St Finnan Loft
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Posts posted by St Finnan Loft
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Yes info is readily available now, when I was a boy I was always encouraged to visit the library, Dad said read about it, and you wont forget, back to the milk my friend was an avid Old Hand reader so to convince him to curtail his daily milk ration I wrote a letter to Old Hand and received a very nice hand typed letter back this was in 1971 and had the desired effect,(see your view bacterial action).
We all tend to look for some magical solution to increase our birds chances in the race, I recall in Melbourne talking to a retired jockey who told me the story of one of the greatest champion thoroughbred racehorses ever. What he tried to relay was this horse became a champion in spite of an addition to his diet that the jockey reckoned eventually killed him due to the build up of arsenic which was an ingredient in this so called tonic which I may add was used on a regular basis in all countries a film was made about this horse and his death remains unconfirmed even put down to gangsters who gave him a fatal dose of arsenic however recent hairs removed from his remains point to a build up (Champions are born and only require the correct environment and opportunity). They even win in spite of our mistakes.
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No doubt some fanciers will disagree with what I am going to say but please think before you give pigeons milk my father in law had cows as well as goats the milk from the goats was sought after by the parents of kids who had skin problems eczema etc we gave this milk at no charge but told them the family doctor must be informed. And yes I witnessed it being given to pigeons and had a problem convincing the fancier to stop this but not before his season was ruined, birds do not possess the digestive enzymes necessary to process milk. Although pigeons feed their babies crop milk,this is actually sloughed cells from the crop and secretions, and not a milk product at all. Milk sugar is called lactose. Mammals have a digestive enzyme, lactase,to digest milk sugar. Birds simply lack lactase and cannot digest milk products containing lactose. Birds will develop diarrhoea when lactose in the diet reaches between 10 and 30 percent. Products that contain a significant amount of lactose are dried skim milk Some milk products contain little or no lactose, and these may be safely given to pigeons. Yogurt is a good source of calcium for birds.
No doubt as in the past some fanciers will disagree but give it a thought for the sake of the pigeons.
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hi all,after months of getting plagued with cats i'm now at the end of my tether after one came over the roof of my loft into the birds while i was there thankfully doing no damage,but it's coming near racing season where my birds have to come home from training and come into the loft on their own accord cos i have to work and although having no problems in previous years this year i have my doubt's anyway i seen the cat detterent advertised in the BHW by paul smith and just wondered if anyone had purchased this detterent and did they find it useful and would appreciate their feedback if they don't mind
atb martin
I used the Paul Smith detterant but never found it totally reliable as some cats are very determined next door has three cats opposite two cats, My granddaughter asked me to look after her white rabbit three months ago and the cats don't seem to know what to make of her she is enclosed in the garden and the pigeons have become used to her,I have seen the cats look through the fence but never come into my garden which they certainly did she is a Norwegian dwarf needless to say she cant escape from the garden.
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Not really we also had approx 200 hens on free range now that's what you call quality eggs,we had a fresh water burn that ran through 15 acres of land they were always scratching along the banks or walking through the the corn fields no wonder the eggs were quality.a dozen geese kept everyone at bay good memories.
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would a hen laying for the first time be more prone to this
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Sorry to read this we all by now know the feeling of helplessness, but we borrow them from nature for a short time,you have the memories and maybe another in the loft to take his place that would help heal the hurt.
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I always say we borrow them from nature so enjoy them while you can. Yes we all have had birds that were dear to us, I remember a blue bar hen who had twice topped the section for me and was home on the day from the Gold Cup when only a few birds in fife were timed. Prior to the race I had managed to convince the wife she was a certainty (how many times have we all thought that) so she was an all pooler, we had four kids and had just moved house so the money was very handy and the pigeons were in the good books as far as the wife was concerned. The following year the blue hen had won the club race and section two weeks prior to the Gold Cup so I was intending to send her again this was in my mind as I saw her alight on the landing bowl as I was on my way to work she looked a picture that morning……….that was the last time I saw her. I think it’s worse to loose them at home. I always had an open bowl in those days
However the only time I recall being brought to tears with a pigeon was a red yearling cock who was in 175 mile l race, I had timed in and stood in the front of the loft enjoying the sight of further arrivals when the yearling flew past me hitting the landing board then was somehow jammed in the sputnik, the sudden thud had startled me but I felt a lot worse when I picked him from the trap…..he had no legs …..He had been severely injured at some point in the race. It shows how courageous our feathered friends are.
