schyphos

Didn't go Blackpool this year.Did buy 1 bird though.Toey's Gold son of Toey x Rosie. Lovely Strawberry mealy cock.

Very true Casbri

Started two seasons ago with partners pigeons,mostly broken birds given to him by friends.These were rubbish.Raced the y.b's from them,put in lots of effort won 4 from 10 races and topped Fed from last race.But did put in a lot of effort. Bought all new stock for 2007 raced their babies won 8 from 10 races and 3x1st Fed & 30 top 10 Fed cards.We put in much less effort with these birds but they were of much superior quality.Started with 54 y.b's ended with 46.Sent them all to every race. I believe if you have good birds it makes racing much easier.Also feel its a very valuable education for them racing them hard as y.b's.

Hi Stuart can i have some info on the Vredeveld pigeons you have at stock.Cheers mate.

No theories for me Ryan. Somewhere along the line the pigeon will dispel your theory.

Ok,i will do. Thank you very much. Kind regards Jim

Hi Richard I have just noticed this thread and if it is not too late would like to enterand relate how my pigeon career has gone. I came into the sport in 2006,always wanting to race pigeons but only living in a small terraced house with a very tiny garden this was not possible.Every day on my way to work i used to pass a house which had pigeons flying around the roof then one weekend i paid the man a visit to ask about pigeon racing.It was great seeing and handling his birds,i was hooked.I told the guy that one day i would move into a house with a large garden and keep and race pigeons.The man then said there were a lot of elderly fanciers in the sport who would maybe let me help them or let me come over on race day and let me watch.I said that would be great,gave my number and left.But now i really wanted to race pigeons.Then the guy called me and said an elderly fancier he knew was thinking of giving up because of health problems and he would except me as a racing partner if i wanted.I went to meet the man.Mr Bill Head who lived nearby.The partnership of Head & Newton was formed for the 2006 season.We raced in the Woodhill club with Bill's old family of birds.I was now reading and watching everything i could get about racing pigeons.I was told i needed to race the birds on a "system".We chose widowhood for the old birds and the "door" system for the y.b's.After lots of effort the 2006 season finished with 4x1st prizes from 23 races.To say i was over the moon is an understatement as i knew there were people racing years still waiting for their first win.I found pigeons pedigrees fascinating to read but very few of Bill's birds had a written pedigree.After watching videos and reading about certain bloodlines in top fanciers lofts. I wanted to introduce some new birds to create our own family around a few top producers.At the end of 2006 i saw an ad in the BHW for a pigeon tour of Europe, i went on this tour and came back with some new stock pigeons and with a friend visited some top fanciers on the continent to purchase some more in Feb 2007.Nearly all of Bill's old family were now fazed out to give this new stock a try.We raced a few of Bill's old ones and won 1 race from 11 flown.Then it was the turn of the "new stock" y.b's.Just following the same system as the previous year they flew out of their skin.Trapping to open doors,at the first race we had 14 from 50 sent drop together.We put 4 on the clock winning 1,2,3,4 club 3,4,5,6, Havering Federation 620 birds.After 10 y.b races we won 8/10 club races(only being beat when clubmate topped the Fed,both times we were the next pigeon in the Fed).We won 3x1st Federation up to 1000 birds and took 30 top 12 Fed cards.We often had a dozen or more birds drop together but our trapping was atrocious,as the birds came we often got too excited and our whistling,calling and jumping around scared them and we often lost 2+ minutes on the trap.On the last race which was 70 miles,we had 14 drop onto the loft and chase each other around before the first one decided to trap after more than 3 minutes.We only put 2 on the clock but still ended up 1st and 2nd Federation.We also finished 25th LNRC 3200 birds.We had started with 54 young birds,lost 4 from the loft,had two badly injured and lost another 2 racing and they went to every race.A great year for us,i never thought i would ever race pigeons until i could afford to move house and Bill thought he would not be racing now because of his poor health and mobility.And now we are like two teenagers looking forward to next season.Just need to learn how to race them as old birds now.lol.

Hi Stuart Would you add my name to the draw please. Thank you. Jim Newton (Head & Newton)

Hi Shadow, Thank you for taking on the task of sorting the 2008 y.b swap out.Good on yer mate. Due to persistent problems with my Amtrak depot,i do not want to use them again.But i would like to swap 2 y.b's with someone who lives within 100 miles of Romford Essex and i will meet them halfway.Hopefully this will be possible.

I would like to thank Mark,Wiley,Greengrass,Andrew and Stuart Wilcox.Excellent transactions with all of them and top people.

What Janssen lines are they?

Iknow this is the fairest way,but Amtrak is expensive and very unreliable.It would be more sensible to swap with someone within a 100 mile radius and you could meet halfway and exchange birds. I think swapping 2 birds each and registering the ring numbers on this site means that at the end of the season we could view all the results achieved by these birds. Maybe even have a prize for the best bird. Await further progress on this.

Well done once again Stuart.Nice gesture offering them to pigeonbasics members first.

Hi Mac, Put me down for two,but it would be good to swap with someone up to 100 miles apart as it would save on Amtrak and people could meet up halfway.This is also a good way for fanciers to make lasting friendships. Jim Newton (Head & Newton).

Count me in to. Good idea. Would be nice to swap with someone within 100 miles of each other,then we can meet up halfway and save trouble and cost of Amtrak.

Safflower for me

Hi Pigeonguy, It is ok to feed your birds just one corn.In a lot of lofts at this time of year they are feeding only Barley.But twice a week using cod liver oil or lemon juice and sprinkling vitamins/minerals and other food supplements on the corn.This is to ensure that no nutrients are missing. I have just returned from visiting some top lofts in Holland and Belgium and a few of those are feeding just Wheat to their birds also sprouting wheat when available. Don't worry,go ahead and give it a try.

Lucky Scots,a bit of quality coming their way. I'm sure you'll have a super selection on offer Stuart. Do you have any plans on coming back to Essex.? The Rayleigh sale last year was superb.

For me the y.b season so far has been very good.I have had 8 races and won 7.The guy who won the other had to top the Fed to do so.I have also taken Fed cards with every bird i have clocked this year,about 25 Fed cards,including first Fed.As for returns,first race sent all 52 and ater 8 races still have 46 left i know of 3 dead ones reported. As this is only my second season and my first with these new pigeons i consider that i am having an excellent season.

Yes.Great flying guys. Those Vredevelds can certainly cut it in the best of competition. Tried them for the first time this year and won 5/6 y.b races and 20 Fed cards so far.Super pigeons.

Well done Andy and Wiley.

Hard race,won club doing 1100ypm.Sent 49 had 20 in 15 minutes,33 after 30 minutes and end of day had 44/49.Still 5 missing.They certainly had a hard fly.

Wiley what are you doing up so late. How many do you have left to go to wetherby?

Hi Kev, I have 3 w/h sections that i pair up at different times.You don't say when your first race is,but mine is on 7th April and i will be pairing up 10th March then i will train the cocks when they are driving.This will ensure that they are racing home,you will find that once the hen has laid the cocks feel they have done their job and aren't as keen.I will let them sit for 5 days and remove the hen.They are on w/h around 2 weeks before the first race.Hope this helps.

Sean, I knew when you recommended this thread to me that you thought i wanted a pc printer,could have replied with a sarcastic comment,but i knew you had made a genuine mistake. Thanks for the reply anyway mate.