pj1001

I feel that we have tried to breed faster more motivated pigeons at the expensive of endurance now. Then once we have got them we have adapted more modern feeding and racing mechanisms to try and make them go even faster. I feel now that alot of modern pigeons (and I am as much responsible in this as anyone else) are bred for a maximum of 10 to 12 hours continuous flying after that their homing abilities and abaility to orientate falls by the way side. I am sure a lot of fanciers might disagree with this and they have every right to, but this is my opinion for what it is worth. I don't honestly think the birds of today are any faster than the older English and Irish strains because in 1965 the record velocity in Ireland for a 100 mile race was 2256ypm. It wasn't until a few years ago that this velocity was surpassed so if the olden days birds can do these typse of velocities then wheren't all slow either. The immunity of our birds today is for sure a lot weaker tahn it was in the 60s'-70's., maybe partly due to teh fact that the birds then where kept in harsher conditions than today, with poorer grade feeding etc resulting in survival of the fittest. Now with modern medications a lot of the mediocre birds can survive in a race team longer, but I also think we need to look at the mass importing of continentaly birds also as part of the cause. Just because a bird has a Belgium of Dutch ring on it doesn't make it a world beater and there is a lot of crap being shipped out of these countries nowadays. In some cases birds that within their own countries their owners could hardly give away, but fanciers here and within the UK are filling lofts with them and breeding teams of pigeons from them. I am not saying that there aren't alot of good birds being imported also, but there are hell of a lot of birds which are scrap also. PJ

All year round Garlic , Cider Vinegar, Ad-Herb, Naturaline and Gemthepax. Hormoform and G10 pellets when rearing. Elderberry juice for youngsters. Medication for aliments on advice from vet. PJ

Red plastic ones for T3, brass ones for Benzine Quartz. PJ

Like Chris I have admiration for top fliers that are there or there abouts every week in clubs, Feds etc. What I don't admire though are arrogant fanciers who think they are the only ones in a particular club/area that are allowed to win, just because they have paid £x for birds, feed the best grains etc. These are generally the fanciers which are the worst losers in my experience especially when someone who they feel is less well off than them and thus can't afford to buy as expensive pigeons as them beats them. They seem to regard this winning pigeon then as a lucky pigeon rather than giving the owner and the pigeon the credit of being the best pigeon on the day. All they seem to be able to do is make up excuses for themselves rather than trying harder the following week to get to the top of the result sheet. PJ

Each year we get 60 rings from our club 40 of which are used for ourselves and 20 for youngsters for chairty sales and to give to friends etc. We rear from only 8 pair of stock birds (normally 2 rounds of each pair) and from 5-6 pairs of racers. For the past few years we have lost 9 youngsters and 7 youngsters out of these from when they were weaned until the end of the season, while others in the same club have lost on the region of 50-60. We used to rear 60 youngsters for ourselves but it became too much hassle catching them etc for training and also that amount was too many for the loft. Since we have cut numbers down and been more selective we have had a lot less health problems with our youngsters. We also now after the initial 4 training tosses from 2-5 miles toss all our youngsters are trained in 3's from 10 miles to 40miles. We would send a maximum of 30 youngsters a week for the early races then about 10-12 a week afterwards, but can still hold our own with most of the fanciers in our club and fed. So do we really need 50-100 youngsters a year to be competitive like a lot of fanciers seem to think nowadays, honestly I don't think so. PJ

I can understand what your saying ACE ok and it makes a lot of sense also, especially with numbers of members falling each year.But at the same time I'm sure alot of these inferior birds will be lost in the first few races anyways. I know things are a bit different in terms of racing in the UK to Ireland. For example in the NIPA in Northern Ireland in some of the early young bird races there can be up to 30,000 birds liberated in a normal weekend race. By the end of the year though you would be lucky to get between 8,000 to 10,000 youngsters in a race. So basically somewhere between 10,000 to 20,000 youngsters are being lost between 80 and 300 miles each year and no one seems to know where they are going. The hawks can't be taking them all. PJ

A lot of fanciers that I know puts rings on youngsters every year bred of anything hoping to breed a ' good un' . Their philosophy is 'If it comes out put a ring on it'. If fanciers had only a fixed number of rings each year then they would have to be a bit more selective in what they breed off. Hopefully as a result of this better youngsters would be reared and as a result less losses and improved racing. What our others views on this? PJ

Would limiting fanciers to a maximum of 50 young bird rings a year improve racing? PJ

Personally I think that it is every individual fanciers choice to whether they believe or disbelieve eyesign and eyesign theories. I have no problem with that and it is everyones individual choice. What I don't agree with however and feel it is disrespectable and very bad form for others to rubbish and criticise fanciers who believe in it and are trying to pass on some of their years of experience and knowledge on to others who are interested in learning more on the topic. When I joined the forum I was a bit sceptical about eyesign to begin with, mainly due to lack of knowledge on the subject. After reading threads on the topic and a number of books on the topic and cross referencing this information with some of the eyes of our best birds I now believe it has some merit. I am still by no means an expert and I doubt if anyone will become an expert in a few years.To me eyesign is a tool that can be used to bred better pigeons but it should be used with a lot of other tools when pairing up pigeons etc. not solely on its own. I don't mind if anyone rubbishes what I have written or not, I do object to what some people have been doing though trying to test others who are only here to try and help others to improve their birds. No one is saying everyone has to follow what is being written but at least they should respect those who are taking their time to try and pass on some of their knowlegde to others free of charge. PJ

