Kyleakin Lofts

Happy birthday.

Good morning all.

Stuart, is that you telling him to go for a dump and stop talking *expletive removed* :D

Good morning all.

Jackdaw may have sounded the warning, but sounds like BOP, given the panic.

I think you have to be careful with medications. I wouldn't knowingly buy anything which was pre-medicated.

I don't think you would get it from the pellets.

I've already posted Ayrshire North Road Federation programme.

Rabbit food is mainly greens. In a pelleted form, it is processed and heat has to be involved. However, let us argue that there is a possibility of coccidiosis from feeding them. Is this risk any greater than the risk encountered when the pigeons graze in the fields and garden? The benefits are a high protein food without gorging, therefore, undoubtedly a good top up ration.

Good morning all.

Happy birthday.

Adjusting Ourselves to New Ideas by John Clements The way I see the UK pigeon sport is that for many, especially the active ones amongst us, we are all in a state of adjustment to new ideas. The Sport is changing and what for many years has been a kind of status quo of accepted belief - belief of this kind no longer applies for everyone and new ideas are growing. People are beginning to ask questions. They ask question and seek definitions such as What is a first? What is a race? What is a club ? What is a Federation? What is the definition of a Fed or ‘Combine’. How many Feds are needed to form a Combine ? How many members are needed to form a club ? How many competitors are needed to make a race ? Does a club need a Secretary ? Take for instance my recent series of reports of the 2017 NFC Certificate of Merit award winners. Quite a few people have contacted me about this series, mostly favourably, but at least the NFC ‘C of M’ Award is based on a definition. (Award winners have to score high three times in the NFC Tarbes race - below 600 miles in the first 100 above 600 miles in the first 200). This creates a standard and for my part I think the standard is pretty high. If we break down the five 2017 winners we see that three of them were entirely British breeding. Two were crosses between British and continental stock. So the consensus must be that British strains or British families of pigeons played a big part in the make up of these five top performers. . I think it is without doubt that these five pigeons are not just a high standard but they are of the highest standard if we think in terms of consistency over three seasons in what is one of the most difficult marathon races flown into the UK. Nevertheless, in spite of the above facts British pigeons are not valued as highly as continental pigeons by the majority of British fanciers. This may be because British fanciers are consumed by the idea of first prizes being the sole criteria of excellence. First prizes come in all organisations. Organisations that are not defined and vary one from another in size. . Some are big and difficult to win while some are tiny and easy to win but conveniently adverts always seem to leave out numbers competing and often distance flown but seem to concentrate on prizes won. So here we have the crux if my argument. Predetermined formula awards in my opinion are more accurate than first prizes. Awards decided by a set formula are better than those nominated by a committee. Yet, conventional thinking sees committee awards as being overwhelmingly better known and better received than the formula NFC ‘C of M’ awards. Still, what people value and what they ultimately pay is their own affair but if a single youngster were purchased off every one of the 2017 ‘C of M’ award winners the would be purchaser would have the nucleus of a very good long distance family. Say for instance he or she paid (this is a guess) £500 each for them. This makes a total of £2,500 which is a lot less than many will have paid for young of many winning pigeons imported from the continent. All the above is just a taste of my current thinking - Other people are beginning to think in similar ways - the sport is definitely in a state of gradually adjusting it’s thinking towards new ideas . Fanciers are beginning to think for themselves, I think this adjustment is basically a move back to 'British' as being a basis for long distance pigeons. I hope I am right but even if I am wrong there is some truth in what I am trying to get across.

Long Fed. I'm shortest followed by longest: 30 / 90; 45 / 105; 60 / 120; 75 / 135; 94 / 154; 100 / 160; 130 / 190; 165 / 225; 200 / 260 and Birsay 240 / 300 approx. Flying distance after Fraserburgh is well different from measured distance. For Thurso and Birsay you could add anything between 80 and 100 miles.

