pj1001

Hello Alan and everyone, I was at an ETS mdemo hald by Bricon 3 weks ago and going by what we were told there here is my interpretaion of some of the answer to your questions, all of which where asked at the presentation and pretty satisfactorily answered. For further details you can also check out the Bricon website at www.bricon.be I suppose my question is fairly simple, what system can I use that a) can be installed simply without electric they can be run of car batteries but it has been found in other countries that the batteries are not reliable at times and have a life for between 3-6 hours. can increase or decrease in size The Bricon system can be added to with additional antennas (trapping sensors) being added as well as additional clocks etc. To some degree the numbe you can use will be dependent on the type of power supply you can use. 240 V or car batteries c) that can be used with other ETS systems (so that not every club member has to have the same) but no added equipment is required to read both systems According to the Bricon salemans their system is the only one on the market at the minute that will allow you to interface the other systems into it at club/ race marking centre level. If any fancier in a club purcahses an ETS from them they will provide club systems free for charge to that members club, no matter if 1 or 51 members use Bricon systems. Again according to the sales man if you have a club using various ETS systems if you haven't got a Brcion club systems then you will need the various different club systems, master clock etc. for the systems the members are using. d) that can download in to a computer and be run on a piece of club/fed software to produce a result Bricon has a computer package avaliable that allows clubs to connect the ETS system to their computer and by running the program all the details on the ETS can be downloaded onto the computer and results etc calculated. Apparently this system if additional hardward is purchased can be used to link T3's to the computer program and dat downloaded also. All clubs will need a computer printer no matter what system they use and will need access to a computer initially to enter in members ETS ring details and the associated piegons ring number etc corresponding to that ring. So at the beginning of the season club secretaries / officials are going to be busy typing for a week or two. Can anyone tell me if there are several ETS that meet the above? I think at the demo he said there was 5 ETS systems avaliable at the minute Bricon, Unikon, Benzine, plus 2 others which I can't remember the names off. And also what important points have I missed that a good ETS should have? According to the Bricon rep. he said some ET systems only had 2 sheets on their consoles which relates to the ETS rings, while others had 3 sheets. The 3 sheet systems are used in Belgium and Saudi Arabia and are classes as being more secure in terms security etc. The Bricon system that where demonstated as far as i can remember allowed in one model 4 antennas connected to them and the other 16 I think. Also the smaller model of the 2 allowed 8 flights per week to be recorder (training and / or races) while the larger system allowed 20 flights. This is only the details I can remember from the demo, I hope I haven't got anything wrong, If anyone spots anything incorrect, please correct it . Hope this is some help to the members. PJ

Hi everyone, I have heard of widowhood fanciers in our area using it with some success. they seem to put it on the birds feed on the morning of basketing. I don't know what the amounts they use however, but they say it gives the birds an energy boast. I haven't tried it myself so can't comment. PJ

I don't really know Norman, but have seen his name in the pigeon press over the years. I am sorry to hear what these scum have done to him and his birds. Hopefully the culprits will be found and dealt with in the same manner they dealth with Norman's birds. Going to his loft and being greeted with a scene like this will sticks in Norman's head for the rest of his life, but god willing with time the injured birds will recover and Norman will get back to the sport that he loves again. Tammy or Gareth if you are talking to Norman can you pass on my sympathy please. Regards PJ

27th of January... 30th of January... birds would have already been here... left before the 25th January. (21st I think...) The dates are fair enough but the Bernard Matthews outbreak wasn't until around 10 days later, there should still have been been some for of check carried out by DEFRA as well as Bernard Matthews, because they must have had a doubt in the welfare of this stock as they arrived 5 days prior to an outbreak taking place in Hungary. So it had to be in the birds syetsm to have been passed on. PJ

Thinking of you and your mum at this time Jimmy. I hope that with some hospital care and rest she will be well again soon. God bless PJ

One thing that I can't work out as a result of the Hungarian and Bernard Matthews outbreaks is:- Once the outbreak was reported in Hungary I would have expected that someone from DEFRA would have checked through the relevant channels to find out if any type of poultry had been imported from Hungary into the UK. Also you would have expected that Bernard Matthews or one of his employees, knowing that they had turkeys from Hungary; would have got them checked out right away for avian flu in case they affected his stock. So as far as I can see it, correct me if I am wrong, both DEFRA and Bernard Matthews have shown neglience in dealing with this problem. So in my opinion they must both take part of the blame for what happened. PJ

28-30 young birds for the first few races then around 12-14 a week afterwards old birds normally 30-36 for last 3-4 old bird races before birds go on channel when we start are channel team as well as racing the inland team. Normally though we would send between 12-20 a week. PJ

