Big Davie

Spot on Walter

Owen, having read a lot of your contributions on Basics then much of what you write is well informed and sensible, however having read your letter in the BHW and the above post regards this subject I believe some of your opinions are ill conceived, I would add that my own federation has prior to the 2013 season purchased two Geraldy transporters which, having now used these for a season are in my opinion vastly superior to the old conventional units, and this is coming from myself who had some reservations on this point. To take you up on a few points , you advise that pigeons should not be subjected to temps above 25oC, this is an every day occurrence at the loft during spells of good weather, their is no doubt that when exercised they don't like this but they do cope with it pretty well , however I assume that you are referring to when they are in the transporter, FYI, I am not saying that transporters with aircon do not exist but all of the units that I have seen in fact do not have aircon,they have forced mechanical ventilation where fresh air is discharged into each individual crate via a supply air plenum which is part of the crate racking structure, having considered that aircon ( mechanical cooling ) is in fact not installed then the only cooling that is available is free cooling from ambient outside air , which if at or above 25oC is non existent then the best you can do is ventilate as efficiently as you can within the design constraints of the installed ventilation system. With regards aircon a subject I know a bit about then personally I would be dead against this being deployed on a transporter, No1 given that on a hot day with ambient air being lets say 25oC then the air temp within the transporter could be many degrees above this , if mechanically chilled air were then discharged onto the birds you would certainly get thermal shock which would not do the birds any favours at all. No2 , given that the air temp within the transporter would certainly be 25oC + and would be laden with moisture due to respiration and birds panting in an effort to cool themselves then the last thing you would want to do is introduce chilled or cooled air , you may not be aware of this but on fully conditioned aircon systems the desired comfort relative humidity would generally be 50% RH , if RH is above this and dehumidification is needed then this is achieved by cooling below the dew point which drops the moisture from the air , this forms as condensation and is normally removed, however if you apply this to a pigeon transported then I can guarantee you that the unit would be swimming with water which again I'm sure you can imagine would not be conducive to maintaining condition health or form in racing birds, again I reiterate IMO the best you can do is ventilate as efficiently as possible and for the above reasons no mechanical cooling should be used in an effort to keep the temperature below 25oC I also note your statement regards fumes from droppings and that you have no interest in what materials are used to dress the crates, again i do not agree with this, my view is that in order to prevent a build up of fumes and to stop the droppings sticking to the birds feet then in addition to the base cardboard it is essential that a dressing of easibed or similar is applied on top of the cardboard to absorb moisture from the droppings in an effort to dry them out as much as possible , preventing a build of fumes and at the same time stopping these droppings clogging on the birds feet and possibly fouling the feed depending on how they are fed With regards the crates themselves in my experience having watched the birds when water was given at the club hut prior to being loaded then I have never previously in almost 50 years seen birds locating the drinker and drinking so well and this even with YB,s, I put this down to both the length of the drinker which covers the full width of the crate and the fact that the drinker is far more visible than it was on the old wicker baskets. Additionally on the units we have purchased the roof does not allow sunlight to penetrate inside other than through the clear sky lights, however as these can be opened then they actually assist in letting warm air escape at roof level. To conclude, whilst I accept that dehydration could be a major contributory factor regards poor racing and returns my view is that , certainly within the new Geraldy,s that we have purchased in Lanarkshire , then I have not witnessed birds staggering or losing balance due to dehydration and that contrary to your view , environmental conditions within the new units are far more conducive to successful racing than they previously were on the old conventional unit, after all they are designed and built in Germany ( Vorsprung Dorch Technique ) and all that Here endeth the sermon for today. Davie

Fully agree with you both, no such thing as a protein lump, dont interfere with it or it will bleed profusely and far worse than it is just now, just leave it alone and it will shrivel up and drop off

Peter I thought there already was a nice wee central section, section D ,where you and the rest of the grown ups from that area belong and where i have no problem with you trying to get on a national result, section E well that's another matter altogether

Peter, your right Davie,s loft location is well east , however as good a doo man as he is I would still rather take my chances against him as compete against the Nor west fed or those who jumped from their into the Midland to be in sect E

Fair play and railroading, wonder why the AGM was moved to Stenhousemuir Gareth, your post sums up my thoughts exactly and their is no doubt that section boundaries have been abused in this area

