peter pandy

I could only put it down to free flying eg; Not being hungry, no ties and nothing to hold them back such as immature laggers or old birds.

1976 and 1980 Young Birds were bred in March, late June and birds out at 6am not returning till 8am which was regular in those years but not so in other years and I do not know why !!. However in those two years they won the Federation Averages by a country mile beating 6,000 + birds weekly. I can tell you Stevie if I knew the reason they flew in such a manner I would have bottled it and sold it. And by the way they always headed East up into Fife..

Wrote about this before and really do not want to keep repeating myself so to reiterate.. My Yearlings are LATE BREEDS and only about 6-7 Months old so are reacting and doing what youngsters do at that age and go running, You wont have that experience if you breed in January and at 6 months you will no doubt have not allowed them that freedom due in all probability to having them basket trained. Once they have been in a basket you wont have them run.. SIMPLES. It is one reason I prefer Late Breeds.

30 secs in the m/wave is long enough daftie LOL

Fielding Steve has not been on the cards for more than 50 years since the introduction of Minerals. Prior to that most birds in the area went to the shallow banks on the river Forth and returned up to their knees and faces covered in black muck as they raked about for salt. I can only say that those days are happily in the past and distant memories as the birds now have everything laid on a plate for them in the Loft. I suppose there are the odd one or two fanciers still about who took their birds in a basket to a field a couple of miles away and scattered some seed around the basket then slowly dropped the front where they would come out and pick around before departing and if done often enough they will eventually continue to return to the field looking for a bit that has been scattered around on a weekly basis by the fancier, I am sure Eddy Newcomb practiced it as his birds were on open bole and went back and forward all day long, Nae training basket for him and the birds were kept fit on the cheap flying to one field in particular two miles away.

Hens out this morning saw them disappear West and not returning for 90 minutes so one can say for definite, that they are fit and ready for pairing in 7 days, I noticed that a pair of Cocks have started looking at each other which reminded me that I had this phenomenon last year with the same Cock but he has his eye on a Late Breed this year. All the Nest pans will be taken into the kitchen to-morrow and thoroughly washed then put in the Micro-Wave for drying and killing any germs lurking in cracks which cannot be seen with the naked eye then sprayed with Jeyes Fluid and stored in the Greenhouse till filled with clean straw and put in a Nest Box next Saturday, Only when that is completed will the Section door be opened fully and allow the colony to pair as they wish which has been my practice for more years than I can remember, I have wrote in the past that I have never met the fancier who can pair two birds together and guarantee winners which is only luck but at least they will be happy with each other. Love pairing is what it really is when practicing NATURAL.

HO HO HO, A suitable reply will be coming when I go roaming in the gloaming.. :emoticon-0136-giggle:

With the weather lately being kinder on my old bones it has seen me sitting watching the birds exercise from the greenhouse and it came to me that you can look upon the birds flight in the same format as race horses, When I let them out they initially take off like rockets or in another context at a "gallop" returning later to buzz around the roof tops lazily or a "canter", Just my observation, However when they are disturbed they are away at a "gallop" again. The Roundabout !!. Up till last year their would be 2 vehicles per minute approaching it however with the main road through the Metropolis having 5 sets of traffic lights installed where before there were none we now have tailbacks half mile long and vehicle users are travelling the side streets to avoid them resulting in the Avenue and Roundabout being used by 20 vehicles a minute passing bye. The quicker I can get out of this area the better for all concerned.

Blue sky and sunshine the past two days saw temps hitting 16c inside the loft and a couple of feathers thrown from the Late Breeds lying on the straw. Hens out AM and Cocks out PM is the start of the programme before pairing at the end of the Month and feed reduced to 1oz per bird getting rid of any excess fat within the body cavities. At feeding time I expect them to run towards me with wings in the air and all having an excellent appetite looking for more when the trough is empty, Perhaps being a wee bit hard hearted but needs must to be a success. Both sexes are flying high in the sky again for a good period and the Cocks do not appear to be traumatised by their experience although on hitting the loft roof has them looking skyward so perhaps it has woken them into awareness which cannot be a bad thing.

Aye Stevie, You are in the tropics doon there, where we were sitting in 6c and a cauld East wind 10 days ago..LOL

With white stuff covering the garden, the colony confined to the loft the past 5 days and a wind chill factor bringing minus degree temps it is not congestive for man nor beast, However needs must be attended to as it is a 365 day "hobby" just like an every day function. At the club to-day it was mentioned that the early breeding has not been very successful but I kept my trap shut.. Although sitting here I am inwardly smiling at the foolishness of it all, Still not a bud to be seen on the trees or hedges and no wild birds going to nest, OOPS apart from streeters.

Fred, Is it not the case that the distance minded fanciers practice "roundabout" out to 300 miles then repairs for the distance on NATURAL.

Read my post 31st Dec 2017, Lines 7 & 8..

