peter pandy

Unfortunately two years up to C.J's death then six months after, when all the birds were sold on the instructions of the eldest son who had his will contested and put in probate. I was his Loft Manager and my good lady was his House Manager. P.S. The eldest son is one of the worlds top ten Corporate Lawyer's based in Hong Kong.

I don't have a preference Stevie as the pigeon will tell me its preference.

Thank-you for the kind words and I will give you more food for thought shortly when I have completed my latest revelation in the loft with the inmates..

When I took over at C,J's. The feed being given to the birds by the previous manager was a Continental Mixture and to be perfectly honest the birds had never won a race in 20 years however as their was a load made up I continued feeding it although they were in extremely poor shape and the youngsters were even worse, After 2 races where we could have used a calendar instead of a clock I changed the feed to 3 parts Maples, 2 parts Beans, 1 part Tares and 4 parts Maize. The Third race 1 week later we were nearer the mark and the Fourth race we clocked to be First in one Club and 14th Fed in another Club which stopped a 20 year rot without C.J. winning. In the 5th Race we were 1st, 2nd, Club and First Federation. The following week 6th Race we were 1st Club and 1st in 3 Federations also 16th Sec 330th Open MNFC. 7th Race 3rd Club 3rd Fed and C.J. called a halt..60/40 Mmmm. I could go on,, but, am off the belief that although feed has a part to play it is not the whole issue and to me modern ideas are just pie in the sky.

MMMM, I will have to get my diaries out and reply in the ""Natural Post"".

Ian, The Great Alf Baker fed 60% Maples and I don't believe it did his birds any harm

I am very pleased with the reaction from the birds as I approach the loft since permanently dropping the windows on the veranda, allowing them to see me entering their domain of the garden, With them all flying onto the veranda and up against the wire netting, I usually stick my pinkie through and let them pick away at it, Just a wee bit of bonding,, At the beginning of February I started them on Roundabout letting the Hens out and moving the Cocks through to sit on the perches for 24 hours then bringing the Hens back into the nest box section after an hour or so, So they are out on alternate days and learning to claim a perch for 24 hours as well as a nest box. I decided to-day after putting the Hens out to remove the plastic "V" perches and clean the back of them !!. To say I was utterly disgusted would be to put it mildly as their was foreign bodies including maggots present.. Gas torch lit and everything was cremated. This will have to be put into my itinerary every week from now on.

Colombovac via Flightmaster delivered to Murray Farmcare last Friday for distribution.

I will say this though ""The Silence is Deafening"" regarding the articles in the Daily's last week regarding the Bee-Keeper being fined £2,500 for using a banned substance at his hives. Maybe it will have brought some to their sense's.

Aye Derek, I always fancied being on stage,, as a comedian of course.

I have the lofts and plenty of space also time and effort to do as I wish, Over the past couple of years many pigeons bred direct from champions have been introduced into my Stock loft with no expense spared. But my problem is the losses bred from unflown stock with no proof of any homing ability, Blood is not the answer in my opinion, nor am I prepared to breed in so called Spring ""December January February"" to put young birds through an unnatural moult to win young bird races. In my younger days it was only the fools who had no patience to wait till real Spring before pairing ""Buds on trees"" But I am still Old School and proud of it. I have posted the fact that top distance fanciers, and it has been added to by others, that Late Breds are superior percentage wise when it comes to Distance. I believe youngsters bred from a race team at the end of the season will be far superior in all departments and will no doubt write of their exploits in the future. <_<

Stevie mate, it was not my intention to try and win a discussion but to put forward an idea and inform all who read my posts that there can be another way forward. For instance "Hasn't changed, reinvention".. Racing pigeons has changed with the amount of Bassas they meet on the flight home. If their are 1 pair every 10 miles on the race route then at 150 miles their are 30 bassas they have to avoid, 300 miles and its 60 and 400 miles its 70 bassas. This to my mind is where we need change.. OMO.

There you go then Stevie !, Top results with July, August bred youngsters and I have already posted that my best racers were Late bred and won from 65-600 mile. To conclude regarding Fed racing from no more than 150 miles, The very best National men and women down South only go that far every week with the Fed and use it as training for the big races with the BICC, CSFC, and NAT. The Sprint guys like Tommy Bhoys are catered for as well so everyone is a winner.. LOL.

Like you Alf, I change most years and try to move with new ideas and motivation tricks which I don't know if they will work or not !!, But at least I will give it a go whether it works or not..

Stevie I had you down as a clever cent however it shows how wrong one can be LOL. 150 Miles racing every week does not knock the stuffing out of your National candidates nor your Yearlings where they can be jumped 150 miles into 300 miles fresh and fit. Injured birds can be brought back to race fitness instead of being 300 mile behind in a race programme that has been unchanged in 150 years..