Cheeky cant

Shower a barstwards, cannae imagine how you and the other guys are feeling Alan but hope you can get things together and stay in the game, if I can help with some youngsters or that next season then just let me know

Billy is correct, this is usually down to scale deposits beneath the ring, get something that is thin but firm enough to push between the leg and the inside of the ring without doing too much damage to the tissue, the thin end of a plastic cable tye is perfect for doing this, then gently but firmly work this in between the leg and the base of the ring until it comes out the top, keep doing this around the circumference of the ring until all of the scale / debris is cleared, don't be tempted to twist the ring on the leg until it is loose or you will strip the flesh off down to the bone, then it will have to come off, i have done this many a time with success, once any damage to the leg has healed then the ring should be turned frequently to prevent it reoccurring, if it is tight then immersing in some soapy water will help

Hey Billy, really feel for you , know its little consolation but hope getting the bassa makes you feel a bit better, same goes to Gareth and Delboy after their recent attacks

By the sound of it those who attended have had a good night which is good to hear, also looks as if ,they have managed to condense the formal part of the evening down a bit which is good news for those who have no real interest in this and want to enjoy the entertainment

Hey Del, if nothing else I'm honest, usually !!!

I've been to a few SNFC presentations and in general they've been good nights, I know you get ripped off at the bar but its a one off and you expect that in a hotel, however the last one I was at a couple of years back the presentation lasted for about 5 hours and the band played its first song at quarter to midnight just as we were leaving the hall, talk about the women getting a good night out, well the ladies at our table were all scunnered and never even got a dance,also listened to a lot of women outside smoking moaning along the same lines and saying they wouldn't be back, got to say I was fed up listening to it myself and I'm a doo man, heard they've sorted that out but don't know for sure

Used this lot once earlier this year to pick up a stray from a non fancier lady in Burnley and when making arrangements specifically asked them to ensure they provided a carrier box as they were dealing with a non fancier, anyway they called the lady to advise that they would collect at 1600 but didn't show, called again at 1800 to say they had been delayed and would now collect in an hour at 1900 but again a no show, they called again at 1930 to again advise that they had been further delayed and would now collect for definite at 2100 hours, you've guessed it again they did not arrive but this time not even a call to advise , they eventually turned up at 23:20 and chapped this woman up out of her bed and then declared that they had no box to transport the bird, the lady had to empty a filing box and then put a dish towel inside so that the bird could be transported and this is how I received it at the home end, I can tell you this woman was none to impressed, so £30 or not I will not be in any hurry to use them again

Geordie, whilst I am not saying that you are guilty of not vaccinating you already have the answer to your question on one of your earlier posts, fanciers who think its too expensive or cant be bothered and don't vaccinate are in the main responsible for this virus continuing to plague us for 30 years now, if I recall correctly then compulsory vaccination was introduced in 1983 and I can't ever see compulsory vaccination being relaxed.

Have a look at the other thread on here titled "Gutted " I hear of horror stories every year with Para, because its not reported does not been its not happening, I have had Para a couple of times since it first raised its head in the early 80's and its soul destroying, as far as I'm concerned vaccination against this virus is one of the must do things in the pigeon game

Very clever, informed, and well thought out post Mr Q

I would like to see that Gareth, sounds like the normal great night out, was hoping to get their but couldn't due to work commitments, BUMMER.very well done to all of the winners

Waste of money!!!, and you think you've got problems just now, wait till you get paramyxovirus that will make you change your mind.

Rab, ronidazole or aprollium are not antibiotics

Spot on.

Thought you would like that one Del PMSL :emoticon-0140-rofl:

Very well done Del, Gareth,Craig and Gerry, and fantastic gesture donating your winnings to the Lanarkshire Fed transporter fund !!!

No negative thoughts from me as I really hope the officials of the Feds concerned can make it happen for convoying only initially , then once it's up and running get a feel from the fancy at large on how it could be developed.

Agree that the more people thinking Amal / Combine the better so long as it is for joint convoying only which will benefit both fancier and birds now and in the future, however if you make it competitive and introduce prize money and pools rest assured that it will flounder the first time an area wins more than its share of these, seen it all before but still hope it can become a reality for joint convoying.