The loft has been closed up the past few days and others in the Metropolis appear to be in shutdown mode too, So if the Bassa has been looking for a meal at our expense its on a diet. In my case the colony is normal health wise with firm droppings and snowy wattles which they should have at this time of year and with my date for mating being fixed all I have to do now is prepare them for the event by building up the energy levels as their food consumption will fall away once they are together. Lemon / Lime juice sprinkled over the Base feed with Hormoform, Bplus, Palamos High Energy, Grated Cheese and extra Spillars Layers Pellets mixed together in their feed daily in the lead up for a fortnight, With past experience they will be bouncing..

You will have to notify the Ministry of Agriculture or perhaps your vet has, One way or another you will be getting a visit from them if in fact it is PMV, But they and only they can confirm it is in fact PMV, I know because I have been there. You will be in lockdown as a security measure with absolutely NO VISITORS..

Stevie, I don't have Yearlings as such with them being bred July, August, September which makes them Late Breeds and I believe 200 miles or a 5 hour fly minimum is more than enough for such an age. I suppose you could term it as team building and on digesting National race results over the years you may notice that at 500 + Miles Yearling and Two Year Olds are in the minority with the Three Year Olds + achieving positions. Perhaps it is just an age thing or as they used to say EXPERIENCE and KNOWLEDGE lies with years.

BAYTRIL == I am terribly sort to say,, You have killed the entire immune system in your birds and are only reaping what you have sown.

Oh well, With the loss of Cocks it has left me with equal sexes for pairing which will not be this week-end but the 31st of March, It is not just a case of the full moon but I wish all the Yearlings especially, to be able to have a couple of races under their belt before lifting and looking to go down on their second round eggs. With that being the intention I should manage to get them out to 100mls miss a race then into 150ml mark on their Second round eggs which should see them till the 200ml mark before stopping them for the season.. Best laid plans and aw that will hopefully see the older birds on the 3rd round in late June when real racing starts. Beastly weather for this week-end has a familiar ring to it..

Mine usually come in a Jiffy Bag which aint a cool pack and I vaccinate so many then put it back in the fridge and vaccinate throughout the year a couple at a time and I have never had YBS... So I do believe you can discount that theory.

Just about the time I put the Yearlings out Billy, and they always seem to take the Union Canal route West which would put them on a line with you, My last returnee was at 16.00 yesterday and 5 are still missing. Why do they always take the class birds LOL.

First one back this morning at 07.10, 3 together at 08.15 and singly from all directions up to 12.00 and still 8 missing at the moment, Only God knows where they have been dispersed to..

Last year was the first year I never trained old birds and was not far off the mark in the early races, so, being observant and deciding I would not train again I had noticed that older birds were holding the Yearlings back by peeling off to return to the loft bringing the Yearlings back with them at times. So Mid-Day to-day with a nice sky I gave the yearling Cocks their freedom minus the old birds and off they took like rockets and I went shopping with the C.O. 14.00 I was not to bothered, 15.00 I was, 15.45 one returned from the North, 16.15 one from the South, 17.17 one from the West, 17.25 another from the South and that was it from 22 Yearling Cocks.. Is this a foretaste of the future !!!.

Sitting here laughing to myself Kevin as I did not realise you were missing my banter LOL. The only problem with the colony is the fact they are a bit on the heavy side which is noticeable with the way and time they are exercising, So cut the feed and cut out the fats with results improving in 48 hours, Lean, mean and ready to go when I feel the time is right. I am sure everyone !! knows there is no moon on a new moon as it has waned but it is full in 19 days so will probably wait till then with wild life at its most active.. Has anyone noticed the Hedges and Trees are still bereft of leaves at our Latitude so Wild Life is still dormant, But if you think you are getting a head start then that is your prerogative so carry on. Patience is a virtue and I will be motivated by nature, not experiencing Hens not laying and eggs not hatching Youngsters dying in the nest etcetera, etcetera. Aye I was beating all the Darkies with a White Hen showing them the road 2 years past and nearly committing myself to a mental hospital at her trapping. Nae wunner I aint interested in goin throo that again.. Young Bird Team now ZERO.

Reading your post would suggest to me that nestlings have a severe "E,Colli infection obtained from the parents, To treat I would put 20 Mls Vinegar per Litre of Water in drinkers and Lemon or Lime Juice on the feed for a couple of days. Acidify the gut should clear the problem.

Rooting around in the sheds recently I came across a bin full of Barley so when visiting a very good friend lately we discussed what my feeding programme was last year 2017 and he commented that he would have tweaked it here and there to bring out a bit more stamina as the distance progressed. To cut a long story short he has persuaded me to give it a try knowing that I am want to changing things every year (or month as someone retorted recently) Plus it uses up quite a bit of quality feed I have stored away in bins. Being a penshunner I have to take care of the pennies as Wee Mary looks after the £££. With the Hens out to-day the Young Bird team joined them and am now without a Young Bird team as it not in the locality, Maybe the morra..