pjc

if anybody is interested in he colours and fancy breeds have a look on the pigeon bratt group on yahoo, you will find loads of information and pictures on there.

just looking forward to the race season starting and enjoying the breeding season with the show birds, with the team split we are hoping to do a lot more shows this year!

We show as Petty & Crawford, i'm the Crawford half! We didn't show this year as we were judgeing but took BOS there last year with the same bird that took BOS at the Old Comrades.

As i said in a message above the coloured feathers are pulled and grow back white, a process banned in many countries. Thats why the markings are so even.

Sorry Chrissy, we seem to have hijacked your thread and gone of on a tangent!

Sorry Chrissy, we seem to have hijacked your thread and gone of on a tangent!

great pics, its just a shame they are not a natural colour!

we all have our methods! One thing mine never see is anything like conditioning seed, I mix mixes to suit the time of year but again never feed maize or beans and as little wheat as possible!

Paulo, not sure what extra there is in johnsons apart from being an iron tonic, but prefer metatone.

there are so many fancy breeds, but the ones i'm refering to throw White flights when coloured flights are pulled and return to original coloured flights when moulted. Andkar, there is nothing wrong with what you are doing if it works for you! When you have a mixture of familys you may need to treat some differently but we very rarely introduce birds to our family and if we do it is done very carefully so as not to harm the current gene pool! We have built a family that don't need any help to put on muscle and they are a family that we know inside out.

Also Dave, the show racers are not fed for size they are fed for condition, or in some cases you may think for Christmas lunch!

now you are talking about serious colours/breeds! Tiger swallows are named because of the colour, they moult out a normal colour, i.e blue, black etc and then every other flight is pulled to grow back as white, the same is done on the cover feathers to produce the even pattern. The practice has been outlawed in many countries so pictures are all you will prob see. Can't say I agree with the practice but beutiful results! Phil

nothing wrong at all with letting them out rose, just need to pick and choose your days and weather, they love being out but I personally don't see any benefit in letting them out. The other thing with myself is that I show as part of a partnership and we are often moveing birds between lofts so would be a lot of messing around to let out the birds that would have been bred here. Phil

Amanda did threaten to come to a show Dave, you'll have to come and have a look at em! Show racers arn't a different breed they are just racers that have been bred to improve feather quality and body type.

Best iron tonic I have found is Metatone, 1 teaspoon in a drinker makes it very economical as well. Only use it once a week but best i've ever found!

If the constitution of the bird is right then the muscle will form with a high protein diet. There is no need to break the birds down after each show and as I said your team need to have the same constitution so there is no need to feed birds individualy. There are a lot of shows in a short period of time and if you keep breaking them down and building them up they will be finished before you get 1/2 way through the season.

Dave, I used to fly my show birds out many years ago but there is no benefit in doing so. If they fly out they are at greater risk of doing them selves damage, breaking flights, bumping keels etc. A judge can easily tell a bird that is muscled and a bird that is fat just as you can with racers, there is no difference. It all comes down to the constitution of the bird, racers are no different, if you have a good family of birds they fly themselves fit and always feel in good body. If you come accross a bird in your team that always feels light, never seems to carry any body muscle then there is only one place for it as it is purely down to the birds lack of constition. I started my family of show birds back in 1978 and for many years I would breed a few young that did not carry a natural body, these birds could be brought up to weight by overfeeding fatty grains but would never beat the birds that had a naturaly good body. These birds were removed and every time i bred anything that was lacking it went straight away. I have not bred a bird in the last 10 years now that does not have a natural body, in fact i now have the opposite problem at times in keeping the weight off even on a very basic diet. Phil

its all down to feeding, not how much you feed but what you feed. A show racer in condition should be solid muscle, not overweight and not feeling soft and fatty! As they don't go out and excercise this has to be acheived by feeding the right food. When mine are in top condition you can knock nails in with them they are solid muscle, and yes if they do go out they would fly as long as the racers. If you have show racers that don't carry a natural body and you have to feed them up then they are no good, there constitution is wrong and the line needs to be broken. It takes many years of breeding to form a family of pigeons that carry a naturally fit body. Compare to humans, if you see an obese person there family are usualy in the main the same, its all in the genetic make up.

Chrissy, birds look great, best you have there is the mosaic cock! You have racers and show racers, do you keep the two seperate or are you just mixing them? Phil

Tonys right, she may not be sitting tight but covering the bowl will have protected it. I have seen eggs totaly frozen where the ice has expanded and split the shell! You will know in a few days if the eggs are fertile and the embryo is developing normaly. Phil

a member in my club has them, they are great, easy to folds away and store. the sides are material so keep shavings in as well.

in this crazy world, if somebody had hit the hawk with a bag or thrown something at it and injured it they would probably have been prosecuted by the RSPB!