jimmy white

vinnie im sure theres many would like to help,, but theres many clubs in the same boat ,, their toiling to do their best for their own clubs and feds nowadays ,, i would be able to send a couple later on as i have promised a lot out , if that would be of any help

first of all,, clubs not refusing young members,,,,,ive allways said if each fancier got one person interested in pigeons ,,,,think about it

just musing about the advantages of the bath ,brought to mind when brian may was in my house, showing me slides of flight feathers through a microscope,, he reckoned like canaries you get plain and buff ,, these are feathering characteristics , brian called them" silk and satin" he reckoned that some pigeons were "satin" feathered and some" silk" you could see the obvious difference in the webbing of these flights through the microscope, me, being a bit sceptical , put the bath out ,,birds had a bath , after their bath he could tell me which birds were" silk" feathering and the ones with" satin" feathering,, by watching the way they flew from the bath to the loft,, some found it easier than others , these were then checked through the microscope,, and he was right ,, so he reckoned that some pigeons were better suited to repel the rain than others ,,,,,,,just a point of interest

the bath is important for pigeons , as mentioned above ,, and can be used when needed [for reasons best known to the individual fancier [remember baths can induce the moult] i remember the great eddie newcombe ,saying that he didnt give his distance candidates a bath , untill the conditioning and trainiing started for nationals . i think what you see on the top of the bath ,,is the old down, and the old bits of skin [as pigeons renew skin regular, especialy in the body] when all this" muck" gets to much for the bird,,it naturaly wants a bath,,[it knows its got "muck" on it, but youll find that after a bath [in normal conditions ] they will not bath ,for at least three days ,,,,,,,,,to prove this, in the summer , after a bath,, pollute the loft with loft white [i mean put far to much in ] the birds will sence this dust on them ..and bathe again , even the next day,,,,so the bath is a great thing for the birds , and can be used to the fanciers advantage

many modern day distance pigeons are winning on w,hood. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,but theres days where they win on natural and beat widowhood pigeons quite easily in certain weather conditions ,,,,but to plan on winning at the distance takes a few years [even with the one pigeon] so impossible to tell the forecast in advance ,,,,natural for the distance seems more reliable [550 ,,,,600 miles ] but the old adage goes,, a pigeon right , at the right time, and on the right day, that suits the individual pigeon ,,,thats the hard bit

the pectorial muscle is the strongest muscle on a pigeon,,and the biggest

i havent seen hemcore but got the easybed down now,, looks a treat and doesnt blow about like shavings [its just like small chips of wood ] every thing that comes out my loft goes in compost heap or spread about and dug in .think my neighbours will be happy ;D ;D ;D with the wind here today,, the shavings and loft white i threw on my garden ,,,,are now in her garden ;D ;D ;D how pleased she was when i told her how good for the garden it is ;D ;D ;D ;D

def. all look the part philips,,, lofts and birds a credit to you ,,

perigrines are the ones that hit them in the air [amongst others] the sparrowhawks are the most dangerous around the loft [also many falcons,] allthough the rspb set up nest boxes for these birds in order they should multiply [totally against nature] but these birds enjoy the same protection as any garden bird,,,such as robins and sparrows, ironically ,,the ones they consume with such gusto unfortunately theres not a lot [apart from whats being done by some unions] that can be done unless the law changes????,, meanwhile , there are some , so called detterrrents such as a tape of the eagle owl [tammy would help you there] cd discs ,, rockets, arson traps to cartch and release them elsewhere? my advice would be to contact the" songbird survival group ", previusly mentioned in this thread

my brother , a canary fancier ,, has all his show carrying boxes painted pale blue , all his breeding cages too,, when i asked him why? he reckons this has a calming effect on the birds ,, with w, hood cocks, ive found this to be true [light blue emulsion to let the wood breath ,,,gloss or varnish could cause condensation , when theres 2 big yb,s and 2 adults in the box

