Natural

[JonesyBhoy]

i love when Jim Hannah comments.. stuff to be learned.. not many better in the last 40 years in this area

[dal2]

i would agree with you there, but i know that you can get well bred late breds that race well also

Of course....but the man writing this blog is going the whole hog.....am saying that's daft....what are your views on a full team of only latebreds dkj?

[dkj]

Of course....but the man writing this blog is going the whole hog.....am saying that's daft....what are your views on a full team of only latebreds dkj?

definitely not, i will always have a early race team for racing to be tested, im not as brave as peter.my late breds are only off the winners that year or my top stock birds

[dal2]

definitely not, i will always have a early race team for racing, im not as brave as peter.

Hopefully he will take his lead from you then David lol

[JohnQuinn]

N'er the twain shall meet I reckon 😂

[dkj]

Hopefully he will take his lead from you then David lol

old bobby rome from annan, told me you dont need to the test the best bred one.s, its the other one.s your not sure about you need to test hard, and he was as good as any pigeon man in scotland

[peter pandy]

I have the lofts and plenty of space also time and effort to do as I wish, Over the past couple of years many pigeons bred direct from champions have been introduced into my Stock loft with no expense spared. But my problem is the losses bred from unflown stock with no proof of any homing ability, Blood is not the answer in my opinion, nor am I prepared to breed in so called Spring ""December January February"" to put young birds through an unnatural moult to win young bird races. In my younger days it was only the fools who had no patience to wait till real Spring before pairing ""Buds on trees"" But I am still Old School and proud of it.

I have posted the fact that top distance fanciers, and it has been added to by others, that Late Breds are superior percentage wise when it comes to Distance. I believe youngsters bred from a race team at the end of the season will be far superior in all departments and will no doubt write of their exploits in the future. <_<

[Delboy]

I have the lofts and plenty of space also time and effort to do as I wish, Over the past couple of years many pigeons bred direct from champions have been introduced into my Stock loft with no expense spared. But my problem is the losses bred from unflown stock with no proof of any homing ability, Blood is not the answer in my opinion, nor am I prepared to breed in so called Spring ""December January February"" to put young birds through an unnatural moult to win young bird races. In my younger days it was only the fools who had no patience to wait till real Spring before pairing ""Buds on trees"" But I am still Old School and proud of it.

I have posted the fact that top distance fanciers, and it has been added to by others, that Late Breds are superior percentage wise when it comes to Distance. I believe youngsters bred from a race team at the end of the season will be far superior in all departments and will no doubt write of their exploits in the future. <_<

 

Peter, you talk wan load a sh ite at times lol but yer always entertaining

[peter pandy]

Peter, you talk wan load a sh ite at times lol but yer always entertaining

Aye Derek, I always fancied being on stage,, as a comedian of course.

[peter pandy]

I will say this though ""The Silence is Deafening"" regarding the articles in the Daily's last week regarding the Bee-Keeper being fined £2,500 for using a banned substance at his hives. Maybe it will have brought some to their sense's.

[peter pandy]

I am very pleased with the reaction from the birds as I approach the loft since permanently dropping the windows on the veranda, allowing them to see me entering their domain of the garden, With them all flying onto the veranda and up against the wire netting, I usually stick my pinkie through and let them pick away at it, Just a wee bit of bonding,,

At the beginning of February I started them on Roundabout letting the Hens out and moving the Cocks through to sit on the perches for 24 hours then bringing the Hens back into the nest box section after an hour or so, So they are out on alternate days and learning to claim a perch for 24 hours as well as a nest box.

I decided to-day after putting the Hens out to remove the plastic "V" perches and clean the back of them !!. To say I was utterly disgusted would be to put it mildly as their was foreign bodies including maggots present.. Gas torch lit and everything was cremated. This will have to be put into my itinerary every week from now on.

[peter pandy]

When I took over at C,J's. The feed being given to the birds by the previous manager was a Continental Mixture and to be perfectly honest the birds had never won a race in 20 years however as their was a load made up I continued feeding it although they were in extremely poor shape and the youngsters were even worse, After 2 races where we could have used a calendar instead of a clock I changed the feed to 3 parts Maples, 2 parts Beans, 1 part Tares and 4 parts Maize. The Third race 1 week later we were nearer the mark and the Fourth race we clocked to be First in one Club and 14th Fed in another Club which stopped a 20 year rot without C.J. winning. In the 5th Race we were 1st, 2nd, Club and First Federation. The following week 6th Race we were 1st Club and 1st in 3 Federations also 16th Sec 330th Open MNFC. 7th Race 3rd Club 3rd Fed and C.J. called a halt..60/40 Mmmm.

I could go on,, but, am off the belief that although feed has a part to play it is not the whole issue and to me modern ideas are just pie in the sky.

[bluey]

When I took over at C,J's. The feed being given to the birds by the previous manager was a Continental Mixture and to be perfectly honest the birds had never won a race in 20 years however as their was a load made up I continued feeding it although they were in extremely poor shape and the youngsters were even worse, After 2 races where we could have used a calendar instead of a clock I changed the feed to 3 parts Maples, 2 parts Beans, 1 part Tares and 4 parts Maize. The Third race 1 week later we were nearer the mark and the Fourth race we clocked to be First in one Club and 14th Fed in another Club which stopped a 20 year rot without C.J. winning. In the 5th Race we were 1st, 2nd, Club and First Federation. The following week 6th Race we were 1st Club and 1st in 3 Federations also 16th Sec 330th Open MNFC. 7th Race 3rd Club 3rd Fed and C.J. called a halt..60/40 Mmmm.

