T_T

Hello everyone, lovely morning here in the SE of England but very brisk and chilly. Am not racing until next week so hopefully it will warm up by then. Have a good race all.

I am now one cock short and all my hens made it. These pigeons had a lot of groundwork last season and were raced right through although not one of them overnighted but it was a pleasure to watch them drop in one at a time this morning.

Strange that John,I sent 31 just on a 15mile toss yesterday, am 13 missing. Up at 3:40 this morning praying for daylight.

Got an extra fortnight to train mine, put the racing back two weeks, missing the first two planned races. On a better note, my babies were fluttering around the garden this morning and a pigeon racing through, dropped like a stone into the garden and it was a baby I had lost first time up 6 days ago.

Am thinking of ordering with other members of the club, a bulk order from Gem I shall have 10 x 25 kilo bags of different mixes to see me through the season. Am looking at around £140 for the 10 bags. This to me makes it so important to be selective in our breeding and whereas I'm sure some of us have carried rubbish in previous years, will now think twice.

21st March 3pm.

Did we notice, that on March 21st at 3pm on ITV, there is a bit of an insite into our pigeons and how they served the nation through the war, also as I understand it, a chat with Massarella on pigeons and the sport in general. May be worth a watch to see what other people think about us.

Already swamped with the Hawk problem, I am also worried about the amount of wind farms being thrust on us. I see only today another 22 in Lincolnshire with another 3.000 being installed in the country over the next 12 months. I think everything that's against us fanciers, continues to grow. Each of these things about 410ft tall. In the channel here just off the coast there must be some 200 of them swirling around. I think these brave little pigeons that helped save this country in their time of need are facing another battle. I know their brave enough, I just hope there lucky enough to win it.

Yes they do look good, who's loft of birds is it.? lol

Right guys, Am going to Lier Market a week on Sat with my Nephew who has intentions of buying maybe up to 10 pigeons to bring back with him. What is the CORRECT proceedure to fetch them into this country. Don't want to be mis led and have the boy arrive back here to have them taken off him.

Beautiful morning here in the South East of England but not quite deck chair weather yet.

Have paid a visit on more than one occasion to the man to see his wonderful family of Pluto's, Crayonne's, Little Blacks. He may not be the most receptive man, until he gets to know you but thereafter,to me, he's been a good friend. I know sometime ago in one of the Squills books he had his family of directs that he owned but as to how much now they are removed now, I certainly wouldn't know.

Do you find that in the winter months on the times when you DO have your birds out, they seem to excercise better, than later on in the year. Just this mmorning I had my 19 cocks out and they flew for 50 mins. Don't really like to see this so early in the year so instead of the best all rounder there presently getting, I think there in for a treat of BARLEY. Blackpool can't come soon enough but slightly worried about the weather.

Weather will play a big part in my decision to go or not. I am definately not risking getting stranded, too old for that these days. Shall be stopping at the Lyndene Hotel, Fri-Mon. Cabarets every night.

I see them at Blackpool every year mate and I've heard nothing to the contrary.

Not a lover of bob wires, pigeons seem to test them before they go in and I think perhaps thats with their wings being sore. On my system I have bob holes at an angle where the pigeons drop through and can't fly up and out. Cats will always be a worry, no matter what system you have but we must make it as awkwarrd as possible for em'. My traps are also high enough off the ground where it's impossible for cats to enter.

The best LAUGH youv'e ever had racing your pigeons. My own experience as a boy of sixteen, was when we didn't have a club clock and had to run to one and it was a red hot Sat when we had two pigeons come about 1 minute apart. My Uncle who was around 45 at that time and quite a belly on him, set off with the first rubber runnning straight down the road. I set off with the second rubber and just as I was about to pass him, his trousers fell down, the whole street in uproar. Needless to say, we never timed in. Even now when I see it all in my minds eye, my belly aches. The sport may be a little bit too professional for that now.

HARRY ?????????

Get well soon and hurry back RCH.

Don't think it hurt any of us in the long term and whatever the school did to me with regards to punishment, my parents would always say "serves you right". I can remember Blackboard cleaners (wooden with cloth insert ) being thrown at us kids across the classroom at a velocity that our birds couldn't do. They were the days ?

Talking about positioning your pads all over the loft, I knew a fancier that no matter where he was in the garden on a Saturday his birds would drop from the sky to him so wherever he was, he could time in.

We're not naive enough to think it dosn't go on, it's up to the individual. Honesty and Integrity ?

It could be adapted to lay UNDER the FLOOR of the Sputnik but NOT legal to be put under the LANDING BOARD. What a waste that would be if a pigeon of yours raced home to win and you were to be disqualified for the pads not being in the right place. Certainly not worth the risk.

Watch my local football team and then settle down to watch West Ham thump Arsenal lol. Apart from that, need something to push these pigeons of mine through the moult.

Hi All, Type in your search engine Wells Poultry and you will find a product ( for chickens ) called Vital Vits. Reading looks good being Vitamins, Minerals and Amino Acids. How do you feel about it being used on our pigeons. It has quite a good read although the suppliers couldn't tell me a dosage or how often to use it simply because it is for chickens. Just wondered what fanciers thought on such products.