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It should be the easiest job on the planet given the internet which was never available years ago, BUT then again once the flaps are down nature takes over. This is what makes the sport great and acts as a leveler

Two nationals in this country on the same weekend both won by strays transferred as YB's. cant remember exactly who they where thnk one was les nicholls bristol. anyway just goes to show not all strays are rubbish

This is a dutch company so probably not good to order however it may be worth showing to your other half http://fotos.dumonederland.nl/thumbnails.php?album=6

Tony sorry for the delay in answering, I am in the corner of both Jack and you that I would need to see the eyes before pairing. Being a good racer does not mean being a prolific breeder. Many years ago when I first got into eyesign we had a mealy cock that in total won 10 firsts including 2 x South Lancs Combine (which at the time sent 6000 birds +). He had a lovely racing eye up to probably 200 miles. Although this cock was never a national winner beating 6000 birds twice is no mean feat. To cut a long story short my dad wanted to breed off this cock as many youngsters as he could and I said all along that I didnt believe he would breed his like. And he didnt. The mistake we made at the time was that we did not go around the sales and find a hen with a strong breeding eye. In hindsight I think that paired to a good breeding eye his racing genes may have combined well. But as I was only 16 at the time I think my dad thought I was going with the eyesign fashion brigade. Some years later he admitted defeat when I picked a young hen, she was very very wild and was starting o irritate my dad. I picked her out as a breeder and dad agreed to give her a try, again to cut a long story short every pigeon she bred (with several different cocks) either won or was a prize winner, she ended as dam and grand dam of wigan amal winners. She also calmed down when she moved into the stock loft as it was obvious that flying spooked her. As with everything concerning pigeons you must have an open mind and take everything into consideration.

Thanks Jimmy, I agree that there are other valid reasons to the losses these days, but I just hope that the fanciers of today can put contingencies in place so that when the time comes again for me to join the ranks of the worlds greatest working man sport it is still around. I agree also that years ago there was still the big team men (who topped up the prize money for the rest of us) but I rememeber back in 1984 I had 12 YB's and at the end of the season I had 10. in one race I sent 5 and was first 3 in the club 1st 4th 5th Wigan Amal and 2nd 12th 13th South Lancs Combine. The big advantage we have now is the internet whcih can tell us when solar waves are heading towards earth etc etc. I think in time the rings should have GSP sensors in them so that by using the internet we could be able to track our pigeons when they have left the transporter. We are at much more advanatge now then ever before. Good luck racing

Hello all, I am an ex-fancier who still keeps an active interest in all things pigeons (and fortunately still has a dad who races). For the last two years I have been watching with interest at the amount of YB's lost racing etc. What I am about to write is purely my own thoughts on the subject so please go easy on me. Back in the 70's and 80's a fancier would breed up to 20 YB's and race the entire programme with minimal losses, this in a time when there was a lot more fanciers sending each week, therefore more birds going in different directions and more possibilities of clashing. I am not saying that we had them all dropping in within 5 minutes BUT with each race 90% of YB's returned and made there way home on the day of the race or early morning the day after. Nowadays if they are not home 4 hours after the first then thats usually it never seen again. Why did they always make it home?? because they where homing pigeons bred from homing pigeons bred fron homing pigeons etc etc. Now my dear friends this I believe is where the problem lies. Let me explain, from the 80's onwards 2 major changes happened in pigeon racing 1) Pigeon Studs became big news and 2) nearly everyone moved from natural to widowhood. What has this got to do with anything, well as i said earlier they are homing pigeons and where bred from homing pigeons. Any fancier who for years has been racing widowhood cocks only will invariably be breeding their YB's from unraced hens generation after generation. Yes these hens will have been raced as YB's but probably only for 5/6 races then no more. So for each generation the homing instinct is getting weaker and weaker. The studs also came into play and started selling their wares. And again any grand children bought would be from 4 parents that had never even flown around a house, but they where bred from champions so they must be good. These grandchildren in turn would be brought home and put in the fanciers stock loft to breed and again would not fly out. So here we would have YB's who are bred from 2 generations of unflown stock and again the homing instinct is getting weaker. I have seen a certain stud selling Great grand children of champions for upwards of £100 these purchases would again go straight into thes tock loft. Now I here you say but they still breed winners now and again and yes if we sent 40 of the worst racing pigeons to a race there would still be a winner!!! The Solution More and more fanciers are going back to natural so as not to waste there hens but i would say thatb 2/3rds are still on widowhood. Now I believe that if there was a Hens only season running parallel to the YB season liberated at the same time this would serve a number of purposes 1) Hens would be raced again therefore the homing instinct would improve 2) YB's being raced with older hens would ensure that they learnt how to break from the site and the breaking point at home 3) More pigeons on the transporter coming in the same direction would lessen the chance of clashing. 4) Two races one clock double the fun What do you think, the way forward or not