Have any of these birds been in this section before lord c or is this their first time? If it is their first time, then what I suggest you do is to take the hens away again for a week or so and leave the cock in the section alone until they become settled and have chosen a nest box as their own. Once all the cocks have a nest box each close all the unused boxes(as this will only encourage some of the cocks to claim a 2nd or 3rd box). This might be advantageous later in the year but will only lead to more fighting for now). Once all cosk have a box each, then you can start reintroducing the hens to the cocks. If you have the widowhood type of nest boxes you can lock the hens in one half of the box and let the cocks fly up and down to them for a day or 2. This will let both sexes get used to each other without any fighting or chasing around the loft ( reducing the likelihood also of hens getting beating by over excited cocks). Once both teh cocks and hens seem more settled let the cock and the hen go together in the box and observe them making sure they are settled, if not remove the cock and leave him on the outside of the box for another day or 2, until he calms down, then reintroduce him to the hen again. If they seem to have settled down in the boxes ok leave them there for a day or 2. Then start to gradually let a couple of pairs out together and as each pair becomes more familiar with their boxes gradually keep letting out another pair out at a time until all 8 pair are going and coming freely from their nests. When letting the piars out for teh first time try and pick say a pair nesting in top box and a pair nesting in a bottom box so that the pairs nests are far appart. This will help them get used to going in and out of their nests quicker. There are numerous other ways of doing this also, but for yearlings this methods seems to work well for us. It takes time and patience though and it means that you will have to feed and water some of the birds in their boxes until they are settled for a few days. Hope this is of help PJ

What colour would you call these 3 hens and what colours do people think they would originate from? Many thanks PJ

Great pictures Craig and nice youngsters also. Wish you all the best with them in 2007. PJ

Thanks Sammy and Hjaltland PJ

The pigeon has to come first, judge the pigeon and if you like it and it is of the type you like then and only then look at the pedigree. Only use it though to judge what distances a bird is capable of flying from (capable of not guaranteed though). After that is you like the bird and buy it breed or race it and let the basket decide. If it was all down to pedigrees everyone that goes to Blackpool every year would have a loft full of champions, because most birds sold there have very full pedigrees. Great racers don't always breed great racer, but their sons or daughters may do, so give them a chance and some time also (3 years at least). After that if the bird or birds are not meeting your expectations then they have to go. These are my thoughts on this anyways PJ

Feed a good quality mixture twice a day to all birds while breeding in trays on floor, pots of maples in each nest 24/7. 2 pots of G10 pellets on floor for birds to eat at will, refilled as required. Used these G10's last year for first and noticed that youngsters grew a lot faster than normal had to ring most after 5 days. Any G10's that wheren't used after round of youngsters weaned where used in young bird mix when they where moved to young bird section. I don't know it if it was the Gem in the pellets or what but had the healthist team of youngsters we had in years and they remainded healthy all year. Won the club from all 4 of the longest young bird races, normally these races we don't send to as we normally on race youngsters 3/4 races a year, but due to loosing very few youngster all year and had surplus so tried a few out. Sent 10 to each of the 2 derbies and all 20 home 240 miles. Sent 6 to inland national 240 miles 5/6 homed Sent 2 to young bird national 100miles 1/2 home. I don't know if it was just a good year for us and birds were healthy all year or it was due to G10's, But I would reccommend using them. Hope this information is of help PJ

PM me Sammy and I can pass on Graham's contact details. We have exchanged some birds over the years (he has a son and a daughter of our national winning cock). Some of his birds have done well for us also. Most of his birds originate down from A.H.Bennet's best lines as well as Jordan Brothers Van Brueanes. Up until lately he also had at stock the sire of John Lovell's Champion Ede Lerwick national winner (of A.H. Bennett bloodlines) As far as I know Jordon Bros also have the old Van Brueane bloodline still (originating down from Robert Mayo Van Brueanes birds) and they do well with them. Graham Moss doesn't race much now due to hawk and health problems. At one time Henry Mairs of Lionheart fame also had Van Brueane birds down from Dave Allen's Nugget lines but I don't know if he still has these now or not. PJ

My condolences to all of Matt's immediate family and family circle on his sad passing. Matt was a gentleman and a great ambassator for the SNFC. Rest in peace Matt, it is sad to hear of another great fancier passing on to the big loft in the sky. PJ

Hi Hjaltland Check out this link it includes details on Jack's nephews contact details. He is bringing a few copies of Jack's book to Blackpool for anyone who is interested so if you contact him you might be able to pick up copies there. http://www.pigeonbasics.com/forum/blah/m-1165503763/ PJ Like you say Ed its an excellent and very informative book

