciers have buried our heads in the sand for too long,its now too late,even if the will was there,which its not.

Congratulations,and wish you both all the best.

One hell of a nice guy is Gordon,have had birds from him,they work well,pretty good stuff has Gordon.

I dont use Buttermilk too often as it does push on the moult,but I use it more than most,when they get out to those last flights,there is a lot of discomfort and soreness,would watch closely the casting of these,well before and some days after,bird will let you know themselves with their reluctance to fly,a few days after each flight is cast,no probs,would imagne buttermilk constantly is responsible for double casting of some flights,swings and roundabouts springs to mind,but again lovely condition youngsters,watch closely the length of growing flight,All the Best.

Jason you have got some healthy birds there,well done,how far have they been trained,.

Likewise with my three Jason,leave them in.

Hens will have to go into a differente section,away from there own Cocks,with the Indians,if you want him to thread them,it aint going to happen Micko if their Cocks are about,hens are ready to mate again when youngsters are 16 to 20 day old,but you first have to break them from their original cocks,keaving original Cocks to finish off rearing youngsters,with NO hens.

Sorry to hear of problems regarding the youngsters Jason.

Be nice Vic,who knows David might even breed you a pair. ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

Well done again Roland,where the hell do you get these from. ;D ;D ;D ;D

(Keyboard Hero) ;D ;D ;D Thats a new one Chrisss, ;D ;D ;D ;D .

Your feeding will possibily dictate how well your birds race,but as being responsible for losses,dont think so,still mantain its down to too many inferior birds being bred,and regardless of what effort you put into these,ya cant make a slik puse out of a sows ear,they dont have IT in general what it takes,the more you breed and fly,the bigger your losses

In my shoes,if this was to happen, I would look at general Health of Birds,Motivation,Feeding system,if the reason is not found among these three,would try a different bird.

Dont think giving up is the answer to your problem,its possibily gonna make it worse to be without birds,you know whats required,its down to you.

Good luck Tammy,you will be missed for your wit,honesty,and advice,all the best to you.

Then a week later,he will be like a Sputnik flying out,well done David

Again top class one Roland ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

The bottom line in my opinion,is they have it or they havent,possible reason for losses,too many youngsters being bred,there are now only half the fanciers there were 40 years ago,yet we are breeding twice as many youngsters,point being too much crap being bred,with every egg being hatched,charge £2 each for rings,and overnight your losses will drop alarmingly,draw a line through your young birds at end of season ,you will find that most of your good youngsters are from parents that performed well,and not these so called paper pigeons ,breed less and look after them better.

Yes from a farm,its much cheaper if you can manage to get some.