I could go on,, but, am off the belief that although feed has a part to play it is not the whole issue and to me modern ideas are just pie in the sky.

 

Back in the 60s I visited the local champion. He fed the same mix as me apart from one addition -50% cinqantina maize 45% maple peas and 5% tares. The addition was dog tooth maize, although I did not know the exact proportion. He was a regular visitor to Belgium so was obviously influenced by their feeding methods. He was possibly ahead of the times regarding feeding methods of UK fanciers. I am now almost 50 years older if not wiser but am a firm believer in increasing fats as the distances get longer or the prospect of a tougher race. Breaking down with a weaker mixture is not a good idea to me, I believe protein feeding is required after every race to recharge the batteries.

 

This thread is one of my favourites and has given me plenty of food for thought. Please keep it going Peter

[Potter29]

I too agree with the above , great thread mate

[peter pandy]

Thank-you for the kind words and I will give you more food for thought shortly when I have completed my latest revelation in the loft with the inmates..

[dal2]

Whats your preferred nest state cock and hen for the channel?

[showman]

What was your tenure at CJ's and how long were you with him ?

[tommy bhoys]

What was your tenure at CJ's ?

water bhoy :emoticon-0136-giggle:

[PATTY BHOY]

Whats your preferred nest state cock and hen for the channel?

16- 17 days.

[peter pandy]

Whats your preferred nest state cock and hen for the channel?

I don't have a preference Stevie as the pigeon will tell me its preference.

[dal2]

I don't have a preference Stevie as the pigeon will tell me its preference.

Does you have a special pigeon every year , or maybe two or three, that you earmark for the big races? Do you let them tell you what races they go to?

[peter pandy]

What was your tenure at CJ's and how long were you with him ?

Unfortunately two years up to C.J's death then six months after, when all the birds were sold on the instructions of the eldest son who had his will contested and put in probate. I was his Loft Manager and my good lady was his House Manager.

P.S. The eldest son is one of the worlds top ten Corporate Lawyer's based in Hong Kong.

[peter pandy]

Does you have a special pigeon every year , or maybe two or three, that you earmark for the big races? Do you let them tell you what races they go to?

With me having to basically start again from scratch it is difficult trying to get a team of three year olds, At present I only have 17 Two year olds that if possible will have one 500 mile race with whatever is left going to the Gold Cup in 2018.

[peter pandy]

Well yesterday's post dissapeared so will endeavour to try again.

Thursday began with with the normal pre pairing dropping's samples and crop swabs making sure I was getting the cotton bud the full 10ins in !!, with the help from the wife you will understand where my measurements are coming from and posted to the Deweerd Laboratory for testing as I never blind treat apart from shoving 100mg Rodinazol tablet down a youngsters throat when weaning.

Its funny but when I see the Deweerd name I always think about Bernard De Weerdt from Kortemarke as he was a frequent visitor to C.J. Williams twice or thrice a year and we spent many an hour at the loft discussing all the topics of pigeon management under the sun. He was pleasantly surprised when I enquired about the late developement of his family and was their any particular reason why as his birds originated from the same source as C.J's namely Marcel Desmet who when living was another frequent visitor along with Senator La Haye, Van Bruanne, Van Der Espt and Maurice Delbar.

Bernard then told me that his entire young bird race team was sold every year apart from the odd youngster that had made its mark and at the end of Old Bird racing a team of late breds were reared which was the Yearling team for the following year. They were not trained until the following Spring and raced out to 150 miles. So basically they became late developers with his entire race team starting out as a late bred which to his reckoning made them slow moulters so he could compete distance races in July/August as three year olds. I have to say the DeWeerdt stock birds C.J. had, never bred anything of note but that could have been down to my predecessor who was a complete waste of space and way out of his depth.

[/quote I just thought I would put this post up again as to why I am not rearing a young bird team and going for late bred birds from the race team in July, August..

[peter pandy]

It would appear "NOT" that my last posts have disappeared so will try again.. Martin aka "AYE READY" had me thinking about my Eltex drinkers which were nearly as old as myself which had cracked enamel and had started leaking on the bottom, I replaced with plastic drinkers and noticed they were a "tad" wary of them which surprised me as they were in the same spot on the veranda but a different colour,, It played on my mind for a couple of days so I responded with a little experiment.. Day ONE I removed the drinker and screwed 2 eye hooks onto the wall hooking basket drinkers on, Filled to overflowing the birds were fed and I retired to the greenhouse to watch which was a waste of time as the birds would not go within six inches of them, Day TWO no water had been taken so they were fed again and although some approached the drinkers NONE drank. THIRD day some water had been taken so birds fed drinkers topped up and they all went for a drink although I could sense they were apprehensive.. Day FOUR I cut up nest fronts to resemble basket conditions and fitted onto the wall so now they had to put their heads through to get a drink, No water taken. Day FIVE birds fed and all drinking although still apprehensive. Day NINE and no problem with them drinking now.

Will conclude later..