jimmy white

yes chicadee,, the old lavender stalks are good too, and they keep the nasties away, if im not mistaken [i usualy am ;D] i think they use lavender in some insect sprays ,,,never tried the heather, but would imagine that would be good as well,, and as you say,,,,cheaper ;D but for some reason the birds seem to like tobacco stacks ,,old dad used to use his woodbine ends [unlit ;D] sprinkle them around the nest bowl.. and it worked ;D

yes,, i also had one with a thin stalk stuck through the ring ,,,, but just a one off ,, easily checked regular

lights in for the stock birds if you want early yb,s but dont like them in racing loft , but unfortunately due to work etc , they are needed

great pics anyway some stunning birds

very interesting ,, it would be nice to see the top scientists taking a keen interest in this, using pigeons ,,,and pigeon fanciers ,, the last big study ,, when they told us they used motorways as navigation :-/ :-/ :-/ off course the top scientists done this with out the help and advice of the wee pigeon man [surely they would be a big help as well ]

ill bet youll get a better bargain , chatting to the show men with the modenas ;D ;D hope your in luck anyway

c,mon aarden ;D ;D ;D ;D just a badge like every one else ,,, ;D ;D ;D not 25 kilos of maples as well ;D ;D ;D only kidding mate,, enjoy and good luck ;D

these are the ones i like looking at,,,something different

great to have an E.R. bird in your loft ,,, bet folks are amazed when you say " i got that from queen elizabeth" ;D sounds great

happy birthday dave ,,

looking good ,jason amazing how quick they grow [and how much they eat ;D ;D]

leaving about 1pm frid. [forecast dont look too good] still ;D dry in the winter garden ;D

good luck with it ben ,,good breeding

;D ;D im definately , definately, not buying any pigeons at blackpool ,,[but might like the look of some ;D ;D ;D]

whos definately not buying pigeons at blackpoll ;D ;D ;D ;D then when you come back tell us if you kept your promise ;D ;D ;D ;D

have managed this at two weeks old ,but very difcult and very easy to damage the foot for life,, really depends of size of yb , like andy,,above , ive used vaseline , after putting vaseline on the" knuckle" dipped the birds leg in cold water ,,to reduce the heat or swelling ,,then holding the birds toes with a dry tea towel, trying to put ring on using other tea towel [as the hands get slippy with the vaseline and you cant get a proper grip,, ] the faster you can get the ring on without damage the better , as when the ring gets to the knuckle this is were it gets stuck and in fact swells more , which makes it harder , but dipping the leg in cold water helps this swelling to keep at a minimum but its a dodgy bussiness,, hope you got your rings and managed to ring them

i think you learn more about the birds racing natural,, but would certainly think about w, hood after first year [but beleive in setting your plans out , and not changing them if poss ]

thanks guys,, theres a load on the forum that folks dont even know ,, and for a new starter its gold :) best of luck

if your able to dangle the leg easily most ways ittl be broken,, but i feel its just injured its leg ,either way ive found the best way is to leave them alone , they soon learn to hop about and at that age [even if broken, would near knit in a fortnight] ive found splints and other methods [home made splints , plaster cast etc , in fact can make the bird worse , by stopping the blood flow and swelling the leg, foot ,,,but only my opinion good luck to you with it [you can make a hammock out of a pair of old tights with its two feet dangling through] but still found leaving it alone is better , it learns quicker to gradualy use it

i would have 2, 5 and a half ft sections ,, w hood boxes on the back of the [the 7ft bit] each side ,,,,and a sputick on each section on the sides to give you another 2 or 3 sq metres of room ,, this saves the birds getting out , but are able to drop in ,,and the advantage of them seeing the place ,, in fact it would be more like two lofts 7 ft long 5 and a half ft wide , with w,hood boxes at the back and sputnicks on the two fronts [in fact sides ] just a thought, ,

i just like to see lively newly hatched yb,s with plenty down on them ,, i think its when they stop getting the parents milk you can judge them better ,,,its great to see 2 yb,s in the nest at afortnight old with really firm beautifull droppings , standing up to you and near enough going for you

im slow vic,, but just got that ;D ;D ;D

some of britain,s most unlikely warr heroes will finally be honoured this week [on line times 7th jan 2008] when a collection of oil paintings of pigeons will be sold on auction. jack lovel, a pigeon breeder, assembled a crack squad of birds which were used by the brittish secret service to carry messages eo and from enemy lines , during the second world war. he was so attached to them , that he collected a serious of portraits by french and brittish artists to celebrate their wartime role, which will be sold at bonhams on 15th jan. lovell was approached by mi5 in 1939 to supply his best birds for active duty. they were based at four secret lofts near dover, called" xx" lofts , where they were trained to form a unit called m114. from there the birds were parachuted behind enemy lines from bombers to return messages from resistence fighters for decoding at bletchly park. some even acted as" double agents", wearing leg tags found on captured german birds, infiltrating nazi lofts and then, when used by the germans. carrying the intercepted messages back to brittish lofts. the pigeons were credited with some important missions . dodging bullets and falcons deployed by the germans to intercept them. they brought back film of v1 flying bombs being built in german factories, as well as information on the d-day landings. they also returned with some of the first pictures of concentration camps. the 8 works on sale are by j. baldus, the french painter, and edward henry winfred, the brittish artist, portrayingchampion pigeons owned by jule janssen, a famous breeder, they are expected to sell around £700 each. the subjects of the paintings are not the original "war" birds , but may be their close decendants. " some people think of pigeons and call them rats with wings" said lovell , who now lives in cheam, surrey " i couldnt talk about what my pigeons were doing until recently because of the official secrets act, but it is important that people realise the role the birds played in winning the world wars by bringing back secret information" lovell was asked to supply pigeons for the" house of commons pigeon service".for the secret project, he was told to transport birds in cardboard boxes instead of baskets , and , to use only st james,s park underground station in london . animals, particularly pigeons, have a long history as messengers in wartime. they were used to relay the news to rome of caesar,s conquest of gaul, as well as napoleon,s defeat at waterloo.during the second world war more than 250,000 pigeons were used to relay information, and every r a f carrier flight left brittain with two birds on board , which the crew could release to give their location if the plane came down. a total of 32 pigeons , later were awarded the dicken medal - the animal version of the victoria cross. one of the first pigeons to be honoured was winkie [a scottish bred bird] who saved the lives of four r. a. f. airmen by flying 140 miles , through the night, covered in oil, to raise the alarm after the airmens bomber was forced to ditch in the north sea from a mission in europe. [see "winkie" in dickin medal winners ] another wonderfull message to all,fanciers and public alike, about these wonderfull birds , who saved so many lives,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,we should never forget that ,,,jimmy

garry mitchel wishes to thank the pb members which have supported him ,as he say,s on the phone all he wants is his son to race pigeons,,he shall take the matter now in his own hands ,but is very gratefull for all the posts and info. he has now requested me to put a lock on the subject

yes your right bart the awards for all would need to read their consitution [the clubs] but,, and more importantly ,,,the club must read and agree to the lottery constitution rules i,e" a grant for all" and some of these rules are in fact conflicting to the shu rules ,,quite simply if the lottery rules are broken , they [the lottery can seize any assets to the amount given] so this is where we must tread carefully ,,,but the simple thing would be just to let the lad in and race his birds ,,,,who knows his grandad might take an interest think he wants to get an 8 by 6 loft there if hes allowed