Novice

I know Stevie Barbour on this site is giving up the birds. He posted a thread at the weekend. His hut may be available. He lives in Kilmarnock

Hi Dave and thanks. Both of my hands are left I am afraid. A few years ago I saw a guy who used cardboard boxes from the supermarket. His logic was that after the birds had reared youngsters he burned the boxes and started afresh. They didn't look great but the hygene must have been good.

All I need now is the Credit Crunch to improve to get the cash

My loft is 6 foot at the rear but I have removed the bottom 2 boards which helps the air flow. The height of Red Star 4 s is 62 and a half inches. The others in 4 s are about 72 inches which would give a low bottom box and void my back vents. It looks like I best go for 3 high. Look at the feeding I will save cutting numbers by 75% I do like the idea of the Petron plastic fronts and plastic coated cleaning trays. Ideal for the pressure washer on a good day. Thanks again

That tends to agree with my own opinion. It's a pity as Red Star are not as high as the others and I could have 4 high as opposed to Boddy or Petron which I could only do 3 high in my loft. Thanks guys.

I was thinking of buying some German style nest boxes with cleaning trays and grills. My feeling was that the trays might help my slight dust allergy. The boxes which seem to suit my requirements are made by Red Star Lofts. These have galvanised grills for the pigeon to stand on. Because of my allergy I have opened the loft up. Does anyone have experience of different types of grill and in particular are galvanised grills (being metalic and good conductors of heat) suitable for use in an open loft.

I think he was from Basingstoke. Great record

I think Natural Breeding Station have these. Possible to order youngsterd delivered next year.

Before replacing the pigeons you have it's worth asking yourself if you are doing something wrong. For example is the loft suitable to allow the birds to come into form,do you have a cat or mouse problem. I am not trying to be cheeky but what I am saying is that you pay good money for new stock and the environment is not right then you will have wasted your money. I hope you follow my logic

A great deal of the rising costs are due to commercialism within the sport. The scribes come out of the woodwork during this season to sing the praises of their friend who is just about to have a sale. No doubt they will be suitably rewarded for generating this interest. We even have auctioneers writing atricles who have never put pen to paper before. Add to this the fact that fanciers compete with each other just as football clubs do then this competition generates high prices at auction in a rapidly shrinking sport. The best birds I ever owned were given through friendship.

Yes I think he did. Bernie Bennet who writes in the BHW had some of his and wrote about them regularly. Did they originate from Verottes?

Yes---That's what he said to me several years ago (the year after he had several very good pigeons timed in Section K from Pau). I know he has others from different sources now. His introduction that year was a son of Blue Boy from Lol Green.

I know a very good distance flier from York who buys from louella. He buys youngsters and races them before thinking bon breeding from them. He feels that if he buys youngsters and tries them then he will be left with those which suit the type of racing he does and also his management.

Yes Lime burns are sore. Most people don't appreciate the true nature of it. Sorry for you mate. Just as well it wasn't in your eyes.

Black minerals are always worth a try till he can get a proper diagnosis. Good advice.

Reasonable suggestion Gareth but how can a rule like this be upheld. Once expelled the member can surely rejoin using another name. Many use anonymous user names because, having read the forum before joining it seemed to be the acceptable thing to do. For those who don't already know my name is Robert Reid. Perhaps a thread with everyone giving their true name would be a reasonable idea.

I like it Alf

If it's fresh I hope you at least crushed it

Without going into the realms of medication garlic in the water at least twice weekly will help.

I believe we are actually talking of 2 splits here. Firstly some members withdrew from the SHU because they were unhappy with the way it was being run. I should not say any more than that but the facts are available for all who wish to enquire further. This should include a much audited balance sheet. The second split came when the membership of the SNFC voted to expell the members of the SNFC who were no longer members of the SHU. These expelled members who had initially had the balls to walk away from an organisation which had not performed were now left with no option other than to form their own organisation in order to enjoy the sport they loved. Therefore the proposal to include members who were members of another organisation has already been rejected at a SNFC AGM. For the record I am a member of both Unions and consider that the RPRA offers excellent value for money. As far as I am aware they have taken it upon themselves to negotiate with such organisations as DEFRA and we simply fall in line with their negotiated result. I am not anti any organisation but I believe I have quoted facts in this text. I believe there are members of the SNRPC who would gladly compete in a united club but it's difficult to see how this can be achieved.

I think they came in all coluors and were reputed to be great long distance birds particularly when the going was tough. I think I may have seen a small advert for them in the BHW recently.

I doubt if

I agree that enclosed lofts are a big contributor to this problem. I stopped work this year and enclosed my loft hoping to win some early races. The effect almost put me on my back as I struggled to breathe and the birds had the worst season ever. I have opened the loft back up and I feel better and the birds are flying better at home.

If it's spherical as opposed to round I had this with one pigeon a few years ago. Eventually it dried up and fell off. I spoke to Gorgon Chalmers (canadian Vet) about this and he said it was caused by a virus. The pigeon was lost the following year which may or may not have been caused by this condition.