pigeonman007

Hi Just wondering if anyone keeps Van Loons. The grizzles on one of the auction sites look nice birds. Am considering buying a pair to breed a few for myself...

Have light in mine, on until 9ish at night. Couple of the hens are 5yr old birds, do they take a bit longer than the younger birds to get going?

I also have 4 pairs that are mating, feeding eachother, and carrying to the nest bowl, but no eggs from them. They have been paired for 3wks now.

Have seen them on the Louella site in the past for a lot less than that.

One of my cocks has a hen on eggs and has taken a liking to a hen in the next section. Both compatable, would it be ok to run a cock over 2 hens or to much of a struggle on the birds?

Thanks lads Have 5 pairs laying now, 2 more pairs carrying to the bowl and other few pairs just looking at eachother lol Noticed tonight one of my hens was not sitting in the bowl, yet she laid yesterday. I realise they dont sit till the second egg, but given the low temperature, will this egg still be ok, water pots have not frozen in the loft at all so hoping it will be ok

My pairs have been together for a couple of hrs per day from 20th Dec, let them go together full time on 26th Dec. 1 pair has laid first egg last night, 4 other pairs are getting on well, mating and taking straw to the bowls, look like they are not far off laying. 4 pairs are just sitting looking at eachother, no fighting at all, but not showing to eachother or anything, should I split them for a bit?

Great Once the eggs are laid should I open the boxes up or would this cause to much fighting, if I keep them in the boxes after eggs are laid is it likely to lead to the cock bird being to troublesome and cause broken eggs etc?

Is it possible for successful mating if the pairs are kept in the nest boxes? My boxes are 26" x 15" x 15"

Can get them in my local pet shop for £1.40per kilo. Used to buy them for my canaries as they could not crack the shells

Best wishes to one and all for an excellent xmas & 2009 Hope you all get some pigeon related presents lol

I have been feeding a little barley and layers pellets in the morning, and 4-seasons natural corn mix as this was all I could get at the time. Nearly finished it all now and will look for a different brand as a very high % of the mix is maize

2 more back today

Lesson learnt on this one. Next time I have a day off work in winter, and the weather is good, i'll get the dog out for a walk instead lol

LOL - I am hoping you are not laughing at me wanting long distance pigeons :P

Is this the guy with the 1000 mile "lionhearts" in every edition of the BHW?? Just wandered how good the birds are as I would like a couple of long distance pairs for next season.

Had not realised the cold would affect them so badly to be honest

Took 6 birds for a training drop today as the weather seemed good, clear sky, no wind or rain. Only have 3 back. Let them up at 9:45, they only had 12miles to fly. First one took an hour to get back, next took 2 1/2hrs, third one only been back about 1/2hour. Still missing 3 birds. Hopefully they will be back tomorrow, they have been flying out of the loft since September and have had several 10mile drops and were beating me home from them the last few times.

Also, what is the little sub dial which is numbered 1-7 is this days of the week? Its currently on nearly on 2 and isnt moving

New batteries in LED now lights up and can hear clock ticking loudly. How do I go about changing the time

Theres a receipt to say it was tested in March this yr, batteries are gone as the green LED will not come on. Not going to play with it too much as it looks very complicated lol

Its now opened (didnt kick it lol)

lol, still cant open it, kick might be the only option hehe

Yup, If I turn it clockwise it moves the thimble cover numbers on and turns the ribbon drum

Thank you, I have broken the seal but still cant get it open Have pulled the lever up and there is a bit of movement but the lid will not hinge off, what am I doing wrong?? :-/