Way s to win.

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Ken King GREAT JOB Tom and good job 9633
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Tom Makowecki
Tom Makowecki Funny thing is that - I did less this year than ever in my life. Birds had as much open loft as I could safely allow. Two 40 km tosses the week before the first race......Left as natural as can be with mates and all the usual duties.....And most birds were sent every week. No tossing, no flagging....and food in the loft all the time...9633 did a spectacular job with a 1st, 1st, 3rd, 3rd,4th, 8th, 8th, 31st,46th and 83rd - placing every race. The rest of the team did very well too....Taking 1 thru 7 on the Ace Bird Awards including Ace Yearling and Ace Hen; in the Open races. Seems that if good pigeons can get themselves in good shape....they can race very well. I must give 90% of the success to the birds!
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Frank Belyea
Frank Belyea Tom Makowecki people juggle the mix...is it training....feed....genetics.......management.........?????Obviously good blood, obviously good management...and time on the wing......well done....
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Tom Makowecki
Tom Makowecki Frank Belyea For the last many years I have been debunking many of the things I thought that were important. As you can see from this years results....Good health, enough exercise and good pigeons can win and race very well. Seems - making mistakes is more harmful than allowing them to do it on their own. PS - Not everyone can give open loft !!
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Yes I think we dabble to much Hal.
We should just lesve them be, and let them be happy.

I am all in favour of keeping our birds as natural as possible - but and it is a BIG But - from what I hear on this forum and from other fanciers I know, there are too many birds of prey around most parts.

If one had an open loft, would the haws and such get to know there was easy pickings around your loft?

Another thing - If I kept an open loft, I am sure my birds would mix with the feral pigeons in/and on a barn near me, picking up goodness know what, and they would almost certainly go into the fields, eating all sorts and never be able to be controlled.

I have enough problems getting the young birds in if I feed them a bit too much grub, let alone letting them go into fields.

If one lives in a town, wouldn't you get your pigeons going onto other people roofs and just doing what they pleased, when they pleased!

Just another side to things.

Phil

depends where you live specifically ...it would not work here as theirs about 40 strays in the next street and god knows how many on the church at the end of the road ,its hard enough keeping them away from the loft let alone open loft and strays coming and going as they please but for tom its a different ball game but fair play to him and his results

Tom lives in Alberta. Prairie country. His birds have quite a few hawk attacks. From what Phil said, obviously not as much as Europe and the UK. No laws that I know of, applying to pigeons, out in the country anywhere in Canada. He is a retired sheep farmer. I bought birds off him many years ago. Still have them. He still imports a few from Europe and the US each year. He also sells a lot. He races against some top notch fliers. Canada stations for Ganus pigeons and European agents. Natural etc,.
Phil. I have a dozen or so feral pigeons living in a tractor shed about a 100 yards from the loft. They breed their every year. Mostly blacks with some pieds. Seldom do they mix with my pigeons. Old ones never. Young one may occasionally try to get in to the lofts. Sometimes one does. Few years ago had one come in and I trained it with the young. Lost it at about 70 miles. Did it make my birds sick? Not at that time. Probably passed on Paratyphoid or something but was more like immunity. Sometimes the birds will drink out of the barn gutters. So inevitably bugs get passed back and forth. My birds field. No matter what minerals I give them they are always looking for something in the ground. I gave open loft as much as possible. Young birds go out first early morning. 30 mins or so later, old birds join them.  They fly longer. Sometimes a yb will go in one of the old bird lofts. Young birds one has to keep on the hungrier side to trap them originally. One has to do what one thinks best and adapt to the situation and location the birds are in. Basically common sense. No one on here lacks it to my knowledge.

The old saying goes its what suits you and the birds at the end off the day

True Don. When one blindly follows the "masses" they forget sometimes the "m" is silent!