Show Season

[andy Burgess]

show season is just around the corner , any site members have any stories to tell ,or tips on condition etc ??

[William Reid]

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[Wiley]

Never entered a show apart from online, old boy gave me two tips years ago. Use a baby wipe clean feet toes and ring. And bring the birds into the house for at least 48 hours, can't remember why but sure he said the warmth of the house had an effect on the feathering, but don't quote me on the 2nd part.

[William Reid]

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[walterboswell59]

here is wee story to pass the the time guys as to this day i dont know if i was wrong or right and it happened 30 years ago as a young man i worked and was good friends with john mc fall from blantyre i learned a lot from john he had some great results at the nationals but thats another story john was the scottish editor of the pigeon gazette monthly mag and went around the top lofts reporting on the performances of there birds but at that time john did not drive and asked me if i would take him round the lofts and he would give me the petrol money i jumped at the chance to see the best birds in scotland and there set ups section winners gold award winners the lot i was in heaven getting to handel these great birds and learn how they were trained and set up fantastic stuff for a novice anyway john was doing a write up on one of the best fanciers ever to fly in the west section the mans gone now so i will not name him we got there late evening and it was getting dark the great man wellcomed us and led us out to the loft which had very sall light working off a car battery i think and started to hand john the champion birds we had come to see after john handled them they were handed to me three powder blue hens with grizeld flights they fitted my small hands like a glove small apple bodied hens with big dark peril eyes i loved them just what i would like to breed my self they were outstanding pigeons in the hand and they had all scored in the national rennes and nantes im coming back here to try and buy some eggs next year i thought to my self when the great man said to me what do you think of them youngman there the best birds ive ever handled i said you think so he said without a dout i said any way as john thanked him for letting us see them he said to john how would you and the young fellow like to come up in a few months and judge our club show yes said john no problem a few months past and we went to judge the show it was a handling class john judged the cocks and me the hens they were big classes and the hall was full it was my first time judging a handling class and was i nervous the great man wellcomed us and gave us a book to mark them so we started i walked along the pens to have a look at them first i was shaking a wee bit thought i knew what i was doing ill just pick what i would like to take home i thought then i saw them the three blue hens were in i could spot them a mile away fly auld f k r i thought this will be easy 1st 2ndand 3rd no problem just the also rans to fined i started handing the birds marking out of five as i went a long i had two 2s and two threes marked when i got to the first of the blue hens i took her out the pen handled lovely this will be first i thought but they were very a like i had taken off my jacket as it was getting warm and had on a white tea shirt i spread the hens wing and horror she was covered in lice and i mean covered 15 to 20 on each flight i was shocked and my shirt was moving with them i put the hen back and moved on the three hens were the same moving with lice i did not even mark them i picked the best of the rest and put my jacket back on and handed the man my book and walked away as the tickets were put on the pens this great man who was standing with a dozen others said in a very loud voice thats the man that was at my loft a few months ago and said my blue hens were the best birds he had ever handled and could not even pick them in a show some doo man eh i was fuming but did not want to tell him why they did not get a ticket in front of his friends a but they were in better condition then i said and walked away from him but he followed me around the hall telling every one who would listen i could not pick his birds out after saying how great they were i was getting embarrased and kept walking away from him he repeated it for the forth or fith time id had enough do you want me to tell you why they did not get a ticket i said in his ear there covered in lice his face went red what difference does that make there racing pigeons he said yes i said but this is a show and the other fanciers have gone to the trouble to make sure there birds were clean look i said and opened my jacket so he could see i was still covered with lice he walked away rageing so i did not bother asking about buying eggs lol but i would still do the same thing today its a show and guys put a lot of work into them anyway thats how i think was i wrong or right what do you think bed time for me hope this is of interest guys

