help needed sarting on my own  ???

[Guest Cawdy]

ive been about doos since i was the hight of a  and  helping my granda and uncle on an of with theres since then. but ive been considering starting up on my own  for a while and ive decided this will be the year

 

hopefully im going to be getting my back sorted and geting a loft up within the next month or so and ive come up with two options (and the problems i see with them )  i can think of that means i dont need to keep prisoners  

 

(1)  try and get a young bird team the geither and ready before the distnces get to long for me to jump them in

(but i dont think i have enough time for this )

 

(2) would be to pick up ybs this year , use them as my breeders for next year and race them as yearling

(dont want to use untested yearlings as my stock birds  if i can help it )

 

any other options use have would be great and fell free to poke holes in the ones ive had

 

 

Ta

Alan  

[JohnQuinn]

If i were starting in a months time i would be asking about for yb's now. Train them out to 30 or 40 mls, you've plenty of time yet to do this. Forget about a stock loft just now, have some fun with the race birds and, breed off the best of them and set about arranging for yb's out of the best lofts you can for next year. Rome wasn't built in a day, and a good team of pigeons will take 4  or 5 seasons to gather, patience is a must in this game as rushing often ends in disaster and an empty WALLET! Good luck to you and don't hesitate to ask for young birds.

[Guest Cawdy]

thanks john. that was my main issue weither i would have enough time to get some ybs and have them ready for first yb races. i know there a ways off yet but i was just thinking it ws a bit late in asking people for birds

 

and i know it takes time an patience to build a good team and even with that it might never happen LOL

 

and as for a stock loft....... one lofts enough to be thining about the now i just ment birds to breed off when i said stock birds  

 

 

thanks for the reply

alan

[Guest Owen]

Cawdy, the one thing that you need to get right, is the construction of the loft. If you rush and get it wrong you will find that it will keep coming back to haunt you.

When the loft is as good as you can make it, you can sort out what stock you want. I would definately not go off and get youngsters from everywhere. I did that and wasted no end of time before I wised up. I won a very big race in my first season. What a set back that turned out to be.

So my idea is, loft first, birds second and try to get yourself a good system that works. This is especially true for youngsters because it is the systems that tend to create winners for them.

[Guest Cawdy]

I know what your saying. ive put quite a bit of thought into the loft and had a good look around and what ive decided on is a 12 x 8 loft with two  sections and a open door in the middle where the birds can fly into a landing board at the back and then into both sections and I am going to use box perches in both sections

 

I know what you are saying about getting birds from every where. ideally I would like to get what I can from  one or two guys that I know are doing well and are working a family of pigeons and are not just breeding from birds from all 4 corners of the world. and make my own selection from there and see where I go

 

but weather I will be able to do that is another thing altogether

 

any thoughts on the loft  would be much appreciated

[Guest Owen]

Cawdy, just a few thoughts on the loft. Build it high on legs(the higher the better), Face it South West, Make the front in polycarbonate (all of it, including the doors), insulate the floor(very important to maintain a dry atmosphere), Create a big overhang, 4" gaps above all walls front and back, vents in the front, solid partitions, corridor, dowelled partition to corridor, Totally dry(no wired windows to the outside), windows that open fully, removable wire net screens to fit windows, external landing board that folds up, bob wires, internal landing board with small sides to feed seed on (2" below the outside one), external shelf to take basket or crate for fast basketing, slide up door to access crate, lights, blinds or curtains, widowhood nest boxes with extra barred partition for middle of box, radio shelf, electric socket.

These are random thoughts for you. If you want any more info. give me a buzz. A loft like this will be easy to maintain and healthy for the birds. It will reduce the handling of the birds and reduce the risk of having them hand shy.

[Cooleflyer]

Cawdy, just a few thoughts on the loft. Build it high on legs(the higher the better), Face it South West, Make the front in polycarbonate (all of it, including the doors), insulate the floor(very important to maintain a dry atmosphere), Create a big overhang, 4" gaps above all walls front and back, vents in the front, solid partitions, corridor, dowelled partition to corridor, Totally dry(no wired windows to the outside), windows that open fully, removable wire net screens to fit windows, external landing board that folds up, bob wires, internal landing board with small sides to feed seed on (2" below the outside one), external shelf to take basket or crate for fast basketing, slide up door to access crate, lights, blinds or curtains, widowhood nest boxes with extra barred partition for middle of box, radio shelf, electric socket.

These are random thoughts for you. If you want any more info. give me a buzz. A loft like this will be easy to maintain and healthy for the birds. It will reduce the handling of the birds and reduce the risk of having them hand shy.

 

Great stuff Owen,  would you just recommend bobs, ie. no sputnick or stall trap?

 

 

[Guest Owen]

Cawdy you can trap very quickly with either bobs or stall traps. I do not like sputnics. When you put your birds out to exercise they should not have the temptation of a trap of any kind sitting there waiting for them to land. I like outside traps to fold up so that there is no where to land until I decide it is time to land. If you have a visable landing board outside the loft, widowhood cocks will be a real nuisance and do a lot of damage to themselves fighting over it.

If you use stall traps, it is very important to have an inside landing board for them to step on to. It will help to stop them from turning in the trap. Get them used to finding a small amount of seed or broken peanuts on the board every time they go in.

It is the same thing with bob wires. The birds should drop onto an inside landing board fixed about 2 " below the outside board level. Your birds will soon learn to drop in to get at the seed or peanuts you will place there every time they trap. The advantage of the bob wires is that you can see plainly which bird you want clock first, whereas the stall traps tend to obscure the bird and you often clock blindly. If you decide on the bob wires, you would be wise to fit a small shelf under the inside landing board to put the clock on. You can clock very quickly with either of these systems once you get your birds used to it. The trick is to teach them not to be afraid so that you can pick them up without any fuss. Which ever way you do it, you will certainly cock just as quickly as the ETS fellas in regard to the first birds. I wonder what the moaners will have to say then?

I hope I have been some help to you

Owen