jimmy white

i think you are doing a great job , and sounds to me you have a great interest in these, my thoughts are that you will get all the info you want from either the forum members or looking through back posts ,on all the various different things concerning pigeons ,,,,,,,,but youll have to post a pic of "chicken legs ;D" sounds quite a character ;D best of luck

first of all in my opinion , your right, prevention is better than cure, but there are times when we need to treat,, the most common" ailments" are worms, cocci, and canker,, all birds will have some level of these in them, its when it goes over the danger line , then it becomes a problem , droppings and swabs can be taken to a good avian vet who will let you know IF you have to treat coccidiosis is is an over the limit count of this worm , secreted as oocysts [eggs] in their droppings therefore spreads by the birds picking directly at these droppings or contaminated grain , these oocysts or eggs thrive on damp humid conditions , so this is where it pays to keep your loft clean ,disinfected and bone dry [this also applies to the area around the loft ,obviously this cant be kept dry, but can be disinfected] this can aid to keep this cocci count to a minimum, worms are much the same although theres different types of worms, the most common being round worm, this can also be kept at a minimum by the same , canker is different and can be spread through the communal drinker or from another bird, or even a carrier , so again hygiene is paramount ,i,e clean water ,, dry loft , airy loft and clean loft, sometimes a bird going through a lot of stress can become vulnerable to all of these , then sometimes these can be secondry infections of something more serious , this is very basic , but if you look under the health posts you will find a lot of info there,,,hope this is of some help to you

nature is a wonderful thing ;D ;D ;D especially human nature ;D ;D ;D

well ;D one thing about vic,,,,,he makes us think very hard ;D

if [and just if ] these birds are worked to extremes , they will become depleted in glycogen levels, and would tend to be hungry most of the time, trying to build this back up,,,,,,,,,,,if they look vey fit , i wouldnt say it was worms ,as to be eating to this extent but still looking ok ,would not be the norm for worms , the birds would most cerainly not look fit, and their droppings would certainly not be" right" i should hopper feed these birds, and get their droppings tested and if no worms or cocci,,,,rest

peregrines do this with their young as do many hawks ,, but as said b4 in past post , peregrine usually catches them in the air and" plays" with them, dropping the pigeon , then if the youngster doesn't catch it it'll swoop down ,catch the half dead pigeon then repeat , till the youngster catches on , so to me this doesn't sound like a peregrine ,, a sparrow hawk tends to fly like flap flap flap, then a glide then a repeat , these will kill on the ground , these are usually quite easy to tell with their broad ,odd shaped wings , a kestrel [which wont kill pigeons] will go up high ,and tend to hover , fly a bit then hover ,then all of a sudden make a dive ,usually on mice or small birds,, sound to me like kestrels ,,,,,,,,,,talking to a farmer pigeon fancier i know from the kelso area , has a peregrine's nest 1 mile from his loft , also bothered with goshawks, but reckons, now there are many hybrids on the go [bred from escapees and crossed]

so he WAS a fancier ,,,,,,the second post threw me??? i think the fancier concerned should hang his head in shame , i think most decent fanciers would try and get the birds they report back to the owner, as cheap as poss and as quick as poss and the same vica versa :-/ i,e by transporter [going near] or trainer going that way etc etc

apologise,,,i didnt read second post properly , so this was a non fancier ,,,if the whu dont alter that rule [or be more specific] i think this guy will be looking for more to report :-/

shu ruling is the owner must CLAIM the pigeon within 7 days . but dont know w h u ruling ,, but am wondering if this was a fancier or non-fancier , if it was a non-fancier, how did he know it was £30?? either way, you would think a gesture of good will would be in order

just wonder if all secy,s could check all their entry sheets [ring numbers] ,,,,,,,,,and find out who has sent this bird to a race this is just plain cheating

