30 uears ago

[Guest]

maybe not as long ,but then when you bred your young birds roundabout march april you couldsend them all to the last young bird race and did not have to worry about the state of the moult ,so what is the difference nowadays ,is that why we have as many losses today ,what you all think.

[stevebelbin]

How strange, I was thinking the same this morning. I was thinking about what Ybs were lost from training for me last year and it was mainly early bred YBs. I thinks its because they should have been trained much earlier than I had started them. I can remember reading somewhere that they should be trained at 12 weeks old to develop there homing instinct, so therefore birds that are bred in late december/early January would require training in April or May. Im going to breed mine in March/April time to see if it makes a difference. And im considering leaving them on open hole to get them streetwise, as Im starting to get hawk problems near me  >.

[robinthfc]

How strange, I was thinking the same this morning. I was thinking about what Ybs were lost from training for me last year and it was mainly early bred YBs. I thinks its because they should have been trained much earlier than I had started them. I can remember reading somewhere that they should be trained at 12 weeks old to develop there homing instinct, so therefore birds that are bred in late december/early January would require training in April or May. Im going to breed mine in March/April time to see if it makes a difference. And im considering leaving them on open hole to get them streetwise, as Im starting to get hawk problems near me  >.

 

I was going to post similar to this after reading the first post, I think people should start training YB's earlier because of the early breeding now practised. Even if they get them to 30 miles then cut down the training until a couple weeks before racing.

 

 

[Guest]

when have u bred them in the past and at what age did u previosly start to train ybs ????               open question , would like as many answers as possible please , i have lost many youngsters past 2 years , hoping to find answers here , ........................ thank you     in advance !              andy 8)

[stevebelbin]

 

I was going to post similar to this after reading the first post, I think people should start training YB's earlier because of the early breeding now practised. Even if they get them to 30 miles then cut down the training until a couple weeks before racing.

 

 

Also I think that with Darkness YBs they are expected to mature so quick, that early training is must!!

 

[Guest Vic]

30 Years ago, we still had problems with racing moulting ybs. Thinking back, the losses were fewer on average compared with present day  ybs. This has me baffled, because the vast majority of ybs then,  were falling to bits at the latter stages of yb racing. Yet todays ybs are, in contrast, immaculately presented fom start to finish. An enigma indeed.        Regarding  early training. A well balanced team of darkenned ybs should be excersing for at least 1 hour twice a day in April, disappearing  for long spells at a time. It would be folly to train them at this time, as the introduction of training tosses curtails their excersising. These are my views on the subject, and I am sure others will disagree. But one mans meat............... Vic.

[Guest]

To follow on from where you left off Sammy, I remember that the ybirds were left to around 2/3 weeks before the 1st race, then trained in 10 mile stages down the road every day, on the then line-of-flight for Lanarkshire Fed: Lanark, Symington, Abington, Beattock [40 miles?] etc then into their 1st race from Annan @ 57 miles?.

 

After their first race, training stopped and they were then sent to all 5 ybird races out to Leyland 150 miles.

 

Adopted that training scheme last year, young birds were coming well after their 4th toss [30 miles East] so they went from that into their 1st race, Coldstream 62 miles..

 

Reasonable till Witton Castle [110 miles] then basically wipeout, 50% or less returns for our Fed.

 

2007 our Fed intends to jump 'the black hole' by going from 80 miles to 180 miles for old and young birds.

 

I also intend coming off line-of-flight and train up to 50 miles round the compass ... old & young.

 

 

[Guest]

thanks for youre reply Vic , Bruno what happened at Witton castle ? what if anything will u do different this year ??                      ............ andy   8)

[jimmy white]

birds bred in dec are 6 month old b4 their trained , birds born in    march are 10 weeks old when starting training ,,,,,,,,,when training ,,,the younger the better.

[Guest coxy]

i think ppl tht r thinking abwt the past are stuck in the stone ages u have got to be upto date to win

[expat1]

Hello

Some of you Lads say things have change a lot from 30 years ago, Yes' some have but only you think so because a few of you were not even born then. In the late 70s and up to 1987 we ourselves used a form of Darkness system with the Old birds then we raced from 50 miles to 450 miles or there abouts, and it worked very well indeed That combined with our own form of Widowhood well soely widowhood but with a tweak. Then we went on to longer distances after that .