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Put me down for a pair, sire 4th sect 27th Open Fife Fed Leicester then Eastbourne timed just off the result dam 115th sect SNFC Eastbourne 400mls this was there first year racing being late breds Jimmy Donaldson x John Ellis.
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As a teenager my wife was responsible for her fathers incubators and each year she reared over a thousand turkeys, in those days we had all sorts of birds and animals great memories, Blood on the outside of an egg shell means the hen has popped a few blood vessels in the vent this is not unusual, the egg produced may have been a bit larger than normal and ruptured vessels on exit (eggs are not always laid blunt end first) slight blood stain on the egg is usually not a problem for a racing pigeon it can happen at any age.
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nice one lads
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lewis a fancier in Kilsyth sent birds to Rennes with the BBC or BICC
as recently as 1992 1993,he sent 3,lost 1,1 reported in cumbria and 1 home after a week 550 miles :)John Ellis with the B.B.C, sent a young bird to Rennes in 1972 & 1973 respectively and got both his young red & young mealy cock home from 583mls.
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Daphine’s Delight 1st SNFC Rennes vel 1086 from 551 mls bred by Jock Reid her sire was a blue cock9828 nest mate to Tryst Girl parent pure Delbar cock Belge 59-3058832 blue henBelge 56-3056786 presented to John by Mr S Bishop 832 was from the Coppi and Montesi and thehen 786 from 803 and 812, 803 was abrother to Favori and 812 from OldDelbar 43 Daphne,s Delights sire 9828 was inbred to the champion studpair 75 and Lelyke 803 being a son and Montesi a grand daughter.Dam of Daphines Delight a blue hen NU 62l6821 bred by J W Langstone her sireNU58N15 bred from a Delbar 564084991 a grandson of Le Bon Bleu dam of 6821 wasLangstones well known sister nest mate to Cinderella the 1956 winner NFC Pau
The above line is still very strong in distance lofts today this at times may not be known by the owners due to how difficult it was in past years to keep records. Can I ask all fanciers who are fortunate enough to score in Nationals this year to give as accurate an account as possible to scribes of birds breeding etc I know a lot of fanciers who get great enjoyment from that side of the sport, in fact I know a few who were angry not to be mentioned when a good performance was put up by a gift bird this of course can be an oversight.
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Question:
How do you tell the difference between a British Police Officer, an Australian Police Officer and an American Police Officer?
Answer:
First - Lets pose the following question:
You're on duty by yourself walking on a deserted street late at night.
Suddenly, an armed man with a huge knife comes around the corner, locks eyes with you, screams obscenities, raises the knife, and lunges at you.
You are carrying a Glock .40, and you are an expert shot, however you have only a split second to react before he reaches you.
What do you do?
BRITISH POLICE OFFICER:
Firstly the officer must consider the man's Human Rights.
1) Does the man look poor or oppressed?
2) Is he newly arrived in this country and does not yet understand the law?
3) Have I ever done anything to him that would inspire him to attack?
4) Am I dressed provocatively?
5) Could I run away?
6) Could I possibly swing my gun like a club and knock the knife out of his hand?
7) Should I try and negotiate with him to discuss his wrong doings?
8) Does the Glock have appropriate safety built into it?
9) Why am I carrying a loaded gun anyway, and what kind of message does this send to society?
10) Does he definitely want to kill me, or would he be content just to wound me?
11) If I were to grab his knees and hold on, would he still want to stab and kill me?
12) If I raise my gun and he turns and runs away, do I get blamed if he falls over, knocks his head and kills himself? .
13) If I shoot and wound him, and lose the subsequent court case, does he have the opportunity to sue me, cost me my job, my credibility and the loss of my family home?