Best wishes to everyone for a happy, peaceful and relaxing Christmas and a healthy and successful 2007 racing season. PJ

I spoke to the fancier earlier in the week again and he has told me that this hen hasn't laid for the past couple of years from him. So maybe this has something to do with her laying/ reproduction system. This is only a hunch but the feather condition might be in relation to this problem. Her owner plucked these feathers out of her and new feathers are growing now to replace them but they look exactly the same as the feathers in the photograph. Her feathers look and feel like small strips of string. The hen has been in a quarintine pen in his corn store jimmy for the last 3-4 weeks so I would have rule out the possibility of the feather disfigurement being caused by hanging on the avairy walls. Thanks everyone for your suggestions, keep them coming as they are all useful and helpful. Best wishes to everyone for a happy, relaxing and peaceful Christmas and great racing in 2007. Regards PJ

You might find something here Blue Pied. http://www.murrayandmills.co.uk/catalog/erol.html#1x0&& Good luck PJ

I have heard the name before gangster but to be honest I don't really know a lot about them really other than they are an old distance strain. They where on the go a bit before my time, I think. PJ

We have had a few pairs that have bred winners every year over the last 30 years and in most causes we have split them. Maybe for 1-2 years then put them back together again. The reasons why we have done this is: 1. To find out if the hen and cock will bred winner with other birds other than just when they are together. Putting a good cock to another hen might even bred better pigeons. 2. To add to the gene pool so at a later date we can if necessary bred half brothers and sisters together if necessary or different daughters back to the originals cocks 3. To test the birds we have more as to see what distances can perform too. During this time we have had a few cocks that have bred winners with several hens and in some cases the youngsters of some of these have improved when pairing the cock to another hen. I don't think there are any hard and fast rules though its just a hunch or a gut feeling sometimes, but unless you try to split a pair up and mate then to something else how will you know? Just my thoughts PJ

Hi everyone, A guy in our club asked me if I knew of anyone who still keeps the 'Fuller Issacson' strain of pigeons (I am not sure if spelling is correct or not as he didn't seem to know how to spell the strain name). I told him I didn't know of anyone but would put a post on the forum and see if anyone online knew of anyone who still keeps this strain. Many thanks PJ

As far as I know Westy one of Boddy and Ridewood's Pigeon Channel videos/dvds is on the Red Fox Janseens and their background. I looked at an old catalogue and form it, it seems to be video/dvd No 19. So if you wanted to find out more about the strain taking a look at that might be useful. PJ

Mid February and mid March for us here. Last year we paired the sprint / middle distance birds up Valentines Day and the Channel birds 7th March, mainly due to Avian Flu but will probabally stick to similar dates this year also. PJ

Happy Birthday Rose. I hope u have a nice day and good weekend PJ

A vet once told me that excessive use of Emtryl over a number of years can cause fertility problems. PJ

Like I said John I am not a eyesign expert and just added this diagram help novices like myself in identifying the 5 different circles in the eye no more. To get an answer to your question you will need to ask someone more knowledgeable in eysesign than me. PJ

If you click on the image it should enlarge hopefully. PJ

I am no means an eyesign expert and anyone who is knowledgeable on this subject please correct me if I am wrong on annything. I have drawn out a rough diagram on the circles of a pigeon's eye to try and help those that aren't aware of them. I have drawn this diagram on my interpretation of some of Jack Barkel's fantastic eyesign books and articles, so if I have misinterpreted anything Jack I apologise. I have only done this to try and help anyone who might be interested on the topic on the site. Like I have stated earlier though I am an eyesign novice, compared to some of the more knowledgeable members of the forum. PJ

The Black Diamonds as far as I can remember are owned by the St Clair International Stud Lofts Australia. I think this is their website. http://www.pigeonstud.com/ PJ

All the best Paul with your new home and with your soon to be the new loft. Best wishes PJ

Many thanks Bruno and Craig for going to so much bother in contacting such well respected and regarded avian/pigeon vets throughout the world on this matter. I checked the bird out today again and lice and mite wise it is completely clean, which is what I would have expected as the fancier that owns this hen is very meticulous when it comes to loft hygiene and sprays out his lofts religiously once every month. I have told him he should try taking the hen to a vet here to see what they think but as there are no real true pigeon/avian vets in Northern Ireland I don't know if visiting a vet will shed any more light on the problem or not but its worth a try. Thanks again everyone for your help on the matter and if I find out anything I will post on the forum. Best wishes for Christmas and the 2007 season. Regards PJ