trip for corn

Mixed up few bits of allsorts that was left and added some race mix, this will be the diet for next 6 weeks or so. Noticed another £1 a bag on the corn, second increase of the year already !

A very good article in the BHW this week by Ad Schaerlaeckens part regarding feed.

Well worth read and consideration.

Always said swapping and changing a waste of time and can do more harm than good.

But good for the commercial boys.

Does not one think if there was an ideal method it would have been adopted by everyone by now ?.

Regards.

I've always fed differently from end September till the eggs were due in February, for one thing my pockets weren't deep enough to feed best race mix for nearly 5 months of the year when the birds were confined to the loft doing nothing. No waste here. Mixed up anything left over and added to a typical winter mix with beans. Then on the hopper through the winter months.
Now its race mix being added, bring them on a bit ready for flying out exercise in a fortnight. My opinion here but I think the top men, I mean those that are always in the results, fed and combine (not a club with 3 members) certainly have top pigeons but also know a bit about how to feed them, crack the feeding and you're on the way I reckon.

looks a decent all round mix colin .......im still using up what ive had since before christmas, an all round mix mixed 50/50 with a yb no maize mix .

will introduce a breeding mix when i buy new supplies .

David wrote:

looks a decent all round mix colin .......im still using up what ive had since before christmas, an all round mix mixed 50/50 with a yb no maize mix .

will introduce a breeding mix when i buy new supplies .

Hope your supplier hasn't raised the prices David, sign of the times it seems, everything under the sun going up almost weekly, my £5 a week pocket money doesn't stretch far these days

i wont know for a few weeks yet colin, hes usually pretty good with his prices ....i think i might use up what ive got here even when the ybs hatch, as other years the parents tend to leave a lot of maize, which goes to waste , this 50/50 is quite a high protein mix so it might be good for feeding ybs ...???

barnie wrote:

I've always fed differently from end September till the eggs were due in February, for one thing my pockets weren't deep enough to feed best race mix for nearly 5 months of the year when the birds were confined to the loft doing nothing. No waste here. Mixed up anything left over and added to a typical winter mix with beans. Then on the hopper through the winter months.
Now its race mix being added, bring them on a bit ready for flying out exercise in a fortnight. My opinion here but I think the top men, I mean those that are always in the results, fed and combine (not a club with 3 members) certainly have top pigeons but also know a bit about how to feed them, crack the feeding and you're on the way I reckon.

Firsly no amount of feed will make a good pigeon from a bad one.

There is a big difference between a fancier flying Widowhood etc; and one flying complete open loft.

When I flew there was over 60 members at times, the News of the World was
won here as was the Vaux Usher twice, two of the very best long distance fanciers flew and fly in this area.

If one reads the facts regarding top fanciers and in particular those who do not enjoy all the advantages of wealth and assisance from one another and win you will find from feeding just beans all year round to using everything on the market.

My idea was to give my pigeons a life as near to nature as possible, not interested, nor would I, fasten them up for most of their life.

I could get several townies and within a few weeks have them looking like film stars by selective feeding but it would not make them film stars.

My pigeons on a conservative estimate would fly 300 miles a day, in mid summer, out at daybreak and only in late at night, up and down none stop all day, you cannot get that with 60 mile chucks, young and old together.

I also gave pigeons to fanciers that made their day, and not just one or two some gaining their first 500 miler on the day etc;

The sport, as I said it would in the late 1960s, has been ruined by commercialism and going continental.

The fancier pays the bill and it is their choice how they spend it.

In my case the pigeons welfare came first by giving them as natural a life as possible.


The gentleman mentioned above is well worth reading, this weeks BHW.

Regards.

barnie wrote:

David wrote:

looks a decent all round mix colin .......im still using up what ive had since before christmas, an all round mix mixed 50/50 with a yb no maize mix .

will introduce a breeding mix when i buy new supplies .

Hope your supplier hasn't raised the prices David, sign of the times it seems, everything under the sun going up almost weekly, my £5 a week pocket money doesn't stretch far these days

you mean I'm actually not the only one Barnie on a pitiful, pittance of an allowance etc        come pocket money time .

looks good to me colin ,not bought a bag for months as the dirty dozen i have here only need a bog every 8 weeks ,so 6 bags lasts me nearly a year

oldstrain wrote:

looks good to me colin ,not bought a bag for months as the dirty dozen i have here only need a bog every 8 weeks ,so 6 bags lasts me nearly a year

Yes small team = smaller bills Darren honestly don't know how fanciers with 150+ birds find the money to feed, train, race, and everything else that goes with it. Unless in partnerships which makes a big difference of course.

Anyway proof of the pudding as they say, marble droppings and down feathers as a bonus ..............