When taking a photograph of a pigeon's eye does anyone know what is the best camera settings to use etc would be in terms of maginfication, flash etc. to get a decent shot. PJ

Thanks everyone for your replies and the information you have included in them, it sounds like Hawkeye is the system for him. I will pass this information on to him and downlaod a copy of the trial to let him haeve a look at before he makes a purchase. He can start off with the pedigree part of it and build on that as he gains more confidence. Many thanks all. PJ

What is the best loft management system out there at the minute in terms of value for money? A friend of mine who sells a good number of birds during the year was asking me which system he should buy to record breeding and racing details of his birds? He will primarily be using it to generate pedigrees though I would assume. The biggest problem though is he isn't very computer literate, and I don't really want to get too involved as I know that will result in me having to type all his data into the system primarily and at the minute I haven't really got the time for that. So anyone got any suggestions for a decent value for money loft management system that is pretty easy to use? Many thanks PJ

I like Bruno and Ronnie would love to see some form of microchipped rings, mini cameras or similar used on a few birds during the year. I also feel that the feedback from these to fanciers as well as conveyors and committees would be of great value. By using these devices might help answer some of the big problems that have been going around for years. 1. Why so my young bird losses and where are they all going? 2. With the French Derby and Nationals flown into Ireland with at best most years 5-10% returns, what is happening to the other birds and why? Are they being shot? Are they being hawked? Are they not facing it and flying the wrong way? Are they getting caught in the channel and missing Ireland and drowning? etc. Over the past 3 years we have lost some great birds in the French nationals races birds in particular 4 birds that have taken top 20 positions in the derby the years previously from racepoints in France 40-50 miles shorter only to be lost the following years. I for one would be very interested to find out what happened to them or where they ended up, as I know they aren't bad pigeons. PJ

Camerras can also work in favour of the convoyers also though, its not just a medium for fanciers to have a go at convoyers when we have a bad race. If photos or videos are taken at the racepoint and the weather is good and the forecast that the convoyer/s have been goven is good but a bad race is encountered then all the photos etc will do is back up the convoyers decision to liberate the birds like the majority of us would have done if we where given a favourable weather forecast. In the case of birds being fed and wathered if the convoyer/s / driver feeds and waters the birds and this is recorderd on video or photographically then the driver /convoyer has done their job and it is the fanciers that are at fault for not basket training their birds to feed and water. So as well as aiding fanciers if convoyers are doing their jobs then they provide additional evidence of this also for douvting fanciers. PJ

My local club has also put a similar proposal in for the AGM this year also. For the committee to put a camera of some sort into each of the transporter to both record the liberation as well as the birds being fed and watered on the lorries. This was submitted as a result of a lot of fanciers' birds both old and young homing in a very dehydrated state from short races when temperatures wheren't excessive and liberations took place am.

I can see why that could be a good idea Gareth the SNFC and INFC liberating together out of France but I don't think if would be passed this end of the pond, although I might be wrong. The fanciers in Southern Ireland and the shorter fliers in the north I can't see agreeing with it because they would probabally feel that if their birds where with the Scottish birds they would be somewhat off line as their birds really need to be flying up the Welsh coast to be competitive. PJ

I would stay well clear of it if I was a Scottish fancier, unless the committee is planning for a couple of short races beforehand from Northern Ireland or the Republic to get the birds used to the route. I remember the time the Northern Irish fanciers had to fly out of Scotland at the time of the Newcastle Disease outbreaks, 75-80% of the best south road birds were wiped out in less than 3 years. This was mainly due to a lot of the birds not being able to orientate leading to very erratic races and massive losses with the birds encountering a lot of hawk attacks (birds homing badly injured), especially from places like Thurso, Lewrick, Fort William. A lot of the older experienced birds ended up flying down the English coast and crossing lower down and homing as if they were flying from Wales. Our area which was then one of the longest flying raced well and won numerous Opens and Sections but the racing was very erarrtic at best and a lot of birds I feel won't turn overnight from flying south to north-east. If the race is going to be during our young bird season there will be in the reagion of 35,000 + birds in the air with all the Southern Ireland Feds, the NIPA. Ulster Fed and the East Down Combine most weekends, so if you are considering a race I would try and use an alternative day to a Saturday liberation. Just my thoughts. PJ

Great setup Craig, lofts look really well. I especially like the avairy for the young birds. Its a great idea for letting them have a good look around during the day as well as getting plenty of fresh air and sunlight. Good luck with your stock pairing for 2007. Best wishes PJ