As regards Losing Young Birds and one Lad mentioned Early Y.Bs He is correct in what he says. Get them flying Strong Sometimes the weather can hold them back depending how it is at that time of the year

. Then around 12 to 13 weeks of age train them But before this time comes Basket Train them and let them out of the basket in the Garden a few times before you Train. It is always wise to train the young birds before they become sexually aware of each other, Once they reach this stage losses seem to occur more

expat1

[Guest]

thanks for youre reply Vic , Bruno what happened at Witton castle ? what if anything will u do different this year ??                      ............ andy   8)

 

Basically a very bad race with huge losses in the Fed. Lanarkshire had had a simular result weeks earlier at Scotch Corner. Every Fed that raced from this particular area seemed to get burnt. Theory is that there a great number of Radio and TV installations in this area which stop the birds getting home in numbers from any racepoint within it. Scottish North West and their partner, Central Fed intend to 'jump' the area this year, missing out Witton Castle & Ripon, to see if it makes any difference.

 

I will be working the birds differently this year. I've gone back to the feeding that I was most 'successful' with, and I've already got it in for the whole 2007 race season. I've done a lot of cleaning -   my preventative treatment   - to make sure there's nothing on the roofs or slabs, or in the gutters to put the birds off.

 

 

[Guest]

i think ppl tht r thinking abwt the past are stuck in the stone ages u have got to be upto date to win

 

Accept what you say, but comparing my experiences then with now I believe we are now in a Dark age as far as pigeons, racing and the sport generally are concerned..

 

Yes there have been massive changes but not all of them for the better. Superbugs, PMV and YBS for example, are all direct products of 'enlightenment'.

 

  

[expat1]

Hi

Reading your posts on preventive We have a tiled roof on our loft So we tucked some thin plyable weld mesh with quarter inch holes under the first row of Tiles then bent it over the outside lip of the Gutter 1nch Easy to bend back and clean the gutter inside but stops the pigeons picking in the gutter itself and you know young birds will if they can

expat1

[Guest]

good luck with jumping the birds Bruno , hope all goes well this year . i may well try training my ybs a little earlier this year ,i think u may have raised a valuable point in this posting ?   time will tell !        andy   8)

[Guest]

Hi

Reading your posts on preventive We have a tiled roof on our loft So we tucked some thin plyable weld mesh with quarter inch holes under the first row of Tiles then bent it over the outside lip of the Gutter 1nch Easy to bend back and clean the gutter inside but stops the pigeons picking in the gutter itself and you know young birds will if they can

expat1

 

Did much the same after powerwashing the loft roof and gutters, but used 1/2 inch plastic coated wire mesh, cut in strips and formed over the gutter, tunnel-like. Can't drink from there now.

[Roland]

23 yb's 10 days before first race, chuck 35 miles South West. 2 days later 30 miles South East 2 days later 55 Miles North. Thursday before race 80 miles East. 22 left first race 122 mile, 17 together, other 5 with a stray within two minutes.Dominated the club. Last season dilly dalling, loses high and waste of petrol. Thois season, as before. And will swing them North and South races as normal. Doesn't matter a jot. Infact I beieve firmly that the last toss should be in the opposite direction. Seems to work, and sharpen the homing ability whatever that is. JMO and how I believe is best. fter they have finished ranging, and hanging around the loft, it is I believe the time to implant their contentment, love of the loft and them feeling safe and yet free. They are loft fit just taking off and landing, roof hopping - where and when see a far lot more than when they are in the loft. a few chucks and they are fresh and raring to go. They love flying... if not then your managerment needs looking at. And further I believe that the extra energy they produce when moulting counteracts any loss of feathers, indeed when on the 3rd flight they take all the beating. JMO

[Guest]

Agree with you, Roland. Pure common sense. Let them range, then 'exercise' or 'test' their natural homing ability. Homing pigeons capable of homing from anywhere, worthy goal.