Funny thing can remember as very a young fancier feeding dog tooth maize, farm beans, horse beans sometimes crushed, wheat and barley from the farms and numerous small seeds from when the thrashing machines were working.

Never had any health problems that were of any consequence and certainly never had to treat like they have to do today.

I would not believe any fancier who uses widowhood and the darkness system who says they do not treat for several potential problems, I know some who say they do not but at a later date ?????.

Anyone using clinical conditions WILL HAVE HEALTH PROBLEMS., the further from nature you go the more problems you have.

The continentals use Baytril every month and have done so from the 70s at least when I brought the matter up.

I would much rather have my pigeons winning races and shows not needing any artificial,means of doing so and them having the life of Old Riley.

As stated previously could treat street pigeons for a few weeks and have bloom that covers everything they touch, does not mean they are naturally healthy.

Regards.

Going even further back when I was first given my first pair of pigeons by a friend of my father who bred and sold Barkers and Logans I used to feed them on chicken corn, bread, rice and green peas my mum used for our dinners and anything else lying around, that was several years before I could even think of becomming involved in the racing side etc;no health problems..

I was around 5 years old.

I then I had a proper pigeon loft and real racing pigeons about 10 years old.

My father nor any other member of my family had ever been pigeon fanciers but all my friends fathers were.and I had help from them.

At the same time I had some real help from a Mr Marshall of Redlands Road Loughborough, I reported one of his pigeons and he bred me some young ones and loaned me a pair of stock birds and gave me some advice.

Never looked back in having healthy and winning pigeons.

Regards.


I reported one of his pigeons and he bred me some young ones

MISTY wrote:

Going even further back when I was first given my first pair of pigeons by a friend of my father who bred and sold Barkers and Logans I  used to feed them on chicken corn, bread,  rice and  green peas my mum used for our dinners and anything else lying around, that was several years before I could even think of becomming involved in the racing side etc;no health problems..

I was around 5 years old.

I then I had a proper pigeon loft and real racing pigeons about 10 years old.

My father nor any other member of my family had ever been pigeon fanciers but all my friends fathers were.and I had help from them.

At the same time I had some real help from a Mr Marshall of Redlands Road Loughborough, I reported one of his pigeons and he bred me some young ones and loaned me a pair of stock birds and gave me some advice.

Never looked back in having healthy and winning pigeons.

Regards.


I reported one of his pigeons and he bred me some young ones    


         

First bloke that ever helped me here Misty in a pigeon sense was a Sherriff would you believe. Had the responsibility of keeping the greens green at the local golf course for a job & I spent many hours helping him water them all after school & well into the night for years while talking & learning about pigeons. Raced the Carponta Deshutters (best I could do) old type Belgium breed brought out here back in the 1920 type era by a family friend of his called Mr Lawrence, who I still have fond memories of fortunately as later in life he actually lived local to me here in retirement the way things turned out.

first pigeon i ever bought was for the costly sum of 50p, a 1974 rung blue cock ..........it won virtually every eye sign show i entered it into .

David wrote:

first pigeon i ever bought was for the costly sum of 50p, a 1974 rung blue cock ..........it won virtually every eye sign show i entered it into .

Funny thing that David the late Albert Whity picked a pigeon out for the late Skarthie
from a fancier called Killingbeck ( good facier) a cheq Pied Cock.

He did not fancy it and passed it on to another fancier for £8, I asked him  if he ever wanted to part with  it I would buy it, he said if he did not want it at the end of the year I could have it at the price he paid Skarthie.

I ended up with it and the only eye sign show I lost with it was second out of 400 pigeons at a Guesborough Show that was just for eyesign.

He also bred some other eye sign winners, and died at 18, he also bred some dummies.

Also know of barn pigeons with outstanding eye sign, friend used to clear pigeons from buildings and churches, always been interested in eyesign, but seen too many outstanding pigeons that had very little and too many poor ones with good to realy put any faith in it as a criteria of a good pigeon, they just need two that show them the way home.

Would be nice to hear of other fanciers experiences as I once suggested, there must be something of interest out of the ordinary that happened to all fanciers.

Regards.

MISTY wrote:

David wrote:

first pigeon i ever bought was for the costly sum of 50p, a 1974 rung blue cock ..........it won virtually every eye sign show i entered it into .

Funny thing that David the late Albert Whity picked a pigeon out for the late Skarthie
from a fancier called Killingbeck ( good facier) a cheq Pied Cock.

He did not fancy it and passed it on to another fancier for £8, I asked him  if he ever wanted to part with  it I would buy it, he said if he did not want it at the end of the year I could have it at the price he paid Skarthie.

I ended up with it and the only eye sign show I lost with it was second out of 400 pigeons at a Guesborough Show that was just for eyesign.

He also bred some other eye sign  winners, and died at 18, he also bred some  dummies.

