clay blocks

I swear by these ...we offer it twice a week ,crush a whole one and put it in a hopper and left down for the day ,raceday on the evening and midweek ,seems to nip a lot of things in the bud and they love it with a few seeds chucked in we also offer minerals and grits refreshed daily 24/7 what do other members give/use

Not those salt blocks ? We tried them a few years ago and terrible.

no not them ray...clay blocks

Remember Mr Kellaway who sent me a book on how to race pigeons used to crush old bricks that had been laid in mortar and let the pigeons pick around in the result as much as they wanted.


Regards.

yes darren, just bought a box of them saturday, are they the light brown ones which crumble easily ...?

MISTY wrote:

Remember Mr Kellaway who sent me a book on how to race pigeons used to crush old bricks that had been laid in mortar and let the pigeons pick around in the result as much as they wanted.


Regards.

Smart man Mr Kellaway I suggest Misty why waste money etc on a fancy box as such type of thing. Have, loads of old red bricks here going back to when I first built my house & any one interested here I will just pass them on in the next few years if interested, as I will never use them all up I'm .

David wrote:

yes darren, just bought a box of them saturday, are they the light brown ones which crumble easily ...?

yes that's the ones david

Never tried them , just salt blocks like I said and never again

i mix my own grit now ray, i used to buy the matrix or de patagoon mix, but they arnt cheap to be buying every couple of weeks.........i bred a local friend of mine who keeps pigeons a few ybs and because i wouldnt take anything for them he brought me some big sacks of mixed grit, pink minerals and some other bits and bobs, since then ive kept buying it like this and mixing it my self, along with tk conditioning seed, clay blocks etc, and its just as good as the matrix if not better, plus it works out far cheaper and lasts a lot longer.....

David wrote:

i mix my own grit now ray, i used to buy the matrix or de patagoon mix, but they arnt cheap to be buying every couple of weeks.........i bred a local friend of mine who keeps pigeons a few ybs and because i wouldnt take anything for them he brought me some big sacks of mixed grit, pink minerals and some other bits and bobs, since then ive  kept buying it like this and mixing it my self, along with tk conditioning seed, clay blocks etc, and its just as good as the matrix if not better, plus it works out far cheaper and lasts a lot longer.....

I have crushed old bricks for grit. Great! I just threw my grit on the floor in front of the loft. Great for settling the y/b's when first going out. Picking and pecking about, great!. Open door for them to scuttle if needs be. This helped to get to them contented and stress-free.

Fanciers in and around Horbling take it in turns to clean the well. Always fresh and GOOD water for the birds.
A mate had a spring that ran through his garden. He dug a biggist pool for fish. The water ran through the gravel and then into the pool and overflowed the other side, about b200 yards from my loft. I had the freshwater before it went into the pool.
Now there is spring water that comes from a well about 2- 3 miles away. They never have it cleaned. The water stinks... couldn't use it.

I used to collect a half-sack of molehills. Mineral galore. Would place on a tray in front of the loft. Birds loved it! Yep, the first 'C' eh.

This time of year onward I collect wild fruit and berries for jam making.
The juice left I'd place into the freezer cubes for the birds' drinkers.

Gosh, minerals galore, grit, and excellent water and vitamins galore all for the price of Nothing!
Just the extension of more enjoyment for me, and great for the pigeons!

peel bros wrote:

Never tried them , just salt blocks like I said and never again

Never had any real issues here Ray with the salt blokes as such. With that being said thou here now, it's the old natural rock salt thing of old I use today & its there 24/7/52 for when & if they require it as such .

Many fanciers used to. some still do, lace lettuce with salt aqnd hang it in the loft!
Never happened for me when I tyried it... soon forgot that idea.

Not sure about the old granite-hard red bricks but I wouldn't be crushing up the modern day ones and feeding to pigeons because they can contain all kinds of additives to help in manufacturing and to waterproof them.

The bricks from the old buildings were easily crushed, the lime mortar was a bonus and the modern cement and different bricks, common, engineering and facing have no comparison with the clay bricks aforementioned.


If what you use works for you barnie ??????.



Regards.

barnie wrote:

Not sure about the old granite-hard red bricks but I wouldn't be crushing up the modern day ones and feeding to pigeons because they can contain all kinds of additives to help in manufacturing and to waterproof them.

this is often a point with advice it contradicts ...may have been ok years ago with the bricks but modern day not so ,a novice comes on and reads the info and thinks its ok to smash a few modern bricks and give to the birds ,anyway I am talking relatively fresh clay from the ground that's been dried out nowt to do with housebricks that have been knocking about for years but it is interesting reading some of the old methods that fanciers used atb

Regards the old bricks, to think many were crushed up and with Cinnamon, and much more, put into many foods for human consumption.
Was why Heinz started to use plain see through glass jars so one could see his ingredient's before buying and opening.

He was, actually, the main instigator in enforce the U.S.A. to have watch dog bodies in this regards to safe guard food and what was put in them!

If fancies read the facts that state OLD BRICKS BUILT WITH LIME MOTAR , there should no possibility of confusing with modern bricks, or anything else.

All the modern alternatives you will find contain the same constituents in many cases, as with most of the over 200 AIDS TO WIN.


But just wrapped up in fancy packages.


Regards.

the subject was actually clay blocks, I was trying to give a pointer as to there worth and absolutely nowt to do with housebricks of any age from any era but if anyones happy to use them then I am happy for them to do just that but not for me as already stated their will no doubt be some form of chemical damp proof atb

With your results oldstrain you cannot be doing much wrong and may it long continue.


Just doing a little reminiscing, we old fogies like looking back as well as attempting to ensure the future of the sport.


Regards.

1000's of acres for the birds here to pick from. Clay whatever. Fortunate.

MISTY wrote:

With your results oldstrain you cannot be doing much wrong and may it long continue.


Just doing a little reminiscing, we old fogies like looking back as well as attempting to ensure the future of the sport.


Regards.  

I love it misty it takes me back to the first days in the hobby with my grandfather ,don't get me wrong ...if it were not for those before us we would not have a hobby ,I know you care about it atb

the modern metric bricks are totally different to the old imperial bricks, and the imperial bricks are totally different to the even older bricks we sometimes see on listed buildings etc, they are even softer with different "ingredients"

i would never give the modern metric bricks to pigeons.