Bilco

BEN was sold by Robert Ben (Calais) for 200,000 Euros. Ludo Claessens recently sold Jeune Supercrack for 110,000 Euros roughly £100,000. It is mentioned in today's BHW page 37. Pigeon Rit.

Invincible Spirit I think if memory serves me aright. Louis paid £77K for Smaragd I, £107K for Smaragd II, £125K for VHB, and a little less for another Barcelona winner. Michael will tell you if you email him or catch him on the phone. I handled all those early Aces on my visits, but Smaragd II was (to my mind) the best of them all. A very intelligent bird. Most of the expensive birds and their history used to be on the LPW web pages, probably still is. Owned/Raced by Mynheer Biemens.

Chris - good evening. Alan - the kettle is on, got three nice YB to show you.

The technical "ownership" of the birds, i.e. whose name they race under, is irrelevant, it is of no consequence. What a wonderful (and strange in part) collection of opinions, and what a variation of 'character' it reveals of the contributors. For my part Yes, I like 1LR's and contribute about five or six entrants per annum. It gives me an interest outside my own area and if there is nothing doing here, perhaps there might be better luck over there. At my age I have seen most of it, and experienced the 'pros and cons'. In my opinion, and it is only my opinion, I think one loft races are an excellent idea. The crap handlers are soon weeded out, the 'smart arses' who are little better than crooks soon expose themselves, and the good stock men and handlers come up shining better than ever, irrespective of the hazards they experience or successes they achieve. If your bottom lip has a tendancy to tremble, one loft races are not for you. If you can't stand the heat, get the hell out of the kitchen. As to whether it is "fair" to have a One Loft race incorporated into a Classic, Combine or Fed race, why not? They pay their money don't they? Like Channel Islanders competing in BBC races, if the wind is in the W/SW and strong, they take little or no no part in the result, but they have paid the fees all the same, nobody moans then do they? For me it is simply whether participants have grown up or not, are they boys or men?

No, I spoke to my informant and the info is not correct, it started as an article in the local newspaper but is false. Bill.

A little dicky bird has whispered in my ear that there may not be any Blackpool next year. Not sure of it, so I am checking round now. I'll be back. Bill.

There's definitely four live YBs in that nest. That means at least 100 pigeons will be killed and fed to them over the next six weeks, and the Derby Peregrine lovers are brandishing them under your noses and saying "Look what we got, and there's nowt you can do about it . . ."

Just remember IB that Australia was an island 12,000 miles away, and the USA was once an island, 3,000 miles away. If our forbears hadn't colonised them they'd be speaking Spanish, French or Dutch now. The Falklands were ceded under a treaty (bargaining) between rival colonists a few miles down the track, until somebody Political (The governing Military Junta) in Argentina realised they might be sitting on a lot of Oil, then they became important and "Ours that we want back". The written record, history, teaches us a lot, if we take the trouble to read it.

Without expressing my feelings on the Miner's strike (and my father, and his brothers and his father were all Miners) I would just like to suggest that those who feel like Gangster (hating Maggie) should examine what happened to British Docklands, right round our coasts from north to south, who struck, struck and struck again and again, over even cups of tea, not hot enough, too hot to drink, etc, etc. No dockers now are there? Its all containers. Same with the Car manufacturers, strike, strike, strike, with "Red Robbo" being the glory boy. No British car industry now is there ? So then the Coal Miners took on Maggie. Not many coal mines now are there ? Nothing wrong with withholding your labour for better pay, but the men at the top, the leaders of the strikes, need to learn a lot.

EQVALAN has a wide safety margin. It is 1.78% Ivermectin. I have used it for over 25 years now, and it costs about £10 for a Standard syringe from most Agricultural Stores (Tell them it is for your pony). About 1.5 inches mixed into a pint of hot water then add to a drinker and top up with cold. It will not mix in cold water, goes like string. I repeat the dose in a fortnight as eggs will have hatched (but no new ones laid yet). Birds will be literally "rejuvenated" after they have dumped a load of worms from their guts believe me.

Did you not read their Motto gentlemen ? "Ve vill ask der qvestions". LOL. I have said it so many times, do what has to be done and shut up about it.

Try a visit to Trend Micro first, take a House call. If no virus or trojan then look for an alternative server. I am with BT, good, fast, cheap. Cheers, Bill.

AS I WROTE SOME YEARS AGO . . . . . . . AND WHEN THE LAST SONGBIRD'S BEEN EATEN, AND ALL BUT HAWKS ARE DEAD, WHAT SHALL WE FEED THEM THEN MY FRIEND, WHAT SHALL WE FEED THEM . . . BREAD?

Are everywhere, especially where we pigeon fanciers are concerned, because they are manic about birds of prey. It doesn't matter to them how many BOP there are, even millions, they are sacred to the RSPB and NOTHING else in the world matters to them more. In a recent court case, a fancier in Newcastle was prosecuted by the RSPB for having a trap in his garden with three canaries in it. He was filmed from outside his property by one of their very skilled spies, and fined a total of £1,000 or had the option of going to jail for 18 months (No overcrowding in these cases). In the hearing the RSPB admitted that they perused the Fancy Press, and these Chat columns and Forums. There is always a Spy in our midst recording what we write, and taking down evidence in case of a prosecution. This does not mean that you all crawl back into your shells, afraid to go out. It just means that you keep a sharp eye and ear open for the little tips that will betray these spies, and when you discover one, make very sure, then let me know and I will pass his identity round to a select bunch of people who will entertain him. We shall, in short, lead them a merry dance at all times and places, thus corrupting their "evidence". I know that I am recorded every time I appear in any form of media at all, and had two Search Warrants served on me in 1989 when I wrote that some anonymous person had sent me the leg of a sparrowhawk. Mr Andrew Jones sent his police and bearded Liaison officer hounds after me pronto, looking for "parts of peregrines" - they found nothing but the foot of the sparrowhawk which I gave them voluntarily. By doing so Mr Jones converted me from an RSPB member/supporter to an ardent enemy, but that is by the bye. Be aware that RSPB Spies are everywhere. Males and pretty females too, all smiles and 'silly' questions. Treat them like the scum they are, spies. Smiling, inquisitive spies. But spies all the same. Let me know when you find one, with name, address and photo if possible. Don't ever, and I mean EVER have anything on your person or in your household, loft or garden shed, that they can get their hands on that will incriminate you if and when they call, and they will call when they think they have an open and shut case against you. Use friends and relatives if you need help. Be aware, their spies are everywhere. There's one on here too, he's listed below as "and 1 Guest". Cheers,

