holmsidelofts

I’ve tried them in the past not confident that they work everytime. I would rather see the content of the syringe emptying to know all of them have received the correct dose

Hi blood red, correct me if I'm wrong but I believe that your feeding method is that of john crowder from his booklet the crowder system, from 1993 to 1996 we fed exactly the same and won every, 1st open, 1st combine, multiple 1st Feds and 1st clubs, was also second national. So I can vouch that it has worked, but not sure how it would stand up to the feeding methods of today. Jas

Hi mate. Im just looking for a complete copy as i want to use it for references as I've been keeping van reets now for since 1990 and i used to own a copy that i got from dean but it got lost in a house move. Are you able to get it copied for me, i will pay you what ever it cost can you let me know. cheers mate. Jas.

Hi all. Does anyone have a copy of dean pallets staf van reet catalogue. I used to own one but it got lost in a house move. I have spoken to dean but he doesnt have them anymore. If yo have can you let me know. Many thanks. Jadon edwards.

Did you take any birds with you to the vet or did he just test your droppings. If it was just dropping test i would suggest you get them tested for canker, this can only be done with a throat swab and cant be detected through a droppings test. I would say you have a case of wet canker which can be very common in breeding. Heres what dr colin walker has to say on he subject of breeding and canker. DISEASE CONTROL AND THE USE OF MEDICATION CANKER - ITS PREVENTION, CONTROL AND TREATMENT Nature of the disease The disease canker is caused by a protozoan Trichomonas columbae. This is a microscopic single-celled organism. It lives within the digestive tract of pigeons, in particular the throat and crop, and can also involve associated areas such as the bile duct. The organism is fragile in the environment, only surviving for a few minutes once outside the bird. This helps with control of the disease and means that the birds cannot become infected from the loft or immediate environment as happens with other diseases such as worms and paratyphoid. The organism (trichomonad) requires intimate contact between birds to be spread and is usually transmitted by saliva or pigeon milk. Saliva contaminates food and water. As a pigeon drinks, the organism swims away from its beak and, when another pigeon comes to drink, it not only drinks the water but also the trichomonads there. When a pigeon sorts through grain, each dropped grain contains a small amount of saliva. In this way, the disease can also be spread through a feed hopper. Adult birds 'billing' can transmit the organism, as do parents when feeding their nestlings. Control of canker during the breeding season Correct medication is vital during the breeding season so that the level of natural immunity in the weaned youngster is as high as possible. Because the severity of the disease varies in different lofts, there is no single blanket program that is best for all lofts. There is no drug that by itself will cure canker in a loft. It is a matter of using medication correctly so that the birds can establish a strong natural immunity to the disease. It is this natural immunity that, in the longer term, protects them from the disease. What causes canker to appear during the breeding season? In health, every time the feeding stock bird feeds its youngsters, it passes on some of its own trichomonads to them. This gives the youngsters a controlled gradual exposure to the organism, which in turn allows them to establish their own natural immunity. Clinical disease appears in the babies when the stock birds shed too many trichomonads over a given period of time to their youngsters. Increased rates of trichomonad shedding will occur if: • the stock birds are stressed for any reason - Anything that stresses the stock bird will lead to an increased rate of trichomonad shedding and includes such things as a poorly designed loft, poor management practices, incorrect feeding, and other concurrent diseases. • the stock birds' natural immunity is not high - Stock birds are likely to shed higher numbers more readily when breeding if their own natural immunity to the strains present in the loft is not as yet solid. This can occur if new stock birds carrying different trichomonad strains have been introduced to the loft during the non-breeding time. All birds carry some immunity to the resident trichomonad strains in their loft. When birds from different lofts mix, they exchange their trichomonad strains. Adult stock birds during the non-breeding season are not stressed and so exposure to any new strains brought in by introduced birds is unlikely to lead to disease. They are not moulting, not breeding, and have plenty to eat, and therefore no sign of canker occurs. However, when paired, if their natural immunity to the new different strains is not solid, the stress of feeding will cause them to 'break down' and shed larger numbers of trichomonads. In the same way, the introduced birds need to establish an immunity to their new loft's resident strains. This is why canker is more of a problem in lofts that are still establishing with birds coming from a variety of other lofts. As the years roll by, fewer new birds are introduced and so the chance of new trichomonad strains getting into the loft decreases. The birds' immunity to resident strains becomes