Ambition in sport

George & Morgan wrote:

most birds go back to the old nest

Yes George and wood pigeons, we have two nest every year in the same nest within 6 meters of our back window, just top it up every year, many bird species remove droppings from the nest, woodies do not

Two magpies are going into the same silver birch tree and breaking twigs off and going back to where they are building their nest, but never touch the wood pigeons nest, the woodies themselves are not showing signs of going to nest yet.

Good job because the silver birch is comming down 15ft next Sunday when my son and son in law come to take it down a bit, not realy fair on our neighbour it takes the sun from their garden, they have never complained, but fair is fair.

Always said KEEP AS NEAR TO NATURE AS POSSIBLE.

Regards.

George & Morgan wrote:

just wish they would all go down at the same time would have liked to have sent one from him

Very nice looking pigeon George wish I looked that good.

How old is he and have you bred from him before and if so what happened to the youngsters ?.

Regards,

only 2 last year lost was told he should not have sent his ybs to a race when they all had one eye cold say no more only the one this year with a diffident hen next year it will be with a hen that's been raced this is his hen this year

yes a nice looking dark cock , looks in very good health ....

MISTY wrote:

oldstrain wrote:

peel bros wrote:

Had concrete floors years ago   nothing but problems.  Too cold

wayI lookedcatmatterswas.

heard it said many times ray but probably ok with a well maintained deep litter but if your doing that then just aswell scrape out eh ...but still does not appeal to me either ...george thats a fine pair of ybs your sending and you can do no more than that so i hope you get a bit of luck and they do well for you but they look great i have to say

The way I look at maters is do I want a loft of pigeons that suffer year after year with YB sickness, canker and several other common diseases to many fanciers pigeons, learn all the so called preventatives and cures and become an adviser on pigeon problems and cures etc; to other fanciers or have a loft full of healthy pigeons.

I chose the latter and adopted what nature tells us.

Pigeon droppings are not detrimental to the pigeon, thev are of benfit.

The old dove coats were cleaned out once in a blue moon, the little holes they nested in were rarely even bothered with other than to collect the young for the table, never heard of any health problems.

Once clinical conditions and spotless lofts started so did the problems.

Would not believe any fancier who has a clinical loft if he/she said they did not treat for and use preventatives for several diseases, worms, etc; and have health problems.

Took ten minutes a week to rake the deep litter over and incorporate any droppings and maybe a touch of lime, as the pigeons were on open loft many droppings were outside the loft.

Took a few minutes to clean the perches and dust them with lime.

Would much prefer having healthy pigeons than know how to cure sick ones.

Regards.  

   

nothing more clinical than a concrete floor misty,i think the best fanciers are adaptable and you cant blame anyone for sharing a experience of sick pigeons that got better through a kind of treatment eh,it would be selfish not to share such info ,i have treated sick pigeons that never needed to be treated again once cured so for me there is reasoning in treating pigeons but not blindly of course ,but thats just my outlook and every fancier has one

Agree about the concrete floor tis the deep litter that is not clinical.

Sand, lime and droppings.

Of course everyone is entitled to their opinion and you either accept it or not.

All I know is my way gave me as much satisfaction and enjoyment as one could wish for in results and all associated matters and I have seen fanciers spend thousands of pounds and lead a very frustrating life.

Regards.

Think the situation for racing is better at this time than this time last year.

Channel racing a pain in the posterior but could be made a lot easier with a little help from across the water.

Racing just around the corner.

Roll on.

Regards.

our first club race is on the 15th april, so not long to go now ......

MISTY wrote:

Would not worry about concrete floor.

As no doubt he will use some kind of litter and powder lime based.

My loft has a 9" concrete base with breezeblock upstand all round.

But also had sand and lime deep litter.

If you ever order concrete just look what is involved in a cube.

I ordered two and had to phone friends to bring wheel barrows and give me a hand before the concrete went off.

Did the drive and loft at the same time.

Regards.

Neither would I Misty concrete base, if constructed properly etc in the first place on a sand base & with a plastic type cover under the concrete as such like a typical house slab. Most cause themselves problems I've found I'm because they simply want to do it on the cheap side unfortunately & try & cut corners sadly.

Found that many times in our sport Knackered.

Fanciers decry something but when you go into detail they have not followed the script nor ever even tried it.

Always found actual results better than theories.

Problem today is mainly the fact that even the most dedicated fanciers are often up against a brick wall not of their making.

The whole health of the present day pigeons is problematic in as much as no one knows what other fanciers including studs are putting down their pigeons throats.

Over the past 50 years the health of our feathered friends has been compromised because those that would normally have been culled have been treated and their offspring treated for various ailments when they should have been culled.

