Merlin

Maggie did indeed set Unions back ,all for the sake of profit,for her Masters,and again history is repeating itself to day,look at the Industries and jobs being sourced in poorer Countries,again all for the sake of bigger profits

Did do this or something similar one season,had built loft,with just box perches,hadn't got round to doing boxes,had birds together in what would be young bird sect,on lime/Sharp sand about four inches,they went to nest on this,12 pair of race birds,to observe this was an education,12 hens or Cocks nesting within inches of each other,and carefully observing each others territory,whilst moving,drinking,feeding,the twenty four youngsters were as sound as any youngsters I ever reared,eventually finding themselves ,in a bunch together,at about sixteen days old,with most parents feeding all and sundry,no prob whatsoever with sitting or rearing,on just sand and lime,akin to seagulls,and very contented,this happen as I say from necessity,rather than choice,but would do likewise to morrow if had to,think we underestimate our birds abilities very often

Just like Celtic,always there,go on the Bhoys,pedal to the metal now. ;D ;D

Happy Birthday Mikkey,have a good day,see you in Boot Camp in the Summer,when you will get your Commission ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

One of the most scenic parts of Ireland Len,Tallow Co Waterford,along with Lismore,Cappoquin,Ardmore,do believe Wolves Manager,Mick McCarthy parent/s are also from Tallow Co Waterford

Healthy pigeon droppings.dried on a board by the Sun,is very beneficial as an additive for the birds,just make sure it is dry,birds will readily pick at it,some more than others,also Buttermilk/ soaked into feed once a week,especially for youngsters.

Not all Les,I can fly rollers in my area to day with comparative safety,thanks to your help,and my own ingenuity,but sadly you are 99% right,its called Apathy,and it rules the roost

Far be it from me to put the dampener on anything that might help us in our ongoing problems with the B.O.P.deterrents are just that,and sadly they are only successful in the short term,soon as the novelty/fear of strangeness is over,its game on once again,knew a fancier who used,swore by using food dyes to keep B O P at bay,called to see these colours on birds one day,they had as much colours on as Boy George,and he swore by them,till a half hour later,when a hen Percy dove straight into the flock,and buried a good Channel Cock ,if and when its a case of survival,everything can and will adapt,there is only one way,i would love to be proven wrong with my opinion on this subject,but the most worrying part of this whole scenario,is this will be the most difficult season yet for Bop activity,and at their rate of breeding,next season will be 100% worse,as will all preceding seasons

Thanks Wayne,hope these pollsters are not betting folk,bookies have enough money ;D ;D ;D

Well done to Ireland,and hard luck to England,gotta keep em on the field of play,would like to see that original first post "Six Nations" again,egg on faces comes to mind ;D ;D ;D ;D

French were the best team on the night, especially in the second half,but fair play to Wales,they never stopped trying

Yes , i am also Irish.

Wishing the Welsh all the best,it has the making of a great game of Rugby,and likewise to Ireland to morrow

Got to agree with most of what Joe posted,very good insight,and extremly practical,very good post Joe 61 nearly 2

E.T.S.will really only benefit those who are already at the top of the pile,those with apparently unlimited resources,good loft location,already clocking and winning with regularity,pretty much like society,the rich get richer,the poor stay poor,it does nothing for approx 80% of flyers,which every club has,who don't scoop prizes already,for a hundred different reasons,the only two pluses I see is,shift workers,not catching bird,after that its as stated above,what I could see occurring is it being in many instances,a case of the straw that broke the camels back,I know of many cases,where some fanciers are just about hanging in there,for many reasons,Hawks,Sicknesses,Young Bird losses,and many more,not forgetting this bleak Economic forecast,now while the E.T.S good loft location fancier,plenty resources, etc,takes even more,while there might not be a mass exodus of fanciers,there will be a steady trickle of fanciers quit,an already dying,member wise sport/hobby, and its surely another deterrent regarding Youth coming on board . I am not anti E.T.S. far from it,but will stay with T/3 and Stall Trap,just believe that there is a bigger picture to be seen here,that may eventually affect pigeon racing,as we know it now

Too true Novice,its the commercialism that's involved here,and you can bet its only going to get dearer,by whatever means these bodies choose,what an opportunity missed by governing bodies,they should be supplying ,when needed E,T.S. System/rings/etc,and dealing with Manufacturer/s cutting out middle men,sadly they didn't,now all are at mercy of commercial interests for foreseeable future

Good sound common sense Joe,total agrement with this.

