peter pandy

NATURAL,, What is it really ? Does anyone practice it in its conception ?. I doubt it. I practiced it once upon a time when I kept the birds in the house attic and never seperated over the Winter with freedom 24 Hours a day through the skylight and they were left to their own devices. They all paired up to-gether and laid within a couple of days in March, Won races, scoring in the Gold Cup and it was a successful couple of seasons, The only drawback was Wee Mary giving me the ultimatum which had me erecting a loft on top off my double garage which was O.K.. Anyway I digress. Pairing up and the rearing of Youngsters to race in which I have lost all interest in. The amount of problems they are encountering whether man made or the Bassa population has given me the notion and inclination not to rear any, and my thoughts were taken back to a conversation 10 years ago with Bernard De-Weerdt from Kortemark when he and his family spent a couple of days with C.J. at Windy Ridge. Now I am sure I have informed you of a conversation Bernard and I had regarding their Youngsters whereupon at the end of the season, all his Youngsters were sold, and Late Breds were reared from the Race Team. That was his Yearlings for the following year. No Young Bird racing means a short season but then it may have it's compensations with a Yearling team of Late Breds that have not had the stuffing knocked out of them. At the moment I have 17 L/B which are Wintering well and am looking forward to the season ahead with them. Time will tell if its a reasonable notion..

Aye John, It was only when I had the binoculars on them that they were identical in every way. I assumed that like Cock pigeons they were more rounder on the skull with Hens being slightly flatter and when they left they went in opposite directions.

For the first time in my lifetime I have been visited by two male robins at the fat ball feeder without a squabble out of them in fact they apeared to be the best of pals.

Cremation of all loft inmates with the exception of the birds has been completed without the emergency fire equipment coming into play although their were a couple of occasions when flames were licking about where they should not have been. So that's it for another year. I remember the first time I singed the wood and it gave me a great idea about starting a business. To elaborate..!!. The wife said to me after we had smoke damage due to next door's house being gutted and our Insurance Company repainted and decorated virtually the whole house that she would have prefered larger skirtings and door surrounds, She had me buying larger of the above which I took the burner too in the garage, rubbed down with wire wool and given two coats of Mahogany gloss Varnish wire wooling between coats and it came up with a beautiful pattern with all the knots and grain outstanding. They say simple ideas are the way to fame and fortune..

No offence taken Jim.

John, You really had me worried there as I thought you were going to ask for your Chlorocarb back which is still unused LOL :emoticon-0136-giggle:

Jim, Denny had 2 applications this year. 1 was from a new start who has been out the game 20 years and another is an ex member of Bonnybridge, Forth & Clyde aka Almond Valley who was also a past member of Denny. Both were accepted as well within the boundaries of Denny and the Midland Federation. Sincerely hope that answers your question and best wishes with your sale.

Cheaper using Cider Vinegar, Does exactly the same by dropping the P.H. as scientists have proved that the beasties we dont want in the birds cannot survive in an acidic environment. 5 Ml - 1 Ltr. By the way a good slug of Vinegar in the Bath Water seems to dispense of feather lice as well. At least it has in mine.

OOPS aye their was and I missed it; However I dont see the reasoning behind the proposal as the Management Committee only follow the rules as laid down whether you agree with them or not as the case may be.

Jim, I was unable to make the AGM to-day however their was no mention of rescinding Rule 13c Page 16 on the Agenda of to-days meeting regarding 2004 conditions of membership..

The West Region of what Jim as we in Denny are all in Section "E" SNFC West Region at the moment.

Just because I Press Ganged you into taking the vacant club Secretaries job does not give you the right to ask for freebies nor take advantage of my dotering age albeit being my Brother in Law. You are still ""Him Doon the Street"". ^_^

Now the festive season is behind us and thought's are moving on with the onset of Blackpool which I will give a miss this year for personal reasons. To all those enquiring if all is O.K. Naw its no, but I will soldier on.. When up at Clarkston Show it was pointed out to me that one or two had feather lice which nearly had me dipping them all but I sat down and contemplated what I was about to administer, I know in the past I would be dipping them in Chlorocarb or powdering them but is that the way forward ?. If I dip them then the bird will obviously preen itself and subject itself to the substance likewise if powdering them, If using "One Spot" then surely it must be affecting Kidneys,Liver,Blood and Heart if it supposedly Worms them as well. Many years past and the loft would have been sprayed with Duramitex and problem was solved, I also used to empty a bottle of Duramitex into one gallon of emulsion and paint the loft, Perches and nest boxes with it !! SO any ideas would be welcomed..with the exception of smoke bombing.. The other day I turned the Hens out and gas burned their section to eradicate and cremate anything in there, Hopefully I will manage another section to-morrow weather permitting..

