andy Burgess

not a bad day at all weather-wise

another great offer , well done

lucky dog , would like a sleep myself right now

very best of luck to her , hope she has a chance to score ,and hope the team stuff them

a warm Basics welcome

thank you Ian . thanks Vinnie .

morning folk,s

can just picture "team Basics" in a pigeon car

would also like to say Walter , most of what I have learned has been begged ,stolen, or borrowed .not to say I haven't had the odd "good idea" .some of which I know I have read in books, yet mostly by asking site members on Basics the odd question , best info I ever got off "Mosslands 1" , "Owen" has given me a few tip,s over the years ,have been helped by many more too including "Wiley,ALF,Sammy ,and Harky " and yourself Wattie .all have leped me make the move from North Wales Novice to andy Burgess (pigeon fancier)

question 7 , different racing here in Scotland compared to Wales ?? yes in many , many ways . I watched with great interest here on Basics the racing in Scotland ,especially stories of the losses the causes behind it , some of the velocities over the same sort of distances on the same day were sometimes real "eye openers" . my first club was 1 of the largest in the fed ,a small area club with a radius for membership around 2 miles, the next club with just 17 members was all in a Mile radius ,both hard clubs to win in .here we have club members 7 miles East of us ,so a much larger area. many other things like cost of feeding up here ,more expensive etc etc. think that's it , hope ive done ok ??

question 6 ,how far do you race them out ? have sort of answered this earlier ,when back in Wales they went out to 440 miles (longest fed race) it was at 1 time 515 miles but dropped by the fed due to lack of support up here just as far as Maidstone at 360 mile (yet ,to be truthful as I write , I paired them for Maidstone , and failed miserably at 7th club ) for you Walter I know J.Combe (midnight-son) sent widowers over the water this year , and done well.

question 5 how do you stop them being bored ,how often do you show the hen ? answer to them becoming bored , the answer is "I don't know" ?? they've never told me they were bored , and I cant say I have looked at them and come away thinking theyre bored ? back in Wales and here in Scotland they have been split from the hen from as early as first week in March ,raced through the season out to 440 + miles 2 week,s before the youngbird racing starts and won from first to last ? (unfortunately not all race-points won in 1 season) they see the hen on a Saturday when they return .

answer to 4th question . how do you train a widow cock ,ive told a few , and think most of that few didn't believe me anyway ,wonder if you will Walter ?? I train them "once" before the racing season . ok theres more to getting them fit first , but as for training that really is it for ME , just once.

3rd question ? = how do you pick a pooler ? again I hope to answer this as honestly as I can .our club has 2 betting options only , star pool and nom. to win the star pool your selected bird has to win the club ,think ive only managed to get that right 3 times this year (from memory),sometimes being surprised by another loft mate winning instead, yet won it a good few times last season .the nom is self explanatory. selection for each comes down to the old nugget "observation" ,always looking out for a sign from "the pigeon" itself to let YOU know which one to choose ,wether that sign be ,flying differently ,or longer , or leaving its meal or etc etc. as a footnote ALF taught me what to look for in a brief answer in a PM about 6 years or more ago

I like the 2nd question , because in all honesty ive never thought of it that way ?? do all cock,s take to it or all breeds ? I would have answered yes before , yet I haven't been able to keep all the families ive brought in or all that ive bred .ive tried most popular breeds in recent years (not all) and most have fallen by the wayside ,again that may be me not the birds . I have a few "families" here , and that may bring a picture of large stock huts , its not so ,a buscheart, 1 van reet ,1 vandenbeele ,etc etc . so to try & sum it up I would say most will adapt to it , yet like any racing method they've got to be good to start with

ok pal here goes ,have kept pigeons 9 years now and moved 4 times .I first raced natural too ,not very well though that was probably in-experience. I was getting beaten weekly by the widowhood men , so thought that must be the way to go.so a year later on widowhood ,still getting beat so in answer to your first question ,the thing I did learn in those first 3 years that "widowhood" style racing suited me and my conditions of health and location .I wouldn't class my performances as great ,yet I am now in a position to find myself more competitive than before at club level .

is that a sliding end door Billy ?? I would be tempted at fixing a pair of childrens bicycle stabilisers with the wheels pressing against it to save anyting getting under it again .

looks like you,ll be doing some joinery at the weekend Billy

well don't cancel anything else you might have planned

keep these tips coming and you will get a PM off me asking questions Del

well done all , and looking very smart too

good post Del and a good question Geo

maybe get a chance to remember many of the things I have forgotten ,

don't build yer hopes up ALF

no pressure