stevebelbin

I hope your right lol!! Im counting down the hours b4 I get home to check hes back lol

;D ;D ;D, ive never visited a top loft that has overcrowded sections. The trend being more boxes than pigeons. An article on Mike Lycett in the BHW for example, has very few pigeons per section and his results speak for themselves. Pecking order causes stress, stress causes disease. Wild pigeons living in barns, have access to the outside all day long and use the barn for nesting, roosting and safety from predators etc. Racing pigeons generally spend 22 out of 24 hours indoors, so cant really be compared to pigeons living in barns, unless raced on open hole.

My birds did better with 'NO' inlet vents on the front, side or rear, just the gap under the eaves, to act as an outlet. Fannyed about with it, putting vents and fans in and i feel it was better B4. Thinking of changing it back to how it was two years ago. This is my widowhood loft, my YB loft has louvred windows that can be adjusted to suit the weather and is light and airy.

I cant think of anything worse than having two many birds in a section. Pecking order is fair enough, but the fewer birds in a section the better condition the birds appear to be in, from personal observations!!

For widowhood you really need a seperate loft away from the noise from the hens and also from the noise of the YBs flying and landing on the roof etc. My widowhood loft is only 10 ft from the YBs and hens and the cocks used to go daft when the YBs were out. So ive had to fit blinds to block out shadows and put the radio on to block out noise etc.

UNC at Huntingdon - First race for mine - Looks sunny, but the wind is North East!!!

Im at work now, so will have to have a nail biting day lol!!!! He may have gone back to my old loft, but its out of character for him. I think its a sign telling me to pack in lol. Strange thing is, i had stopped him and only took him training, so he didnt go chasing all the hens about the loft lol

Took my birds training this morning to my usual training spot, got home to see them trapping like bullets, was chuffed. Then looked in to see all were back and my best 5year old cock hadnt arrived back. After half an hour, still no sign and I have that gut feeling that he's a gona. Had pigeons long enough to know that a 5 year old pigeon that has been so consistent doesnt go astray. Wellllll peeevvvvved off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My excuse is - i havent sent yet lol lol lol !!!!!!

It depends if you want to win every race and be competitive etc. The top lofts (im generallising I know) generally have a few systems going on, so theres always a chance of one being on blob. But if you want to race natural and enjoy watching the birds come home, then you could race to any size loft. More space and less birds definately makes for better conditioned birds and therefore better results

If you fly close to roofs, I wouldnt flag, just feed them fit! If you fly them on an allotment then flag them, but they need teaching from YBs to know what the flag means, i.e. flag up = flying, flag down = doors open and trap or get locked out.

The lack of experience doesnt always come into it!! I raced yearlings last year that had one 56mile race as a YBs but still raced well from 400miles. Good luck with your last one though and fingers crossed one or two may return

Some set-up that, ive just fitted those louvres to my YB loft and they are perfect for controlling the ventilation ;D

Interesting feed system . Just one thing though, for a distance race would you want them exploding out of the basket, surely they want to conserve energy for the last 200 miles or so. Surely a few slow-releasing-energy peanuts prior to basketing would be good for this.

I think they have used GPS on a few pigeons, Ive seen something on the net about it. And there was a link on this site where Top-Gear raced a pigeon back to its loft, the pigeon had GPS attached to it and a camera so it could be followed over its journey ;D. So the technology is there, just needs to become cheap enough to use!!

Cheers Pete, I will go with that, i will hopefully get a few chucks into them when im back and bang em in ;D

How far do you train yours Rose b4 they would go out to their first race of 150? As I may wait another week when they will be at 200 odd miles and train them 100miles the weekend im back!

Cheers, I thought not, jumping them doesnt normally bother me, but I was talking to a few lads in the club and they thought I was mad LOL

Due to me going away for the next two weekends, my birds will have missed the first three races and will start when I come back from approx. 150miles. They will be exercised while im away, and may be able to be trained when I come home, weather permitting. Is this too much of a jump for 2-3 year olds? Yearlings will be started later when we have a drop back race.

Nice loft by the way , you cant beat having them at the end of the garden ;D

Mine are exactly the same, and I allow them to sit up there at first to get their bearings as the area surrounding my loft is fairly enclosed. Feed is the only way to control them if they do go up there. Also once their flying I use a tennis ball tied to a length of string, which I throw at them on the house roof. Mine are going on open hole this year, so Im guessing they will be sat up on the roof most of the day lol

Nice piccies craig, its a good training spot that, its where I take mine normally. Good piccies of homer and williams loft aswell, some setup that ;D

It has been unusually mild this winter and that may have triggered it!! Normally when you repair the second time to train the cocks back to the hens and let them sit 8-10 days it holds the wing moult back till about June time, any longer than 10 days sitting and they seem to moult earlier. Would never use lights in the winter on widowhood cocks apart from 30mins in the morn to allow me to clean them out.

Well done carl, how was she sent?? Roundabout or sitting etc??

Is it similar to the stuff gardeners use in greenhouses?? I use it over my inlet vent to slow the airflow down if its windy. Ive seem the stuff you are using and it looks similar to the stuff im talking about and I would use a layer of mesh first and put that over the top if its to stop the cocks seeing the hens.