Pompey Mick

I agree with Jimmy, bean fed pigeons need to work. The best team of YB I have ever owned were Bean fed with a controlled hopper. They flew out once a day in the evening and within a minute they were out of sight and I wouldn't see them again for approx an hour when they would return and away they would go again flying between one and threequarter and two and a half hours nightly. The would really fly just like a training flight. I even had a mid-week sprint race while they were out excercising one evening. As I said they were hopper fed but the hopper was removed early morning till they trapped in that night. Out of curiosity I decided to weigh the corn and check how much they were eating, it worked out at nearly an ounce and three-quarters each! Those youngsters won 7 out of 9 races that year from 50 mls to 210 mls. I am not saying that beans alone win you races but they certainly do no harm and they are a very economic feed. Perhaps we should end this thread because if beans come back into fashion the prices will surely rise.

It looks like we missed last years hike, perhaps because the insurance is due in January. We have had up to 50 clocks in the past but this included a few old Toulets. I may look at the amount covered for the clocks but it is difficult with members buying extra clocks. With the Classics and Nationals some of the members have three races on one day occasionally. It would seem that this insurance has suffered some hefty payouts and they have revalued the risk assessment. The Club does not have Public Liability Insurance.

I use a mask all the time in the loft especially when catching the birds as I think that is the worst time, when pigeons are flying around you. When I'm doing more extensive work I use an Aircap mask which passes a flow of filtered air over your face behind a perspex face screen. Very refreshing in summer, a bit nippy in the colder months. The Widowhood system seems to me to be better if you are susceptible to pigeon dust as it is altogether cleaner than the natural system and most of your observations are done outside of the loft and cleaning out takes just a few minutes.

I've used beans in the hopper since I started racing pigeons in 1963. I find they are a good self regulating feed i.e. the pigeons dont like them that much. I can leave a hopper full of beans in with the YB and control them with mixture easily. My birds are on hopper-fed beans at the moment and that will be the main feed when they rear their young. I always put beans in the nest boxes to get the babies used to them. I purchase mine locally ,recleaned ,at £5.00 a bag. They seem to have stayed at that price for the last 10 yrs. I do use a widowhood mix during racing but I top up with beans.

As a club that is based in the garden of a Public House in a seperate building we need insurance. We always have a number of Federation crates permanently stored which are our responsibility and we normally have well in excess of 40 clocks in the clock cupboard during the racing season mainly T3 and STB Quartz. Our main fear is fire or theft. We, as a club, realise the necessity of insurance but I was a bit concerned by the 80% price hike, that's why I asked if there are any other Insurers available.

I have just received my quote for club insurance for clocks,baskets & equipment from Richard V Wallis and it has risen to £176.65 for 2006 from the 2005 total of £99.75. My Club has not claimed on this insurance and is apparently due to a rating increase and is not negotiable. Have any other Clubs suffered a similar increase? Can anyone recommend another insurer. The clocks are insured for £14500 and the premium is £145, Baskets £1000 premium is £7.50 and Club equipment £500, premium is £6.25

we lost an awful lot of members with the advent of road transport and the move to early libs. The amount of clearance sales due to 'work commitments' were tremendous. We may get some of those fanciers back with ETS. Also there is nothing worse than sitting around all morning waiting to hear the liberation time from the shorter races when you are frightened to leave the loft in case you miss the birds. ETS will at least give you peace of mind if you have to go somewhere.

I've been in the sport now since 1963 and I would imagine the introduction of the first timing clocks didn't suit everybody and I would have thought cost was more of a problem in the early days of the sport. However we need to look ahead to a computer based sport because we are living in a computer based society. Youngsters are used to working with electronics, its their way of life, Trying to get members to be 'hands on' is getting increasingly more difficult, the modern generation has a program for everything and if we want our sport to survive we need to move with the times. Up to last season my Wife had to clock 60% of my races due to work commitments and I am sure it would have saved her an awful lot of worry if I had ETS. One thing is for sure ETS won't make you a winning fancier but it might help people stay in, or join , our sport.

I live on the South Coast and the distance from THURSO is 545 miles to my loft, Berwick is a good fly at 350 mls and YB's are flown up to Yorkshire 210mls +. I flew NR regularly up to 2003 when I decided to concentrate on the South with the Solent SR Fed. From the point of view of training and preparation North Road is much better as I can at least get line of flight training with my birds and time in the basket is normally less for North Road races. However it doesnt seem to carry the same glamour as South Road racepoints especially as most of the Classic races are on the South Route and even more so with the International scene, but it does provide very good and exciting racing in its own right.

