MsPigeon

Here, Here!!!! I agree Slugmonkey. But I am tired of trying to defend Ivomec. Carol

Speight, the Black and White pair above look exactly like a pair I bred Domino type birds from last year. I have a family of whites and a family of blacks and last year when the pairs where all mated I had a black and white left, so I put them together and got beautiful sought after babies. I raced the ones I kept, they did well on tough races, and bred a couple late rounds for others who admired and wanted them. I also sent a round off them to a beginner in the "Help a Beginner" program. Carol

I don't have to purchase the sand that I use, there is a place where the dump trucks unload there excess or left overs at the sand and gravel company. I just have to load it myself. Since I start with it good & deep, about 6-8" and sift it to clean the loft, it does not need relpaceing very often, maybe topped off every 2-3 years. I make sure to do that in the summer when it will dry out quickly. Carol

Good Job ALL participants, taking good pigeon pictures is NOT easy. But I certainly learned a lot more about my camera and how to get pigeons to pose. I emailed my best pictures to a friend to put the background in for me. He is a good photographer but he specializes in pigeons and gave me many pointers. This is his web site http://www.pbase.com/tmoares, I can't remember what program he used to do the background but I do know the backgrounds he used are photographs he has taken. Yours in the sport. Carol

Good question Hyacinth, been waiting for a universal electronic band. Maybe it will bring down the prices. It looks like the Unikon band except yellow instead of green.

Is this eggfood like the eggfood we give canaries? Is it canary eggfood? I make my own canary eggfood using a base of cous cous and a variety of other cereals, bran, or rice and mix with Ensure or similar canned milk type food supplement with all the vit. and minerals etc. I never thought of feeding pigeons eggfood. Interesting... Carol

Hyacinth. I was sad to find that the Boy Scouts merit badge for pigeon keeping is just in the beginning stages of a long process to be reinstated, if we are lucky. I first called The Boy Scout office and they didn't know what I was talking about so I called the AU office and Karen explained the whole long complicated process and where things stand now. She took my name and # though and will keep me informed. Thanks for the suggestion. And I will prompt Chad to send his results. Carol

Thank You Hyacinth, Where would I find contact info for Deone Roberts or Oklahoma office? I'll try the AU web site. Carol PS: I enjoyed Chad in the "Help a Beginner Program" but it just wasn't the same as having a REAL beginner, like a kid, and it isn't the same through correspondence.

I agree, the kids need us if they are going to become involved in our sport. It takes very giving and generous people to help beginners. Thank You Hyacinth for all that you do and give in this area. I think that most of us are willing when it is convenient, like the kid next door or a grandkid, etc. But it is more difficult to lend a helping hand when we have to drive any distance or it is inconvenient for our schedule. I'm in the same boat, I would love to help a beginner, be a mentor, have someone to go training with me and hang around the loft, but I am reluctant to offer when they live in the next town and I have to furnish transportation. Not that I have had the option, but I wish there were kids close by interested. I tryed to get our local country school to look at pigeon programs that have worked in other schools, but it is a hard sale.

There sure is a lot of products meant for other animals such as horses being used for pigeons... :X Ever heard of hypervitaminosis? :-/ :X

Let us know the outcome slugmonkey. Sounds like fun for the off season. Carol

I agree, common sense is the key here... It does not have to be an everyday thing, 360 days out of the year. I figure one more gun in my arsenal to fight parasites and disease can't hurt. Variety is a GOOD thing, even in parasite control. Carol

Please share your thoughts and ideas. Carol

Any one of your choices could be a reason for a kid not being interested in our hobby. But as a general rule kids DO love animals and it does not take long to attrack a crowd of kids if you take your pigeons to release at a school or somewhere where the kids are. They ask all kinds of questions and are truly interested. They would love to keep pigeons, but they can't do it alone. Someone has got to build them a loft, and help with training and even allow them to keep them. To most parents it's like their child asking for a kitten or a dog or a horse, they usually end up taking care of them after the newness has worn off. If you want to get kids interested you have to get their parents interested as well or it just won't happen. OR, here in the USA there has been a few dedicated fliers that have gotten a program into their local school. I know of two personally, one is a grade school and the other is a school for troubled teens. They learn a lot from the care and even race them. Imagine an at risk teen, all pierced and tatooed that usually hangs out with drugys gone all soft holding a baby pigeon and learning to care for it. Carol

Well Hello there Slugmonkey, not bad, not bad at all. Avg. speed in YB's (Bill got Avg. speed OB), Champion YB, and Champion loft both YB and OB. And yourself? Carol

Even when using ETS you have the option to limit the number of birds. But I agree that if the birds clocked in before others they should be on the race sheet before others. But I think it would not be fair if you had ETS and you could pick and choose which ones you want on the sheet, if you are limiting the number of birds clocked it needs to be limited to the first so many in the clock or not limited at all, the same for everyone. Just my opinion... I see your point Hyacinth, but would you really feel like you disserved to place say second because the first place winner decided to only use his first bird in on the race sheet? Thats like winning by diffault. Not much glory in that. Personally I like a true picture of where my birds are placing among ALL others in the race. I also am aware of winds and weather and I keep that in mind for my own information when grading my birds and making notes on how they did each race. Carol

Let me know how it works out for you Ron. There seems to be two extremes to the way people are reacting to the use of DE. Either they are immediately drawn to the warnings or the fact it is a natural pest control. Carol

Yes, there are trophies at the end that the points are used for. There is an Average Speed award, a Champion Bird award, and a Champion Loft award for both YB's and OB's and of course a diploma for places 1-5 for each race. Thanks for asking and thanks for your ideas. Carol

Hello fellow flires, As the race secretaty of our club I would like to present other options to calculating and awarding points in our race results. The way it is done now and been done in our club for ever is the winning bird recieves 100 pts and it goes down in increments of 5 pts till the points run out. How do all of you caculate points? Is it the same for long and short races? I would really appreciate hearing from you on different ways and pros and cons. Thank You Yours in the sport. Carol

Bruno, I did a web search and found that people are eating DE to cure a variety of ailments. Carol

My grit draws moisture this time of year as well. I try to only give them a little at a time as I found they waste it too. But I noticed something this year that I had not noticed in the past. I have my cocks and hens seperated and I thought it odd to find that the cocks are eating twice what the hens are. I just thought that since hens are the egg layers they would need more like women need more calcium. Anyone else notice that cocks or hens use more grit?

My lofts are made from existing pole buildings with the ground as the floor. We bought course sand, the type sold at cement companies and put a good 6-8" down in all the loft sections. I use a kitty litter scoop to sift the sand clean. It works great for me and the birds seem to like it too. I also use a propane weed burner to sanitize after cleaning everyother month or so. Carol

Congradulations Ross, superb picture of your BB. And Congradulations to you all, great birds and a lot of fun! MsPigeon Carol

I heard the same snowy, that nothing is better than fresh for medicinal purposes; processed garlic is only easier to use. Carol

I just spoke with a friend and neighbor. She is a vegetarian and very much into healthy alternatives. Her daughter is also a veterinarian. So anyway, I asked her if she had ever heard of and used DE. She immediately said DON'T BREATH IT!! She has asthma so she doesn't have it around. She said that the particles never break down, making it similar to breathing asbestos.