Got nothing against E.T.S. being used,it does favour so called mob flyer's,those who are interested in taking all pos in Club + if opportunity presents itself,would agree as regards handling birds immediately re race,and fanciers who are working/absent.after that it does nothing beneficial for the Sport,and will probably be a nail in the coffin in what is already a dwindling sport ,member wise, because as for bringing in new youth /members of which this Sport needs if its not to go the way of the dodo,its another handicap,but at least it was democratically introduced,use it if you wish,or continue with conventional clocks,just talking for my own set up,imagine a stall trap is just as fast for clocking the birds that matter,i.e. first bird,and pool bird,but as for Sport in general,it help create more problems,than it will fix . J.M.O.

Again I ask fanciers do they not think its even slightly uncanny that its within approx the last 30/40 years especially,these new sickness began to infect our birds,which is about the time our continental cousins were established with their anti biotics syndrome,a custom a lot of fanciers followed suit with on this side,still do,while the pigeons have been combating these bad bacterias,for countless years,successfully I might add through with what NATURE designed for it,so MAN introduced his chemicals formed in a lab,which does give a boostin the "short term"in the measure of time,but two words spring to mind,bad bacteria,and mutation,do we discover and use this super cocktail of chemicals,that defeats all mutations of bad bacteria,change Nature,don't think so,the very fact that its capable of mutation,says this,so better get in tune with Nature and whats Natural,rather than try to best it,we are creating our problems,surely common sense and hindsight tells us this.

The acceptance or rejection of the E.T.S. System goes to a vote of Club Delegates, only at The Irish Homing Union Annual General Meeting which takes place next Sunday in Dundalk.

As per usual,we don't see the Wood for the Trees,it seems with all apparently discussing personal insight only into these problems,my question is ,Where do these circus of new sickness originate from,back in the 60/70 there was very little sickness,also very little "gunk" being put into pigeons,to me its a lot more than just a coincidence,that the more we treat blindly,the more problems are created in the long run.

This Y/B training is down to the fancier,and resources at his disposal,time,transport,etc,mine start at eight mile,till they are clearing right away then on to approx 20/25 mile,a safe lib spot,as late in evening as possible, on their line of flight, giving them time to get straight home,late evenings they wont hang about,at least four times per week,and when they are bombing out of this distance with regularity,even in relative poor conditions,you are thereby teaching them the rudiments,that's hopefully imprinted on them for the rest of their racing careers,liberated,get home as quickly as possible.

Inclined to agree with you Tony,Y/B sickness is as yet out of season,doesnt normally kick in till birds are put under stress/training/racing,and even the continentals although early breedrs for the market,havent yet started racing etc,and they do recover from it,sound to me also possibily something more sinister,if they are perplexed by it,and there are none better than continentals in (overusing) antis

Pigeondesigner,Many thanks for the info regarding Young Bird sickness,hope effect on your Dads birds are minimal,my own opinion is that most of these sicknesses are the result of OVERUSE of antibiotics,same thing is also applicable in medical science,,antibiotics are being used as a boost by many fanciers during racing,quite successful I am led to believe in the short term,as well as on a regular basis, to prop up immune systems,until as the song says"the drugs don't work any more" these sicknesses have very little to with Natural order of things,Nature governs all living things in so many different ways,we may on occasions tweak it,but we can never best it, and personally I believe these NEW sickness are down,more to mans input,approx for last 40 years,than any Natural input. At my age I have had the pleasure of seeing lofts of birds,never having seen an antibiotic race successfully for years at sprint and distance,our only concern would have been Canker,and this was the result of the economic climate,when you had to feed what was available,rather than choice,today the drugs are replacing the fanciers hard work and graft,its aping society in general I expect

Lofts and birds looks very well,wish you the very best with them.