solid and the effect of the disease is less marked. Many fanciers are frustrated when canker appears in the stock loft. With excellent care in a good loft, they wonder just how it is that the disease can come. Certainly they are on the right track with this approach because in a good loft under good care it is less likely that the stock birds will shed large numbers of trichomonads. However, some strains are so active that problems will arise no matter how well the birds are cared for. How to manage an outbreak of canker during the breeding season When canker does appear during breeding, its management is two-fold. It is a matter of: 1. treating the sick youngsters - In lofts with a canker problem, all youngsters should be checked daily. If a sick youngster is noticed it can be successfully treated, and such youngsters can go on to become champions. Either Spartrix or Flagyl tablets* can be used, however, Spartrix is more convenient to medicate the nestlings. The dose of Spartrix is one tablet per adult bird. Estimate how big the youngster is compared to the adult and give it this proportion of the tablet once daily until well. Usually, one to four doses are required. It is often good to also medicate both the nest mate and parents for 2 days. If the unwell youngster is slow to respond, it is usually best eliminated. Individual pairs that breed youngsters with canker are best mated to different birds for subsequent rounds. At the same time, it is important to 2. decrease the number of fresh cases - This is done by checking the number of trichomonads that the stock birds are shedding. This is achieved by giving 2 days Turbosole* periodically. The exact frequency depends on the incidence of canker but usually every 1 - 3 weeks is appropriate. One needs to give sufficient 2-day courses to limit the number of new youngsters with the disease, but at the same time to avoid overuse of the drug so that the developing youngster is still getting an on-going exposure to the organism. It is a matter of working between these two extremes. The important thing to always remember with canker during the breeding season is that the disease can never be controlled through medication alone. It is the development of a strong natural immunity that protects the birds in the longer term. It is important that medication is used to keep the birds well but used in such a way as to not interfere with the development of this immunity. >>Back to Top Preventative programs for the breeding season In the stock loft that had canker last season Treat all stock birds for 5 - 7 days before pairing and then for 2 days every 1 - 3 weeks once paired. Frequency of treatment depends on the severity of the problem and the control achieved. Try and coincide these 2-day treatment periods with the time of hatching when trichomonad shedding is highest. If canker is still a problem in certain pairs, try to only medicate these pairs. This can be achieved by breeding from them in individual runs and only medicating their water with Turbosole for 2 days as required or alternatively leaving them in the loft and just treating them with Spartrix or Flagyl tablets for 2 days when needed. Splitting the pair and remating each to other birds for the next round may help. Stock birds can be crop flushed before pairing to identify those birds carrying large numbers of trichomonads. These birds are not only more likely to shed large numbers of trichomonads more readily once paired but also to pass on their genetic susceptibility to canker. In the longer term, it is best if these birds, when identified, are eliminated. The problem is that they may, in fact, be the winners and here lies the challenge for the fancier - to breed birds less susceptible to the disease that are also winners. In the stock loft that had no canker last season No treatment is required. If there was no problem with canker in last year's nestlings, then it is best not to medicate for canker. Any medication will stop the paired bird shedding trichomonads and therefore interrupt the on-going exposure of the growing youngster to the organism. This leads to a lower natural immunity and may in fact create a vulnerability to the disease in the postweaning period. In the stock loft that had no canker last season but to which new stock birds have been introduced As discussed earlier, all birds carry in their systems the resident trichomonad strains of the loft and usually have a strong natural immunity to them. A newly introduced stock bird brings these strains with it. These strains may not have been encountered by your own birds and the new birds may not have encountered yours. Both lots of birds in time must, through exposure, become immune to the other strains. If introduced in the non-breeding time, when the stock birds are not under any stress, i.e. not moulting and in a good loft with plenty to eat, no clinical disease will be seen. However, with the stress of breeding, any immunity already developed will be put to the test. If immunity is not solid at the time of breeding, excessive trichomonads will be shed and the youngsters may develop canker. For this reason, new birds, especially if introduced immediately before pairing, should ideally be mated in individual runs and the youngsters monitored. If youngsters in the main loft begin appearing with canker, the loft should be managed as discussed under the section How to Manage an Outbreak of Canker During the Breeding Season.

