pigeonscout

I ask myself, which of the worlds top 100 fanciers overcrowd their lofts so as to have better birds?

I have been to a lot of top flyers lofts, the ones that win races week in week out and I have yet to see one that was over crowded. 12 boxes 12 cocks or 12 boxes 12 pair.

The point I was making is that birds do not like over crowding and if given the choice will give themselves more room. I can not speak for your birds but my birds like their own space and will fight for it if they wanted company and closeness they would not mind sharing their space.

I do not think it is the case that people are afraid of losing their birds but that people would not want their birds released in France to fly 500 miles in bad weather. I agree that not all pigeons are good racers but I disagree with your statement that only the good ones come home I would say 95% of the birds that come home every week (short distance or long distance)are crap racers and will never make the result and some pigeons that have won races will have been lost. Because a bird flys 500 does not make it a racer if it is 2 days late.

It is their' nature, and try as one might, as soon as one nest is up, others join, and you know what, there may well be stacks of better - in our eyes - places and ledges etc. Stacks of room! And where do they go... you've got it, as close as possible to another nest and on it goes. IT is their nature, their very essence. If you have 60 pigeons in one section and then open up another section they will split up into both sections and if you go one further and open a third section they will also use this third section. so if what you say about pigeons is true then why do they not all want to stay in the same section.

So are you saying it it is ok to ask birds to fly 500 mile in rain?

If In Derry check out the lofts of A Hall

The INFC run the Kings cup not the NIPA and any man in his right mind would not ask birds to race 500 mile in rain. I do not know about other fanciers birds but my old birds are now well into the molt. The kings cup is a hard race at the best of times so to send birds that where not in good feather would be the biggest joke of all. If the INFC has put the welfare of the birds first then I for one take my hat off to them.

Hartog

The best thing for the floor is the scraper use it once aday.

Two swans = (pigeons) were killed on power lines on my flight line it was reported and 3 days later the lines had markers on them.

It would be cheaper to put a tin flap on the basket than a PERSPEX one but it has been proven that birds in a race basket with a PERSPEX front if they are given 5 min's before release clear the lib site faster than those birds that cannot see out. This could be down to 1 orientation or 2 their eyes have adjusted to the light.

The last thing a bird needs after a race is wet droppings

I sent 6 birds to the race the birds where taken back to Ireland and released at Wexford this morning that. I was expecting the birds to be a bit dirty after spending 6 days in the crates. I could not believe the condition of the birds when they came home. You could have put them in a show pen and won prizes with them, it was like they had never left the loft. The man that was looking after the birds done a first class job, I wish there were more like him.

The lonely gala boys won the 2008 rpra yearling one loft race. I am try to get a contact number for them can anyone help?

North east wind on the nose for the 120 miles, speed below 1000 yards per min, 29 out of 30 so lady luck was on my side.

where can I download a copy of a vaccination sheet

To find the one that is not filing just open the egg if the yolk is perfect it is the cock that is not filling if the yolk is running into the white, ie yolk + white mixed then the hen is not filling. He may have treated them with something that stopped them filling or he maybe trying to float theses eggs and not putting them straight under foster parents or keeping them in the right temp until they can be fostered. Anyway I would only give refund when I had tried them myself.

One thing I have noticed with single winter reared young birds is that they do not have fret marks on 1st and 2nd flight. You will see these marks when there are two in the nest. You do not see theses marks on the summer reared. Take a look at your young birds to see if I am right.

Your bird is timed from A to B, why does it matter if it was in the loft or outside loft it has made it to B in that time?

Get them out on the loft before they can fly and stay with them until they go back in. Make sure the winds are not to strong for young birds first flight. If you cannot be with them when they are out then do as Vic says and leave them in the loft until the colour starts to come into the eye about 9 weeks. If they are hungry when you let them out they will start to look for food on the ground and young birds feeding on the ground are easy meat for cats and hawks. A young bird does not come back to the loft for food it comes back because it is home.

Tame is better, 1 the birds will not be stressed when you are in loft, 2 they are easy to basket to take training, 3 they will remember the motivation you give them before a race. wild birds only remember getting chased round the loft to be put in basket. Tame does not make faster or slower birds but is helps to make the loft a safe and stress free environment for your birds to return to.

Who knows more than Mother Nature?

I agree

I think you are missing the point I was trying to make. If you take 10 winning pigeons from 10 winning lofts and race them from the same loft you will only have one winner. It is the same with breeders you can only have 1 or 2 top pairs it does not matter if you have 1000 breeding pairs.