Now that the Festive season is past I am thinking it is nearly vaccination time again for all the inmates in the loft. Having used Colombovac since its conception I will be continuating with it as soon as it becomes available. With a change in the feeding regime I am slowly weaning them onto the new mixture over the next few weeks and will start getting a bit of flying back into them if the weather improves. With the richer mixture and thought's about pairing up maybe February some time I should see a change in their behavour although I am quite happy with the way they are responding to all the changes which includes dropping the entire front windows therefore opening the loft up to the elements, Aye and if the snaw blows in, it can be shovelled oot. There were quite a few good old memories written in the Mags this past week that we as fanciers have moved on from !!, whether good or bad we still had good if not better results with them in my opinion..

Another antibiotic for all the medication guys to shove into the birds, Inner Ear Problems and Kidney damage can be side affects..

Many Happy Returns Lads.. :P

They say patience is a virtue !! So with all the fanciers who have paired up and to those about to, May I say best of luck to you, I will wait for a couple of months and save a couple of quid not having to feed youngsters that will no doubt not be any better or worse than those bred in the Spring. Nature has a way of kicking you in the bum when you go against her, I am not saying she will take it out on you with losses or YBS, BUT, then again one just never knows. Only a fool does the same thing year in and out and expects to see changes which is why I will change my entire feeding system this year 2017 and will attempt to get better results with my team. Just recently I noticed the Hens were leaving some rations in the feeder so will cut them back 7 Grams per bird to 28 Grams Daily each. The Cocks are still wolfing down 35 Grams each and looking for more but are handling well so will leave well alone till nearer my intended pairing up date which as yet is undecided. On sunny days which are as rare as Hens teeth I drop the windows and allow them to sun themselves in the veranda along with a bath and although the loft gets a bit of a soaking it does not take long in drying up with the ATX heaters. May I on behalf of Wee Mary and myself wish you all a very happy New Year and may all your dreams come true.. :drinking-coffee-200:

No Alf, I am sorry to say I dropped her in her first race.. In hindsight I should have kept her for a couple of youngsters but its like everything in the Doo game ! Take a shine to something and it's sure to go down, She might even have went back to London..

I usually give my baskets a varnish at this time of year and I was reminded off an incident many years ago.. It was the early Seventies and an advert appeared in the R.P. regarding Manchester Flying Club selling all their Race Panniers so I sent away for two which duly arrived a couple of days later. On picking them up from the Railway Station I was quite taken aback at the height of them as they were of a normal pannier Width and Length but only Six inches High. I phoned the Manchester Sec to confirm their arrival and asked why they were only six inches in Height ?. He replied that almost all the members were on Widowhood and had the Panniers made that height to stop the Cocks from killing each other due to the agressive nature they had inherited so they could not stand upright. I went on Widowhood for a couple of years after that conversation. As to the Panniers !! When training from Carstairs I forgot to put them back into my trailer and some lucky Bassa from Lanarkshire obtained two excellent panniers for "F" All with my name and club on them. I stopped Widowhood after that season..

I had Blood Red and proper Mealies which were Bricoux Osmans and am positive Eddy Newcombe had them also. I also believe it to be a fallacy saying they are past it as a long forgotten strain as as been proved in an earlier post. They were good honest all rounders that have been basterised since the Eighties in favour of sprinters..

Have just read it and with roughly 25 pages missing would not take a chance in purchasing as it would be sent via internet link. Have purchased before with that format and was dissapointed with no refund..

Hip Hip Hooray..The best Xmas present we could possibly wish for :santa-dance:

Aye Andy I used to fly under ""MERRYMAC LOFTS"" for donkeys years..

My younger brother has left for a couple of weeks sunshine in the South of Spain and I am left to look after his loft and birds, First thing I noticed was a lack of urgency at feeding time so knocked 7 grams from each birds ration and after three days their is a bit more notice from them. I dont know why he is feeding such a rich diet at this time of year so I have started 10% Barley into their mix and will have them on 30% by the end of the week. Another thing that has been noticed is that Hens are no longer taking Grit, Before any replies are forthcoming I will explain that I give Grit and Minerals along with their rations daily into the hopper and after 5 minutes all is gone with the exception of the Grit which is dumped after 10 minutes. Well it is the shortest day and Xmas will soon be here along with empty pockets although mine cannot be any emptier. Merry Xmas All..

Me.. With an Outside Pond and Cold Water Aquarium inside, both with multi coloured Shubunkins.