yes,,,,thats the way do to do it well done

i like to give the plenty protein[peas ,beans p, nuts ] as their growing, just like you ;D [ fast ;D] so thats like your mum giving you plenty fish eggs and meat ;D,,,,,,,and brussel sprouts ;D ;D ;D, your mum gives you all that becuase its a balanced diet and its very good for you , so its the same with the young pigeons ,, a good balanced diet to make them grow, big and strong , carboheydrates to you are sweeties and bread chips, crisps , but these give you energy ,,,,but if you eat too many ;D ;) ,sweets you wont eat your dinner , ,,,,,,the carboheydrates to pigeons are maize , and wheat ,barley etc, , so too much of them and the young birds will not eat their proper food ,, so what i really mean is ,, a little of what you fancy does you good ,,,,,,,,,but only a little ... ;D ;D ;D [i wont tell your mum you ate all the birthday cake you bought me ;D ;D ;D ;D,,,,ji

yes ,i would say this is generaly true ,, but a bird [especialy distance ] has to be watched ], when its [in my case with this 6 y o] ver having scored b4 ,,but when you think of it only had 3 races per year and was broken to me as a two year old , so in all the time i had it ,it had about 12 races , 3 prep races then 500 mile plus on each 5 to ,600 , and each race it was actualy minutes out the national result , in fact when" sir colin" won a 12th e section from sartilly , i went straight down with the clock, after i got the clocked and came home , the 6 y o[ 4 at that time]was in the loft FRESH , now apart from my excitement , the poor bird , really should have been on that result , so i swore i would never give up on him after that , so at 6 y o, the bird hadnt changed ? but the method did ,, and he obliged so as the old saying in scot goes "the auld heid for the hard road" yes,..... in more ways than one

on this side of the forth [the lothians ] [opposite from the fifer ] much the same as fifers pic, cold, brisk e n e wind but dry

first lib 3am ,,,,,,,,new convoyer was asked to let the birds off as soon as poss,, as soon as he sees the sun comming up,, so let them up at 3 am,,,,,,,,,the old convoyer said" why on earth did you let them off at that time , i told you to let them off when you see the sun comming up",,," well," he said,,,there was a motor bike comming over the hill with its head lights on, at 3 am and i thought,,,,,,,,,,,, ;D ;D ;D good luck all in todays race

;D ;D ;D ;D ;D in the morning when hes fed, as soon as vic gets out of bed, hell sing a song of" happiness " "the greatest gift that i posses" hell bring vic luck in saturdays race his birds will come ,at some great pace hell win the race , with a wee cheq hen then cyril will have fun , with the" diddy men" , if vic, goes tatiefalarious,and takes the first six ittl be thanks to cyril,s, ,pals , and,their tickling sticks good luck in your race vic

glad to hear billy has put on a lttle weight ,, hes certainly been through the mill , i wish him all the best in his recovery

Weill toss for them Ryan ;D ;D ;D,,,,,,,,,,, maybe your turn next week ;D ;D ;D,,,,,,,,,,,,then ill get 4 eggs ;D ;D ;D

Ive called the creature Cyril as its obvious hes a squirrel the grand kids think hes great when he enters through the gate i was told hed be really bad and that just made me sad was told hed raid the huts when all he wanted was his nuts ;D ;D ;D carry on

looking at hjaltlands post on other thread ,," belated champs" prooves this to be indeed true, rose

and the same to you hjaltland and hope the hen breeds you something

it proves the fact that for the distance, patience is a must,, i had something similar a few years ago, a cheq cock , well behind in any short races , just out of national results by a whisper, still had faith in the bird ,,,,,15th open blue riband national rennes ,,,,at 6 years old ;D ;D ;D winning the hundred pound pool £i,800 ;D ;D ;D [first time scoring] ;D

can understand your worry frank, but i just cant see them having their second moult without casting flights , i know youll get the odd one cast a flight , but im sure they wouldnt second moult untill theve moulted about 4 flights ,,,,,,,are all the yb,s roughly the same age? maybe any later yb,s in with them, that could be casting these body feathers

yes i think you are doing the right thing,,,,,as long as the nest boxes are big enough

i think they will still be moulting their first moult, no need for the ten weeks ;D best put on normal daylight hours on the longest day ,usually the middle of June approx, this way you catch the bigger races nearing the end of the yb racing [i,e, going to the national on their second or third flight] with full body feathering against the baldy ones, with no tails and on there 3d last flight ;D ;D ;D