[ForestForever74]

here is wee story to pass the the time guys as to this day i dont know if i was wrong or right and it happened 30 years ago as a young man i worked and was good friends with john mc fall from blantyre i learned a lot from john he had some great results at the nationals but thats another story john was the scottish editor of the pigeon gazette monthly mag and went around the top lofts reporting on the performances of there birds but at that time john did not drive and asked me if i would take him round the lofts and he would give me the petrol money i jumped at the chance to see the best birds in scotland and there set ups section winners gold award winners the lot i was in heaven getting to handel these great birds and learn how they were trained and set up fantastic stuff for a novice anyway john was doing a write up on one of the best fanciers ever to fly in the west section the mans gone now so i will not name him we got there late evening and it was getting dark the great man wellcomed us and led us out to the loft which had very sall light working off a car battery i think and started to hand john the champion birds we had come to see after john handled them they were handed to me three powder blue hens with grizeld flights they fitted my small hands like a glove small apple bodied hens with big dark peril eyes i loved them just what i would like to breed my self they were outstanding pigeons in the hand and they had all scored in the national rennes and nantes im coming back here to try and buy some eggs next year i thought to my self when the great man said to me what do you think of them youngman there the best birds ive ever handled i said you think so he said without a dout i said any way as john thanked him for letting us see them he said to john how would you and the young fellow like to come up in a few months and judge our club show yes said john no problem a few months past and we went to judge the show it was a handling class john judged the cocks and me the hens they were big classes and the hall was full it was my first time judging a handling class and was i nervous the great man wellcomed us and gave us a book to mark them so we started i walked along the pens to have a look at them first i was shaking a wee bit thought i knew what i was doing ill just pick what i would like to take home i thought then i saw them the three blue hens were in i could spot them a mile away fly auld f k r i thought this will be easy 1st 2ndand 3rd no problem just the also rans to fined i started handing the birds marking out of five as i went a long i had two 2s and two threes marked when i got to the first of the blue hens i took her out the pen handled lovely this will be first i thought but they were very a like i had taken off my jacket as it was getting warm and had on a white tea shirt i spread the hens wing and horror she was covered in lice and i mean covered 15 to 20 on each flight i was shocked and my shirt was moving with them i put the hen back and moved on the three hens were the same moving with lice i did not even mark them i picked the best of the rest and put my jacket back on and handed the man my book and walked away as the tickets were put on the pens this great man who was standing with a dozen others said in a very loud voice thats the man that was at my loft a few months ago and said my blue hens were the best birds he had ever handled and could not even pick them in a show some doo man eh i was fuming but did not want to tell him why they did not get a ticket in front of his friends a but they were in better condition then i said and walked away from him but he followed me around the hall telling every one who would listen i could not pick his birds out after saying how great they were i was getting embarrased and kept walking away from him he repeated it for the forth or fith time id had enough do you want me to tell you why they did not get a ticket i said in his ear there covered in lice his face went red what difference does that make there racing pigeons he said yes i said but this is a show and the other fanciers have gone to the trouble to make sure there birds were clean look i said and opened my jacket so he could see i was still covered with lice he walked away rageing so i did not bother asking about buying eggs lol but i would still do the same thing today its a show and guys put a lot of work into them anyway thats how i think was i wrong or right what do you think bed time for me hope this is of interest guys

 

A great story. I had a similar situation with a well known yb national section winner. He came to see our doo's and said some very nice things about them but I was horrified when he mentioned they had lice. I was so keen to make sure they were right I missed the basics :-( a lesson learned though and I admire him for having told me the truth. They have never had lice since and they get a good nights sleep now :-)

[walterboswell59]

a novice i can excuse but this was one our sports greats and had birds a lifetime its easy to be caught out with an odd one brought out by the heat at a show but i had never seen birds as dirty before or since and ive had them 50 years now he just had not bothered to check them but they were some pigeons

[geordie1234]

a novice i can excuse but this was one our sports greats and had birds a lifetime its easy to be caught out with an odd one brought out by the heat at a show but i had never seen birds as dirty before or since and ive had them 50 years now he just had not bothered to check them but they were some pigeons

Lice all over your t-shirt that geez me the heebie jeebies lol

[walterboswell59]

Lice all over your t-shirt that geez me the heebie jeebies lol

by the time i got home george they were all over my belly thankfully it was not as big then they cant feed on you as there just feather lice but its not nice the wife would not let me near her for a week lol

[blackdog]

show season is just around the corner , any site members have any stories to tell ,or tips on condition etc ??

 

 

i was told many years ago by the late norman hodgson(nocker)from maryport, that if you went to a dance where there was a room full of woman you would pick the best looking girl there he also put his birds in the show basket(wicker)the night before filled with sawdust and not shavings as when the birds rested the droppings got covered and dried out in the sawdust, he also put a few sheets of newspaper under the lid, this to keep the heat, next morning he would put the basket in front of the coal fire for a couple of hours before the show,the condition on them was fantastic, this man won at all the big shows, i remember going to the then gretna show with him where he won 4 1sts.

