BIGPETE

Ps. Thanks Walter the wee man is coming on a treat and getting bigger by the minute (must be the baby milk/brewers yeast combo)

Cheers lads. I would have liked it 18"-24" off the ground but because of its position and how close it is to neighbours house etc and keeping them happy I could only get away with it being raised 7" at the lowest end and 12" at the highest (my garden is on quite a slope). Added a few more noggins and little uprights and also DPC on top of each lot of slabs. Not the prettiest job I grant ye but I think you could drive a car on it without any issues

Try the BirdTrader website.

I have cats on both sides of me and to start with I would sit out there and squirt them with water pistols to scare them away. It scared them but they kept coming back so i mixed up washing up liquid with water in the water pistol and squirt them with that and it sticks to their fur and when they try to lick themselves clean the taste is horrible i would imagine. Haven't had any been back for a while now, few quirts with that and they soon get the idea.

So I have been keeping the birds in an old converted tool shed and a chicken coop that was left at the house by the previous owners. Has done the job up to now and ok for prisoners but wasn't fit to race to. Got the base for the racing shed started this morning. All levelled out, just gotta raise it a touch more. Because of the position of the loft can't raise it as much as I would like. So probably looking to have the loft 6"-8" off the floor. Will post up more as progress comes along. Any suggestions or ideas much appreciated.

If you go to the site enter your email address as your login and your password it should take you back to your team page. If you have forget your password there is a button to get them to resend it to you. If you have any other problems post up as team selections have to be in and set a wee while before first kick off

I can see both Manchester clubs losing. That would make me a very happy man. 42/1 for that to happen so statistically not very likely, but certainly possible I would say Chelsea to win the league. (I am not a Chelsea supporter but think they have the best squad pound for pound and the most tactically aware manager).

Cheers for all the info guys. Gave me some nuggets to search out on Google and learn more. Seem like a fantastic batch of birds and some fantastic performances put in back in back in the day.

Fantastic looking birds.

Heavy rain here since about 6am. Hoping it isnt goin all day as want to get the yb''s out!

Ok fair do's lads. I was only 8-9 at the time so could have easily got the wrong end of the stick. If you guys haven't heard of them in so many years flying they couldnt have been that good lol

Sounds like the symptoms of YBS. Has he had a night our or anything that might of caused him more stress then the other birds? If it is YBS there is a lot of debate if it is airborne or otherwise. But for sure him spewing up and then other birds eating it will only increase the odds of spreading the infection. As per what Gulkie said most people say dispose of the bird with the symptoms, but the concern is if others start showing similar symptoms in coming days. Feed the birds and watch them for an hour after and see if any other birds sick up anything. Also after a PM feed if you feel there crop in the AM to see if food hasn't been digested. If it has not then it could be a bit more serious. Keep em in and treat em as Gulkie said. I am a new starter also, but have a background of keeping livestock and this YBS scares the hell out of me so have read up on it across many books and forums. YBS seems to be widespread and even the best fanciers have to manage it rather then avoid it.

My old Dad used to be mad about a strain of pigeons who had all the champs named "Quarry" something. Quarry King, Quarry Queen etc. I believe they were a variety of Janseens. Are these still about or have the dissapeared off the radar?

There is someone on the forum from that neck of the woods. His username is Ted something.

Good on you Joe.

Big well done. Novice status smashed in style!

Good on you Yeboah

Who keeps flirt birds for trapping? What sort of birds are you using?

There is a guy on ebay who sells good new lofts. Have a seRch on there and he always has 5-6 types listed. He can modify to order and prices are very good and good quality builds.

Cheers Ronnie

Sorry to hear that Mitch. Like John says still a long time to make it home so stay positive mate. I look forward to racing with you next year

Im new to the sport so not much experience to offer like some of you lads. But IF ybs is spread by an infected bird vomiting up corn and a non infected bird eating it up and potentially contracting the YBS. Wouldn't transporting yb's in baskets with grilled floors not stop any regurgitated food being eaten? If the sickness can be spread by other means then it may not help, but it could potentially at least reduce the rate of infection spreading in the baskets?

Bred my first batch of youngens. All went well and was surprised how well they looked to be honest. I was going to not pair up and save my first breed for next year to race the full programme. But decided it would be nice to have something to fly out as all my birds were adults/prisoners. Glad I did now as didn't realize what it was like weaning and teaching the youngsters to trap and what not. I am very glad and see these now as a bit of a test run before I am racing next year. No training yet but they are flying (not grouping yet) but flying and some have dissapeared for hours and even one or two had a night out. Stressful as hell as wasn't sure what to expect really but glad with how its going touch wood. Really looking forward to when they start batching up and go running etc. With a bit of luck I will get them into the come back races at the end of the yb season, if not will train em hard up to 50/60 miles and have something to race lightly as yearlings.

If she turns up I will tread her repeatedly

This is great to hear. Well done on a fantastic performance and glad to hear it was celebrated in style