stevebelbin

I would say, make sure you go for the delux type with perspex as the rain can get in otherwise. I opted for the cheap one and its cost me more in the long run fitting perspex to all sides!!! Also I made a secondary bob trap on the inside so once the birds had entered they couldnt sit about in the trap whilst the flap was down, because cats can easily enter. Sounds complicated but mine have learnt to trap really quickly into them and they are good for settling YBs. Ill try to get a pic on, on monday.

You will need to treat them all for cocci, as she will have shed it in her droppings and the others will pick it up when pecking about on the floor. Also you will need to clean the full loft out and spray with a good disinfectant. I know its sounds like a lot of work, but it will stop passing it on, hopefully!!!

I sense we have a future pigeon fancier in our midst LOL. You should ask the owner if you can keep the bird, get it a mate, build a loft and get yourself racing LOL. Steve

I noticed recently mine had a canny few lice on them, and was recommended a permethrin based product called Easitox which you can get from an advertisement in the back of the BHW. I did mine a week ago and there wasnt any sign of any lice the next day.

Hi Paul, The dark ch is a son of a Dark Ray Forbes cock and a cheq Ray Forbes hen, so he should throw out Dark YBs for you. The Dark Pd is also through the Ray Forbes pigeons and dam is a Dark pd so you should get some dark'uns of it. The Blue'n is a daughter of a cock that was 22nd UNC last year and has two other wins to his name so she has some really good blood in her. The chq pd is off a cock that should have topped the fed as a YB, but he sat on the roof for 7mins. The blue flipey is off a cock that was 3rd Claremont for me this year as a yearling and the dam is a daughter of a busheart cock that had numerous wins for the lad who bred me it. Hope this all makes easy reading!! Steve

The lad who I got mine off got his from Ray Forbes, does your mate have any through the Powderhall cock?? A few of mine that my mate bred me are through the Coppi cock also.

Sorry to crash the party, but while we are talking Bushys, has anyone had them through Ray Forbes in the North East, he sells the Dark'uns??

A couple of mine were showing the signs of it about 5 weeks ago, so I put them on Adenosan for 7 days and they were ok after that.

I have 5 latebreds ready to go now if you would like them, Ive only kept them as they are off my best, and looked belters in the nest. You only live down the road, so you it wouldnt cost you the cost of carriage. 4 have rings on and one doesnt, and unluckily the one without a ring is the best young'un ive bred this year.

I raced a cock last year that was 7 year old and he seemed to struggle compared to his previous years racing where he had won and been really consistent, so he was stopped. I think it depends on the bird and how much work they have had in previous years, and how valuble they would be in the stock loft.

I think it depends on whether you are racing or not. If you are racing you will need different mixes for different times of the year, i.e. when breeding they would have a breeding mix, moulting use a moulting mix etc although this can be debated as people have been know to win on a single mix all year round. But if your not racing I would use Versele Laga Best All-round and during the warmer months add a diet corn to it, to keep the weight down. You should be able to get this from most pigeon corn shops, in bags that will last a while if you only have a few birds. But it needs to be kept dry if you store it for a long period.

Lets not forget the increase in hawks, pretty much everywhere in the UK, I now have a resident hawk and have lost a more birds of the board this year than in my 6 years of racing. So all the possible causes of losing YBs its not surprising we are losing so many. I think when lots birds are lost on training tosses where the weather seems perfect, it has a lot to do with hawk attacks. I also think we forget that we are breeding a lot earlier and they should really be trained much earlier in life than most are doing, to install the homing instinct. I have two section of YBs, early bred and later bred YBs and in training, I lost 4 YBs out of the Older YB section that should really have been trained a few month B4. Food for thought.

I just put mine up and hoped for the best, and have been lucky as my neighbours dont seem to bothered about the birds. An old lady next door is always asking about them, and gets really worried if I lock one out and go to work, she has quite often come round and put some water out for any I lock out. But I do have a fairly long garden and my lofts were made to fit in with the garden and every effort was made to make them look like sheds.

As far as Im concerned there is only one winner in a race and nobody remembers a 2nd 3rd 4th etc place.

My birds are now confined to the loft as Ive decided to stop racing for a few years, so I will cut the numbers down and keep the best pairs, for a possible future return. FEELS LIKE A MASSIVE WEIGHT LIFTED OFF MY SHOULDERS ;D

I wouldnt loft fly them, and try to only train them every day, keeping them nice and hungry, so they come straight in. Obviously only being 13 you may struggle to get them training everyday, but if you can then it would solve the problem.

Take them to the new address every day and release them, they will go back to the old loft obviously, but they will get familiar with the area at the same time. Then when your new lofts are up, pair them up, get them down on eggs and let them out every day for a bath, if they go back to the old house and the old loft is still up, leave them in it when they go back for a few days with no food and hang bags of the roof inside. Sounds cruel but they wont go back many times after that.

Sounds like you need to get their droppings tested, to see if there is anything ailing them!!

Got a few latebreds in the nest if you want them, they have old rings on but they look nice YBs. I wont be back on line till Monday, so if you are interested PM me and ill get back to you. Mainly darks and a few pieds.

Skemmies, Streeties, FlyingRats, Street Peckers

Mine were doing the same a week and half ago, when the weather was at its hottest, so I put them on diet 2000 and put Adenosan on it for 7 days. Then probiotics one day and cider vinegar the next and they are back to normal now.

Interesting mO, mine have been hitting the roof for ages, but Ive managed to get my neighbours to play ball, literally, they chuck a tennis ball at em if they go on their roofs. And I have to sit in the garden clapping everytime they look like landing. With mine I think its the young cocks that are dragging them down as there starting to get a bit randy.

I was up at 530am this morning and had mine at 25miles and there was still at this time batch after batch going past for mine to get dragged off with, and they did get on the back of a batch. Luckily all were back in good time but, if your YBs dont break off they could end up anywhere. Definately something affecting our YBs though, as everyone seems to be losing loads.

Now we are just being greedy LOL ;D

UNC first YB race at Thirsk and Bubwith