When in doubt !!!.

Found in my time you can get a 1 in 50 years type of moment with pigeons at times & when it occurs  many times you just do not have a complete answer why it is so type of thing . today I placed 20 odd babies across into the race loft etc, should have gone across a fortnight ago but I tend to move at a slower pace these days for some strange reason . Anyway one didn't quite make the journey so to speak, as it just couldn't hold it's wings in place like normal so it just had to go from perspective. At the end of the day sadly I'm  it looked like one of those pigeons who had just flown 500 miles on a hot day & homed dragging it's wings with the stress factor one see's at times here. Now that was the negative aspect sadly of my day here so far the positive aspect thou now     is I now have an extra ring to use, maybe .

Heartbreaking that Hal, but you did the right thing.
In the wild it would have got picked off early doors by a predator.
1 like that could bring all your young birds down.

Knackered, it is a sad fact that if you engage in keeping animals of any description you will have heartbreaking moments.

I would think that fanciers cull more pigeons than any other type of animal used in sport, other than maybe the shooting fraternity, and think nothing about it, and on the grounds they are not good enough, cull, cull, they cry.


Having bred several types of animals there has always been the odd one deformed or not as they should be, it is just as it is.


Do you mean you moved the young from one loft to another or from the parents?.


Chin up and feel how lucky you are many respects.


Regards.

MISTY wrote:

Knackered, it is a sad fact that if you engage in keeping animals of any description you will have heartbreaking moments.

I would think that fanciers cull more pigeons than any other type of animal used in sport, other than maybe the shooting fraternity, and think nothing about it, and on the grounds they are not good enough, cull, cull, they cry.


Having bred  several types of animals there has always been the odd one deformed or not as they should be, it is just as it is.


Do you mean you moved the young from one loft to another or from the parents?.


Chin up  and feel how lucky you are many respects.


Regards.



 

Neither Misty last sentence etc as posted, should tell you the final outcome I suggest .

Come on folks! Bred and shipped many thousands of hogs. Sows boars whatever. Keep what produces. Name of the game in any livestock endeavour. Pigeons not much different. Winners or producers keep. Old favourites get replaced by better birds. Or set up a retirement loft. Pulling down 24 x 8 this year. So have to lose 50 or more flying. So be it. Stock birds some have to go also. Hate to cull but there is no other way. Feed is expensive, time and labour gets out of hand. For me the less the better. But each to their own.

Sorry if I did not make it plain, Knackered, what I meant was: where did you move the young from -to.

From another loft, or from the parents.


Regards.

MISTY wrote:

Sorry if I did not make it plain, Knackered, what I meant was: where did you move the young from -to.

From another loft, or from the parents.


Regards.

Truth be told Misty it's on it's way to heaven etc maybe      via the garbage truck pick up here tomorrow etc.

I've never sent, let alone raced in a 'One Loft'  etc.
If I did / Or had, there would be, like most who do and have, one or two To do's'. I'd have set certain goals.
Firstly I would select say 6 pair of breeders. Completely unrelated. Whether I had or bought in. I would gather as much info I could, regarding the immunity and health. Their' and the lofts constitution. Their' homing ability. Another search would be that they came from proven Distance birds! Regardless of what system they flew.

Come to breeding, I would let them have plenty of room to move around in the loft. Maybe, hopefully, or perhaps I would have 12 birds completely unrelated. That's a must and a certainty ... I would select mates by the colours of parents and or former mates. This shows what they would prefer which leads to contentment. - Some times fanciers try incessantly to mate birds that aren't interested in each other!

Feed would be at least 50% (Often more) of Oats. A mixture of 30 or so percent protein and oil feeds. I think Tic beans at 25% or a smaller Maple pea at 22%. 15% to 20% small seeds. Canary or such or mixed (even wild seeds and I wouldn't care less about hygiene etc. A fallacy I feel). This is what I would rear the youngsters on! The young would get some 'Eggs' mix some times, say once or twice a week.
Nests would be a wooden square about 2 inches high. with  half a house brick at the side. One side able to be taken out and put back
At, say, 12 days I would start taking the youngsters aside of their' nest box. Yes side down so that they could fine and be able to go back in. This would show me what, if any, a brain and 'Homing ability'. I wouldn't - as I often did remove them from the nest box at 16 days or so and let the feed in the basket etc. As I would only be interested in what they showed me in natural elements in their nests. So would leave till they left on their own till they deserted the nest box and picked up on their own. No they wouldn't ever see outside the loft.
I would be confident that they were bred in the pink. reared to prime condition and had a brain and some homing ability BEFORE choosing which went etc. J.M.O.

Knackered, I did not mean just the sad little fellow who will be, hopefully, be in a better world than ours, but the whole lot of the young birds.

Had they been straight from the parents, or from one loft to another.


Regards.

MISTY wrote:

Knackered, I did not mean just the sad little fellow who will be, hopefully, be in a better world than ours, but the whole lot of the young birds.

Had they   been straight from the parents, or from one loft to another.


Regards.

Sorry Misty bit slow I'm   down here at times understanding the message sent type of thing . Just left the babies in the stock loft to fend for themselves etc here because of my circumstances before all going over to the race loft, bar one together. Just the natural thing/way maybe & I got the idea off an old fella one could say who has the same name as his dog type of thing would you believe.
*****

Thanks for sorting it out, Knackered, hope they have increased their immune system and fly their little hearts out for you.


Regards.

MISTY wrote:

Thanks for sorting it out, Knackered, hope they have increased their immune system and fly their little hearts out for you.


Regards.

They better my friend etc or they could just about finish up where my latest casualty here finished up type of thing I suggest.