AUSTRALIAN POLICE OFFICER:
BANG!
AMERICAN POLICE OFFICER:
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! 'click'....
(Sergeant arrives at scene later and remarks: 'Nice grouping!)
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How do you Motivate your birds for Different flying methods and distances, young and old birds,
Your question reminded me of a mealy cock I had who had never won a ticket no matter what I tried. Imagine my surprise one day when he arrived to win the club and a good fed position, he was by this time 4 years old and I honestly can,t think why he was still in the loft. that night while thinking this over I recalled arriving late from work and hurrying down to the loft to find a stray which I removed then proceeded to basket the birds, had he been annoyed at a stray near his nest box I wondered? This all happened a few weeks before our Fed race from Avaranches some 520 mls. On the day of basketing for Avranches I borrowed a rather aggressive cock from a club member and locked him in the mealy,s nest box when the mealy returned from a short spin around the loft he was beside himself with rage at this cock daring to be in his box, I slowly let the mealy enter the box but kept my hand between the two birds so as not to have any injuries this was done again prior to basketing for the race.
I should add that this certainly worked for that mealy who was normally very mild mannered as he scored 11th Open Fife fed in that particular race 1975 and again the next year in a very hard National with very few in the fed the thing to remember if trying this is the temperament of your bird and not to use the same stranger twice.
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I always think along these lines without getting to complicated the goal of inbreeding is to increase uniformity, the goal of line breeding is to increase the contribution of a common ancestor.
Like the advice given you need a real quality bird if you are going to fill your loft from a common ancestor if you are unsure of this keep crossing and keep your fingers crossed you come up trumps with your special bird to start above.
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Looks like some of these so called handlers are not responsible people and seem to have to answer to no one.
What do the RSPB think of these instances...... That,s right .....silence............
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I have taken this from a site where a lad tells his pal about a problem ref imprint Harris hawk.
Problems I have heard of from folks here in the states that tried it is that they become territorial and will attack others(humans) One guy had his bird fly off a 1/2 mile and nail a young girl off a bicycle. The bird was put too sleep.
A Harris hawk imprint in this district Crossgates was reported to the RSPB who took no action a few weeks later when again phoned said,its obviously managing to survive in the wild don,t worry about it.
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A pet poodle suffered a serious eye injury and had part of its tongue ripped out by a domesticated bird of prey,the dogs owner Ethne Brown a 57 year old woman was walking her dog in a park in Broomridge Stirling when the bird made several strikes the birds owner believed to live in Alloa has paid the vets bills and sent flowers to Mrs Brown who said I'm sure people must be concerned that people can keep these birds as pets and hunt in areas where there are people out walking the bird had no fear of me, there are lots of elderly who might have died if they had an experience like this . T hats not to mention the danger to young children many of whom wear wee fluffy hats which could make them look like a rabbit to a bird of prey.Owning one of these birds is as bad as having a dangerous dog They could fly into a garden and attack small children or pets.Mrs Browns husband Ian said The Bird attacked Buddy but then came back to attack a further three times Central Scotland police described the incident as extremely distressing.
taken from The Daily Express 19/1/12
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A pet poodle suffered a serious eye injury and had part of its tongue ripped out by a domesticated bird of prey,the dogs owner Ethne Brown a 57 year old woman was walking her dog in a park in Broomridge Stirling when the bird made several strikes the birds owner believed to live in Alloa has paid the vets bills and sent flowers to Mrs Brown who said I'm sure people must be concerned that people can keep these birds as pets and hunt in areas where there are people out walking the bird had no fear of me, there are lots of elderly who might have died if they had an experience like this . T hats not to mention the danger to young children many of whom wear wee fluffy hats which could make them look like a rabbit to a bird of prey.Owning one of these birds is as bad as having a dangerous dog They could fly into a garden and attack small children or pets.Mrs Browns husband Ian said The Bird attacked Buddy but then came back to attack a further three times Central Scotland police described the incident as extremely distressing.
taken from The Daily Express 19/1/12
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Nice one Austin
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Have enjoyed reading you lads banter about greyhounds don't suppose any of you will remember Golden Boy winning the Ashfield Derby in 1964 the Greyhound Owner and sports paper headline was Fife Flyer wins Ashfield Derby, I still have the cup.