[geordie1234]

by the time i got home george they were all over my belly thankfully it was not as big then they cant feed on you as there just feather lice but its not nice the wife would not let me near her for a week lol

[eastcoaster]

The brother had a similar thing when he judged at the Ayr dam park show when again a still very well known west fancier could'nt believe his multiple prize winner never won and confronted my brother ( wrong move ) the brother agreed his was a very nice pigeon but in his opinion the other was better and he was the judge.

 

When just a young guy I put 2 hens in the North Berwick show and won 1st/2nd in the cocks class and r/up best in show to what ended up best 500 ml cock at Edinburgh show , both were later bred and then I just fed them and fooked of to the darts so when they were put in the pens they reacted to the hens and guys thought they had made a mistake lo ,took one hell of a ribbing for a long long time . I used a supplement for budgies because I seen it fall out of Eddie Newcombe pocket at the marking still look for it today . The birds were nest mates and were bred by Peter virtue .

Funny how you can recall all those years ago .

[Delboy]

A great story. I had a similar situation with a well known yb national section winner. He came to see our doo's and said some very nice things about them but I was horrified when he mentioned they had lice. I was so keen to make sure they were right I missed the basics :-( a lesson learned though and I admire him for having told me the truth. They have never had lice since and they get a good nights sleep now :-)

 

You would've thought less of this pigeonman if he hadn't spotted and said about the lice Rab because if you saw them on the pigeon after this man handled them you would of thought his observation not too good. ps.only yb section winner ?

[ForestForever74]

You would've thought less of this pigeonman if he hadn't spotted and said about the lice Rab because if you saw them on the pigeon after this man handled them you would of thought his observation not too good. ps.only yb section winner ?

 

Your only as good as your last race!

 

You make a very valid point as there has been another visitor who said that we had nothing but crap in the loft and 3 SNFC prizes won within 6 months of that visitor tells me their opinion means nothing to me :-)

 

Andy

[geordie1234]

Your only as good as your last race!

 

You make a very valid point as there has been another visitor who said that we had nothing but crap in the loft and 3 SNFC prizes won within 6 months of that visitor tells me their opinion means nothing to me :-)

 

Andy

Sounds like a right W*NK

[ForestForever74]

Sounds like a right W*NK

 

I quickly realised that while there are some opinions that are definitely worth hearing there are some that have their own agenda's and that's the ones you should avoid. Its all trial and error but it sure was lovely the day the prizes dropped through the door and I turned to my old man and said "crap eh, get the frames ready" but I now look back on it as something that spurred me on personally to try harder and do more. :-)

 

Anyway this is off topic. Good luck at the shows everyone.

[JohnQuinn]

I have taken red cards at Edinburgh, Faulhouse, Whitburn and Larkhall over the years, though i've come home with nothing from the same venue's and many others too, over the same period.

Around 20yrs ago i went to Larkhall and penned my birds before returning home to feed/water the rest of the birds in the lofts.

At that time i had little to no experience of showing birds, but i'm always up for a challenge so took part. In particular i had 2 hens i thought were the type to take good cards in any show, however i was under no illusion that they would be better than the other experienced fanciers birds, who were regular winners on the circuit. On my return to the hall in i went and right away went to look out the hens classes to see how they got on, 1 had taken 3rd and the other 5th which i thought Very respectable considering the reputation Larkhall had at that time.

As i walked round looking out my other entries i came across an Empty pen where a Bl Ck had been penned, after checking over and over again that this was indeed my birds pen i went looking for someone in charge to alert them that there was a thief in the hall because my bird was missing. Can't remember who it was that caught my eye ( might have been wee John Bell ) but they seen i was in a panic and asked what was wrong. I said that my Bl Ck was missing and someone must have stolen it so i was looking for an official to try to get things sorted out because i wasn't leaving the place without my bird.

At that the guy said to me, Maybe it has Won the class and was at the all winners class now, then pointed me in the direction of the stage where there in all his glory was my Blue Ck sitting alongside the other winners. I was so green behind the ears I DIDNAE EVEN KNOW THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED AT BIG SHOWS, Red Neck doesn't even touch the embarrassment i felt in front of this other fancier.

