is this gonna be the worst y/b season yet?

[Guest strapper]

with reported losses everywhere and sickness rife all over the uk,training losses bigger than ever and weather cr4p starting the birds off racing.

what are losses like in your club through training and racing so far?..or even just around your loft

 

please dont count hawk attacks...just losses through normal causes.

 

ive lost around 16-18 youngsters around the loft ...8 lost 1st time out.

[pjc]

so far lost 1 around loft and 1 training after 10 tosses.

First race this weekend but they will miss it as i don't think they have had enough training aand will not jump them in for the sake of a race. They are my future team.

[hepste]

I have lost a total of 9 birds out of 32 since they first went out in March.  I do put this down to hawks and falcons, when the birds were not so strong on the wing, and raptor activity was at it's height.  Since I started training about 8 weeks ago, I have lost nil.  My last toss was yesterday singled up from 45 miles (as the bird flies).

[Guest]

5 off loft 5 training and 4 from the 1st race to which i sent less than 1/2 of my team

my younger team are only going to be trained

[pjc]

The biggest losses will be in the next couple of weeks when unprepared, undertrained, poor birds are sent to there first races because some don't plan for the future and "have to send" because its the first race and they want to chase the averages etc.

[Guest]

ive lost 15!! but they are all schooled now!! but i would like to know were they all go!! if the hawks ate them all they would be fat as fools

[Guest puresoontjen]

i havn't lost none off the loft. i took them 3mls 3times then up to 7mls 3times up to 14mls lost 1 there next toss will be 30miles thats were i might lose a few but only the best will come home  

[Hogni]

I´ve lost 2 birds, they went missing around the loft in one of the first times they went out. Here in Iceland we have our first race next weekend and fanciers are training like never before and over the last weekend i´ve heard from 2 fanciers who have lost many birds, one has 11 from 23 back and the other has 3 from 10 back, what might be causing this i don´t know, we don´t have a BOP problem here.

[Guest strapper]

The biggest losses will be in the next couple of weeks when unprepared, undertrained, poor birds are sent to there first races because some don't plan for the future and "have to send" because its the first race and they want to chase the averages etc.

 

i think your right phil m8..too many send to just race for the sake of it...not thinking how it will affect future racing in their loft,i have missed the 1st two races and will prob miss this weeks race as i havent trained,i only raced 3 late youngbird races last year through having sickness and then they was too far up the race programme to just chuck them in.

ill wait around till i know they are right.

 

 

[Guest]

Very true Phil, I learned that mistake many years ago. Y.B. Averages are not worth chasing if you end up at the end of the season with only a few left as yearlings

[Guest shadow]

probably no worse than usual :)

[Guest shadow]

always high losses when their is a lot of electrical activity in the atmosphere

[Craig05]

i Have lost 1 so far and have had them to 58 miles.  did have one hit a wire as well but other than that, all seems fine

[Guest puresoontjen]

i Have lost 1 so far and have had them to 58 miles.  did have one hit a wire as well but other than that, all seems fine

 

thats good but we havn't had the weather to get that far.

[Guest]

Another observation I have noticed more this year compared to previous years is the number of days that the sun and the moon are both clearly visible in the sky at the same time, as it is today. What the reason is for this affecting the birds I am not sure, perhaps someone can enlighten me, but I do recall as a young lad, my dear old friend, the late Dick Hart telling me about it, and how many youngsters get lost when training, when both are visible.

[pigeonpete]

Another observation I have noticed more this year compared to previous years is the number of days that the sun and the moon are both clearly visible in the sky at the same time, as it is today. What the reason is for this affecting the birds I am not sure, perhaps someone can enlighten me, but I do recall as a young lad, my dear old friend, the late Dick Hart telling me about it, and how many youngsters get lost when training, when both are visible.

 

funny you should mention that bob, 1 of the best flyers around here, says you will always have a strange race when both are visable? Cant say as it makes any difference to me. still last :-) :-)

[Guest puresoontjen]

Another observation I have noticed more this year compared to previous years is the number of days that the sun and the moon are both clearly visible in the sky at the same time, as it is today. What the reason is for this affecting the birds I am not sure, perhaps someone can enlighten me, but I do recall as a young lad, my dear old friend, the late Dick Hart telling me about it, and how many youngsters get lost when training, when both are visible.

 

i think there alot of truth in that but i dont no the reason as you said would like to know,

[Hogni]

Can anyone tell us why birds get lost when both sun and moon are visible???

[Craig05]

 

thats good but we havn't had the weather to get that far.

 

i must admit, i have been a bit hard on them, training in all sorts of weather once i had them coming well from 30 miles.  it is probably the reason i had the one hit the wires.  (a bit windy)

[blaz]

i need to take a head count but i think about 10 from loft

[Guest numpty01]

personally i lost one and thats home again out 63 youngbirds

[just ask me]

none lost training them in all weather 1 or 2 a little behind the odd time do expect them to go but so far fingers crossed all there

[pigeonpete]

bred 25 got 17 now, only lost 1 training. touch wood, no comment on where the others went :-~

[Guest strapper]

wonder if its anything to do with the different rays of light in the sky when both the sun and moon are out together?(or when lots of losses when electrical storms are close)..maybe they find directions from certain rays that are evident each day on that certain time each day ...maybe something init as some birds start to panic when getting darker at night knowing that their navigational powers aint no good at night?...and not just panicking to roost?

 

 

 

[Guest puresoontjen]

 

i must admit, i have been a bit hard on them, training in all sorts of weather once i had them coming well from 30 miles.  it is probably the reason i had the one hit the wires.  (a bit windy)

 

the only reason im not up that far  is i wont train in the east winds, i dont mind them in  the rain around the loft and on sort tosses as it learns them to come through the rain on race days.