peter pandy

Derek, The so called top fancier who taught me about it was Eddy Newcombe himself when he could only send 12 to the National and I was with him that day and handled the birds myself before putting them out the door or into another basket after starting off with about 100+ birds. NAW I will stick to what I learnt from the master and lose less birds into the bargain..There is a difference between tightening up and losing weight..

Deadly, and you dont need permission. The only time they are illegal is by using live bait !!!!.

Another crappy morning and had to take a big stick to them to get them moving but once out they went quite high which surprised me and stayed up in the gloom for 30 minutes before the big retreat back into the loft where they remained for the rest of the day. Gave them a half a Savoy cabbage to entertain themselves with and that was gone in an hour then put our Jack [terrier] in to keep them occupied. It is funny how birds just know they have nothing to fear from certain animals.

Will wait till Friday afternoon before coming to a decision on whether to send or if so how many but will be yearlings only and Stobbs Camp like Lanarkshire and Midland at Kelso its a bit of a blow home for them.

phone Coxidene 01506881142

Birds out this morning with a beautiful blue sky and a North East wind flying for about 5 minutes and all back into the loft. Not wanting to comeback out it was a case of shifting them out my road while cleaning the Veranda and perches. Ended up shutting the loft down before mid-day and watched the sky turn grey as I kept them company whilst turning Blue.

Yes Jasper, I dont see the point in seperate liberations when on Natural as I dont see the point in starting at 5 miles and small increases either. If birds cannot take a 20 mile jump or unable to fly 5 hours or more then they are not much use to me. I in all probability are one of the few who put birds in a basket then transfer them 5 minutes later into another basket handling them for any decrease in body weight which determines whether they are fit to go training or racing and there are many occasions when a bird looks and handles great but 5 minutes in a basket and it has changed. Have you in the past noticed that when basketing for a race they are in fine shape yet when you hand them over to a handler at the club house they are terrible. The double or even treble handling determines if I am sending them or not. I always give the bird the benefit of doubt..

From experience, Might I suggest that it is a 20 bird limit but you have to nominate a single bird then you have three separate winners instead of one who could be sitting in an advantagious position. With twenty birds being trained and the option of winning a couple of quid £10 is a cheap outlay and should encourage others to have a go. All the best in getting it up and running.

Saturday Morning and was into the loft first thing and checking droppings after Fridays cabbage and all was well so with the temp at 10c and virtually no wind I set about readying the birds for their first toss of 2016. After basketing 41 Yearling's and Late Bred's with any flights wonky being steamed it was off to the 20 mile mark for a lib about 12.00 hrs as I have taken note off Greenlands observations that the Peri Bassas are at the nest site from 11 till 13.00. 20 birds beat me home and that was that until they started turning in singularly the rest of the afternoon and I finished up dropping one that had been well raced as a youngster. I have to say that I believe they had hit other batches heading West as quite a few came back from that direction high up and sailing down without a care in the world. To-day they were given a warm bath and a salt block to lick on and are looking the part. If the weather holds I will have them at 30 miles on Tuesday. As they are handling so well body wise I will keep them on 20% Barley 80% mix for another couple of weeks.. Changing the subject I thought the derogatory remarks regarding John Quinn's illness by a so called "human being" absolutely disgusting and he should be shunned by all..

That is interesting if Appleby is closed for liberations as not only is Lanarkshire effected but Midland have 2 from there this month. Suppose I will just have to make other arrangements not that I fancied going there anyway. Just could not see the point in dog legging from Kelso to Appleby then back over to Ripon. The loft is quiet at the moment with them all sitting eggs apart from the spare Yearling Cocks still making a bit of a nuisance of themselves and hopefully I can give them a toss shortly. I have seen a few trainers going over the top of me heading West and making heavy weather of it with quite a few stragglers plodding on behind. I gave the birds half a savoy cabbage to-day for the first time and hope it does not give them the skitters. I usually give them an Iceberg lettuce but it only lasts half an hour and its gone and the Savoy was twice the weight and half the price, to-morrow will tell in the droppings.

The Xmas day race held on Saturday 19th December 2015.. Temp 17c Wind light Variable. Wish we could get they Temps aw year.. :emoticon-0136-giggle:

Beautiful blue and white sky this morning had me ready to start training till I went outside and was struck with a bitterly cold North West wind. With the loft facing WNW I kept it closed up and opened the release bowl to let them out but they really were not interested till about 11.00. I am well aware their is the Xmas race which is always a success however the birds have 4 months to recuperate which you dont have at this time of year ! But that is my opinion. In another post regarding Versele-Laga feeding I can only say I fed Breeding Plus to my racers and had a reasonable season on it but there was something missing which I could not put my finger on so wont use them again. By the way if you have the V/L 2016 Brochure just take a look at the bird on the front cover !! Now thats a poor advert for feed and supplements..