I HAD A HEN SPARROWHAWK TOOK A PIED STRAY FROM OFF TOP OF MY LOFT LAST YEAR, ATE HALF OF IT IN THE NEIGHBOUR'S GARDEN. NEVER SEEN IT SINCE.

You mean you DON'T park in the treetops Red Hen?

If you see anyone gathering rings, they are stealing them since the ring remains the property of the bird's owner. Take the car number (you may see it parked elsewhere sometime, outside a house for instance) and you will know where to find the thief. Publish those details, better we all know than not.

Paul died 12 years ago, of Kidney failure, he was a multi-millionaire and bought hundreds of top class pigeons, then literally gave them away once he was tired of them. His loft encompassed almost every successful strain in Belgium and he sold hundreds of birds in the UK between 1971 and 1985. Even National winners were sold for a mere £200 on more than one occasion, yet they cost him thousands. He bought birds that won all the way to Barcelona. Of his two sons only one kept birds, then he too gave them up. The lofts still stand, empty now for years, some of them never even housed a pigeon.

Proposal 7/57 said "The ETS may only be used on the club's discretion. i.e. if the club votes for members not to be able to use them, they will not be able to use them" This proposal was thrown out. Proposals 7/49, 7/50 and 7/51 which proposed that time penalties be added to birds timed on ETS were also thrown out, and RPRA Rules state that Domestic Rules that conflict with RPRA Rules may not be used. Cheers, Bill.

Chacun a son gout . . . variety is the spice of life. Three cheers for 'la grande difference'. LOL.

Ch Pied from Ireland . . . have you been at the potcheen ? The wiper motor is for hawks, not pussies! I have just finished building another for a friend, he was so impressed with the test model. £5 for a motor, £7.99 for a wiper dwell unit (Adapted to 30 and 60 seconds)from Maplins, £4 for a decent 12v battery, and of course a couple of Fenns at £5 ea. Less than £30 the lot, and it works for as long as the battery runs . . . and with a recharger in the loft, that is one lo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-n-g time.

Hi Archie, how you doing old friend? Yes, cats can be trained, I think my father had it right (about the only thing he ever did get right in my opinion) when he said "If you ever have to strike a man, or beast, do it so bloody hard the first time you very rarely have to do it again". Having said that, we both worked in the late 1940's on Thoroughbred Studs, and I handled the stallions and he couldn't. The reason being that I only ever hit back, I did not start the argument, ever, but I finished a few. He made the mistake of starting training with a threat, I never used punishment unless it was earned. Cats - like all animals - respect fairness, and discipline. As has been suggested elsewhere, a freezing and powerful cold blast from a power hose is a marvellous dissuader. My electric fence never sleeps, and cats respect that too. It seems to penetrate deep into their psyche, either on the way up or on the way down from 20,000 feet that electricity is powerful stuff. They seem capable of smelling its presence and stay well away after having touched a roof grid once. My Eagle 100 system has been "aided" with a double strength resistance, which will lift a 2,000 lbs Hereford 18 inches clear of the ground if they touch it with their nose. Useful. My apology for the digression, but I feel it illuminates the explanation. Cheers, Bill.

I let my birds go ranging in the local meadows, They pick up a tremendous assortment of tiny slugs and snails, and derive their Vitamin B12 from digesting the meat in these molluscs - as nature intended - which is why a pigeon is equipped with a bile duct, to enable it to digest animal matter in addition to graniverous and herbal material. A quarter of a (Cat) Droncal tablet once a year (or more frequently if required) ensures that no tape worms are cultivated within their visceral tracts. Nestlings fed on slugs grow like nobody's business ! Try ringing a woodpigeon's young at 5 days, waste of time - legs too big - and try again taking them from the nest at 21 days - too late, they've already flown.

I brought German pigeons back to England in 1964, and loaned them to my pal Fred Redgewell in Swindon. They topped the West of England NR Combine right away, one YB topped the Combine three weeks in a row. They were damned good pigeons! Deutschland Uber Alles was a title they earned - in that respect anyway. Fred had 14-1sts Combine out of them in three years before I reclaimed the original three breeding pairs.

Having lived on the continent for 16 years I have to smile at your description of "Belgian, German or Dutch" strains, for they all use any and every improvement looking like a pigeon, wherever it originated, in their efforts to excel. If pigeons are brought here, from wherever, and survive our maritime climate and race routes for any length of time - and bear in mind that such 'strains' will have been crossed extensively during that time - then yes, it has become, or been adapted to, our ways and patterns of life, so would (to my mind) be considered 'British'. Once crossed in it immediately becomes half British anyway. The market place however, dictates that it retains allegiance to the most attractive (moneywise) founder name in its ascendance.