walterboswell59

was same in lanarkshire fed also back in the day archie

it was around 1978 or so at my old house my neighbour a novice had a loft about two blocks away which could be clearly seen from my garden i was waiting on birds from the coast race some 350 miles and it was a stinker real crap weather i had sent 5 of different ages but they were not great birds i timed a 4 year old cock about 8 45 and had sat another hour as the darkness fell and the weather was just a shut out theres not much chance of a bird getting though now i thought as i looked at my watch it was 5 past ten and i was just about to call it day when i could just see a bird dropping out the darkness but it dropped to my neighbour whom had already given up i ran to his house and banged the door as i could see the bird a cheq hen running up and down the board trying to get in you have a bird i said its a game wee doo go let it in anyway to cut a long story short and for reasons i will not go into during the winter of that year the guy came to my door to tell me he was packing in did i want his pigeons i dont have the room to take them i said well there going in the bin he said sorry to hear that i said but id take that wee hen you got from the coast race dont think it will be much good to you says he its a 2year old barren hen i only sent it to lose it but its well bred from robert nisbet of tranent blood my pal bred it for me il take it anyway so that was how i got the barren hen in those days i had learned the importance of incentive and motivation in pigeon racing and i was getting good at it but where i fell down was the fitness part of the doo game i did not have the time or inclination to train birds the way i knew they should be trained and my birds did not fly well at home 10 or 15 mins that was it i worked shifts and all i wanted to do was spend half an hour with the birds then sleep but i was not kidding myself i knew my failings i was only playing at pigeons at that time but i read everything there was to read about them as i loved the sport and was happy with the few wins i got but i was learning all the time the racing started and i had only three tosses before the first race i was into kidding birds and i had picked out a 2year old cock to have a gamble on he was driving his hen so i had taken the cock out the loft and put him in a small basket where he could see the front of the loft then i let his hen out with a spare cock who chased her all over the loft till she started to flirt with him i then let the pair in and put them in the cock i was kiddings box and shut the box then i opened the basket letting the race cock out he nearly knocked the trap off going in when i got to the loft he was hanging on to the front of the nest box trying to get to the pair i then put him in a box on his own to give him time to think about what he saw and sent him to the race all pools although i knew he was not fit enough to win or should not be i had high hopes of getting the pools with him which was good money in our club the race was only 65 miles and id sent 8 including the barren hen the birds were up at 11 oclock in a bitter cold north wind as the time hit 1hour 45 mins it began to snow lol yes in april i could just see 4 birds coming up the valley two broke off the other two came to me it was my pooler and the bird with him was the barren hen i timed both to be 3rd and 4th club taking the pools with the cock third club and the barren hen 4th i could do something with this hen if i can kid her i thought i sent her every race and around the 5th or 6th race i gave her a cock and slipped a pair of dummies under her she sat on them straight away ill give her a we rest then jump her in at 280 300 miles but for some reason i forgot about her until i noticed she had been sitting for 30 days on the same dummies better send her this week before she gets off them i thought the race was appledore i think it was called and it was a disaster i timed the barren hen after 14 hours on the wing to be 2nd club and all pools think was only 5or6 birds timed on the day from nearly 200 birds in our club and she scored in the fed the following week was our fed channel race from sartilly and i was looking for birds to send and was struggling as i dropped plenty in the appledore race when i looked in the barren hens box she was still sitting on the dummies i took her out the box and could not believe how well she handled big but corky the way i had read they should be for the channel so off she went to sartilly i timed her the 2nd morning to be 14 th west section and my first channel ticket and could not fathom how there was nothing out this pigeon she still handled great in the pub that night my pal vince hendry said to me are you going to the national sartilly on wed no ive nothing to send i said unless i send the barren hen i timed in the fed race today fk sake said vince three days rest and back in the basket after appledore sartilly and back to sartilly it would need to be an iron doo just to get home wed came and i wanted to go to the last old bird race of the year and the hen was still sitting the dummies and still handled great so i slipped her an egg that was chipping and sent her with vince words ringing in my ear it will need to be an iron doo just to make it home i timed her at 6 20 the second morning with the last bird timed on the result just before 6 oclock in tarbrax by jimmy muir but what a doo and what effort and enjoyment this wee bird gave me giving me my first ticket across the water and almost my first national ticket it was 3 or 4 years later before i got that but that was the type constitution in a pigeon i had been looking for alas i now know they are few and far between what guts she had and i could not get a youngster off her sods law i guess but il not forget the thrill that wee bird gave me the following year she went down in training for the gold cup broke my heart but thats doo racing guys enjoy the read

correct m8

even got my grannies crystal ball still no help

that must have been the years i was a member andy there was no spelling tests then lol

fun ye must be kidding andy you would think they had won the national through here when they get a show ticket lol

well he is deff better at it than me and im a romany lol

well its true tommy maybe theres nothing in eyesign but maybe something in form spots the same hen went on to be 13th section 83rd open alencon the following year winning almost 800 pound and a still could not see the form spot but he deff had me looking lol

very true andy the most prolific breeder in my loft sire of 15or 16 to score in the snfc and thirteen club winners five first section fed winner and what i think has a fantastic eye never gets a ticket in an eyesign show my next best breeder 7 to score in the snfc 5 1st club 4 first sections fed has no what most would call eyesign and both these cocks have bred winners with 4and5 different hens go figure to anyone who thinks they have cracked it i ask what have you won lol as i was printing the words what have you won the wife phoned to say she had just won 700 pounds at the bingo ye ha

thanks archie hope the guys like it ye always remember the good ones just read it and could see a few wee mistakes but could not get back in tp edit

