jimmy white

usually a good sign,, but can also be a family trait

happy birthday all

smile ;D,,,,, your on candid camera ;D [send me your old razor blades ;D ;D ;D],,, birds are tame anyway

happy birthday "wee" mikey ,, many happy returns

in my opinion this is quite true,,,, but in this exploitation of the birds nature, can quit often exploit stress , which can defeat the purpose [on occasions ] of motivation in certain pigeons, [in my opinion all pigeons are individuals , not all motivations will work for all birds ,, again, its knowing the individual pigeon

excellent and fair post,,,

i, for one, would not like to win a race under false pretences , if any of his club members" win" and keirnan has, say 4 b4 him,, but trainers?? , i certainly wouldnt hold my head up saying "ive won the race" if i knew there were four birds b4 me ,, no matter how many anyone sends , , not only that, there is far more at stake for this young fancier to possibly win ,[but through these rules, has less chance, not his fault, or not his birds fault] but surely , if this young fancier did manage to win "further afield than his club, or fed,,,, should the club or fed not take pride in having this young lad, as a member,,

really beautifull scenery,,

your right there gemma, they are as bright as a button, once youve got them" with you" and manage a laugh from them, theyll be really interested, then become really attentive , they just love baby pigeons [nice coloured ones ] [usually the young bird poops, which can be made into a laugh by ,saying" silly billy" youll have to get some special baby pigeon toilet paper, ] its nice to tell them that mummy and daddy pigeon marry [youll probably get awkward questions and in 8 or ten days time, lay two eggs [showing them the eggs , mummy and daddy take turns in keeping these eggs warm , by sitting on them , which makes them hatch in only 18 days [not much longer than your easter holiday,s],, [its handy to show the eggs and very young chicks ,and have someone to" rush" them back to mummy and daddy , as they will be missing them !! and need to be kept warm by them,, then by showing them" billy the pooper" who grew from the size of that little chick to this size in just three weeks and that" billy" will be learning to fly any time now so we wont frighten it and have it fly round the class room all sorts of ad-libs will come to you [theyll make sure of that ] when " billy" is old enough to fly properly , hell allways [along with his friends] fly back to his house [called a pigeon loft], then they can be taken hundreds of miles away and still find their way back home ,to their own pigeon loft,,, i couldnt do that, could you sometimes pigeon keepers [we call them pigeon fanciers ] send all their pigeons together in special baskets [pigeon carrying baskets] hundreds of them !! many, many miles away , then they all have fun, and even race each other home, and the winner can get a prize for its owner,, maybe" billy" here, might win a prize , when he grows bigger ,, the pigeon fanciers are boys, girls ,ladies and men , anyone who likes pigeons can keep them , but they must be looked after well ,,if their looked after well, they will become tame and take seed from your hand, some even fly on to your hand if you want them to,, im sure you could keep them going for ages mostly ad-libing and by , boosting their confidence by having them laugh at times ,, and maybe you could go back at another time , with the older birds in a basket,, put notes on their legs with their names on the notes,, take them outside , then let them see them being released , tell them their notes are way up in the sky on these pigeons , but they will return to their" loft " very quickly , then back in the classroom answer all their questions [ hard bit ;D], then in the middle of this , have someone come in with their notes and surprize them all sorts can make it interesting for them , but keeping them having fun and laughing i think is the main thing [if their laughing,,their not bored ;D good luck gemma ;D youll need it ;D ;D ;D [youll have as much fun as them ;D]

as no one seems to be answering ,, ill have a try in my opinion ,,motivation is used on many occasions ,especially with novices , thinking this is the be all and end all,, in my opinion its not,, a fit , healthy, well honed pigeon , cannot help flying faster than an unfit bird being motivated by some means or other , so in my book, the fit , healthy , well honed pigeon is the most important matter ,, then , if the fanciers see fit , they can motivate if they want,many different pigeons can be motivated in many different ways , what might suit one pigeon, may not suit another,, their all individuals,, a case of knowing your pigeons,, i say this as i have won , in the past, a 505 race with a simple celibate cock , racing to the loft, only ,

