Tropicman

around 70 when all weaned off , 64 already weaned off and ranging well when flying

Just a quick question really what do other members do to prepare there bird for the races across the channel ?

we were told the other day that the day of basketing is a good time to let the cocks see the hens for a good ten minutes before basketing them up to send is this a good idea or are we gettin played for fools ?

well sorry i havent replied been busy at the lofts ! , we now have 3 missing out of 39 young uns only around 20 or so have been out we think , but 3 are still missing but we have spotted them around the area so hopefully they will find there way home , cheers guys !

that was the plan but due to the weather we havent been able to let them out in the past week and a half and even today its a tad windy but they had to go out as they are getting rather strong on the wing , they have an aviary on the front of the loft so they know there surroundings well so hopefully we'll see what happens !

today was the day our young birds were finally let out , so far around 14 are out , bit of a disaster as 9 decided to crack off and still havent returned , but they are circulling around the loft hopefully they will come down ill let you know how it goes !!

brilliant loft mate

we train ours first thing in the morning around 6 half 6 if the weather is clear atm there at around 20 mile and we only liberate them if the weather is clear if any signs of bad weather dont waste your time

is there a certain reason for this haha ?

Young Birds Have Been on since april time so when would be best to take them off? thanks

But thats the thing ive been to where theyve been fileding and theres nothing there but grass and rabbit mess so could it be any of them ?

Well They are keen to eat the grit all the time after they've been out like but where they land its just rocks and rabbit mess and a tad bit of grass :/ ill try and upload a pic see what you guys think.

thats true but by the time i get up there theyve taken off its right on a hill as where in a valley and about a 20 min walk from the loft :/

maybr? and what do you mean trays of soil ?

Right as i explained in a earlier topic some of our birds had been fielding anyways we took action and bought nearly every mineral and grit under the sun and they stopped for a while but recently they have been landing again but on a rockface near the field :/ i walked up to see if there were any mole hills or anything like that and nothing just grass and rabbit poo so what could it be do you reckon ? our two next door neighboors young birds range the same with ours but none of theres are landing ours just break off and land but not all of them do it just around 8 -10 do what do you guys and gals think ? help !!

we have a cock just like that

This Pigeon Came Back with next doors older pigeons and trapped to our loft fed it up and kept it for a few days and took it a bit up the road with the young uns and it has returned every time but today shot off up the valley so could be on its way back anyways i think its SU 08 L 2952 but have got it written down at the loft so will double check

they took 10 mins but 5 of this were them circling around the field where they were released but when youve taken them there a couple of times you notice they start to come home a lot quicker when they do that you can move them on to longer distances dont worry about the time they take as they will do it quicker the more times you take them how far are your birds doing at the minute?

i started training our young birds and havent lost one yet i took mine when they were ranging far from the loft and were staying in the air for more than half an hour and now we let them out get them in basket then take them 3 mile up the road (for now) then they will get to further distances and you notice when they return they come straight in but i know one of the best flyers i know and he never takes his birds further than 15 mile up the road so different methods work i guess as hes topped the fed 3 weeks in a row so that must work to its all about experimenting i think

well your the only one who thinks so mate every one ive asked has just said you can get them out of the habbit the've only started doing it last week and its only happened like 4 times :/

Right Guys i were never guna give them the "pill" every time they went fielding as they have just been on some heavy dosage of medicine for e-coli but we have introduce a range of grits and they are working a tiny bit as they havent landed the last two times theyve been out , but they wernt out for long as we let them out got them in training then back in straight away like today they were out from 3 till around 5 basketed then taken 3 miles away from the loft and it took them a bit longer to get back this time as it was there first chuck from this place and it was windy as hell but they all came back within 10 mins and all together as well and went straight in but the previous place we were training them from was too close and as soon as we let them out they would return and fly around the loft then go to the field then come down and come in but i think there getting the routine of out, in , basket , training , home, in, fed. so hopefully this will get into them a bit and pretty pied un what do you mean about lemon juice how does this help ? cheersps. I appreciate everyone has different methods and thanks for all the advice

well they've just come off treatment for e-coli so could this be anything to do with it ? even though they have had pro biotics and multi vits already and are getting it once or twice a week .

our routine is let them out get them in feed for around 10 mins then take the food out and repeat the process and they've had two chucks so far but only from around 2 mile away but we let them out get them in then basket them and take them so they still field :/ what could we change to stop it from happening ?

our routine is let them out get them in feed for around 10 mins then take the food out and repeat the process and they've had two chucks so far but only from around 2 mile away but we let them out get them in then basket them and take them so they still field :/ what could we change to stop it from happening ?

Right our young birds have been ranging around a mile or two away from the loft and have been gone recently for a long time so me and my dad watched them yesterday for around half an hour and have noticed they have landed on the field across from the loft around a quarter of a mile away its right on the top of the hill in the valley so could this be because oif lack of minerals etc ? or are we doing something wrong? help would be appreciated