Ronnie

Anyone can read up on health and basic management so do it. The biggest tip for the racing season is get a sensible system and DONT change it .My biggest mistake when i started was being over eager and trying to do everything everyone else was doing.Get a system for feed and training and then be patient.But never forget you are meant to be enjoying it .

I must appologise mate cos i dont know what ya on about . could you clarify it please

I must appologise mate cos i dont know what ya on about . could you clarify it please

I keep me baskets in the garden who is to say otherwise?

Seems a strange topic this. If you want to buy a pigeon buy it who cares what other people think.Any item is worth whatever you are willing to pay and sod everone else's view be it a car a bike a tv or a pigeon. As a buyer you are entitled to be inquisitive and if a seller refuses to answer questions to your liking then dont buy the item. It's my belief when you buy a pigeon for stock you are buying a gene pool not a guaranteed golden egg layer just another piece to the ultimate picture that you are allways trying to make better.If you cant afford a champion pigeon for stock then you opt to buy a generation away or you wait until something else you want come's along.At the end of the day its all about choice and if you are not happy with anything in the sale then choose not to buy and leave it at that. No need for bickering and name calling there is also no need to air dirty washing in public this forum has a pm service like most forums .Most sellers put there phone number on sales as well so get in touch privately if you are genuinely interested in the bird.If after talking to the seller you choose not to buy then good luck in your search.No need to get all shirty and start a public slanging match. If you get ripped of by a seller like poor Dovescot did then let the forum know all the details so they can beware. Remember you the buyer allways have the choice if for any reason your not happy then dont buy.

Call me naive but i was half expecting it at this time of year. Nothing to do with migrating birds more to do with goverment pay outs and compensation.

I can hohnestly say ive only ever recieved help on here.There are a few characters that clash and there is a lot of harmless banter that sometimes get's taken to seriously but the negativity is minimal in my opinion.

Ok so could a stall holder put pedigree's on pen then when sold go get the birds out of his van which is parked down the road and give to the buyer?He wouldnt be in the same building and neither would his birds i know it sounds a bit underhanded but if ive read the rules right this could be a solution at fairs provided the birds are kept in different vehicles in different car parks .

seems a great system if you can a good place to put the hopper.

I bought a braspenning cock late last year and it was the same then the pedigree came about a month to six weeks later.

Just dont take the ugly fat women out of it though. Many a drunken night ive had need of one of those

Before i got my pigeons the one piece of advice was given to me was use common sense and you wont go wrong. Now people are using bleach in drinking water just dosnt seem common sense to me.Look at what you are trying to acheive with bleach then look for another alternative(a more edible one would be a good idea). If its for sterilising the drinker then why? just give fresh water daily and make sure the drinkers are washed and cleaned on a regular basis. Now if its for changing the ph level's inside the pigeons crop and gut thats a different story.Most bacteria struggles to live in an enviroment that is high in alkiline's or acid's that's good bacteria as well as bad.Most people choose to use cider vinigar in tap water for there bird's(myself included) but i am of the belief that vinigar in tap water is just altering the Ph levels to a more neutral level due to chlorine allready in tap water.The neutral enviroment allows to good bacteria to thrive and kill the bad bacteria provided the birds immune system and the loft management is of a good level.I also use gem the pax one a week to give the good bacteria a helping hand. None of this is proven and just my belief but the overall point being common sense should prevail and vinigar is for eating and bleach is for cleaning.

Wattle give spencer a ring mate he helped me out earlier in the year with my young birds.Dont worry if ya nervous or shy just think about ya birds.

Same as been said Wattle he should never have given you a sick bird. But i understand what you are saying about not wanting to cull the bird .But and its a very big But if you cant quarantine it then you risk your whole loft being contaminated.

Had the same problem last year on some of my youngsters Pete.(Braspenning's the other breeds seemed fine). I think its best to play it by ear and just check each day from 4 days on. Heard some club member saying he got a ring's on 12 day youngsters because he forgot to ring them.Reckons he used baby oil on the birds leg first.

You still got em mate? If so PM me

LOL thats great.

Someone asked paddy how he felt about the current Bluetongue worries. On reply Paddy said he wasnt worried as he didnt have a mobile phone.

Supply and demand.It seems to me you guy's are crying out for a big show in bonnie scotland why dont you organise a comittee and start one off? Probably a lot harder than it sounds though

I dont think it would ruin the fun passtime as the club's would still go on as normal it would only be the big organisations such as the national or the international race's. I also think if it was to work you would need pigeon men advising the producers and pigeon men who are for the pigeons not for the money.That way there would be no liberations just to fit in with the time schedule if the weather was bad.

Sprinting is more about the System than the birds in my opinion mate but ive only been racing a few years and never had a full old bird season yet

Looking at all the arguments i would just close the buy and sell section down

I sometimes have trouble with the auction site so i use the link on the national flying club page.

Aside from the pigeons .i would stay away from the uk.There is work if your prepeared to look for it but a lot of competition for jobs now.(I'm in the northwest of England so it may be different in other parts).There is not as much freedom in the uk as ther used to be and you are taxed on virtually everything.But then again i am basing this on my personal experiance's of being born here and growing up with the change's happening around me. On the pigeon side of thing's i would think it would be hard to get a better place . If you do decide to come over try for a job on the Railway i dont think you will get a better job as easy

Bloody hell yes. Imagine tuning in on saturday and getting a lay down on wind conditions at the liberation and projected routes the birds would take.Maybe spotter camera's along the way to follow the main batch That betting bloke from channel four doing all the latest odd's on what loft would win the average's and what bird would be best. A tour around lofts through the week on a build up to a big race.Then the telly would go off around half hour before the winners was expected till an hour afterwards then a big update on who came where with what and maybe a chat with the section winners. How can you not want this to happen? I pay 10 quid a month for satanta as well as the sky package i would gladly lose one or the other for a dedicated pigeon channel.