;D ;D ;D im just going to have my cornflake. now ;D ;D and i have to cook it myself ;D ;D ;D,,,been up since 6am

i know joe , i didnt mean to sound arrogant , but as i saw your post,, i thought there could be a few meanings to this ,, all valid reasons

with due respect yes ;D ;D ;D by associating with proper pigeon fanciers , that win year in and year out, by listening , looking and digesting,, that to me, is the best way on any system

many happy returns happy birthday

i firmly beleive this to be true strapper one latebred i had [very late] was trained in the summer , went to one come back race 129 miles at the begginning of june, as a two and three year old pigeon was fantastic [in fact £3,000 fantastic ]

why oh why do fanciers train latebreds at this time of the year,, one at my loft now,, obviously finished for the season absolutely done in,, the same happens every year, its freezing here, definately not training weather ,, for any pigeon ,, my opinion ,or my advice, is to have plenty patience with these young birds , theve more chance of comming home in a 100 mile race in warm weather , than comming home from a 20 mile toss in this weather, at this time of the year

ive heard it say,, that a pair of yearlings take as much out themselves as a 500 mile race , but in helping them along , with plenty regular feeding,grits, minerals etc etc , certainly takes a little pressure off them,, but as this a natural thing, the birds recover quick, but in racing and training whilst rearing, in my opinion a bit much but there are many roads to rome in racing pigeons,, an old cock, seperated from his hen , and leaving one big yb [eating for itself [or putting the hen in to feed it , whilst its excercising ] can become very attached to that yb , with certain cocks it can pay off, a hen hatching its first yb of the season , can make it very keen indeed but in general, i wouldnt train or race birds whilst rearing , i think theve enough on their plate especialy early in the season

;D ;D ;D poor woman ;D ;D ;D [hope you enjoyed breakfast ;D ;D ;D]

it depends when their weaned jason,,, if using the darkning system, i would put them straight on darkness at the weaning stage,, i would darken them from 5 pm untill 9 am, [religiously ] during the few daylight hours they get, would give plenty baths , plenty protein [for this body moult] a little conditioner ,, i would put them on normal day light hours on the longest day, then lighten the diet and make them fly , after a week or two theyll soon fly for hours on their own best of luck jason

i have kept this " story" on my unit , for 9 years now,, when im feeling down, allways, get a wee help , by reading it

thats it, oldyellow, , try, and try again , without giving in off course , easier said than done, but very possible ,,,,and true

obviously prevention is better than cure , i see no point in treating birds with a canker treatment, when they are not troubled by it,,, but, with the the stress we put our pigeons through [un-avoidable stress, i,e racing training etc] pigeons can become infected , as there is so many types of canker, i find that flagyll is the best and cheapest treatment for most ,,,but only if needed

if you think you are beaten, you are, if you think you dare not, you dont, if youd like to win, and think you cant, its pretty well sure you wont, lifes battles, dont allways go to, the stronger, or louder man, but sooner or later, the one who wins ,,,,,,,,,is the one who thinks he can

one night a man had a dream, he dreamt he was walking along a beach,with the lord, across the sky flashed,scenes from his life, for each scene he noticed two sets of footprints,in the sand, one belonging to him, and the other to the lord. when the last scene of his life, flashed before him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand. he noticed that many times, along the path of his life, there were only one set of footprints. he also noticed, that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times in his life. this really bothered him, and he questioned the lord about it. "lord, you said, that once i decided to follow you, youd walk with me all the way, but i have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life, there is only one set of footprints. i dont understand why, when i needed you most, you would leave me." the lord replied "my precious child, i love you and i would never leave you during your times of trial and suffering,,,,, when you see only one set of footprints, ,,,,,,it was then that i carried you"

a lovely letter,, well done ian mckay,, well done to all who have donated ,, the best of luck to woodside primary school,,,,,,,,,and most of all good luck to "woody" and the pupils of room 15 at primary 7