RACE PROGRAMME 2018 OLD BIRDS 12th May Stirling (277) 19th May Blackford (394) 26th May Perth (395) 2nd June Coupar Angus (109) 9th June Arbroath (26) 16th June Brechin (108) 23rd June Portlethen (362) 30th June 7th July Fraserburgh (28) OPEN 14th July Perth (395) 20th July Thurso (249) OPEN Conveyed by NRCC Birsay (396) OPEN Not in Averages Non-Fed fliers to pay £8 Administration Fee for any Open Race Entered as well as Birdage. YOUNG BIRDS 4th August Stirling YB (277) 11th August Blackford YB (394) 18th August Perth YB (395) 25th August Coupar Angus YB (109) 1st September Brechin YB (108) Open Competition The Kyleakin Gold Cup will be a three-race trophy where three nominated pigeons can be entered per race, but one of these nominated pigeons must be timed in every race. The loft with the best average over all races will hold the cup for one year and win £120. All pigeons entered cost £1 each. Up to 3 pigeons can be nominated as the Gold Cup entry. Only these 3 pigeons can be timed on the Gold Cup result. All Lofts in Scotland flying 140 miles in a northerly direction to Fraserburgh are eligible to enter. Official SHU measurements and clocking system requirements must be supplied prior to entry. Fraserburgh, Thurso and Birsay Prize money 1st £25 2nd £10 3rd £5 Pools Federation Pools will be paid in full Open Pools as below Pools will be split 50%, 25%, 15% and 5% to the first four pooled birds. The remaining 5% is used for administration purposes. Nominations Nominations will be won by the first Nominated Pigeon. 95% will be paid out. The remaining 5% is used for administration purposes.

Just like most things, they may take a little persuasion. Mine eat them no problem now, but at the start they used to leave them. I just cut the rations a little until they started to eat them. After that it was no problem. Now like most things it is the barley that is last to be eaten.

Sorry, but if you ask Walter Boswell, he may just have a look into his grannie's crystal ball.

Like all things pigeon, what we have is an opinion. Opinions vary just as loft locations vary. The UK has a diverse landscape and weather conditions. BOP will populate areas that suit their needs, our pigeons populate the area we put them into. Once free to fly, our pigeons will make up their own mind and either stay or go, race home or dawdle, find a better home. I have often heard it said that they don't know how far they have been sent; it doesn't matter whether you let them live in a palace or a hovel, etc. Like in Big Brother you decide, when released our pigeons decide.

I put the point about the Irish and Welsh fanciers being unable to fly / race their pigeons. If pigeons were absolutely wild they wouldn't live in such a location, I think we must all put our minds into thinking how the pigeon thinks and adjust accordingly - migrating birds are of course subject to nature tooth and claw - we as fanciers have to get away from thinking we can control everything - obviously we can't when to comes to falcons and loft near quarry's. John C

Good morning all.

The problem with rabbit pellets is the size of them. Some are very long and thin, others long and fat. I tried a few before finding Harringtons. The others were work intensive. I had to break them into smaller sizes. Harringtons go straight into the mix. Harringtons Optimum Rabbit Food is the one I use.

I hate when I have to keep them in.

I use them, Harringtons. You need to try to get high Alfalfa content. I mix 6 parts BOS to 1 part Rabbit. They do get used to them. This is currently forming around 50% of my mix. In USA some hopper feed 100% rabbit pellets to supplement their daily measured feed. Because they don't gorge on the rabbit pellets, they don't get over-fat. I feed them to give them the greens they "require" without the risk of parasite ingestion. They do still graze in the garden, so that theory didn't work

Repeated Hawk attacks are a serious business, but I think it is possible to understand the hawks feeding period, although I myself have little experience of doing it. I also think the pigeons have to become streetwise to hawks. The design of the loft is most important - I think a loft high up from the ground is the best. The loft should have a steep apex roof - steep enough too so that cats cannot climb down to a let board beneath an overhang. Hope this helps. . J C

Looks like we have the answer. I think we have to provide a safe home for our pigeons, be that predators or parasites, etc. If this can be done on open hole or winter flights, then it must be the best, but fanciers don't keep them in for no reason whatsoever.

Don't know where John is based, but there are still pockets where, apparently, the fanciers don't have a problem or at least, only a very minor one. I will try to find out for you Andy. Email sent.