Chancos' back online!

Hi all, pleased to report that my treatment (Chemotherapy) is going well and i am getting back into the swing of things.
My YB season went as expected, I could only compete in 4 races owing to the birds being in full moult, the results were, again, what I forecast for myself, as being off the pace 5-10 mins, but racing against darkness birds was really giving very little chance of winning anything, however, I only lost one yb and that was a result as they all went to 190 miles (i think).
I would be delighted to contribute to any questions that users may have and hope to pick up where we left off.
Chanco

hi malcolm, good to have you back on the site....and great to hear your treatment has been going well. a few members have been asking about you lately re how you are doing and how your birds did. im looking forward to racing ybs next year and have just bought a pair of janssesn based stock birds from a clearance sale of a club member. our members have done well racing this season and gained some good results, look forward to reading your posts again malcolm, david.

hi malcolm
i have not talk to you before but glad to here you are felling better.
i see what you are saying about the darkness young birds.
we did the same this year put our youngsters on the dark .
it was your first time for us .
and we could not believe the difference in them.
and it made a lot of difference to our race results.
it was one of our members that told us to try it .
the young birds were like yearlings were the racing started
.

john, when i came ack to pigeons last year id never heard of it before.....it wasnt around in the 80s. ive been told the natural ybs will be 15 mins behind the dark ybs so i would have thought everyone would have been on it but speaking to some old clubmates sunday it seems some are still not using the system
when i race next year i will certainly be giving it a go.

it.s a bit of a pain all was to put up the shutters at the same time and take them down at the same time.
but well worth it when you see the birds

yes, once i get to know the system and the routine it should be ok, well worth it tho from what ive heard....we`ll see next year.

hi malcolm/chanco,good to have you back with us again.glad your treatment is going well,and look forward to your posts.

welcome back malcolm

stormqueen wrote:

hi malcolm
i have not talk to you before but glad to here you are felling better.
i see what you are saying about the darkness young birds.
we did the same this year put our youngsters on the dark .
it was your first time for us .
and we could not believe the difference in them.
and it made a lot of difference to our race results.
it was one of our members that told us to try it .
the young birds were like yearlings were the racing started
.

One of the major problems fanciers encounter with the darkness system is ventilation. Many are so eager to get them on the Dark that they do not realise that in covering the loft in curtains that they actually alter the ventilation of the loft. I am of the opinion that to get the best out of the Darkness system strict attention MUST be paid to ventilation, I myself will install small fans this coming season which will be ON the whole of darkness time which is 16 hours.
Many fanciers birds suffer from Respo. problems when on darkness due to poor ventilation and it is a problem that you will ignore at your peril.
Chanco.

Welcome back Malcolm

yes malcolm ventilation is most important i myself fly darky youngbirds but when my shutters are up i have roof vents that pull out the stale air constantly dont know if youve seen the ones i have they are a spinning cowl you use on chimney pots turned by the minimal of wind they seem to do the trick

Chanco, i have a question, one that has been asked a lot of times, but i want to really get your opinion.
If you took a pigeon in your hands, i am assuming you would feel its body, look at the wing etc.
Tell me exactly what you look for in a good strong flyer.
Thanx .

Grizzle cock wrote:

Chanco, i have a question, one that has been asked a lot of times, but i want to really get your opinion.
If you took a pigeon in your hands, i am assuming you would feel its body, look at the wing etc.
Tell me exactly what you look for in a good strong flyer.
Thanx .

Well, the first thing I would look for is anything wrong with the wing, flight coming through, broken flight, gap in the wing.
As regards the body, this is a totally different kettle of fish. I have had pigeons that were so deep in the keel that were like ships! but although I did not like them with a deep keel I have had channel winners from them.
What is ideal is a rather apple/round shaped body, carrying no weight or fat, hard and supple in the chest and most important the wing MUST match the body type. Anything that is out of preportion must be considered suspect.
Chanco.

malcolm i have left you pm

Thanx Chanco

hi malcolm, what type/shape would you descride a sprint pigeon? would you say they were broad shoulderd or narrow, deep keel or shallow keeled, long cast or short cast.
would you say a sprinter would be big,muscular powerfull and a disatance bird lean, small. or visa versa?
thanks malcolm.

[quote="DAVID"]hi malcolm, what type/shape would you descride a sprint pigeon? would you say they were broad shoulderd or narrow, deep keel or shallow keeled, long cast or short cast.
would you say a sprinter would be big,muscular powerfull and a disatance bird lean, small. or visa versa?
thanks malcolm.[/quote

Hi David, Good question, I have come across sprinters in all shapes and I do not think that any shape stands out, However, I would suggest that most long distance strains are quite lean and small, similar to hens, also similar to marathon runners. Whereas, sprinters would err on the muscular side with more power, as would a 10,000 meter runner.
That's the best way I can describe it.

hi malcolm, would you say a sprint and distance bird would have a different type of wing ? ive seen birds with short wings and long wings.....and with the end 4 flights spaced out like fingers and some which arnt. and also a big step up from primaries and secondries what would you say is the best type for a sprinter ?
thanks malcolm

DAVID wrote:

hi malcolm, would you say a sprint and distance bird would have a different type of wing ? ive seen birds with short wings and long wings.....and with the end 4 flights spaced out like fingers and some which arnt. and also a big step up from primaries and secondries what would you say is the best type for a sprinter ?
thanks malcolm

Having made a study of the wing theory, I can say that the wing has to be capable of propeling the bird forward with the down stroke, the upstroke is there just to return the wing to its downstroke and it must get rid of the air that would be in the wing after the downstroke (still with me)?
In many cases there are no specific differences in sprinter wings and long distance wings except long distance enthusiasts want to see a step in the wing, but I had birds to win at the distance and inland birds that had the same type of wing. The wing theory lost its claim to fame because the theory had no LOGIC that could be applied...............different birds did not always have a different wing.
Chanco