thinking of changing clubs

[john@formula 1 lofts]

thanks guys all been taken in and noted.think its best to stay south and brave the birds over water eather way its still distance and should come ok

 

thanks guys

 

With good quality birds feed and prepared for the job your losses should not be that high normaly only when you get a real smash are the losses high but that can be north or south when the distance increases. no birds were home from Thurso in my area last year. but plenty from Tarbes.

 

just some food for thought mate

[Roland]

Very true. Lost a Thurso Card taking hen this season ... 18 miles, was on youngsters too  :-/

But to be fair, I'd rather lose them earlier than later.  Costs a lot of time and effort to keep culls, indeed as much as a good pigeon! But I fear it is part and partial of honing a good family that you can sit square with.

I know for the next two  / three years I shall only be doing just that!

May have a touch here and there, who knows, but one swallow doesn't make a summer.

Down to 14 yearlings and old birds now, and haven't got them to their first race ever yet :-/

But they are walking the walk, if they fall off the plank, .... well saves food bill.

I have some stock birds of have high hopes off. And bought the odd youngster in ... best when the wallet alllowed lol.

So hopefully will have a few expierenced yearling next season.

But I am now in the stage of re - learning and remembering when, and what it was like when I first started off. Twice in fact! How quickly a decent family you know well allows useful habbits to slip aside eh!

 

[davebuttle]

milecrosslofts, we fly south and we are north of you up near darlington.

326 to Lillers, 401 miles to  Clermont and about 560 to Bourges.

Yes you need the best birds for distance over the water but it is great to see your best pigeon come from that distance and win.

We have lots of races down to the south coast area and that gives the birds plenty of distance before actualy going over the water.

Just on breeding some birds that will hopefully be good enough in 2 years for Bourges. (bred from 700 milers)Think it would be too much for a yearling but others do send them.

Dave

[Roland]

Good post for him Dave.

[swilcox]

Thanks for the pm Roland.

 

This is just one reason why this is such a great and consuming sport, its questions questions and questions and it can be a lonely back yard when you dont have the answer, yet often the answer lie in our little feathered friends who spend much less time worrying than we do.

 

Stuart

[Roland]

Welcome. Every single word is truth regards the distances and time span they did in it.

  Would have only kept the one though if I hadn't lost them the following season. That would have been the hen that won the Scottish averages 2 -3 times on her own (two different clubs, and no duplications). Her daughters  :-/ Well actually do have one in tow, an 02 bird and she looks well, so will posibly put up out onto the rd for a couple of longer races...

But no! Needed a new influx etc.

[Guest]

 

With good quality birds feed and prepared for the job your losses should not be that high normaly only when you get a real smash are the losses high but that can be north or south when the distance increases. no birds were home from Thurso in my area last year. but plenty from Tarbes.

 

just some food for thought mate

 

I think you raise an interesting issue, which ties in with what Roland is saying. Let me start by saying I think good north roaders will turn south, I don't think the same can be said of south roaders, indeed the recent channel bans tend t show this when lots of fanciers turned their birds north they often lost them (a generalisation there will be the odd ones who did ok).

Why? well I think you have to say that conditions on different routes and areas are predominantly different. If you fly north road, generally you are flying in to a headwind and if you fly south generally you are flying with a tail wind. Would you expect horses that win on firm to also win on soft going, I don't think so, though there are exceptions. So in effect those birds coming from the south fly better under quicker conditions. I also think you need to take account east /.west split when talking about racing today. With predominate west in the wind, sw in the summer, it is far better to fly to the east side of the country, not only is the wind helping the birds but on the south road the amount of water they cross at the Channel is 20/40 mile.

 

With North roaders the same, for birds travelling to the west of the country from Lerwick, they continually have to fly in to the wind to stay on line, coming down the east they can tack to stay on line. Now I'm not saying one is easier than the other. What I am saying is that you have to have birds that are suited to the conditions and area that you fly to. And that's why I think south roaders find it far more difficult to cope when turned around. The race horse that's good on firm struggles to get home in the soft. The racehorse that wins on the soft gets home on the hard behind maybe but gets there and the birds are the same, but when the north roaders meet a hard long distance on the south they excel. I don't beleive it's lack of ability that knackers the south roader going north, just conditions. A hypothisis I know, and mine, happy for people to disagree, after all without discussion and opinion..