stevebelbin

400-550 miles Anything less and the buzz just aint there for me.

Bet there was no such thing as respitory disease in those lofts

You must have got out of the wrong side of bed

I like to have plenty of light into the loft, especially at this time of year, when its damp outside, any bit of sunshine to dry the loft out is always a bonus, unless you have heating of course? Agree with Craig, would definately put an aviary on to give the birds a chance to sit in the sun. Great loft though ;D

Is it not to dark in the loft - Id put roof lights in to get some light and heat in ;D

Thats fair enough - but what about the men who have to go to work and cant clean out every day. Im lucky Ive got lights but I still use the chippings as the loft looks much nicer with them down.

"Especially if some useless git spills a basket of them all over your drive" LOL - not to worry, I just swept them on to next doors drive ;D ;D ;D

Easi-bed is great stuff, but belgium chippings are even better. There £9 / bag at the corn shop I go to, but they last ages and you dont get any dust from them. Shavings tend to be too dusty and blow about all over the place and make a right mess!!!

Ive heard it said so many times and even used it myself "less is more", but now Ive reduced the numbers of pigeons in the loft its only hit home how much better the pigeons look and act in the loft. Ive got 9 cocks in a section where I would normally have 16 and they rarely fight and are always sat relaxed on the wing in there boxes. Its easier to clean out so I can clean out really quick and sit in the loft with them for a bit giving them a few peanuts. Ive been so blinded by the racing aspect and trying to keep the numbers up etc :-) A bit of useless info for you all there, but maybe someone else has also realised the same LOL

Hopefully ;-)

LOL - I can just see the girlfriends face now if I cancelled a night with her to go to a pigeon do LOL !!!!

All the scrouges in Thornaby wont have one - it used to be a really good night, so bit of shame really!!!

You need to prevent the hens from pairing or you will have trouble pairing them up, keep the hens really hungry and they won't pair up. Also you can use 2"x2" mesh on the floor so they cant lay and only use v-perchs.

Barley definately seems to keep them in better condition in the winter lazy months, but I lost a lot of yearlings in the early races this year after having them on 50% barley last winter. Now I dont know if its due to the barley or lack of racing as YBs, but it was hard to get any decent shape into them. I used to feed mine on full best allround mix and rarely lost birds on that system + they allways did well in head winds.

You can still get it from the back of the BHW and the likes of boddy and ridewood, not necesserily Cytacon, but still vit B12

I put mine into the water - thinks its 15ml per 2 litres (would have to check though).

I use the same Cytacon B12 on thursdays when racing.

Too much time on your hands I think!!!

Yeh they are very fattening - so I would only use a few to get them to trap quickly. B4 I send to a channel race I pack them out with them, but make sure there cut into quarters or they tend to spew them back up in the basket, as you would if you have stuffed yourself and then travelled in a car.

Paul, once they get a taste for them they will crave them and follow you round the loft thinking you are going to give them some, but for some reason if YBs aren't given them when really young they dont eat them straight away and struggle to pick them up, so its best to cut them into quarters at first. Human comsumption red skinned peanuts are the best. Stuart, yeh ive been told not to give peanuts by some people as I think it does something to their insides, but have also read of a fancier who only ever fed his pigeons on peanuts, and would have numerous birds high up in nationals. Ill try and find the link on the new, it was titled "unroasted peanuts - the secret weapon"

Nice one - the old peanuts are the best thing to make any pigeon tame - even the wildest pigeons in my loft would eat peanuts out of my hand - And I think they are a massive benefit when preparing channel birds as the birds seem to home to the peanuts rather than anything else

Ive found that aggressive cocks generally go down when racing, as they waste too much energy in the basket. Not always the case as my first ever win came from a Cheq Pied Wildermeersh cock that used to take up a corner in the race pannier and nothing would go near him. Every time I played a jealousy trick on him he would score

What are peoples thoughts on how tame a pigeon should be. I prefer pigeons that when you walk in the loft you wouldnt instantly notice them, pigeons that are nice and quiet will let you walk up to them and pick them up without having a flapping fit Yet most tame pigeons that Ive had or known about generally look the part but just dont cut it when racing

Mine have an aviary they can sit in, and they seem to prefer to be outdoors in most weather, so the cold will not affect them.

Yeh, its the aniseed that give it the smell