I have one hen that feeds more water than normal to her youngsters, if its in the nest then i would say thats whats happening. You shouldnt be getting youngbird sickness at that age. I do agree with owen on the vacination side. Youngsters should be vaccinated as soon as they are parted. Jas

Firstly thanks to Fiffer for allowing me to post this up. My club Torfaen South Road Flying Club will be holding an Auction to raise funds to purchase Panniers for the transporter. Please if you can support us and come along to the sale. The information below will give you more detail: Torfaen South Road Flying Club YOUNG BIRD AUCTION IN AID OF FUNDS FOR PURCHASE OF CLUB PANNIERS FOR FEDERATION TRANSPORT AT RACE & LABOUR CLUB, UPPER RACE, BLAENDARE, NP4 5RT * SUNDAY, 14TH APRIL * VIEWING 12.30PM – SALE STARTS 1.30PM Birds donated by: Morris & Lucas, Gareth Watkins, Alan Maull, Wilf Higgins, Mike Staddon, Fishlock Bros, Andy Kidd, Mr & Mrs Bromley, Spencer Jones, Scammel & Peploe, John Gladwin of Formula 1 Lofts, Ray Strawbridge, Keith Edwards and Son, Strickland and Grandson, D&R Mathews, John & Pat Webber, Williams Bros, Tregoning, Sherwood & Lewis, Davenport & Roberts, Derek Flowers, G Treharne & Son & Grandson, Mr & Mrs K Upham, Hawkins Family, Alan Dunn. Mark Caudwell is Donating a pair from his 2004 RPRA National Champion ‘Mr President’ and James Parker will be donating a pair of grandchildren from ‘The Machine’ ( The Machine was Purchased on Pipa for £24,000) There are many top-class youngsters from multiple National winners. Any further information please contact: Derek Flowers on 07770 532934 or W. Higgins on 07971 728418 All Bar and Refreshment Facilities Available Secondly i would like to take this opportunity on behalf of the club to thank all the above fanciers for donating birds we really do appriciate your kindness and support. Thanks again. Jason Edwards.

Hi stb. Our fed ( the same fed owen flys in) races weekly up to the coast which is about 160 miles, we then go over the water which is carentan our first over the water race, then every other week we have an inland come back race, so up to the coast owen sends each week, then he sends everyother week once we get across the water. We normally have 15 old bird races.

Owen only currently races up to 200 miles as he likes the sprint so i think i would be difficult for him to give you an answer on the 500 - 600 mile races, you are always going to get more losses when you hit the 500 plus races regardless of what system you use. Good luck.

Thanks mate, i which i could take credit for there performances but there results were achieved by john gladwin at formula one lofts when he owned them. They came over to us last year. They are stunners. Jas.

These are some of our caudwell staf van reets . Hope you like the photos. Jas

Good ventilation and plenty of moving air. I never get condensation in the loft. I have got my windowhood loft fully lined walls and ceilings with 8x4 sheets of plastic and never suffer with condensation, we also have corrugated plastic sheets in our walk ways roofs and never have a problem there our lofts are bone dry all year round. I put that down to the ronnie williamson style roof and ventilation system on the loft. I would certainly look at the movement of air in the loft.

