stevebelbin

Bruno, if you go to any local garden centre, you can buy a humidity guage for a few quid and the best level is around about 65% humidity. Its very hard to get a constant 65% level though without some form of artificial control, such as heating and fans etc. But a loft with no low ventilation does work better as no cold damp air is coming in etc. My loft has two low vents that can be closed off if its really damp, but also has low level heating close to the vents. Thats in my OB loft, in the YB loft its totally different as this faces east, but at the start of this year i added more windows to catch more early sunshine and more vents so the loft was open most of the day etc, and my YBs have been in excellent condition all year round. Ive packed in and only got a few pair left, but the birds i gave away got some very pleasing comments.

When i first put my lofts up in the back garden i rushed them up and at that time the only ventilation was under the eaves on the flat roof. So only stale air was escaping and the only air that entered was when i opened the door to let them out etc. That year within 5 races i had a bird come 22nd combine out of 11500 or so birds. Shortly after that race i started to play about putting vents in and the birds went right off form. So just goes to show the ventilation depends on your loft location, as the vents i added reflected what where on the lofts i had b4 the new ones. I have played about with loads of things to get it right but nothing seems as good as just having the eaves ventilation.

Cant see the point in trying to speed up the moult. Just shut them in, leave them in peace and feed them a good moulting mix, with a bit of linseed added etc. Simple ;D

The year i moved mine into my back garden, i kept them together so i could settle them and they started dropping flights a bit early the season after. Dont know if this was because they had been paired or because the stress of a loft change altered their moult. Seperated all mine off on saturday to keep quieten them down for the winter.

Cheers mate, ive just rang him and he has given me the number of Bonnybridge club so ill contact them and try to get it home. It only looks really late bred to be honest, so it should be given another chance.

They are bad for your health mind, mine are in the garden, and I know i should wear a mask, but i rarely do and they make you lathargic, or the protein in there feathers do, really i think we all suffer a little from PFL, but we rarely admit it. I know i do, as i do a lot of running and I can teel the pigeons have had an effect

its strange, ive always had an attraction to them, when i was a kid and my parents would take me on holiday etc, i would always be found trying to catch them lol. My dream was always to have them in the garden, but im thinking maybe the crack of having them on an allotment maybe the solution, to have the racing aspect again. Its so easy to forget your actually racing when their in the garden lol. I havent even been getting my clock set lately lol

got to say Mike Lycett does breed a bloody good pigeon, the two i got were belters

Ive have been as kean as the next pigeon man, and over the last few years its dissapeared, ive kept the birds hoping the buzz would return, but it hasnt!!!! Will it or wont it is the question, or should i just give it up as etc lol

came in tonight, dark pd, no wing stamp so if anyone has a clue, please let me know lol

9 back out of 9, dont know what time they arrived etc, but all look to have had an easy day to me, mine are stopped till next year now, all have had a bit of race experience and will be kept for the future as there dropping to bits now. Got to say, ive not put any pressure on mine at all, only trained from 10miles and im chuffed that ive only dropped two ;D. Managed to have 18 left from my original 25, dropped a few off board and training, so thats yb racing over for another year lol

Again proving that pigeon racing is for the jobless :-/

I keep a track of their health over the year and see how well they cope with different task, i.e. training, loft flying, racing and the moult etc, any that struggle, are the ones to go normally, but its very rare that any do go as i dont breed many. With all the obstacles that they face these days, any that are still there have done well in my eyes ;D

I go with the 3 strikes and their out policy strike 1 = keep in for the night with water only and take a mile down the road. strike 2 = if it comes back, report it and give the owner the chance to come for it. strike 3 = see if the owner will get amtrak to pick it up. If not then, you have done all you can to get it home, and if its still at yours, the owner doesnt deserve to keep pigeons. I had one in not long back, and the bloke said he couldnt afford to pick it up or get amtrak to pick it, and he had lost quite a few that day. So i told him if he cant afford to collect them he should breed less to cut down the chance of losing so many. I couldnt quite understand his reply as it was full of expletives lol lol lol, so i put the phone down on him. I dont believe in killing strags, so the only way i can scare them off is to put my cat in the aviary with them for enough time to scare them away for good!!

I wouldnt expect too much from my first YB season, and would concentrate on getting them back to race another season and you are doing well at that Or as a wise man once said, remember their only YBs for 6-7 races, they are OBs for a hell of a lot more ;D

I hope they come up trumps for you ;D Im sending this week, but not setting the clock, as they wouldnt trap last week, with the neighbours 'bridget jones pants' on the washing line lol, so ill just leave them to do what they like on the open hole etc Doing my m-bike test on sunday, so should have a bike soon wahooo

LOL, well what can I say !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good luck Paul, hope the win will come this week ;D, have you had them training?? Ive been a bit lazy this week and not had mine down the road lol

The van might, but the pigeons are the problem lol !!!!

She has loads, her sister is smoking hot, but sadly taken for lol lol

LOL , I was fairly lucky with this one, I was out drinking and she just walked past and gave me her number, so I now have new F-Buddy lol lol

Excellent Paulo, I wish I still had your enthusiasm lol, I missed my birds coming back as I had to drop a non feathered bird off home I think I might have to put mine on dark next year!!

Same here, just Cider vinegar, garlic and probiotics, unless I notice something under the microscope. Ive had mine on deep litter and they have only had one spell were they looked like they were going to get YB sickness, but it dissappeared after a day, so ive concluded one or two had just picked up something in the garden. Im touching wood when I say the above, as YB sickness seems to appear very quickly without any prior drop in condition!!!

How much did it all cost, if you dont mind me asking?? Cracking loft ;D

Rapido bushaerts are lovely birds, and if you manage to get one with feathery legs get it over the channel, they do well from 400+ for some reason. They are very prone to hawks attacks on the down side!!!!