Craig05

Well done you. hope you have plenty more. its my first race next weekend, i cant wait, like a child at christmas

Thats a bit harsh Dave :-/.

Hope you get them back Karl :-/

Hi Pete hope they make there way back mate. give them some time, they will amaze you

Yes. definatly get them trained as far as you can this year and then treat them like young birds next year only sending them to the first few old bird races possibly as far as 250 - 300 miles. then i would stop them and keep them for the following year to race all the inland races. well this is what i am trying anyway

hi mate i built a temp wire avery that sat on the landing board. put birds in the cage a few at a time depending on size. they will soon find their way through the trap, as soon as you get 1 or 2 going through the rest should follow. it worked for me

Anyone missing a blue pied 09 yb with a french ring on it? will get the ring number later and post it

i must admit, i have been a bit hard on them, training in all sorts of weather once i had them coming well from 30 miles. it is probably the reason i had the one hit the wires. (a bit windy)

i Have lost 1 so far and have had them to 58 miles. did have one hit a wire as well but other than that, all seems fine

Paul i dont know you mate, but i have a young son and can only imagine what you are going through. Try and be strong for the little fella, your wife and yourself and treasure the time. God bless

I agree with you mate, i started my ybs at 10 miles 4 times then jumped them to 20 miles twice and then up to 30 miles 3 times. i then put them on the local trailer with the other lads racing birds to 46 miles on every tuesday and took them to 58 miles on Sunday. i have dropped 1 young bird and had one hit some wires. our first race is on 25th July from 68 miles so i now plan on bringing them back to the 10 mile spot every second day and release them in batches of 5. simelar method worked for us over in South Africa so am going to try it over here and see how we go

Same thing happend to me on my 3rd 10 mile toss. dont worry to much, they will amaze you and turn up. i got 1 after an hour and then 6 after an hour and a half and the rest came home the following day. all came home though

I am not convinced by the whole eye thing. there was a top American eye man that visited a very good loft in South Africa when i was growing up. i am not going to name any names here as the man has since passed away. he went through the entire loft and his conclusion was that only three birds were worth keeping! Strange thing was that one of the three that were worth keeping was a stray, and the other two were bought in at a yb sale! All of the lads combine and fed winners and their parents were condemed as rubbish and not worth keeping. it is when i heard this that i decided to let the basket decide what is worth keeping and what isnt.

I bought a bird from Louella that has two completly different eyes his left eye is orange and his right is violet. doesnt mean a thing to me as long as he can see out of them both. i hope it doesnt mean that when the wind blows from his left side he is going to be sh*t and when blowing from his right side he will be good ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

Fancy asking the question on someone else's post?????? :-/ :-/ :-/ oh, i have just seen the name ;) ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

Hi Chris Sorry to hear about your misery mate. i know you say it has gone way to far already, but might be an idea to just knock on their door and make it clear to them first up that you dont want any arguments and would like to sit down like adults and sort it all out. Let them think that they have won the little argument by you being nice and let them think that you have put your pride in your pocket and given in to them. invite them for a bbq or something and try and become "friends" slowly try and involve their kids by showing them eggs, babies ect i think it would be easier to get them on your side by you being really nice to them and almost agreeing with them but not quite. This method might take a bit longer mate, but once you have the permission for the new loft, you can tell them where to go. If it has gone to far and they wont open the door to you or ignore you completely, try a letter through the door explaining and or even appologising that it has gone this far, and make it clear that you would like to sort it out.

Thats what i was saying mate, i think they follow the rest of the birds home for most of the way and then they need to know where home is to allow them to break in the right direction for the last part of the race. instead of taking them 6 miles morning and night, i would recomend 10 miles morning only and then excersise at home on a night. 2 miles less to travel every day and will save you some time

I started mine off at 10 miles with a few old birds to show them the ropes. i have got them up to 58 miles now and only dropped one youngster. i plan to bring them back to 10 miles next week and release them every day from there in batches of 5. i am happy that they know the way home now, its just a matter of getting their fitness up. if your first race is 100 miles, i would recomend training them up to about 55 miles. Are the first two races from the same place in your club, if so it might be an idea to start your season from the second race, that way the majority of the other birds on the transporter would have all done it the week before. you should be ok, because the majority of the way home your birds would follow and keep up with the rest. in my opinion the sprint races are won or lost within the last 10 - 15 miles, where the birds need to be confident to break and head in the direction of their own loft, rather than just follow the rest. best of luck mate, its my first season over here, and i cant wait either.

Hi Where is your friend from? i am passing Reading on Monday heading back up to the North East

Will be on the road between Southampton and Sunderland on Monday if anyone has birds needing a lift. will gladly meet at any services on route.

Dont kill them, we had a bird that won 1st fed and 6th combine and his keel bone was almost "L" shaped

Did my birds with nobivac, no problems at all.

I am in a very simelar situation myself. my first year of racing and have 24 YBS. i have trained them up to 50 miles now and the first YB race is from 68 miles. plan to send them to the first 3 races up to 100miles and then the last one back to 68 miles for the latebreds. whatever i have left at the end of the season i will breed from, if i lose them all then they probably wern't worth breeding off anyway and will have to start again. the basket has to sort them out in my opinion

couldnt agree more