Merlin

My own thoughts would be appoint from within the Sport,the most suitable candidate,with a steering committee,of say six members again only from within the sport,these then with regional officers would run R.P.R.A,and my own first nomination would be Mr Denis Wall for any of these seven seats,with S.Wilcox showing with his input,he would certainly be on the right wavelength for another seat. Sadly dont think this will ever happen,as latent snobbery and image projection seems more important than practicality.

elcome I.B your logic and facts are badly needed,and in the spirit and truths thats mentioned.lets talk.

Whats the chance of all organizations getting their act together,and demanding that these faceless lawmakers and cronies in Raptors Unlimited come clean what their long term plans are,before the wild bird population is decimated for a start,very little human input there,when its gone its gone for ever

Now Raptor we are singing from same Hymn Sheet insomuch as we agree that Peregrines and others are indeed vastly overpopulated,with this scenario if allowed to continue will eventually "my opinion" result in raptors coming off worse eventually. whats your own feelings. Now for rest of input please leave personal comments out,and use a bit of common sense

Just on equestion for you Raptor how much energy expended killing gulls and wild birds remembering these are in the main wild birds with full survival instincts also how many of these killed would equal protein amount contained in one racing pigeon. I observed a breeding pair of peregrines in 07 season,one day I counted EIGHT pigeons being taken to plucking post by the Tiercel and his hen EIGHT, three youngsters being fed, she was away hunting following morning at 8- 20

Raptor like yourself I would not harm anything for the sake of harming it,its not in my nature,as Sakar says without prey,breeding is affected,racing pigeons are directly responsible for an estimated 95% of falcons reared in the last ten years,especially in this side of the world,an amount of top class protein available all during breeding,at very little effort,racing pigeons/flocks/strange terrain/ very little survival traits/consequently all falcons good and poor hunters rearing large clutches.due to protein on demand,withdraw this feeding bowl for one season,now whats the consequences.

Strange things facts,we as people in the know Falconers,Gamekeeper,Shooters,Pigeon Fanciers,Grouse Breeders,Wild Bird Fanciers,or mostly any person with what I would term a hands on approach regarding birds,hobby,sport,earning a living,and all the relevant expenditure involved with same,why cant we get together as one,tell these headless ^bodies^ its wrong for so many reasons,even for the reasons they are protecting,who are these people making such unwise decisions,where is their monies to implement their decisions come from,the status quo will not prevail indefinitely,what happens if racing pigeons becomes a no no,and wild birds are wiped out,whats left then skies full of raptors,no there will come a time when people realize enough is enough,now you tell me what happens.

Raptor Peregrines are essential in the natural order of things,and no sane fancier would wish for their total demise,they are actually in my own opinion a beautiful bird but sadly to days scenario is anything but natural,with sparrow hawks and peregrines vastly overpopulated in all areas,consequently in such large amounts they are responsible for carnage amongst pigeons and native birds almost nationwide, very few predators have ever needed protection,nature decrees this,and the protection afforded these on an ongoing basis has and will have serious effects on all type of birds,especially racing pigeons,who are in the main responsible for their breeding explosion ,and its a matter of time I believe till again,its a them or us situation is realized,and sadly its possibly the hawks who will be the losers,as you know man is the supreme predator.

Jack Third eyelid ie covering sheath,what capabilities does it have,besides keeping eye ball clean/lubricated,reasons for asking being,when examining eyes in this instance other fanciers birds,have noticed the third eye lid can have different shaded hues,from clear to a milky/creamy white.could this be inner health related. Thank You.

Hello Jack Looking for the two day racers,extreme distance eyes is it fair to say,most of these will be found in yellow based eye.,with thin correlation.

Vic I am one of the old school of fanciers,having seen the word Circovirus in print several times,never really taking note of,but now that I have read up on it,when its consequences is compared as "similar to aids in Humans" I dread to think what the outcome would be,if this ever gets a strong hold,as its capable of doing being a virus, but do see where you are coming from,regarding the emergence of this disease. Again sorry for your misfortune.

Vic I am genuinely sorry for your predicament,I could not offer any suggestions,never having encountered same,but if you type( Herpes Virus in Racing Pigeons) on your search engine,there are many pages on same to be found,too many to relay,this might give you some answers,and comfort.

in total agreement regarding it being a sport, but when you read of a fancier refused membership to five clubs in his area,apparently because he is at the top of his game,and is capable most race days of flying an outstanding pigeon,you have got to ask,do we really deserve to be called a sport,a footballing parlance being,the players of Man U telling Rooney, cant let you play,you are too good,and sadly this is not an isolated case.

Got to think its a good trait,his type of independence at such tender years

Nice one Lofty,gonna enjoy you, Really cant see any problem regarding dependence,they are Natural products,and in the main the birds/health/welfare will benifet,so my own opinion is use away. With Garlic I use cloves only,on a weekly basis,every second week,Cyder Vinegar once a week a capful to a Gallon of water,Honey in water after Racing/Training,sure there are many variations on this,but again thats my way. Use Buttermilk to shed small body feathers,I use this when starting Youngsters on Dark System.

Its because they are better pigeons.

Myself I think this is sadly typical of whats been happening with birds for a good number of years now,if these were to come from the continent with a suitable worded pedigree,they would definitely fetch a lot more,which is a sad judgement of some fanciers of to day

Would sincerely wish Billy all the best,and return to his beloved birds soon.

Well over 50 years, have been breeding and racing pigeons since,with what I term old fashioned methods,no chemicals,most of what my birds receive could be taken by myself,have found good and bad birds in all (strain names) some more so than others,many different methods practiced with Mr Basket always having final say,someone above mentioned how far we have come,for myself having seen both sides, I think its one step forward,two steps backward,in most instances,and lest one might think,typical old guy,longing for days when he won a race,not so,my birds performed last season as well as ever they did,and hopefully this season,what I gained most from pigeons down those years is enjoyment,this is down to being just around the birds,the rest is secondary.

My selection would be the last,that little Mealy Hen,with the laid back attitude

Guess there is no hard and fast rule regarding this question,its like pigeons in general,Many roads lead to Rome,one point which is basically good manners,origin of birds,strains/lines/ should definitely in all cases be given credibility

Total agreement as regards Johnsons ,I have been using it for years.

You are entitled to disagree as this makes for healthy debate,when eggs hatch from then on its only my input will determine health and condition of these for the rest of their days,so these have got to be classed as mine. Racing ability in part down to genes = Origin of Bird Studs do this for commercialism, as named fancier has "proven product" Continentals are more concerned with proven type/ability of birds when buying. now this is food for thought Much more Concerned with pedigree when selling, read what Ad Scharlakens has to say regarding same,much more knowledgeable than me.

Once the egg hatches in my loft,they are my birds any other reference is to their origin,its exactly what the Belgian and Dutch fanciers do,and they show very little interest in written pedigree,only in winning genes.

Believe that it would be a good idea,especially for those starting their eye study,several posts over last few days confirms that their is much interest from Eye Study novices.