peter pandy

Dave you have the coldest loft I have ever been in although it was a Wintry day and memory reminds me your birds had a thick covering over the Keel. By the way the best of luck the morra although you wont need it,, Wait till you get tae my age. LOL.

With nearly One Thousand views since giving my evolution theory and not One contradictory reply I must have struck a chord with the Basic Members. If that is the case then as I stated the lack of feathers covering the keel must have a larger part in losses whether Young or Old than we give credit for and it should be rectified with a severe Winter blowing through the loft windows which have been converted to netting. Before writing on this subject I made the following observation in my own set up.. I have a 12 X 4 stock loft which has 2 windows which are open 24hrs a day with entry into a 5ft wide aviary running the length of the loft and facing West, subjecting the inmates to all the elements.. Now they all have a good covering of Keel feathers. The race loft faces South West and has a Veranda with netting and Polycarbonate windows which are closed at night and any inclement weather forecasted keeping the inmates dry and cosy, The majority of birds have a poor covering of Keel feathers but the best racers have a good covering over the breast and perhaps is the reason they have made it home. The future has already been attended to with new netting "smaller mesh" and the windows in lock down which will only be closed when there is a storm warning, Heaters have been removed and extra ventilation applied.. Wee Mary is busy knitting winter woolies and thermal wear has been made ready for application,, Am shivering at the thought already and hope it's a mild couple of months. :emoticon-0136-giggle:

A'm Home and here to give you an insight of how things were and how we have progressed with the destruction of the Racing Pigeon. Back then when you were fortunate to have a television which was in black and white and no one in the street had a telephone you made your own entertainment which would have been a physical sport and as you progressed through age a more relaxing sport was Pigeons. Virtually all lofts were between 10ft and 14ft with 12 nest boxes in a 9ft section leaving a 5ft section for 24 box perches for youngsters. Staple diet was Beans,Peas,Tares and Maize and no stock birds. Racing consisted of starting at 65mls out to 370mls and all in the loft were sent apart from Hens which were going down to lay and any which were deemed fit went on to 520mls. Their was no line of flight for race controlling and it was left to the convoyer to decide if the weather was ok at the race point then liberation took place AND do you know we had hardly any losses ! So why in this modern day and age are we losing so many ??. I have kept pigeons for nigh on 60 years and have tried to look at in my mind 60 generations of evolvement and what it equates to in human terms ?. If humans have 5 generations in 100 years then pigeons have evolved in 60 generations 1200 years.. Have we as humans evolved in any way over 1200 years.. By looking at it in this context I will start with The Loft. The Loft back then, was built from any material going, with side and back ventilation, dowelled or wire mesh front where the wind blew in along with the rain and snow which meant the inmates had to keep themselves warm and did so by a thick covering of feathers especially over the keel. I remember as if it was yesterday how at times you could not seperate the keel feathers to examine the breast flesh as they were so thick. Lofts nowaday's are not built with the pigeon in mind BUT for the comfort of the fancier being closed up. Now if like me you check your birds regularly you wont find an abundance of feathers covering the keel in fact it will be the opposite with the keel devoid of any covering feathers. If the breast is showing flesh then we have the greatest heat loss which contributes heavily to a drain on the energy system and without energy the bird cannot fly successfully, if at all, and certainly not for a prolonged period therefore losses of our own making.

Flattery will get you everything Tommy.

Thank you one and all for your kind wishes. Peter.

It was my intention to train some later bred youngsters for the National, "yes I know what I wrote previously", However circumstances beyond my, and wee Mary's control, has had us both having to make alternative arrangements of a family nature.. Hopefully, and a bit of luck, we will be off on holiday next week for a well deserved rest and a bit off recuperation if him doon the Street can look after my birds which have given him no end of grief this year and the Pied Cock who has tormented him this past month finished his season with an 8th in the Fed Ripon race. If it had not been for bad management on my part, he would have scored in every Fed race including topping it, had it not being his unwillingness to trap every week. That's the Doo game for you.. I believe I have found the secret of lack of returns from all races, and "WHY" the evolvement of past and present pigeons are down to the fancier and no one else.. I have circled the subject in my posts before, and by going over my notes and handling many birds in the past, The experience, has I believe finally jelled and will no doubt bring many derogatory replies.. I dont wish to condense what my findings are ! So will leave it till I have the time to explain fully. P.S. Thank You for taking the time and your many replies which has taken "NATURAL" to over the HALF MILLION views. Peter Mackintosh aka Peter Pandy.

Friday in the loft and there on a perch was what appeared to be a streeter with its legs and head covered in mud but as it was not dashing all over the place and was quite happy to let me approach it I examined it and through the caked on mud covering its legs were a rubber race ring and what seemed to be a bit of plastic tubing which no amount of scraping would ascertain what it was so I stuck it in a pot of warm water to soften up. A couple of minutes and it was a Blue race rubber and a 2016 ring which looked awful similar to my ring numbers !. Sure enough it was one I dropped at Otterburn one month previously.. Sunday and another dropped in from Otterburn but without the mud the other had so they are still recovering their senses and returning, I have a lot of faith when youngsters re-appear after weeks out as it shows the homing instinct has not abandoned them. According to my diary I had 14 at Otterburn 85 miles which had never seen the inside of a basket and still have 2 to put an appearance in which makes a mockery of training.. SO,, Thanks to John Quinn and Davy Jamieson who are instrumental in the no training policy which will be adhered to by me from now on.