My father in law purchased the dog as a pup he was named Kelly and he had track records throughout Scotland. my wife and I had many happy times at the greyhounds when winching I sold one to buy our engagement rings we even went on honeymoon down to England with one,she won the first betting trial and set us up nicely however she was easily spotted and we couldn't get any decent odds in the next two races but lots of fun.
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Do any of you lads have any information on a Fife pigeon called Cut Throat in the 1960.s i.e. race record on a pedigree etc.
the blood line was Jimmy Kirkland, Jimmy Anderson Cowdenbeath also Jimmy Callan Blairhall also does anyone have breeding details of the mealy cock Moneymaker Bob Carruthers...........
The late Jimmy Anderson of Kirkford raced with the Cowdenbeath Flying club his most famous pigeon was a red chequer cock who had a white flash across his neck hence the name Cut Throat, this bird was bred by local farmer Jimmy Kirkland also of the Cowdenbeath club unfortunately I don’thave racing particulars of this bird never the less this cock had a great reputation in the SNFC and club races, a youngster from this cock 27486 found its way to Jimmy Callan of Blairhall both of these men being friends of Jimmy Kirkland. 27486 flew France to Blairhall seven times four times on the day; he was from a son of what was known as the Strachan cock and a Kirkpatrick + Harrison hen bred by Jimmy Kirkland.
Jimmy Callan also raced 15055 who flew France six times 2nd sec 3rd Open Rennes 1971 also 21st sec 52nd Open and 75th sec 135th Open Rennes.
Sire 10837 son of F.McIntyres 1st West section Nantes 1966. Dam 1212 four times France Sire 14132 Biss Gold medal strain. Dam Savage Barker from C.J.Massey Enfield1212 nest mate to 1211, 11 times France taking several good positions other birds at that time with Jimmy Callan were two grandsons of S.Browns Condorab mealy Nantes cock five times Nantes grand daughter of J.Kilgours 1stScottish Combine Dol daughter of J.Winfields Redmarley Payford Lady 1stNational Pau 600mls.
I recall Bobby Caruthers visiting the above fanciers to obtain these breeding lines and the joy of Jimmy Callan when hearing of the success of Moneymaker.
Unfortunately Jimmy Anderson a miner at the Aitken colliery Kelty died at a young age.
I was privileged to be a friend of Jimmy Kirkland and recall occasions when Jimmy would turn up at the factory where I worked with parts of a tractor or combine harvester which needed urgent repair I recall the bemused looks from managers when I commandeered the workforce explaining without these parts there will be no harvest they would just shake there heads and walk away smiling my father in-law in a smaller way had 13 acres his hobby was refurbishing tractors, parts of which could also be found at my workplace. some top fanciers made visits to Jimmy Kirkland at that time to obtain stock unfortunately he himself was always busy and could never find the time to do justice to his exceptional bloodstock,when eventually he had time he was plagued by ill health and he to died before his time.........details taken from a signed letter from J.Callan
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Do any of you lads have any information on a Fife pigeon called Cut Throat in the 1960.s i.e. race record on a pedigree etc.
the blood line was Jimmy Kirkland, Jimmy Anderson Cowdenbeath also Jimmy Callan Blairhall also does anyone have breeding details of the mealy cock Moneymaker Bob Carruthers...........
Milk
in Natural Remedies & Supplements
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Have read IB views and done some research in the modern world ..............Some milk products do not contain lactose, such as cottage cheese and other types of cheese. Generally, it is thought that it is safe to offer yogurt and cheese, although products that contain lactose are probably safe, if offered in small amounts. Interestingly, live culture yogurt does contain lactose when it is produced; however the live organisms in the yogurt consume the lactose, eventually removing the lactose entirely from the yogurt before it is consumed! Cheese products with onions or garlic in them are best avoided, because of the risk of Heinz body hemolytic anemia.