Ive tried most of them but now i use www.pigeondb.com it cost £6 a year and does everyhing all the software ones do plus you can access it from any computer, phone , ipad etc with internet access, you can generate some nice pedigrees as well. I wouldn't go back to anything else. Jas

We had a 16 year old cock who struggled to fill his eggs so we trimmed his vent and locked him away in a large nestbox with his hen untill she laid. Both eggs were full, also dont forget testicles skrink in cold weather as well. Give him time. I have a 7 year old van reet hen who is probably one of the best van reet breeding hens in the uk and last year she only laid one egg so hoping his season she can produce some. Jas.

Its my personal opinion but if you you are just starting up i would try and get some decent stock birds. The biggest mistake people make in this sport is rearing from birds that have never won anything, i would never rear out of my race team, the only way to move forward in this sport is to rear from proven breeders. You will only breed birds as good as the birds breeding them. You probably will have to rear out of your racers this year due to no stock, you cant build a family if you end up losing the birds that bred you youngsters. As for natural i tend to agree a little with owen, to much hard work, widowhood is easier to work with when you are new, and in my opinion its the best overall system, just ask geoff cooper who gets widowhood cocks from 650 plus miles. No natural system going on there. But good luck for the coming season, there will be some tough lessons you will learn but stick with it mate, this sport isnt easy but when you get it right you will absolutely be addicted to it, its in the blood. Jas.

Hi mate. I used to use pix resizer it's a free piece of software, not sure if its windows compatible. Here's the details http://pixresizer.en.softonic.com/ Jas.

Hi guys. Im looking for a copy of this as a reference guide. Can anyone supply a high quality scanned copy, im willing to trade some dvds for it. Let me know. Cheers. Jas.

Sorry mate i have to disagree, traits tell you nothing, just because a bird handles a certain way or i a certain colour, or may behaves a certain way or has a Particular eye doesnt mean it will do any good, i have kept pigeons for 30 years and have had birds of all shape, colours etc and they have all handled differently be winners,, if i was to rely on outward appear i would have one thing in my loft and that would be pretty pigeon and nothing else. Until you can show me scientific proof that there a link then i will alway disagree, eyesign has been around for years and theres still no proof that it no more than a theory the same as throat theory and wing theory, i am not putting people down if thats what they want to believe but i have learnt the hard way myself and believed in theories and potions to win but ultimately its the basket that is the true theory that works, they either win or they dont. If people spent more time on actually racing and testing the birds they have they would get quicker results than putting here trust in something unproven. I think the reason why me and owen are saying what we do is through learning the hard way. Racing pigeons i hard enough for new starters especially, but if they get tied up in debates that will only lead to disappointment, we will end up loosing the future of sport, its the 21st century lets move way from the past and concentrate on doing what we suppose to do and thats racing. Jas

I have to totally agree with owen on this one guys. Im not a thick person, infact im a fairly well educated person who has been involved in the sport for over 30 years since i was around 8 years or so old, i have had the opportunity of the years to handle some of the best pigeons in the world and have had long converstions with some of the best fanciers in the uk and europe, i too spent a few years believing in theories and thinking that you could win races by buying certain products or following certain theories but it all a load of bull. Genetics decides what a bird is capable of and has no connection with eyesign, if you could determine the abilities of a bird by looking into its eyes we would all be champions, the crux of it all is the only way to physically see if a bird can race well is to race it, and to see if it breeds winners is to breed from it, there is no other way. I have handle birds of all shapes, sizes, colours etc that were world class pigeons and you know what they were all different, none of them conformed to any of theses so call theories and were champions because they had been tested and raced to the best of there abilities. My advice woud be to spend more time testing and trying the birds, weeding out the crap, and all birds regardless of where they come from will breed crap and thats a fact, and spend less time looking at things you have no control over. Good birds in a good well managed loft that are healthy and well tested is the way to produce winners. Leave the eyesign to the believers, because until it is scientifically proven it will always remain a theory. If you cant measure your success by looking into an eye you have no way of proving that it was the eyesign that was responsible for the birds success. We are the only sport i know of that have these fads and theories. The horse world would if there was any truth in eysign be all over it like a rash because there are millions at stake in that sport, but they dont, there selection is all based around the horses ability to race and produce winners through selective breeding and genetics and nothing else, there are no short cuts. Jas

