THE FIFER Posted April 25, 2020 Report Share Posted April 25, 2020 The Joe Murphy Column It has been a very quiet time of late with everyone watching the news on TV and the amount of poor people who have passed is astounding, thousands it is so frighten. Margaret and I have not been out for over a month and we had to speak to our family on Face Time or on the phone. They ALL contacted me and even my great granddaughters wrote a handmade birthday card on A4 paper for me, one was me with my pigeons and the other was of me in my garden with a lovely rainbow in it. Truly wonderful and very thoughtful we are blessed to have such an amazing family. Now that the weather is getting better I’m hoping to spend some time in the garden and obtain some fresh air. It is such a worrying time that you are frightened to get too close to anyone in case you catch the virus. Enough about this as we get it on every new bulletin on the radio or television. Letter Received a letter from Brad Foster from Canada who wrote, ‘Hi Joe, as I have stated for a few months now; about sickness in racing pigeon that has been in parts of Europe for the last 3 to 4 years with lasting effects on lofts; in their racing and breeding loft with fanciers losing many young birds and in some cases old birds as well. These viruses example Roto virus Circo virus and there are many more and with all these there have been many secondary affections and mutations as well. It hit North America in 2020 causing huge loses and serious problems that I now know existed even PMV was a problem as well, these virus once you have had them in your loft can cause carriers and in some cases death even on a large scale. I am now hearing from fanciers who had these problems that are not having a good breeding season and these virus can stay in adult birds as well I have been writing on this talking to vets and fanciers with these problems these problems are very serious and all of us cannot take them lightly but for some reason it does not matter who writes these articles on this subject fanciers are not changing their ways. If you take a look a Covid-19 it is a virus and you can pass it on to others and people also die and you can also have people that carry this virus as well I am hoping all this will open some eyes in our sport moving forward. I know in some areas not just in North America there are not enough good avian vets around but I strongly suggest if you are having problems and can get your birds tested that you do so. I strongly feel that we need to disinfect our baskets and our transporters along with our drinking water and the drinking water weekly. I have spoken about Oxine and we have had articles on this as well, keeping your birds healthy in this day and age is becoming more of a challenge every year but I know we can get through this if everyone works together and help from vets who are doing their best in finding ways to help all of us. I hope everyone is staying safe through this most serious time. I also hope as in most places fanciers are shut down and I hope the fancy in general will start to look at these problems more seriously and work on a program to fit your club or federation or combine. I heard that someone said I was making this all up I WISH it was not true but that facts are there for all to see. Please stay safe. Joe; How many fanciers still give their birds lettuce with some sea salt sprinkle on a head of lettuce or grated carrot or pieces of apple in the fall or grated apple. My wife when she was alive would take my old drinker the round ones that are about four inches high and breakup lettuce with grated carrot and grated apple but they would only eat the apple in the fall and I believe that was because they were in the moult and needed more vitamins in their bodies; who knows but they loved it. I know fanciers who save the water after boiling vegetables and dilute it with fresh water for their drinker’s. How many use different fruits cooked or fresh for their birds?. I can remember fanciers using muriatic acid for canker at a teaspoon per gallon of water for 2 days every week or copper sulphate for canker as well. Has our world become too dependent on chemical compounds and antibiotics for our birds instead of things that we can do like fresh veggies and different fruits. Maybe fanciers are still doing these things who knows but vets are coming out with more natural products as well this has made me think maybe a little of both would go a long way along with vaccinating our birds as well. By now Covid-19 has hit the world and has shut us all down other than food and medical supplies. Some places are saying old bird racing is on or in some places cancelled hoping for a young bird season. I look at the outbreaks in pigeons all over the last 4 or 5 years and fanciers are stopping flying young birds or quitting all together I hope Covid-19 has made people think how serious these outbreaks can be. We are all in this together whether it is the pigeon sport or trying to survive ourselves I believe changes are needed in our world for health care of ourselves and our pigeons as well as other animals. Until next time stay safe Joe, yours Brad Foster’. Forfar RPC Received an email and some photographs from David Liddle of the above club he wrote; ‘Hi Joe, I hope you and Margaret are well and staying safe at this challenging time for us all. We should be looking forward to the first race of the season but at present have no idea when this might be and even if we will get any racing this year. I have finally got round to a report on our club presentation evening which was held in February. Following another successful season for our members including some top national positions the club trophies were presented by Jake Brown from Dundee. First to the table following an outstanding season and lifting a total of 12 trophies was Gavin Ferguson of the Macaulay, Ferguson & Curran partnership. The trophies included the Old Bird Average, Combined Average, Old Bird Points, Combined Points, 3 Longest Inland Race Average, Long Distance Average, N Diplexcito Memorial Average, 1st Club Maidstone, 1st Club Roye, 1st Yearling Leicester and the 2 Bird Old and Combined Averages. Next up was the ever consistent Ian Scott winning the Young Bird Average, 1st Newark, 1st Wakefield YB, Highest Winning Velocity and Young Bird of the Year. Davy Glen was next to the table winning the First Six Race Average, Young Bird Points and the 2 Bird Young Bird Average. David Liddle was next up collecting trophies for 1st Wakefield, 1st Leicester and 1st Ripon YB. Bob Baldie was next winning the Old Bird of the Year Trophy. Finally there was a huge cheer for young Adam Golicki who picked up the Novice Trophy by winning the Lauder young bird race. This was a very difficult race with heavy losses and Adam, who flies his pigeons into a difficult location near the top of Glen Prosen showed the old hands how to do it with a federation winning performance. Due to the current situation the club have cancelled our Breeder Buyer sale for this year. The joint trophy presentation for Angus & Dundee federations and the Grampian Combine has also been cancelled. I have attached a few photos from our presentation. Best wishes for the season ahead whenever that may be! Regards, David Liddle Adam Golicki. Dave Glen Bob Baldie Gavin Ferguson Ian Scott Dave Liddl Joe’s Joke A teacher was asking the children prior to the Easter Service if they had a special story about the Bible. She asked ‘Avril’, what her favourite story was and she replied, ‘When Jesus made the water into wine’. ‘Yes’ said the teacher, ‘That was a miracle, wasn’t it’. ‘Yes said Avril’. What does the story about Jesus turning the water into wine teach us, asked the teacher?’ Avril’s replied, ‘When you run out of wine you get on your knees and pray’ Please continue to keep the news flowing; to Joe Murphy Mystical Rose Cottage 2 Flutorum Avenue Thornton by Kirkcaldy KY1 4BD or phone 01592 770331 or Email to joejmurphy1@gmail.com REMEMBER THE J IN THE MIDDLE or you can also view online editions on: www.elimarpigeons.com www.fancierchat.co.uk www.pigeon-chat.co.uk - www.Pigeonbasics.com - Pigeon Racing the Basics! - thecanadianpigeoninternational.com www.internationalracingpigeon.com or https://sites.google...alracingpigeon/ Who wish my weekly contribution portfolio on pigeon topics from Scotland © Compiled by Joe Murphy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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