Merlin

Of course they can,maybe not in the same season,but if you set them up for it,with correct feeding,motivation,they can oblige on occassions, and will be capable of winning at shorter distances,what is a sprint race,is it down to velocity,or distance.i.e. two Channel Hens 1st and 2nd club at 125 mls,vel 1865/1863 last w/e with lots of Widowers behind them,excuse the pun,dont pigeon hole your birds,they are capable of surprising you on many occasions,on land ,good system/motivation is invaluable,low velocities,distance/hard races a game gutsy pigeon is invaluable

Cead Mile Failte, to all the new lads to the site,enjoy your birds and the sitewishing you the best with both.

Fair play to you Chris, a very nice and caring gesture,well done.

My methods is to place cloves/sliced/in the net immerse in water carrier,and top up each evening,leaving it stand overnight,tastecontent of garlic grows stronger on a daily basis,its an accquired taste then,which they wont have any bother with,leave cloves in for a fortnight,and then change.

Oops,sorry about that Ulsterlofts,didnt see the humour,possibily too early,as for Joe 61 lots of humour on here,especially in most of your posts.

Dont think anyone would go wrong with above ,well done James,a goodly dollop of common sense. You have got my nom for election as No 1 resident "Old Hand"

A wee bit tetchy that reply Ulsterlofts,Jimmy did make a valid point,while yours is slightly irrelevent to what should only be a debate of differing points of view

Wouldnt have any problem with that statement Jimmy,except to say they werent crossing approx 100 miles of water in their French races previous to here,still a good un is agood un regardless of what location its racing to,but there are some that have to be that bit more durable.

The bottom line as regarding,telling difference is they cant,in most cases,it doesnt matter,they dont want any of them them,this fact alone should make people realize what a threat Eagle Owls are to their selected/protected B.O.P.,and it should make all fanciers want to encourage the re introduction of these Owls,any which way we can,and hopefully we are capable of doing same,and posting letters,e.t.c is like sitting in a rocking chair,its gives you something to do,but It will get you nowhere.

Our birds will circle Sparrow Hawk for reasons stated above,we know you are here,you cant do much now,its when they dont see it,then advantage of suprise and ambush is on its side,then it can and is usually lethal,look at reaction when a Perigrine comes into view,sheer terror,no bravado from our birds,all pigeon fanciers have an obligation to protect their lofts and inmates against all types of predators,one way is to encourage the re introduction of The European Eagle Owl, in whatever way we can,as they are the supreme predator,and when wild are entitled to same protection under European Wildlife Laws,as any other protected species,lets hope, and soon we see/hear/read,of a court case where one of those R.S.P.B are charged with killing/harassing/capturing/one of those Protected birds.

I hope common sense prevails and when/if on appeal to S.H.U. this knee jerk reaction to an illness,and this Draconian decision to ban this person from racing,is overturned,for what was basically his honesty,if it was done for reasons of cross infection,should all visitors to lofts have also been included in ban and this would have to include incubation period also,by selecting to punish only one,this is victimisation,anyway you care to look at it,I have every sympathy for the predictament this fancier finds finds himself in,through no fault of his own, its help and encouragement he needs,not to be treated the way he has, all lofts are capable of being in same position,at any time.

Well done to Celtic,three in a row,last nights game they were never going to lose,you have to feel sorry for Rangers,their season which promised so much is beginng to curl up a bit,"Manys the slip twixt cup and lip" got to pick themselves up for Sat.

My own opinion on this judging on facts that are available its very wrong to suspend this member from racing from Loft Location B,this can only be based on "assumption" or guil by assosciation,by setting this precedent,it stands to reason ALL who had occassion to visit this Loft Location A should also be banned from racing,this would also include incubation period of illness,which fancier has not hidden,or disguised,whatsoever,and at time of posting correct dignosis is not apparently available yet,nothing that warrants banning is based on facts,this should be fought all the way,otherwise based on this assumption,we are setting a precedent,if your birds are ill,allegedly,you can be banned from racing.

As for training youngsters,my own opinion is thats a descriptive misnomer,if youngsters are being done correctly/fed/health they are ranging/flying for often over an hour,which would equate to approx 30/40 miles each excercise, they have a natural fitness to begin with ,after this its an education process in my case,10 miles N/S/E/W/ then about 20 mls from a "safe" spot on their line of flight,late evenings,at least five times per week,always late evenings for many reasons.

Read somewhere to hold it over steaming kettle ( not hot ) and rub some oil around the vent area. p.s How old is this hen ?

Well done Tony, hope you keep it going.

Well done Stuart,all winners are welcome,but theres always something a wee bit special about Channel winners

Hard one,and its one only you can answer,my slant on it would be keep him at home,get him over his trapping problems,and you have a good land bird,try one of his so far slower companions in the National,whatever you choose I hope it turns out well. Good Luck.

Jimmy no doubt you are correct to a certain extent,my mentor in pigeons now sadly departed told me many years ago,one of his many never forgotten bits of advice to mewas,"You have got to fool pigeons a lot of the time,otherwise they will fool you"and as i meandered along with my pigeons life for many years now,never have I heard words so prophetic as those,another one regarding pedigrees,showing him a bird I had bought,with the first ever pedigree I had ever seen,"Whats this" he said on being handed the pedigree "Go back and get the pedigree of the man who sold you that bird,thats what you should have got"

Agrre with most of your points Just Ask Me,the point that I am trying to make is ,a good pigeon,is a good pigeon,and in lots of instances if done correctly feeding/motivation,training,etc,he is capable of performing with credibility at lots of distances,its the specaliseing of the fancier as you say,that makes it a sprinter/distance bird, I dont say that this in most instances this would happen overnight,even to day lots of winners at the distance contain bloodlines that were once deemed sprint/fast,never the less be it sprint or distance,both require total and almost ruthless dedication,and skilful input to sustain their performances on a regular basis,but especially at the distance,which after all regarding outside threats is much more hazardous,those that do this on a regular basis can only be admired,and again its just my opinion

Well done Tammy,

To manage and fly a good kit of Rollers takes an awful lot of know how,its as fascinating and difficult as trying to put together a good team of racing birds,and anyone doing so has my respect as a pigeon fancier,very exciteing and gratifying watching a good kit of Rollers perform,not an easy thing to do

Quite right Jim,you could go on and on,the reason being is that most fanciers are gullibile, forever looking for this magic potion to give them the edge,come race day,advertising is sometimes superb,so on and on it goes sadly,in all walks of life.

Couldnt find too much amisss with what you state yourself Jim,its all down to fine tuning,but if I had a choice as regards participant in a difficult 500 miler plus I would choose a hen,they appear to possess more determination,durability,a sheer dogedness,in most cases than Cocks,with an increase in Barley and Peanuts content,as these are two feeds,very easialy digested,with proper requirements for the job,again just my way.

get a different type of pigeon,one with bags of endurance,heart,and a refusal to quit under any circumstances,these are pigeons flying 7/1000 miles with very low vels, and its for the above reasons these are always thin on the ground,these are in my eyes distance pigeons,but as for one day races,lots of birds if done right are capable of scoring,regardless of strains,labels,etc.