" CHANGE " Some fanciers don't want to try anything new because it has always been done that way and to CHANGE would upset the equilibrium of their comfort zone. I can say that I am not one of those who wishes CHANGE for CHANGE sake rather the opposite. The way I see anything is, you will never know until you try it. Regarding Late Breeds, I have had some memorable results with them in the past and am sure I wont be disappointed in the future. Some of the comments I could take to task but I am sure they were written with tongue in cheek. I do believe in other posts regarding race programmes some wished for CHANGE but no one votes for CHANGE, "Comfort Zone". If I had my way Federation racing would be no further than 150 miles every week with two races at 80 miles to get you there. Combines and Nationals to cater for those who wish to go further and that would give those who wished it two races per week-end. This is how Feds down South operate and they are very successful with fewer losses and birdage virtually the same every week. I write from experience having been a member of many Clubs and Federations when working in England and Wales. Aye that would be a CHANGE for the better..

So him doon the street is having a pop at me will have his neck screwed in to-morrow at the Saturday Café. No the bird was not nutted and will have the opportunity to make amends in the racing season, Continuing on the Late Bred theme and losses with them leads me to put the following facts to the readers of my efforts, After rearing Late Breds they are hardly on the wing when many fanciers shut down for the Winter never allowing the growing youngster to get on the wing long enough to go running and explore its surroundings nor the ability to build muscle on its frame. Mine are out every consecutive day weather permitting nor are they subjected to a cheap winter feed. As a proponent of Late Breds I shall not be rearing any Youngsters for racing as I have no Stock Birds now and will breed after Old Bird racing is completed a team for the following year 2018. The birds I have at the moment for racing are all bred from imports that have never seen the inside of a basket and I have no knowledge if they have the capability to produce the homing instinct in their offspring. Many from certain Stock pairs have been lost so I will in future only breed from birds that have the ability to return from the distance I have planned for them. Life as a pigeon fancier is so full of disappointments..

With this computer past its sell by date and too many times getting Diddly Squat out of said machine I am having to replace it, So If anybody has one for a very reasonable price please get in touch.. Tommy Bhoys wont be needing his SO if somebody could pass this message on I would be obliged LOL. Let him back on. Down in the loft their is not much happening other than having a 2 Y/O bird return from a 70 mile training toss in June last year, The funny thing is it was going the rounds of the local lofts for the past couple of weeks. "Nowt as queer as Doos".

John I am sorry to hear of your predicament, You are not the first nor will you be the last to have a Hen scalped. The advice I am giving for the scalped head is from the chemist obtain BURN;JEL which will kill the pain and stop infection, following the instructions. For torn eyelid, I would smear Vaseline on Lint and cover eyes to help the healing process. Messy but worked for me.

Every member in the first 50 of the result must have thought they had won the Gold Cup. What a thrill it must have been that night.

6-8 weeks ago up until the past week I was a happy camper with 24 nest boxes and 24 Cocks with 24 Hens to go in them !! Then the blinking Late Breds decided to upset me and the apple cart by changing sex.. I now have 28 Cocks and 20 Hens with perhaps still the odd Hen deciding to be a Cock.. If I had plenty hair I would tear it out, PLANS !!, you must be kidding..Back to the drawing board ? You must be having a laugh as I dont have one, There were years when I would have the odd one or two but never this amount, With Robbie's birthday to-morrow "Best gan plans" etc poem could not be more appropriate LOL. Ach, why worry it's just another wee set back that will be rectified by racing celibate until such time as pairing for the Nationals and "him up the road" will rear me a couple of young yins to try out for him. At our Saturday coffee afternoon with him "doon the Street", "him roond the bend" him "up the road" and myself we discussed the pros and cons of feeding but as usual could not agree the best formula as we are all individual managers of our teams and like "Maggie" none are for turning. One thing I am sure we can all agree on is This weather is crap.

Virtually all my Late Breds were hatched early July so had long natural daylight hours and were fed on the best breeding mixture following on with Start Plus for all inmates through the Moulting period so I dont believe they could have been reared better. When reading Steve's reply he could have been describing the fate of early bred youngsters which have to endure racing while moulting and if they are hit with a rain shower are down and lost. I know from experience how the moult can be disastrous within 24 hours with all the cover flights gone. BUT hey ho I have had great results with them "Late Breds" from all distances and feel they are more mature after a Winters season. If its good enough for top men to put their faith in them perhaps we should be taking note..

One word summary on Late Breds is disappointing from a top fancier such as yourself. Care to elaborate Steve..

Thank-you for your input George and I was thinking the Late Breds would satisfy me doing 300 miles this year and your advice on fitness is spot on. We can have the best blood in the world but it means nothing without Fitness regardless of the distance.

Blinking crazy but O.K. for the last race.