i agree to these last two posts , its more to the point , the way birds are set up,, yes these so called sprinters can do it,, but in my experience when it comes to 6oo miles in a head wind it needs a special type of pigeon to do this ,,,but you need different types of pigeonns ,, for different types of races [horses for courses]

i think i would have to be the most gracious in defeat ,as i havant the best team of birds at the mo, ;D

clean[ scrape] first section every day , give it a spray with jeyes fluid [on a good drying day ] with birds locked out,,,,breeding section ,,,,just bought a bale of easy bed this morning ,, will try this ,,will spray the floor first , put fan heater in ,,just to completely dry it of ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,need help g. h. ;D ;D ;D

my father bought barker -gits from the late macalpine [dr andersons loft manager ] these birds were all b cheqs with feathered legs ,, off course dr anderson created many crosses [very successfully] then there was many reds among them [some also had the feathered legs] off course this was many years ago,, i think most" breeds" are diluted now also just a point of interest my old dad [said follow the band ,,oops carried away ;D] said he swore blind the best book on racing pigeons was" dr barkers book on the racing pigeon"

i have [through the years] received many pigeons as presents , i have also bought pigeons, some for quite large ammount of money ,, in racing these birds have had good and bad in both ,, in my opinion , if you buy birds , just make sure of the fancier and the source . the bit that gets me is if the fancier pays say £100 for a pigeon , they automaticaly think its better than the free one,,,,,not neccesary true

i would race a decent quality yb team , keep training them short distances , single up double up , different directions [ i wouldnt bother about the first two or three races ,, the libs are too unsettled , then split them in to two teams ,, then watch the weather [no race in east wind] then try and get them week about up to 150 miles ,,as yearlings i would race them [providing their completely fit,,,and not done [not in early april etc ],,up to 300 miles their not mature birds untill their 2 y o, so patience would be my game and when 2 y o the skies the limit

f you have a good search through the site youll find a posting on this,,,,i myself have had eggs put aside in the house in a cool place [not fridge] turned them regular , dampened them each day and had them hatch,after about 10 days , but im sure there will be more experts than me able to give you more info , on that one [done this this year for 5 days ,hatched ,,,,main thing i think is ,,,as long as they have not began to incubate [fresh laid eggs]

the only way the basket will prove a good pigeon,,,,,,is,,,,,, if the man that puts it in the basket knows excactly what hes doing,

thats it shifted now ed,, hope you get the info your after

if you go on to the photos postings ,, youll see how do upload pics, there :)

yes, its cerainly getting dearer ,, think the only answer is to keep less birds ,, cheaper ;D healthier ;D cleaner ;D

had a great time,, ;D ;D enjoyed meeting old and new friends ,all great friendly folks especialy enjoyed the "viking cabaret" with a few pb gang ;D ;D ;D brilliant night ,,top class comedians ;D ;D ;D and a big thank you t.t ,, will be there next year ;D

my goodness me ;D ;D ;D im agreeing with tammy ;D ;D ;D i infortunately , didnt see stu,s stand ,, but the reports i had ,, the pigeons were a credit to him , and in great condition i wished i had seen them ,,as any pigeon i have purchased from stu. willcox have arrived at my house in superb condition [one bred two prizewinners last year ],, half the battle for a start ,,,,,,in answer to tammy,s question [which i agree,, "who thought they bought the best" possibly more to the point ,,,,,for hundreds of years the old farmers go to their markets,, buy the hens, they think , are going to lay the biggest and most eggs the cow thats going to give the most milk and produce the best meat etc etc etc ,, they still cant do it spot on,, after all these years,, [thought i was foster and allen for a min ;D] the point im trying to make is ,,,,if you buy a healthy ,,well bred bird ,pigeon youve a chance [just a chance] of breeding winners [and a lot of that is down to management ], to buy a sickly .poorly one ,youve no chance ,, and any decent pigeon fancier can spot that difference right away

:) well done kelly tom :)

ive been giving yb,s baby,s milk ,,all look good ,,shall get a pic after blackpool 2 scoops per drinker every second day [in fact they look that good think ill take some myself ;D ;D,, no comments please ;D]