It's been one of those weeks where ""The Best-Laid Schemes O' Mice And Men Gan Aft Aglee"".. Thursday, and I switched on this machine to see if anything interesting was happening and noticed ma wee pal John "Tiger" had posted that A/V were going for a Friday race so hastily back down the loft and whistled the youngsters in for a small feed and noticed that something was amiss from the Pied Cock !!. Aye he had nae feathers on his face and head plus half his tail had moulted out overnight. Sitting on my stool I started looking for any that I would feel confident in sending but it was not to be. The loft has closed its doors on another season which has been a bit of a disaster off my own making and one I shall not be repeating in the future. The adage,, "You Cannot Turn The Clock Back" has been ruthlessly brought home to me, Not by my ideas and systems, but the type of birds which are not available anymore. Strength that you could feel pulsing through your fingers and hands, Boldness in their looks, where Cocks looked like Cocks, Keels which gave the heart room to expand and a never give up attitude have been replaced with Henny looking Cocks and shallow framed birds that have no stamina. I wrote in another piece that in the late Seventies Robert Cormack said the foreign pigeon would be the death knell off the Scottish Long Distance Pigeon and I believe never a truer word has been spoken. If anything, I have been disapointed that the so called top fanciers on "Basics" have not responded by perhaps correcting where I may have made mistakes and giving some detail which could have given an insight on how they would have went about it with a differing view point but perhaps they dont know the answers either.

They are Petron Traps that are supposed to be fast but naebedy told the Pied Cock :emoticon-0136-giggle:

TRY IT and see how good you are !!!

Having just read this blog I must ask the question ? What time did you stop jobbying yourself Danny :unsure: !! Oh aye it was 21.45 the final whistle.

Saturday saw me sending the Pied Cock on his own as he was doing all I want of a youngster in the loft which is having a big appetite at feeding time approaching basketing day. Sunday and they are up at 08.00 and I am saying to myself 12.30 for a good yin, so at 08.30 I put 17 out and closed the trap, after a while they were all mucking around the garden and all was well with the world until a crow dive bombed them at 12.25 and the 17 were up in the air. 12.29 according to them down the Street the Pied Cock joined them and when I noticed he was amongst them I had the whistle out and they all hit the loft at 12.30 and I opened the trap and went inside, whistling them in and counting them as they dropped off the veranda to the feed trough, 5, 7, 10, 12, 14, 17, and the Pied Cock was not one of them.. No again said I to myself going out the loft and there he is smirking at me from the loft roof. Smiling and controling my feelings of hatred for the Bassa while telling him he was such a lovely lad and promises of a nice future and how he would not be sent away from home ever again he decided to walk over the ETS and enter at 12.40. As I was all home and locked up I paid a visit to them Down the Street to see how they fared and by their faces I did not have to ask, so, secretly laughing inside commiserated with them for about an hour before they got one. The Pied Cock was 3rd Club again on what was a difficult day for returns with the rest of the members struggling and two members with no returns at clocking. It's now Wednesday and cannot make my mind up and go back on my word and send him this week again. DECISIONS DECISIONS..

Would have left that rely for Stevie, John.

The only clashing years ago on the West Route was with the Welsh North roaders who are no longer flying this route moving onto the East-West route into Wales which is why the South of Scotland have decent racing into Gretna etc,. The problem exists once you hit the Southern Uplands in my opinion. However where weather conditions are perfect the birds would be high and come straight over and good racing would ensue. I do believe the RSPB have ensured the Bassa's are well fed and have followed our race route's with introducing false nest sites for them, After all they introduced them firstly into Cumbria in the early 90s.

Sorted thank-you.

If your loft is wood planking take a Gas Torch and scorch it. The scorching brings out the grain in the wood leaving a beautiful finish and by doing every year kills any beasties lurking in the cracks.

Any idea who belongs it ??.

Chapelhall, George Truesdale,01236-601250

100% home at 12.30 from Ripon 08.00

A wee Burd tells me David Jamieson has won the above trophy for the best average REIMS, ANCENSIS, & ROYE. Well done and congratulations mate.

Why ask a question when you already know the answer !!. :blink:

Haw Davy are you telling me that I dont spend enough time in the loft !!!! Fer Goad sake Wee Mary thinks I have a fancy wummin doon there LOL. And by the way ma 50 young yins include half a dizen jist cummin oot the nest.

John the Midland Fed has a levy on its members of £3.40 per race paid in advance with its Fed Dues. The levy gives you 10 free birds per race SO if you send 1 it has cost you £3.40 if you send 2 then it has cost £1.70 each and so on.

Davy, The birds I had at the first race fell apart likewise the second and third races and I only sent 2 last week. Birds that did not go to the early races have came on and could have been chanced with jumps up to 100 miles give or take a couple of miles but not 160 or at least I would not. I jumped 14 first timers into 112 miles and lost almost half them so cannot afford to lose many more as I only rear 50 youngsters unlike some of the mob fliers who rear over a hundred.

George, I could send 20 but I am not jumping them 100 miles in a race prog that does not care about the birds welfare in a Fed that is only money orientated. The one I sent cost me £3.40 in birdage.