Also know of barn pigeons with outstanding eye sign, friend used to clear pigeons from buildings and churches, always been interested in eyesign, but seen too many outstanding pigeons that had very little and too many poor ones with good to realy put any faith in it as a criteria of a good pigeon, they just need two that show them the way home.

Would be nice to hear of other fanciers experiences as I once suggested, there must be something of interest out of the ordinary that happened to all fanciers.

Regards.

Barn pigeons are part of my memory package here etc Misty Local novice flyer, back when was making the locals look rather sick, sick on race day champs knocking on his door looking to buy. Turns out he had a farmer mate, living out the back of nowhere in black fella type country where his nearest neighbour was 50 odd miles away & all his stock birds were actually bred from the strays that strayed into a barn there looking for a home .

David wrote:

first pigeon i ever bought was for the costly sum of 50p, a 1974 rung blue cock ..........it won virtually every eye sign show i entered it into .

You did well David cost me 5 bob here in 1956 for my first champ etc & it didn't even have ring on it's leg. Strange thing is thou I still actually have a photograph of it here.
*****

i still remember the ring number knackered, 40+ years later, yet cant remember any of the birds rings i have now .......

Would be nice to hear other fanciers experiences out of the ordinary, all must have some funny, or problamatic ones.

Had a look back at some records, I never ever liked culling and have frowned on it thinking fanciers should be more loving towards our feathered friends.

Got a shock when before I had established the good from the bad as breeders etc; I culled ( 60 years ago ) into double figures for several years.

As for ring numbers David how about trying to remember
AU 78 21129 3HH 345 like remembering your army number, he was an American pigeon I bought at a Massarella auction for charity, he bred both me and others some real good pigeons, won several shows and was asked by some for a young one off him.

Looking back can be both enlightening and suprising, think we forget what we want to forget.

Regards.

my first bird would be 48 years old now if he was still alive ......

just goes to show how time flies eh , i was sorting some tools out a few days ago and i picked up a bricklaying trowel, spirit level, hammers etc etc and realised they were around 40 years old, older than my daughter .........and probably classed as vintage

David wrote:

my first bird would be 48 years old now if he was still alive ......

just goes to show how time flies eh , i was sorting some tools out a few days ago and i picked up a bricklaying trowel, spirit level, hammers etc etc and realised they were around 40 years old, older than my daughter .........and probably classed as vintage

Bet you can remember all the bricks you laid when passing the buildings concerned David.

Had some funny and scary experiences myself when working for Wimpy.
Abosolutely hopeless at building anything and admire those that can.

Regards.

yes misty, as it happens i went to buy my wife a riser / recliner electric chair at the weekend, i knew the area because i had worked there on a jewish school approx 35 years ago, its always nice to see buildings ive worked in the past, or walls / brickwork ive done years ago if im passing by certain areas .

our house is around 95 years old, built around 1925/6 and i often wonder about the men who did the brickwork, using the old imperial bricks which were much bigger and heavier than the modern metric bricks .

David wrote:

yes misty, as it happens i went to buy my wife a riser / recliner electric chair at the weekend, i knew the area because i had worked there on a jewish school approx 35 years ago, its always nice to see buildings ive worked in the past, or walls / brickwork ive done years ago if im passing by certain areas .

our house is around 95 years old, built around 1925/6 and i often wonder about the men who did the brickwork, using the old imperial bricks which were much bigger and heavier than the modern metric bricks .

handy thing a brick etc David I found in a pigeon type sense. Old style Cathedral type churches thou, were the ones that always fascinated me here Scaffolding work required to finish the job would have been rather interesting to see as such. End of the day doubt if much height money paid there back when, for those up there maybe preying that they didn't just crash to the ground by the end of their daily shift .

anyone used crushed brick to give to their pigeons ...? ive never done it but would imagine the older bricks would be safer, as they are softer when crushed, modern bricks are very sharp and i would suspect more dangerous ........

David wrote:

anyone used crushed brick to give to their pigeons ...?  ive never done it but would imagine the older bricks would be safer, as they are softer when crushed,  modern bricks are very sharp and i would suspect more dangerous ........

I have never used them myself, however, a Mr Kellaway who I got in touch with and offered to buy a certain pigeon (he refused) but in the conversation we discussed pigeon racing etc; I was very impressed with his ideas and said so.

Not long after I receive a hand written book on how to fly pigeons and keep them healthy from him.( lost it whilst moving house).

Think in fact he was loft manager to a top fancier.

Very good advice.

One thing he included was  that there was a pile of old bricks and mortar on the garden for the pigeons to pick at.

However, the one thing that stuck in my mind was the last sentence.

DO NOT PLAY HENIOUS TRICKS ON THE PIGEONS AND THEY WILL REPAY YOU A HUNDRED FOLD.

Regards.