ybs fun and games

had ybs out midday and heron went over the loft and ybs got spooked and the lot went up for the first time all present and correct ,I don't breed a big team so like to keep hold of every yb I can ...my these ybs don't have give me the run around at this stage be glad when their up and kitting together ,hows things going for other members

Mine have kitted up and doing half hour fingers crossed bred 30 still got 30
Ken

mine flying round individually , not bunched up yet, but they will when they are ready I suppose..........since I put them on darkness it seems to be holding them back as regards to bunching / flying, not sure if others have this problem but its always the same with mine.

bred 19 for my self to race, got 17 due to idiot next door scaring them up ..........

I wil have about 26/28 ybs half are on the dark others being weaned this and next week will be natural

ive more in the nest, but my yb section is only 6 x 6, so don't want to put any more than the 19 I would have had, 17 is ok for me.......

All mine on the darkness, going through the body moult nicely , but am thinking about breeding early next year, so they will be on natural darkness which i think will benefit the younguns instead of the forced darkness system
Ken

ive thought about that ken, but don't know enough about it.........if you do breed early, will the ybs be moulted enough in the body, and what about the wing flights...?

when would they need to be paired up to do them natural darkness...?

David you get rings 1st dec so you would need the younguns to be ready for ringing then , its winter breeding really its what the belgiums and dutch do, year i think they will have moulted through as the will have 3 months on natural darkness which is more than they get with the forced darkness as mine only go on it when clocks go forward and are taken off it early June , so yes i think it is possible this is just my reasoning others might have a different view
Ken

so would they moult the wing flights, and if so all of them....or would they keep moulting them while racing ...?

This im not sure about the only way is to try it next year thats my plan im hoping so as its at the back end with the season ie open gold rings and breeder/buyer ect which i have a go at when you need them in full wing
Ken

mine still on ground, dreading it as usual, twice as many this year and wont breed this many again

redrog wrote:

mine still on ground, dreading it as usual, twice as many this year and wont breed this many again

that's the danger time for me r/rog, always watching for cats or hawks.....once they are up and flying they are safer.

System some good fanciers use here. Rings available Jan 1st. Mate beginning of December. About the 10th. Let them grow on natural light until longest day of year. If your longest day is 15 hours then put on the lights on longest day (or week before) and leave them on that rest of season. They should all be through the moult by then. If not they will hold big flight. Pigeons differ. Light system? Watch this one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktGmG7bD6pA
Heres a short one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aF8qckCYHc

We had big computer problems - it just died last week - Nothing on the screen but the maker's name!

Anyway it is all fixed up thanks to my incredible computer man.

Our Young Birds - we have just under 50 young birds with around 15 more to come, then that will be it for this year. I don't know yet if I will breed a few at the end of the old bird season.

I think around 65 young birds should do us well. They are all bred from proven winning birds on both sides, so we will have to see.

We have had some fun and games though! Only around 15 are getting up and flying just yet, not really kitting up yet, just flying big circles and figures of eight in the sky right now.

On Saturday, early morning, we knew no birds would be coming anywhere near us, and it was a lovely morning, so we let the young birds out. Most of them just walk around the decking in front of their loft, fly on top of their loft, or come onto an extension to our house.

Then all of a sudden there was a big crash of wings, which at first I thought was yet another hawk strike, but I couldn't see any raptors. To cut a long story short, when we called them in we were 5 birds down, so we presumed we had had a flyaway or an unseen hawk was chasing them.

By Saturday night, two more had come back, and by Monday we only had two missing, but I noticed one who had come back that day wasn't looking very well, and when I picked it up, there was a gaping hole you could put half your fingers into between its thigh muscles and breast, and there was a rip in the flesh at the top of its chest and its crop was gaping open. Unfortunately it was so bad I had to cull it, which I really hated, because the poor thing had had the courage, the strength, and the know-how to come back to the loft. But I am sure, if I hadn't put the poor thing out of its misery, it would have died later on that day.

However, when we counted up the birds after their breakfast, we had every one back, which is good.

We have built a huge basket type thing which sits on the decking outside the young bird loft and is at least two metres long by a metre wide and a metre high. The rest of the distance between the top of the basket and the top of the open door is made up of a strong panel which is covered with netting. It has bars at several different levels where the birds can perch and look around at their setting. It really amazes me how some birds who have only spent two or three days looking around their loft from this cage and maybe a day on the loft roof, can be away from the loft a couple of days and find their way back.

I am trusting that this will reflect well when it comes to racing.

All the best to everybody at this difficult time of the pigeon season. It must be hard if you are trying to train old birds for the racing season, and trying to get your young birds up and working together.

Phil

yes its a busy time just now phil with old birds ybs and Alfie but the devil makes work for idle hands atb for yb season