peter pandy

Darren, I have not mentioned motivation and how to make a plodder win but will later to prove a point !!.

I use ATX radiation heaters and bring the sun into my loft.

A nunber of weeks ago I posted a comment that one or two forum members wished to know more about so here we go. Inbreeding,Linebreeding,Crossing,are all ways of describing breeding success ! Yet if we ask others the most important aspect of a racing pigeon we will obtain many answers perhaps without coming to the most important. The first three will in all probability hardly be mentioned as most fanciers will opt for Health & Fitness, some the Loft, some their Enviroment, some the Feeding, others the Family or strain. Yet we still have not hit the nail on the head. Many fanciers my-self included have purchased the very best proven specimens yet still failed in our endeavour to get to the top which to me proves that blood is not the the answer. We do not race horses where we can ascertain their performance on the track nor animal livestock where farmers are breeding for certain characteristics to enable higher prices at market. We take a racing pigeon in our hands,[1] we know what it is bred from how it handles feel its muscles look at its eye we know we have the goods to race successfully yet it fails and is never seen again. [2]we send another which handles the same way and it returns late every time and becomes a plodder. [3]We send another same way as 1 & 2 and it wins once in its career, To many this is the best pigeon because we have more of the same to take its place IF we are fortunate enough. When number 2 has returned late for the umpteenth time you dispose of it and have probably disposed of the best bird in the loft.!!!. If you have a decent team of pigeons but feel you need a cross but dont know where to go then the simple answer is DONT. If you have perused the above you will have noticed that I never mentioned THE HOMING INSTINCT which is something we know nothing about. YOU CANNOT SEE IT FEEL IT OR SMELL IT which makes us all equals. Some pigeons MAY have it more than others which is why Eddie Newcombe used to send 20 pairs of his birds to his brother 10 miles away to breed a pair of youngsters and they were all returned back to his loft. That was his cross THE HOMING INSTINCT CROSS. I could go further and state [to my mind] that the further the distance the stronger the homing instinct has to be. "PROVE ME WRONG" and when you bring in other birds you weaken the ORIGINAL HOMING INSTINCT.

I should add to quantify the above. The late C.J.Williams had central heating in his lofts and had 32 individual federation winners over a 5 year period.

I installed an ATX radiated heater into my loft a number of years ago to help with dampness in the air " loft under trees ". It was a great help at that particular loft occasion. On moving to another situation I only used the hygrometer to the benefit of the birds and in my present location the hygrometer is in use continuously. The original question regarding temperature is 17 centigrade humidity 65. This is from a multi national winner who has used this system for years. Am heading down to Blackpool in the morning to purchase another as its the best thing since sliced bread.

The report I read stated it was a Harris Hawk.

Had an electric fence round my hen house area and my gun dog decided to have a pee on it. After jumping 4 feet of the ground he did not stop quivering for 30 minutes. He never went within 20 yards of that fence again.

So it was you that nicked them ?

Instead of moaning why not do as I did and reply to their guff and get them to send by post their pack which will cost in postage a couple of quid. If we all done that we would reduce their coffers by a goodly sum.

I would have to start a new post which I dont have time for at this particular time. Sorry.

Will tell you the Eddie Newcombe way when we meet up. Problem is it flies in the face of everything you have been told and will change your outlook on bringing in crosses.

What about Denis Ford.

Without a doubt Eddie Newcombe was far and away the best national flier Scotland ever produced and no-one has or will beat his record.

WHO was the original question ! Well not to Tom, Dick or Harry. Their is a secret in distance racing and the easiest route is to obtain a number of birds from the same loft that does not have many losses.

If its still available I am willing to buy and collect Saturday.

BIGDA wrote on the 25th June that it looked like yearlings for the distance ?. As I have quite a few I thought I would take a look at this years results only up to the first 30 in each race over the pond. Ypres-8. Cleremont-6. Messac-zero. Tours-Zero. Mmmmmm!!

Thirty years ago when Johnny Foreigner started dumping his rubbish in the U.K. to put speed into our distance birds, all went well for a year or two, untill, after crossing in for a couple of years the long distance capabilities of our once established families disapeared. You may or may not agree with this statement however back then the likes of Robert Cormack, Eddie Newcombe and other well known distance men said Speed can not be crossed in and if it was it would be the ruin of our long distance heritage. I recall reading a book where the author stated that pigeons with a wing beat of 9 per second would only be capable of 3 hours work. Pigeons with 8 per second would sustain flight for 8 hours. Birds with 7 per second would manage 15 hours and were your extreme distance racers when explaining the difference between success and failure regarding what your preferred racing requirments were. Feeding was also paramount to the time and effort expended. The great Eddie Newcombe said to me, Peter in a distance race 45% were never bred for it 45% are not fit for it and you are only competing against 10%. Never were truer words ever spoken.

The year was 1999. I opened the kitchen door and on the lawn a female sparrowhawk was on top of one of my pigeons, I ran toward it and it flew onto my perimeter fence and I picked up my still living pigeon watching the hawk all the time. As I was inspecting her the hawk took flight directly at me and I accidentally broke its neck when attempting to ward it off. DONT THINK FOR ONE MOMENT THEY WONT ATTACK YOU.

I have a 2cwt hopper on the same lines as BHW page 150 Dec 16th. The only difference is that I have a hinged lid which drops over the feed holes. My system is that it is closed last thing at night and if birds are being trained or released from loft the following day its opened for their return and left open till last thing at night when I feed a heavier mix in trays. This type of hopper ensures very little wastage if any.

Good reply Mr Brown. CCTV when the lout purchased his tickets have proved he only purchased 1 single ticket to Edinburgh and has lied through the entire incident.

DWH. My pool bird is very rarely beaten by a loft mate and very few in a race no matter the distance. Regarding Amoxicillan, perhaps because of misuse by this drug and others our birds have lost their immunity. well maybe your's have but mine and others I have had the pleasure of looking after have never experienced y/b sickness nor many of the ailments posted on Basics.

Aye aboot then ! bit its jist that av fell asleep oan them an scratched fur a foart nite gettin them oot ma claes an the prickly rash wis awfu. wife wis kin vinced ah hud smapoax.

PINE NEEDLES, nesting material, birds building nests quicker than using straw !!! Have I done a RIP VAN WINKLE and its April 1st ?. or are we serious !!

Dont give yoghurt but do use live bacteria from Flight Path once a month and never give antibiotics nor use multivitamins !. If they cannot get their needs from feed then something wrong with bird and bucket it. Have we never noticed that our best birds always look great their entire life.

I based what I posted taken from "augmentin.org/" to be more knowledgeable as I assume they are the makers of the drug and have missread a most important part however I will now rectify it. Dosage for a 14oz pigeon is 10.5mg. This is based on a child weighing 2.2 lb being given 45mg the recommended dose. Their are warnings of side affects including convulsions however the most important of the special warning's are that augmentin kills all bacteria GOOD & BAD in the system.