In a statement by Margaret Beckett in which she accepts the Dimmock report on Avian Quarantine it catagorically states the following 'Avian flu and Newcastle disease present little risk to public health' and bearing in mind that pigeons are not susceptible to Avian Flu, how have we got involved in all this panic stricken hype. I could understand all this panic by governments over this virus if it had happened two years ago when it killed 60 people in the initial outbreak but in the two years since then it has hardly had any impact on the human population in global terms. Obviously it could mutate into a killer pandemic flu, but it could also mutate into a gentler form of the virus. NO-ONE knows for certain, the only statistic the chemists throw at us is that these Pandemics happen roughly every thirty years, and that is only on the basis of the last century, it doesn't seem to go into the 1800's. Very scientific. The only winners are the Pharmacutical companies who have received billions from panicking Governments

I am afraid Isle of Wight racing will have to be in the Solent Averages because thats the stretch of water they're flying over. Try the Channel Is, they're in the British Isles. Merry Christmas everyone.

under the present regulations racing is permitted within the British Isles so that means we should be able to race from the Channel Isles as they are part of the British Isles,

good news, just heard on the local radio that pigeon racing has been given the go-ahead under a general licence. Checked the DEFRA website and confirmed it,also applys to shows and sales

I started pigeon racing as a 16 yr old in 1963. My Dad raced in the late 40's, early 50's and I think he got the bug again and got me interested with a pair of fantails in 1962, within months I had 8 pair of racing pigeons to breed from and I joined the Hilsea Inv RPC as a Young bird flyer in 1963. With my Dad's help I won the first ever race I entered, a 60ml race from Dorchester. After my Dad's untimely death in 1984 I moved the loft to my house and have continued racing to this day with my Wife's invaluable help. I now enjoy my racing with the Milton HS , Portsmouth where I am the Sercretary. I am sending a photo of the Prize presentation 1963 Hilsea Inv.Club

I am in agreement with MsPigeon's ideas about offering assistance to budding fanciers and I am sure that Schools would pick this idea up if it was promoted correctly. First and foremost no School will allow their pupils to become involved with adults unless they have undergone a police records check. This does not come free. It will be up to our governing body to sponsor willing participants to give them proper accreditation to allow a scheme of Foster Fanciers to prosper. My idea would be for a Foster Fancier to adopt an interested youngster who wishes to participate in Racing Pigeons without an initial commitment. The Foster Fancier will retain all rights to the pigeons which will remain registered in his name. The adopted youngster will get to see his name on the result sheet as a partner to the Foster Fancier. He will be able to enjoy racing pigeons without having any liabilities. The fostering can cease at any time whereby the Foster Fancier will revert to his normal racing name as the fostering would be considered a temporary affiliation with no permanent rights attached. This will give youngsters an insight into our Sport which may result in a growth of membership.

does anyone feed beans anymore? I have always used beans as a self-regulating hopper feed as well as mixtures for control & condition. I always start my young birds on beans before feeding mixtures. They only take what they need and very rarely over indulge. When I use mixtures I use Bosmolen.

My Club The Milton Homing Society (Portsmouth) after speaking to our local ministry vet applied for a Show licence before pigeons were allowed to be shown after arguing our case over the phone. We applied for licences for five weekly shows commencing on Friday 18th Nov. the ban was lifted on the 17th Nov and after more phone calls our licence for the 18th was faxed to us that day. We received all five licences in the post Sat 19th Nov. Very pleased with the response we got from our local DEFRA office.

i'VE BOUGHT THE COLOURED TEL.No. RINGS FOR THE LAST FIVE YEARS, A DIFFERENT COLOUR EVERY YEAR. I'VE BUILT UP A NICE STOCK OF THEM NOW AND FIND THE DIFFERENT COLOURS VERY HANDY WHEN SPLITTING THE BIRDS INTO TEAMS. I FIND THAT NON- FANCIERS REPORT PIGEONS MORE OFTEN WHEN THEY WEAR A NAME & ADDRESS RING AS IT IS MORE VISIBLE TO THEM THAN A WING STAMP. TROUBLE IS THEY NORMALLY READ IT WITHOUT CATCHING THE PIGEON WHICH CAN BE A BIT AWKWARD WHEN IT COMES TO GETTING IT BACK.

Just to let everyone know that the Show Secretary of the Milton HS (Portsmouth) received a show permit today from DEFRA. for our Club Show. I haven't read it yet but there some provisos which are referred to on the DEFRA website. So at last there is light at the end of the tunnel