has anyone ever heard

a stupid question may be but has any one ever been able to tell how fit thier bird is going by the tail feathers i was chatin to an old guy that said wen he used to race years ago he would look at the tail feathers and look at the white of the end feathers if the white edge was nearly to the top of the tail he conciderd the bird to be very fit and in top form i think he was tellin me

the only things i can remember re: tails was

1) the tail would be literally "quivering" - was always a good sigh of health & fitness

2) the "quill" on the centre (top) feather of the tail when holding it should be dead central as a sign of good balance

dont know how true these are, or if they worked - just things i remember when growing up?

ive heard a few tail theories rene, one was if you look at the top feather.......if the quill slopes left it is a short distance bird, and right it is a long distance bird....... wouldnt put too much faith in it tho`....

im not just thought it strange with what some say its like i have a dvd here on pigeons and on part of it it go's on about the width of the bar on the end of the tail and wot you shud pair up to it ( ie ) if the thickness of the bar is say 2 fingers wide you should pair it up to a pigeon with a smaller bar

yes rene, ive read similar things about the bar width, some say a wide thick bar is good.....others have birds with very thin bars which have scored well for them.... who can say

theres also the theory that a bird with a third bar is a good one..........? i know some good birds do have a third bar but maybe its just by chance that these birds just happen to win.

yes very true but at the end of the day i think it all boils down to loft management when you get it right ist keppin it there its the getting it right im having trouble with

im just fumbling my way through for this year rene, trying my best to learn from other members regarding feeding, training etc.........i suppose it comes with experience so after ive got this yb season over with i will be able to maybe see where i went right or wrong and adjust accordingly next season.

y/bs doing well with whistle most straight in gave them reward extra corn last night, never again played up today not as hungry so missed tonights meal

I once heard of a block that crossed a parot with a teal duck it could ask its way home, and if it got tyred it could swim home

Ginger169 wrote:

I once heard of a block that crossed a parot with a teal duck it could ask its way home, and if it got tyred it could swim home

think mine are crossed with those ginger, for some reason they dont want to fly anymore and are just walking round the garden .........

steve1952 wrote:

y/bs doing well with whistle most straight in gave them reward extra corn last night, never again played up today not as hungry so missed tonights meal

steve i was tempted to give a bit extra a couple of days ago because they are moulting pretty quickly.......the next day i had a bit of a job getting them in again.......so i think its best at the moment to keep them on strick rations....

we must have the same breed David

If all thies things worked dont you think we would all be doing it what a boring sport it would be.

David are you giving your birds grit and minrals if your giving them salt blocks they will do that, this is the time of the year they should be get thear self ready to breed they are picking up form the ground what you cant give them.

hi ginger, its the ybs i mean which are not flying much.......i think its probably because ive held them down for too long scared id loose them from the loft, i dont ever scare the ybs up to fly but leave them to go when ready......but this year so far i think ive over done it as by this stage they should be flying for at least half hour maybe......

dont get me wrong some do fly but only for about five minutes and then they land and walk around the garden for an hour....

sounds a bit silly to me.

as long as mine has a tail i,m happy lol

would you race 1 without a tail ray