Down to the loft this morning and checking the barometer it read 2c so loft kept closed up and although the birds were given their freedom it was 10.30 before temp rose to 6c and they started touring the skies. A real surprise was finding 6 of the small grey hedge moths in the traps. Come 11.00 all the Hens were out and gave the sky laldy which made a pleasant change from the past week or two since pairng up. I cannot see the weather changing for the better so the training baskets will remain in pristine condition till it does, I dont condone those who cannot wait for the first race to come along however I dont think you are doing your Latebreds any favours with trying to train and get to the first race with them.. Patience is the keyword with them to pay dividends and if worth their salt they will start and compete at 100 miles. Many of my top old birds were Latebreds and were treated thus..

They must have been blown up ahead of this African wind due at the week-end which is supposed to bring better weather, Nothing out of the ordinary on the Forth and Clyde canal at the metropolis although I did spot a pair of Blue Tits when hanging out the washing..

Sitting in the loft watching a Hen carrying reeds over to the Cock sitting on the nest was quite comical as after one hour she had buried the Cock under them, It's a pity racing's not starting this week as she is motivated and shining. Some nests are now 2-3 inches high and no doubt eggs will roll out if the centres are not deep enough to accomodate them. I do not believe in touching nests in any way as I am sure they notice if they have been disturbed and it could put them off. I will stick to the theory that they know best.. I have a notice in my loft right at the door so I cannot miss it when entering or leaving which states ""FOR EVERY ACTION THEIR IS A REACTION"".

I have Petron traps and they are fitted with the bob wires on the inside of the walkway. Enquiring to Petron all thase years ago if this was legal they replied that once the landing board was in the up position then all was inside the loft. For my own personal feeling I have the entire Petron trap inside the loft veranda with only the landing board protruding from outside. I also noticed after all was fitted that birds entering the walkway could turn and come back out so I fitted inserts into the sides of the walkway to stop them turning. I have on occasion as soon as the bird has entered the walkway put the landing board up and the entire loft is closed. As far as I am concerned the Bob wires on the inside are there to stop any bird inside from getting out. Personally as far as I am concerned when a bird hits the loft it is home..

SNAP.

It has not stopped raining to-day here in the Matropolis so after feeding this morning I sat down at the computer and made up my race team sheets according to my ETS ring sheet. 52 birds in all with 37 Yearlings, 12 Two year olds, and 3 Four year olds. Readers will notice I have no 3 Year olds and that was due to my last year going down the West side with the Midland Fed and most members were decimated out of a couple of race points. "No point crying over spilt milk".

Had to varnish the baskets myself..In another post regarding Yearlings training not enough information has been given so I dont know how we can comment on the unknown such as are the birds on natural or roundabout ?. Have they been paired or are they still on nest ?. We know he is feeding 1oz per day and that should be sufficient however are they fat or thin ?. When tossing which direction are they heading ?. Is it too cold as we dont know his location ?. Too many questions unanswered I'm afraid. At present in my loft the spare Cocks are treading sitting Hens and generally making a nuisance of themselves however if the weather remains as was to-day 12c I will start them of at 20 miles later this week and although they are only clapping around the sky at the moment they are as fit as fiddles. I dont expect them to be doing a mile a minute as has been suggested in another post but will expect them on 35 minutes as being an excellent work out.

As usual I will probably be wrong but my screen is not 100% colour correct, however they look a bit immature to me and I was under the impression the Brugermans are slow developers as well as the Aardens or at least mine are. You will notice the eyes get more acute after every moult and I am sure you would have noticed if they are full out, and are supposed to be 3 year old before trying 550 miles. But before I get castigated by all and sundry its only my opinion and they do look a nice team for the future. You know I wish you the very best of luck in wherever you send them.

With it being a orrible day here in the metropolis I decided to have all the baskets out of the shed and into the conservatory [greenhouse] where by they were given a spring clean and on the morrow they will be varnished by wee Mary, I have not mentioned it to her yet but am sure I can persuade her when I tell her my knee has seized up and its a must chore.. Garden is like a swamp again !! Whaur is aw the water comin frae ? Their canny be that many virgins up there wi aw they arabs bein disposed off and being promised 90 of them.

1st April and I was lookin for the "FOOL" so I looked in the mirror and saw his reflection.... Just put that in to stop any adverse replies !!... Flight Path on the feed to-day gives them their monthly boost, All are looking well including the couple of yearling Cocks who were duffed up when fighting for a nest box, The funny thing is they have wasted their time as the Hens they had there eyes on decided they did not want bruiser's for partners and ended up with others who went about the business quietly so they are among the spare Cocks and will have to wait for losses before getting their end away. When reading the R.P yesterday their was an article on Garlic Facts by Dr Chalmers the Canadian Vet. It would appear we are wasting our time giving them garlic and that much work has to be researched to evaluate its effects on animal health. MMM !!. I wonder if he has concluded a different opinion since 2007 when he was one of those writing the "Vets Tips for Fanciers" in that year.

John, I have been putting them on the deck morning and afternoon with them dissapearing quicker than John Quinn gettin his wallet oot tae buy a roond LOL

Have had them on a couple of occasions but only on a single reared one. The nest was in good nick and I was of the belief that the pair in a nest stopped the splay which is why I rarely single rear preferring if possible to get them in beside another single but never a threesome.