Been a while

been a while since i popped in, been so busy lately don't seem to much time for myself anymore.
i have 22 young birds in the loft they are doing good. i had 24 at the start but 2 got killed, 3 got lost loft flying. one of the lost ones came home a week later followed by the other 2 a few days later.
they haven't been doing much ranging though, i usually start tossing once they start ranging for a few hours but this years batch don't wan to seem to go far. today i'll give them a 5 mile toss and go from there.



here's a few few of them coming in for a landing

hi morb, good to hear from you.....your birds are looking well.

same here with my ybs, not flying well around home, and not doing much ranging.....I took 16 a couple of miles last week, got 9 back, 2 came a couple of days later, and one reported, so that's still 4 away.

I started off with 19 ybs, but with one thing or another ive 11 left, which 10 will race and one has damage on its chest, so probably wont race.

good luck with yours when they start racing ....

David wrote:

hi morb, good to hear from you.....your birds are looking well.

same here with my ybs, not flying well around home, and not doing much ranging.....I took 16 a couple of miles last week, got 9 back, 2 came a couple of days later, and one reported, so that's still 4 away.

I started off with 19 ybs, but with one thing or another ive 11 left, which 10 will race and one has damage on its chest, so probably wont race.

good luck with yours when they start racing ....  

Same, same great little shot their Morb of your pigeons in motion etc.
*****

welcome back morb ….good luck with the training great pic to

Good luck with your yb's for the season

thanks everyone. gave them a 10 mile this morning before the rain but they took a little longer getting home than i thought they would, they ended up flying in the rain but all made it back.

glad your trainings going well morb, whens your yb season start ...?

Looks like training here is stopped for a while. Next 14 days rain forecast.
But bush fires North of us and in BC.
They had 3 tosses 12, 20, 35 so are ready to race. August 4.

good luck hal........

Have your youngsters picked up at all Dave?

Daz wrote:

Have your youngsters picked up at all Dave?

yes daz, after the initial trainer that was a disaster, I took them a bit further and they have come a lot better, and not lost any......today they went further again with a club members birds and all home again, tomorrow I`m hoping to send them with the club trainer so there should be a few members birds all going together.

I`m hoping to get them in to our clubs third race this weekend from Leicester , which I think is about 98 miles, so hoping 3 more trainers this week will be enough.

strange how I loose them from a couple of miles away, but don't loose any when the distance gets further ....

I am not one for short tosses. They tend to over fly. From the last 35 mile toss half circled then were gone another 40 minutes.

D.E. on the floor.

White one.

That's what I like to see, Hal, a spotless clinical loft with naturally healthy pigeons, smelling like a pox doctors clinic, whoops, sorry wrong loft.

I bet you put lime on the floor as well.

I am afraid many fanciers make their own problems thinking about what friends think about the lofts instead of what is best for the pigeons.

Regards.

First para should say unhealthy pigeons in clinical lofts needing constant medication and preventative treatments and often have YBS every year.

Fanciers concentrate on congratulating each other on, and discuss matters that have been covered hundreds of times, instead of concentrating on solving the sports problems that are fast leading to the sports demise, they would rather moan when matters affect them directly but are unconcerned 99% of the time.

If the majority do not get their fingers out there will be no going back, there will be nothing of consequence left to offer any potential fancier.

Regards.

It was shavings. All out of DE. Lime will added as needed. Essential to get an acidic environment. However, as you can see from the first pic, through the door, the second section is shavings. Clean out tomorrow. Usual 3 month chore. Floor dressing? Black Cedar Mulch, used for gardens. Kills bugs. slightly acidic. Have a bag sitting around so thought "Why not?" Never tried it before. Should be interesting?

A great believer in lime. (Often mixed in with White) I used to make a very thick solution and paint it on. Lime keeps a sweet smell whilst shrinking!
Now Achtilor is a must. Better than Virkon S I believe. Plus a regular burning. I'd fil in ever botch, crook or cranny too with hard as Nails.

A great believer too in the 3 C's plus another C.

Daz,
I used lime and sand deep litter for over 40 years at the same time dusted the perches with it and painted the interior of the loft with a thick paint made with the lime, never had sick birds nor YBS, but, hey, why use a well tried and successful method when the commercial boys know better?.

Regards.

aye ... when the commercial boys know better?. Yes at a cost lol.

Mind I never ever used lime dusted over. Feared it got in the throat or eyes etc.


Been fortunate never to have had y/b/s. Had toxin poisoning. More than ruined a season. Also got devastated via damp feed bought from pigeon feed bag ... Cost a fortune to a class Avian Vet. Said he doubted few would recover but congratulated me later in the fine condition that they were in. Said surprised so many got over it like. The good constitution and immunity like. ... doubted that they would win another race though. offered to do a free test following season for free before Mating.

i think that's been my problem on a couple of occasions in the past, mouldy, damp/contaminated corn......wiped them out it did, took quite a while to get over it, but always very careful now what I feed them.

Yep, I thought on a Sat morning I'll add some tick beans over the weekend. Nipped up the road where I bought a little sometimes. A special on offer 'Maple Peas'. Found out a miter later and these were out of date bags aby some time... Find I thought. Put some that day after the race birds had had their' linseed.

Monday morning a sorry sight met me. Took three pigeons with me to Loughborough Meadow Vets. An avian vet. Sadly Brian has retired. Asked if I needed to pay for tests up front. He asked if I kept horses. I said no, he said pay later then lol.
He gave me a report. I asked for a further test, though he assured me it was 33% yeast (should be (0.3%) and 40% iron in the blood. against 0.4% or such. Amazed that they hadn't all keeled over …

Although through work I had vet friends, one showed me how the vaccine should be used when it first became compulsory, and did so free, I have little time for vets due to the normal manner they formulate their bills.

As for feed, I think polishing the corn etc; does little in benefit other than I do think the best is used, and is safer than risking cheap alternatives.

The farm beans and peas of long ago are not the same now for many reasons but you can still obtain them direct from the farm, and some fanciers use them successfully.

My vet friends retired prior to our sheep dog having fits and their replacements took us for a ride with the treatment they recommended.

AS for lime, just look at what all the alternative commercial products are composed of.


Regards.

yes, vets certainly know how to charge, been twice over the last few weeks £60 a time, due this Thursday to see if an operation is needed on a torn ligament , my pocket will be £1,200 lighter if it does

David wrote:

yes, vets certainly know how to charge, been twice over the last few weeks £60 a time, due this Thursday to see if an operation is needed on a torn ligament , my pocket will be £1,200 lighter if it does

Vet's . Local flyer bit wimpy, when it comes to needle & thread work on his pigeons etc rang the local Vet here for an on the spot appointment for a pigeon smashed up in the race as such "Big time". Sorry, sorry was the message he received. But happy to make an appointment in 2 days type of thing for you thou & please, please bring your credit card as we have a booking fee of $150 before we will look at your pigeon . Will also add the poor bloke has been a regular type customer for 30 odd years. Suggested to him, when he told his sorry tale   maybe, he should have asked  for a pensioner discount .