Ronnie

Heya guy's what are the chance's of me breaking my old bird's to a new house only a few hundred yards away line of flight.(they are all yearlings )i wont be able to leave my old shed up at old address so will be old shed at new address.Or would it be best to keep as stock and just have young birds next season? Any help and idea's would be great thanks in advance. PS: Also have two loft's a few doors away in either direction of the new house where i wouldnt like the pigeons to stray into.(They would more than likely be culled).

My uncle's kept and raced them.i used to go and watch them come in on race day

Nice one guy's.it may be just the basic's for you guy's but i found so many people are telling me this system and that system that they are skipping the basics and the guys in my club are so nice telling me the systems they use that i cant really stop them and say tell me the basics.The other thing i have trouble with is the type of corn to use i must of changed my corn 5 times during racing and i blame this as the main reason for my birds not performing.(i only raced young birds).one week high protein the next high carb's them put this on the food then put that.Now the season is other i sat back and looked where i went wrong .I use one type of mix now(winter mix )and add vitamins now again to water and Garlic most day's and apple cider once a week.My birds are in better form now then when ive ever had them .

I started last year and the best advice i got was try and get pigeons of someone who is flying them and not some big stud. i wasted a lot of money on youngsters from pigeon stud's and only have one left(from louella that one is).I'm not saying these pigeon studs have bad birds its just as a novice i feel i needed homers more than racer's .I made so many mistakes during my first season i think the birds that i paid money for i might still have now if i was a bit wiser .I even lost a a pair of M&D evans vandebelle's . Anyway that would be my advice.That and plenty of Garlic

i used to have a crow when i was a kid.It fell out of nest and a group of young kids gave it me. I fed it and watered it and used to take it out it would even home from about 5 mile away.In the end it just up and left but talk about an inteligent bird .This thing would sit on my dogs back and peck it till the dog left its dinner then jump down and eat the dinner itself. It would walk up the garden in the morning and peck the patio door for its breakfast.I used to keep it in an old garden shed and when it could fly i used to let it come and go as it pleased .Like i said one day it just up and left but it used to pop back every other week or so then it just stopped coming.

i take two cloves peel them and then put cuts in with a knife i then put them in a empty lucozade bottle put the lid back on and proceed to shake it for about ten min's .(they get all crushed and split to little piece's)i then top up bottle with water and empty contents in to a two litre drinker.I allways give fresh the next day as i believe garlic is off the onion family and will be a mild toxic if left for to long. I may be wrong but its what i do.

thats the sort of thing i am on about Paulo .C'mon u guy's give us beginners some insight to the feeding regime

Ok i'm guessing by reading through the lines and making my own assumptions everyone does it different. I suppose if i feed once a day as much as they want for twenty min's i should be going in the right direction.As long as the feed is the right sort ie:fatty food's for distance carb's for sprint.would this be the right direction?.

Hiya guys i have a deep red cock i am pairing to a cheq pied hen, anyone know what colour young birds will be?.I will try and post a couple of pics but they are in the moult at the mo so look rubbish

Elimar is a great site ,Ive bought a few birds of the auctions there and Les parkinson is a great bloke really really helpfull.I can only speak as i find and that was allround good.

oops hope i havnt started something .Anyway guys thanks for the input.Its all good advice to a new starter like myself .

oops meant to also say i will be flying a roundabout system but am aiming for a fully widowhood loft in a few years.Roundabout untill i get enough birds i only have 4 racing pairs for the coming season.

Is there a tried and tested way to train sprint birds? I am asking this as i am relatively new to the sport and next season will be my first old bird programme.Is it logical to assume the same sort of training human athletes use for sprint racing will apply in some instance's with pigeons?I mean training short distances often rather than long distance's less often?or do i just let them fly round the loft and do as they please and just concentrate on the feed. Ohh so many questions the more i ask the more i find.Still any input on the sprint bird traing will be helpfull from feed to exercise thanks all.

