My godfather, who taught me pretty much everything I know, he never had a stock loft or stock birds due to the size of the backyard where is loft was situated.
He was a successful distance flyer and never raced young birds.
He only bred a small amount of youngsters every year and these were from his race team. He never sold birds, but would every now and then give away eggs.
How times have changed.
Northern Ireland has always been notable for it's outstanding fanciers George and the large amount of them making competition stiff.