Eyesign the mystery for years. When I was younger I took a real interest in eyesign (and still do although I dont race anymore). I spent my youth looking into the eyes of all the local champions and winners etc. Many years ago I was asked to go round to a local fanciers loft and have a look at his birds and using eyesign give an appraisal. I went through his loft and gave an honest opinion of each and every bird based on the knowledge I had gained. At the end he gave me an unrung hen and said she had just dropped in and what did I think before he got rid. I told him there and then that I would take the hen as i believed she would found a loft of winners and should not be got rid of. He smiled put £20 in my pocket and told me that I had just picked out a top breeding busschaert hen that he had purchased, she had bred winners in nearly every nest. The moral of this story is that yes eyesign does play a part in racing pigeons but only a small part (and mainly for breeding). Substitute pigeon for footballer. A footballer who in training and practice matches shows the skills and atributes to be a world beater, BUT when it comes down to real competative games is hopeless or injured. Now imagine a bird with a top racing eye BUT no heart for the race home this is what I mean. The eye only tells you what a bird can do if its got the willpower and motivation to do it. Also rememeber that if you look into the eyes of your birds daily then you are looking into the gateway to their soul and any changes to the eye will indicate a problem which you will spot in plenty time. Good Luck

Ben Firstly I have just had a holiday in Looe and must say what a fantastic place, although I didnt see many racers flying out. Right on to your neighbour, please inform him that racing pigeons because they are fed a cereal diet cant and dont poo when flying. They will push it out prior to striking off so that it comes out at the start of flight but not during flight. If they are having a poo during flight then your feed is far too light. Wild birds that poo during flight do so because their diet is mainly seed/fruit/berries based which would make you and I loose. Compare it to a human, unless you had diarohia you would be unable to poo whilst running (lactic acid and all that), this is because of the diet in Europeans. Now the neighbour obviously has a downer on pigeons so you need to turn the charm on. firstly go round and explain to them that you took up pigeon racing as you didnt want to end up on the streets abusing old people and with an asbo. You believe that at 13 learning o understand nature is better than loutish behaviour. Then strike a deal where you will tidy up their lawn if they will let you have he pigeons. LASTLY never ever let your birds sit on the roof, you are in charge, you are the manager. when they are ready to drop after exercise get them in and feed them. they will soon get used to coming straight down for food an dthose that dont, then dont feed them and leave them out (I once had a young hen 1982 that stayed out for 5 days before coming in, what a breeder she turned out to be) Ben be in charge of them and remember if they fly off for good they take their crop withn them ;-) If you want advice mate feel free to pm me, good luck

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Try feeding 3/4 normal food allowance at midday on day of basketing (providing they have been well fed Thursday) 2 hours before basketing clean drinkers and top up with fresh water and feed 1/4 oz (per bird) of seed mix red band etc. They will take it then without thinking go to drinker and up to perch to roost (as they will think its the normal last feed of the day). This will ensure they have a good drink before going to the race amd are hungry enough to trap on race day. Good Luck

http://fotos.dumonederland.nl/thumbnails.php?album=6 I dont race myself as work got in the way (I will start again one day). Anyway for those looking fo new ideas I found the above dutch site.