2020 Young Bird Team

Not overcrowded! I had a visiter crap in the back room last night. Possum I think.
This morning nuked a pile of newly hatched and put in the live trap. The animal had also pooped on the block holding one corner of the loft up.

do possums harm the pigeons hal ...?

looks like a typical van reet David, smasher.

yes colin, always easy to recognise the van reets if your familiar with the breed , hatched end of march, so around 14 weeks old now.........moulting nicely and last week started showing he is a cock .......

Think you only need a few like that one.

Quality not quantity.

Regards.

does he fly out from the new shed david?

does he fly out from the new shed david?

got my first Van Reets back in 1989, powder blues some with a few white flights and some like that of yours

no colin, he doesnt fly out from the new shed, none of them do ........they were never settled when i bought 30 of them , probably around 4 to 5 years ago now . im monitoring how he progresses in the moult, to see if birds hatched end of march could race natural instead of darkness, i`ll keep track of how heavy he is in the moult around his neck, and wing flights during the yb season......it may give me an indication to whats the best time to pair up / breed for next years natural team of young birds.

i think these caudwell van reets are very inbred now colin, ive paired two blues with no white flights, or no pied on them, and they have produced gay pieds .....

David, it won't be so easy to compare a non flying out bird with those flying out for comparison of the moult. That pied yb cock of yours will be further on in moult than he would have been if you had him flying out, natural YB's flown around the loft twice a day and in the baskets training from June will moult slower than something kept inside all the time from my experience anyway. I've got 6 yb's hatched mid-march on 4th and 5th primary flights now, a few new feathers around nose and neck, but still holding their covers and full heads so would be fine for at least the first few early YB races. Then I have others hatched in April on 2nd or 3rd flight but still full yb plumage not started any body moult yet so I would say these would make around 5 yb races. I put it down to flying out and exercising for long periods i.e. an hour plus, twice a day, and training from mid June. I think their metabolism and inner sense for want of a better explanation, understands they need to hang on to feathers for as long as possible as they are doing a lot of flying most days, whereas a bird parked up in the loft will go through the moult quicker once triggered, at least from my experience.

David wrote:

do possums harm the pigeons hal ...?

Yes. Sitting birds eggs young etc,. However, I catch them then let them go. They do more good than harm. Usually do not return.
It could be a young racoon. If so it will be disposed of unfortunately. They are killers. Have to be to survive. They always return.

cracking young un david

i didnt realise it would make a difference being confined or out exercising.......my plans have gone out the window now ......

going to check what wing flights have been moulted shortly ...

Something in the live trap last night. Did not trigger it as piece of bait was under the flap. Would not go down. Anyway, it will be back. All now reset. Told my wife. I said unusual I missed it. Mind like a steel trap! Her reply? Use WD 40. Must be rusted shut!
Daughter called to wish us Happy Anniversary. We just looked at each other. What anniversary? She remembered "Married 57 years today!.
Think we both need oiling!

halcanada81 wrote:

Something in the live trap last night. Did not trigger it as piece of bait was under the flap. Would not go down. Anyway, it will be back. All now reset. Told my wife. I said unusual I missed it. Mind like a steel trap! Her reply? Use WD 40. Must be rusted shut!
Daughter called to wish us Happy Anniversary. We just looked at each other. What anniversary? She remembered "Married 57 years today!.
Think we both need oiling!

congratulations on 57 years of marriage hal .......have a great day

David wrote:

i didnt realise it would make a difference being confined or out exercising.......my plans have gone out the window now ......

going to check what wing flights have been moulted shortly ...

young pied has 4 wing flights to go ..........not sure if thats good or bad

57 years and still talking Hal, must be a record.

You will have to start saving for the 60th.

You must be doing something right.

Best Wishes.

Regards.

David wrote:

David wrote:

i didnt realise it would make a difference being confined or out exercising.......my plans have gone out the window now ......

going to check what wing flights have been moulted shortly ...

young pied has 4 wing flights to go ..........not sure if thats good or bad

These are van reet based David, bred in March, 5 flights to go and they'll be throwing their covers pretty soon by the look of things: would struggle to get the first few races with these but the April/may bred YB's are fine.

thanks colin, im trying to gauge the best time to breed next season if i have a go at yb racing......i dont want to put them on darkness so natural will be the way i will go. if i pair early say january / February would they be moulted out more or less by the time yb season comes around ........what would be the best time to breed so i could race as much of the yb season as possible ...?

David I think you would have to pair late Nov, early December, so they are on a natural darkness, but getting YB's outside and on the wing is difficult in winter especially with hawks around. Pairing Jan and Feb you're always going to have them moulting during racing, and pairing late in season to have YB's away for end of May doesn't give much time to get them up flying and trained for racing. Guess this scenario you're in is why so many fanciers darken their YB's these days.

Usually I paired around Xmas day. Stock birds. Young had an aviary to go in.
End of Feb or beginning March let them out. Few losses, if any.
Longest day of the year put the lights on a timer for same number hours.
Raced the whole program. End of racing lights went off.
Held the flights and raced well. Lights off heavy moult to catch up.

barnie wrote:

David I think you would have to pair late Nov, early December, so they are on a natural darkness, but getting YB's outside and on the wing is difficult in winter especially with hawks around. Pairing Jan and Feb you're always going to have them moulting during racing, and pairing late in season to have YB's away for end of May doesn't give much time to get them up flying and trained for racing. Guess this scenario you're in is why so many fanciers darken their YB's these days.

yes you could be right there colin, ive had nothing but problems with darkness, main one being they wont exercise and become lazy, or want to be pairing up .....thats why i thought natural was the way to go.

halcanada81 wrote:

Usually I paired around Xmas day. Stock birds. Young had an aviary to go in.
End of Feb or beginning March let them out. Few losses, if any.
Longest day of the year put the lights on a timer for same number hours.
Raced the whole program. End of racing lights went off.
Held the flights and raced well. Lights off heavy moult to catch up.

is this what they call the light system hal ...?

I am not sure. Different ways of using light I assume.

ive heard one form of light system pulls flights ...?