That bird however should NEVER have won a card, let alone a RED one, because his Keel was off centre and it was a handling class, the only reason i entered him was he had the most beautiful Pearl eye in his head and i figured in my ignorance that it might count for something.

I'm sure there is a moral to that Lesson, but i'm not sure what it is, maybe its don't judge the Judges because they are as liable as anyone else to miss/overlook faults in a bird that catches their attention when doing their stuff.

[nagid]

I have taken red cards at Edinburgh, Faulhouse, Whitburn and Larkhall over the years, though i've come home with nothing from the same venue's and many others too, over the same period.

Around 20yrs ago i went to Larkhall and penned my birds before returning home to feed/water the rest of the birds in the lofts.

At that time i had little to no experience of showing birds, but i'm always up for a challenge so took part. In particular i had 2 hens i thought were the type to take good cards in any show, however i was under no illusion that they would be better than the other experienced fanciers birds, who were regular winners on the circuit. On my return to the hall in i went and right away went to look out the hens classes to see how they got on, 1 had taken 3rd and the other 5th which i thought Very respectable considering the reputation Larkhall had at that time.

As i walked round looking out my other entries i came across an Empty pen where a Bl Ck had been penned, after checking over and over again that this was indeed my birds pen i went looking for someone in charge to alert them that there was a thief in the hall because my bird was missing. Can't remember who it was that caught my eye ( might have been wee John Bell ) but they seen i was in a panic and asked what was wrong. I said that my Bl Ck was missing and someone must have stolen it so i was looking for an official to try to get things sorted out because i wasn't leaving the place without my bird.

At that the guy said to me, Maybe it has Won the class and was at the all winners class now, then pointed me in the direction of the stage where there in all his glory was my Blue Ck sitting alongside the other winners. I was so green behind the ears I DIDNAE EVEN KNOW THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED AT BIG SHOWS, Red Neck doesn't even touch the embarrassment i felt in front of this other fancier.

That bird however should NEVER have won a card, let alone a RED one, because his Keel was off centre and it was a handling class, the only reason i entered him was he had the most beautiful Pearl eye in his head and i figured in my ignorance that it might count for something.

I'm sure there is a moral to that Lesson, but i'm not sure what it is, maybe its don't judge the Judges because they are as liable as anyone else to miss/overlook faults in a bird that catches their attention when doing their stuff.

john that was the eyesign class lol

[walterboswell59]

so guys would you all agree that i did the right thing i was looking for your opinion

[ForestForever74]

so guys would you all agree that i did the right thing i was looking for your opinion

 

Yes, absolutely.

[JohnQuinn]

so guys would you all agree that i did the right thing i was looking for your opinion

 

Aye Watty, ye were 100% right tae throw them out, Showing is about presentation and ye canny present a doo tae a judge that isn't perfect in all respects, including cleanliness.

[andy Burgess]

so guys would you all agree that i did the right thing i was looking for your opinion

absolutely done the right thing

[scottym7]

As some of you know i also keep the fancy show pigeons and attend shows down as far as Nottingham, if lice or quill lice are found on a bird it is instant disqualification.

 

Scotty M

[Guest geordiejen]

2 years ago i was showing norwich croppers.i remember the judge walking round the birds and said i know which one has been won already.later that day this particular bird was not picked for anything.later turned out it had wee beasties right up the flight stems.hundreds of them.this bird was mines.one drop didnt work on it because thats what i used all year round.i was then told about clorcarb and thats what i use now.never seen these mites before but when you open the wing and a light behind it you can see them.especially on white flights.i agree birds should be disqualified but i think the fancier should be notified too.

[walterboswell59]

2 years ago i was showing norwich croppers.i remember the judge walking round the birds and said i know which one has been won already.later that day this particular bird was not picked for anything.later turned out it had wee beasties right up the flight stems.hundreds of them.this bird was mines.one drop didnt work on it because thats what i used all year round.i was then told about clorcarb and thats what i use now.never seen these mites before but when you open the wing and a light behind it you can see them.especially on white flights.i agree birds should be disqualified but i think the fancier should be notified too.

what your seeing is quill mite m8 its the eggs you see stuck along the quill a dip in chloracarb or duramitex cures it