well as a newcomer to the sport i think i know the problem with members falling and not to many newcomers coming in. Its all about advertising.The average person in the street knows nothing about pigeons or pigeon racing.the new members to the sport 90% of the time have had dealings with pigeons in the past ie: there parents or other family member kept them .So when your average joe public looks to a new hobby pigeons dont even enter his/her head unless they allready know of them from past dealing's.I only got into pigeons myself as an uncle had them and i was looking for something for me and my lad to get into together.Admittedly my boy only takes small interest at the moment(6 years old he is).he still helps clean out and realise's the birds need to be fed and watered and just generally looked after .Maybe if the press could get involved in promoting the prize money on one loft race's and explain how the winner was bred by your ordinary guy in the street and how he then race's in a local club against local people it would spark a new interest. Anyway i hope i explained what i meant ok.People need to know about a sport before they can get involved in it.

i read somewhere that if you look at the rump of a squeaker if it is smiling its a cock if its sad its a Hen. dunno if its true or not just read it somewhere.

Wiley i am thinking of trying a sort of roundabout system to try and get my team abit bigger.But it will also give me a taste for widowhood and natural.I am looking to go widowhood in the end though.I'm just trying to get a feel for the birds at the moment .Seeing if i can judge what bird responds to what.I am looking forward to racing younbirds that i have bred myself though.I cant wait till i get a channel bird that has been bred by me .I think that will be an achievment .

Ive got to admit the red dragon loft birds are good looking i think thats because they are reds and mealies that i got though.

Hi ya Aarden i work at great bridgeford(well i get picked up there) and do a lot of work around that way(railway worker).I trained my young birds there this year(Cannock) .Lots of hawks around that way.

Ive got two old bird halfs that are 6' by 6' and my young bird half is 12' by 6'.but i am hoping to knock that down and maybe buy a loft or build another loft with a stock loft with an aviary on it.If i knock the young bird half down i can get a 20' x 6' loft with an Aviary on one end.

Thanks guys.I'm just north stafford(about 30 mile) and fly in the south west cheshire fed.my ultimate aim is to get in the national and actually compete but i know it will take years.And my first step is getting a family of birds that work well with me.Ive allready learned a lot in my first season .the biggest problem i find is that everyone does things a different way.Hopefully i will get the basics down then go from there.Ive just found an article by Old hand called the novices social circle .Its a beginners guide and what i have read of it .I think i will be following for the next season. Again thanks for the help guys

Thanks Wiley .yes i am new to the sport this was my first year and i only raced young birds but i raced every race ,maybe i overworked them.Only one bird did every race most of them did four maybe five races.

Hi guys prolly a simple question for you .When do i pair my birds ,i have one pair of stock birds and seven pair for breeding and racing.I know i can breed of my stock pair early in the year but what about my racers ?will i ruin them for racing if i pair them to early.I was hoping to get a team of 30 young birds i could maybe boost the numbers from pigeon sales but would prefer to breed my own. Any help and advice would be most welcome. Ronnie

I would think the guy was pretty genuine when he sold them to you and it may just be a few sour grapes because you bought the birds of this guy and not of your friends.If it was me i would stick by my decision to buy them if they are not for you dont buy again.As for fret marks and stuff i cant comment as i am new to the sport as well.From my experiance most pigeon fanciers are genuine enough when selling birds .Its just advice they like to hoard

i bought 12 young birds from louella lost 8 3 died due to injury and stuff but the hen i have left is a special bird.it was my first year in the sport this year and allthough i only finished mid table at best.(quite often last man by a long shot) this hen flew every race and was either my first or second bird in the clock when it was second it was beaten by its nest mate a big cheq cock who i lost second to last race.I assume it was the nest mate as the ring numbers followed on from each other.The rest of my team where bred by local fancier who has won old bird and averages for three years and cleared up with young birds this year.Apart from 6 staf van reets who i got from Red Dragon Lofts.I know you cant gleam much from young birds especially as it is my first year but this pigeon just stands out it is allways fit and looks on form. But getting back to LPW i believe you cant get much better for the price.

Sounds like paratyphoid.If you decide not to cull and get them vaccinated those that do make a recovery about 30 percent usually will be ok and not carriers . http://www.chevita.com/tauben/behandlung-englisch/specificinfections_paramyxovirus.htm Follow that link and look at the droppings you will know for sure if you have Pmv . hope you havnt and all is well for you. Ronnie