You only have to look at the numerous CURE ALLS available.

That is the whole problem, you should irradicate not treat generation on generation perpetuating instead of irradicating.

But then money talks and so on goes the band waggon.

Regards.

Well hopefully we start Well on Sat. Would have liked more training but nevermind. It's anyone's Saturday

good luck and have good returns

peel bros wrote:

Well hopefully we start Well on Sat.  Would have liked more training but nevermind.  It's anyone's Saturday

You better etc start well Ray eyes are watching type of thing .

Hopefully yes . .

All the very best hope all goes well with no problems regarding racing restrictions. be nice to start off with a win and have a real good season.

Regards.

MISTY wrote:

Found that many times in our sport Knackered.

Fanciers decry something but when you go into detail they have not followed the script nor ever even tried it.

Always found actual results better than theories.

Problem today is mainly the fact that even the most dedicated fanciers are often up against a brick wall not of their making.

The whole health of the present day pigeons is problematic in as much as no one knows what other fanciers including studs are putting down their pigeons throats.

Over the past 50 years the health of our feathered friends has been compromised because those that would normally have been culled have been treated and their offspring treated for various ailments when they should have been culled.

You only have to look at the numerous CURE ALLS available.

That is the whole problem, you should irradicate not treat generation on generation perpetuating instead of irradicating.

But then money talks and so on goes the band waggon.

Regards.

   

Speaking about the same here yesterday Misty with my little plumber mate etc. Told me about freebees to be had in a raffle situation at his club donated by one of those expert types who sells them to the unwary, but somehow strangely goes missing whenever a head wind blows here come race day as such. Confided in me "little mate" he was totally confused & bewildered & sceptical by all the must have magic potions these days one must have to be successful as such. End of the day he is a typical know nothing type when talking the talk on potions thankfully, but knows how to present a good clock when a race is worth while & has some substance of value End of the story talk about lucky his boy (partner) bought a few raffle tickets at a recent club raffle here he said & he finished up walking away with 40 odd bags of grain as a reward somehow .

Time of year regarding breeding and getting ready for racing was the most enjoyable part of the year for me.

Always get the ich to get a few just for fun then remember why I had to part with them through health problems.

Just met an old fancier friend has to have a mobility motor, 84 years old and not in the best of health but was getting the pigeons ready for this Saturday but not going to send through lack of training due to the weather.

Discussed present day situation.

Asked how several of the old fanciers were and none are in the best of health.

One being in hospital.

Think the only club in town has 12 members but some only hanging in there and not actually flying any pigeons.


Used to be four strong clubs with high memberships.

Afraid our sport is not as it used to be in any shape or form.

Different type of fancier with a different approach to the sport.

Had my first pigeons over 80 years ago a joy to watch the miners tending
their pigeons and looking forward to beating them when old enough.

Would not give house room to some fanciers today

Can still picture some of the fanciers and their own built lofts, learned long ago it ain't the loft that has to fly but the happier the pigeon is in the loft the keener it will be to get back, and what man thinks a pigeon likes is disputable.

Funny old game.

Regards.

misty look at the obituaries in BHW this week 12 did 12 people become pigeon fanciers this week

George & Morgan wrote:

misty look at the obituaries in BHW this week 12 did 12 people become pigeon fanciers this week

Did George, at least an average of half a dozen fanciers every week and many will have gone to the pearly gates and not get a mention in the BHW.

Does not help matters when you cannot find out how many actual FLYING members there are in the RPRA.

As for new members with any prospect of staying in the sport I feel very low, the sport was losing members hand over fist before all the present problems and it offers prospective fanciers the least it has ever been.

SAD.

Regards,

misty just read not by rpra that they have 16000 members

George & Morgan wrote:

misty just read not by rpra  that they have 16000 members

Think that must be for the previous year George.

The total subscriptions for the last year were £96,131 the previous year £136,225.

Cannot see 16,000 paying only £96,131 in subs, not forgetting it says other things were involved in that sum.

I think the real figure is around 10,000.

Even 16,000 would be pathetic but 10,000 ?????.

Cannot understand why a member cannot just ask the question and get an answer with all the technology available.

Regards.

The membership will ultimately decide the fate of the sport George.

The latest on the internet from the RPRA with no date attached suggests there are 21,000 members.

It also says membership fees are £10.00 ie; £210,000.

A little different from the balance sheet.

Regards.

mine was£12 Morgan was£7=£19

our club changed subs a couple of years ago, it was originally one fee regardless of how many were in a partnership, then it changed to paying £10 (i think) for every person in the partnership .

ive always wondered if because they pay per person, do they still only have one vote per partnership or one for every person ...?

as we are not in a club we don't have any say in the rpra