Owen makes a very valid point, you can take any professional sport that rely on animals and birds and the principle of breeding champions are the same. Its only the pigeon world that continue to breed fom birds that have never won a race, i used to do it and every year you would end up with the same results, its only when i took owens advice of not breeding from birds that have never won anything was i able to move forward. Crap will always breed crap. You must only breed from the best you have and move forward the best you can. Granted not everyone has winners, but you have to start somewhere. My belief and i stick to it is the reason for a lot of losses each year is we are breeding from rubbish. The moment you stop doing it the more you find you loose less. The problem with some people are that they are good pigeon racers but dont have a clue when it comes to breeding, its not as simpe as just putting two birds together and they will produce winners its not that simple. If it was everyone would be champions. Jas

I am an ambassador for our sport thats the reason i report them, i am not a rich person i am the one making the phone calls to either the union or the fanciers and when you dont even get as much as a thank you from them thats not sportsmanship. I am happy to help anyone out as i would hope they would o the same for me but i will not kill a healthy bird for no one. Most of the time when you throw a bird out after feeding it and liberating it it either comes back to yourself or some other fancier, as with the one guy i was the 4th person to report this bird to him and on the 3 ohers occassions it was thrown up by other fanciers only to end up in others lofts to be reported by someone else. I had a bird report to myself yesterday the bird was over an hour away from me i didnt tell the person to kill it or throw it up i took the responsibility and drove there and collected, thanking the person who had taken the time out to do the right thing. There are good fanciers out there that will support and look out for each other but if you cant afford to retrieve the bird you shouldnt be in this sport. I report a bird to a guy in the rhonnda valley last week and he came over to and collected it and again there was respect there. All i am saying is we go out of our way to help get these birds reported and when someone doesnt give a sh** about the birds they own it gets to me. Jas

Im really angry, i have had 8 youngster come to our lofts over the last week or so. i have had to ring gail for 2 details of welsh birds with no wingstamps or address rings. one fancier was 8 miles from me and wouldn't pick the bird up. and told me just to throw it out. the other fancier said he would come a collected his and never showed up and in the end after trying to contact him again without any joy i had no choice but to throw that one out. We had 4 come into my lofts today all wing stamped so we phoned them up and reported them. one was another welsh bird the other 3 were gb birds, again the welsh fancier said just throw it out its had plenty of training and has been raced. the other 3 gb birds the fanciers wanted me to dispose of them as they didn't want them back. What has this sport come to, we are not here to dispose of anyones birds, its the responsibility of the fanciers to collect them not for me to kill them or feed them up and throw them out. one of the gb fanciers even said i was the 4th person to report this bird to him so could i kill it, to which i refused. I have lost some birds this year myself and I'm hoping they WILL be reported so i can go and collect them as they were lost through no fault of there own. Ive got to the point now where I just can't be bother to have the same conversation with these people regards there lost birds. Jas

We have an old race pannier and all our youngsters get put in there for the first 2 weeks after parting them fom there parents. Its do or die for them. They re fed ad watered in troughs on the outside of the basked. They need to be taught to drink in the basket. So yes it's very important. Jas.

The really bad news, he was a pleasure to have debates with, will be missed very much. Rip.

Hi all just got a text from our sec to say that the race this weekend with the welsh south road has been cancelled with a possible monday for tuesday race but the latter hasn't been confirmed. Cheers guys. jas.