as i have said in another post i had spent crazy money at louella buying the best jan aarden based birds that my money could buy and with hard work and a lot of planning things were coming together in building a team of long distance pigeons that could win into the west section and yes i know lots of good pigeons can be got through friendship but we are not all friends of top flyers so to better myself i had to dig deep to get the birds i thought would do the job for me provided i was ready and able to put the work in and fined them out as big money does not mean winners i had given myself 3 to 5 years to fined out what 11 grand had bought me the stock birds were already firing out club and section winners in the fed all the yearlings had been raced right to the coast about 350 miles to me and were winning from that distance but more important to me i was getting great returns from the distance races so the only way to progress now was to send them across the water with the snfc i think i had 40 or 50 two year olds all flown the coast i was sick of sending one or two birds to 500 miles and praying for a miracle and a lot of luck i was now in the position to play with the big boys and enter a good team and fined out which birds could do it and which birds were breeding them think i sent around 20 to both inland nationals with around 13 on the result among them was a wee yearling hen that was 84th section flying to a perch as her cock had went down my aim was to try them in the last national clermont 521 miles i had picked out 16 two year olds to send they had a few tosses and were sitting right most about 8 to 14 day eggs with some cocks with a yb and looking at the hen the wee yearling hen had taken up with an old stock cock and had been building a nest on the floor and was sitting two eggs i sat for hours at night open loft watching the birds come and go and noticed the wee yearling was building her nest up with twigs from the woods behind my loft back and forth up and over the fifty foot trees down for a twig and back up and over the trees into the loft all day everyday the nest was almost two foot high and falling over so i would take half away only to fined next day it was back up to falling over so i was taking half the nest away every other day i picked her up she was light as a feather keen as mustard shes going i thought to myself the pool sheet was filled out on the sunday morning before the race and i added the yearling to the bottom of the 16 two year olds that i had loaded with money as i realy fancied them but stuck 2 pound on the wee hen just incase now comes the eyesign man i had never met robert anderson but knew he was a good flyer and had judged many eyesign shows and he had asked if he could come to see my birds no problem i said and looked forward to his visit and his opinion on my birds rab came over on the sunday and we got on great nice guy i took him to the stock loft and handed him a stock cock all the birds in this loft had bred at least 3 firsts or they dont get in there for fk sake rab said what is it said i this bird has a violet eye no wonder its breeding winners i the handed him a hen fk sake this is a violet to i handed him 5 or 6 birds for fk sake ive never seen so many violets in one loft to be fair i am slightly colour blind and they just looked like big pearl eyes to me and though i was into eyesign in my youth i had come to the conclusion that eyesign was just a family thing some families have show eyes i call them but most dont and i had seen many eyesign winners that bred fk all but im always willing to listen but kept my thoughts to myself we then went to the racing loft to show him the birds that were going to clermont national on the wed as he handled them he said they were all in great condition i then told him i had just added a yearling hen to the pool sheet a long way for a yearling walter rab said i told him what i had watched her doing for the past 10 days can i see her rab said i handed him the wee hen fk sake he said what i said not another violet eye lol no this bird has a form spot you better watch this one whats a form spot i said look at the pupil see like a wee sunburst coming out from it thats a form spot said rab can you see it naw i said i can hardly see its head never mind a form spot i need to get ma good glasses on before i see it and yes i could see it when rab showed me where you better watch that bird its in super condition he said as he left well the pools are on now and ive nearly two hundred pound on the two year olds so that will have to do m8 rab wished me luck in the race and left on the monday i went to the bank and paid my national money in thinking about the wee hen but as i said the sheets were done and id already gambled to much the birds were up at clermont and the race was on it would be a hard one was the experts opinion i thought this is it there bred for it trained for it and sitting right i surely must get one if there any good after ten at night and hear theres a bird in the east and the great jock alson not far behind but its getting dark and murky now 11 oclock and nothing i was a bit sick as i thought i had done everything right at the end of the day i hear 4 brave birds make it into the west section on the night aw well up in the morning i got up at four thirty and opened the traps its pitch black and raining but you always hear of someone getting a real early one maybe it would be me i thought lol i turned the ets clock around so i could see it from inside the house as it was cold and miserable out id just watch from the house window as i made breakfast 4 55 and still dark and wet il nip up stairs for a wash and pee then il go out and sit il just check the clock incase one got in past me 4 59 on clock no birds home how many times have i seen that i thought as i went to the toilet three mins and i was looking at the clock again as i put my jacket on bird arrived 5 0 1 it said bassa i thought ones jumped on the pad trying to get out but as i looked closer it said clermont o fk ive got one it was the wee yearling hen and she was first bird timed in the morning to be 5th west section 11th open with big gareths good hen not far behind her i timed another two on the result to be 8th and 16th section and by night fall had 11 out my 17 so was well chuffed i phoned or pmd rab to tell him i timed the yearling i told ye i told ye he said and he did hope you enjoy the read guys ps is there something in eyesign i still dont know but nor does anyone else imo except rab that is lol

with archies permission il do a wee story later that maybe of interest to some and give us something to talk about just giving my battery a wee charge just now i will call the story a visit from the eyesign man

wellcome m8 enjoy basics great site

its just the time of year boys another month or so it should pick up

thanks andy

happy birthday guys

must agree with andy found these birds best for both breeding and racing distance birds but must have the winning lines in the first place good luck wiley enjoy your holiday m8

for wullie watson of lanark thankyou

a very happy new year to everyone on pigeon basics james and i a bit rough this morning but a good wee night

snap peter the wife got the flu jag two days later i get the flu just shaking it off now after two weeks merry christmas to you and mary and all on pigeon basics hope your better soon

i use an old stock hen and clip one wing once she falls off the landingboard a few times she gets the idea and just sits there does the job

happy birthday guys

well done guys

sorry to hear this rip ian

everything running great thanks to our club sec peter white plus three new members and one old member returned all looking good for burnbank club