Tips

[Buster121]

Pest control around your garden, can be taken care of with these garden plants. Growing garlic and onions, along with Lavender, Daffodils, Sage, Mint, Lemongrass.. These will all help keeping pest under control. the pest do not like the smell of these plants.

I have tried mint, garlic, onions, lavender, and the latest is eucalyptus trees I bought 2 last year and now they around 6feet tall and have to say nothing has worked I even spend £ 30 per month on the poison blocks and we still overun with the damn things

[Devo1956]

Pest control around your garden, can be taken care of with these garden plants. Growing garlic and onions, along with Lavender, Daffodils, Sage, Mint, Lemongrass.. These will all help keeping pest under control. the pest do not like the smell of these plants.

I have tried mint, garlic, onions, lavender, and the latest is eucalyptus trees I bought 2 last year and now they around 6feet tall and have to say nothing has worked I even spend £ 30 per month on the poison blocks and we still overun with the damn things

I did use the big cheese blocks myself, but i must say you have to keep on topping up. My back garden backs on to railway.

[Buster121]

Pest control around your garden, can be taken care of with these garden plants. Growing garlic and onions, along with Lavender, Daffodils, Sage, Mint, Lemongrass.. These will all help keeping pest under control. the pest do not like the smell of these plants.

I have tried mint, garlic, onions, lavender, and the latest is eucalyptus trees I bought 2 last year and now they around 6feet tall and have to say nothing has worked I even spend £ 30 per month on the poison blocks and we still overun with the damn things

I did use the big cheese blocks myself, but i must say you have to keep on topping up. My back garden backs on to railway.

I used the big cheese for the mice baits as smaller and the oktoblok ones for rat baits which mice do use as well but gives me an idea what is in the gardens as the rats cannot get into the small mouse ones, I top up every Sunday, used some grain last time and when checking all still full so do not like grains only my pigeon seeds lol

[Murray]

Pest control around your garden, can be taken care of with these garden plants. Growing garlic and onions, along with Lavender, Daffodils, Sage, Mint, Lemongrass.. These will all help keeping pest under control. the pest do not like the smell of these plants.

I have tried mint, garlic, onions, lavender, and the latest is eucalyptus trees I bought 2 last year and now they around 6feet tall and have to say nothing has worked I even spend £ 30 per month on the poison blocks and we still overun with the damn things

I hope you have a big garden, Buster. Our back neighbour has a gum tree by our back fence, In the last 15 years it has grown from 50' high to 75 or 80', and it's about 40' across. It is a good tree, it's home to lots of birds, but if it falls in a storm it with demolish half the house.

[Murray]

Give your youngsters a chance to mature. Do not overwork and burn them out with long, hard training flights.

We would all agree with that. But we need to look at how they are flying at home. If your youngsters are flying like lunatics for an hour at home, they will be flying maybe 40 miles, probably more every day. I don't train mine every day or go 40 miles until just before the first race, but I have found it easy to be too soft on them and under train them.
Of course the pigeons need to be jumping out of their skins. Flying for 20 minutes, land in a clatter, eyes sticking out and looking mad, catch their breath and go, ZOOM! off again.
Youngsters flying loops around the shed because they are not allowed to come down until the flag comes down......Different thing.
Does anyone agree?

[Devo1956]

Give your youngsters a chance to mature. Do not overwork and burn them out with long, hard training flights.

We would all agree with that. But we need to look at how they are flying at home. If your youngsters are flying like lunatics for an hour at home, they will be flying maybe 40 miles, probably more every day. I don't train mine every day or go 40 miles until just before the first race, but I have found it easy to be too soft on them and under train them.
Of course the pigeons need to be jumping out of their skins. Flying for 20 minutes, land in a clatter, eyes sticking out and looking mad, catch their breath and go, ZOOM! off again.
Youngsters flying loops around the shed because they are not allowed to come down until the flag comes down......Different thing.
Does anyone agree?

To be honest with you Murray, i have never used the flag.I wanted my youngsters to be in the mind of they could return and enter the loft at any time. Road training was up to 30 miles, then they were ready for racing.

[Trev]

Pest control around your garden, can be taken care of with these garden plants. Growing garlic and onions, along with Lavender, Daffodils, Sage, Mint, Lemongrass.. These will all help keeping pest under control. the pest do not like the smell of these plants.

I have tried mint, garlic, onions, lavender, and the latest is eucalyptus trees I bought 2 last year and now they around 6feet tall and have to say nothing has worked I even spend £ 30 per month on the poison blocks and we still overun with the damn things

I have to say I've tried a lot of those remedies too, they seem to work initially but eventually the vermin ignore them. I just have bait boxes permanently loaded around the garden, that let's me know when the vermin are around. The best way of keeping the foxes away is to wee around the loft or better still get your wife to do it, the foxes will stay away then, just don't let your neighbours see you lol
I hope the Eucalyptus trees aren't too close to your house mate, their roots can be very invasive, they do grow fast too

[Trev]

Pest control around your garden, can be taken care of with these garden plants. Growing garlic and onions, along with Lavender, Daffodils, Sage, Mint, Lemongrass.. These will all help keeping pest under control. the pest do not like the smell of these plants.

I have tried mint, garlic, onions, lavender, and the latest is eucalyptus trees I bought 2 last year and now they around 6feet tall and have to say nothing has worked I even spend £ 30 per month on the poison blocks and we still overun with the damn things

I did use the big cheese blocks myself, but i must say you have to keep on topping up. My back garden backs on to railway.

I can imagine being next to the railway line must be a bit of an issue with vermin
We are ok here most of the summer when there are crops in the fields but they are a problem once the crops have been harvested and right through the winter, I get rid of one lot then after a couple of weeks clear another load move in.

[Trev]

I have tried mint, garlic, onions, lavender, and the latest is eucalyptus trees I bought 2 last year and now they around 6feet tall and have to say nothing has worked I even spend £ 30 per month on the poison blocks and we still overun with the damn things

I did use the big cheese blocks myself, but i must say you have to keep on topping up. My back garden backs on to railway.

I used the big cheese for the mice baits as smaller and the oktoblok ones for rat baits which mice do use as well but gives me an idea what is in the gardens as the rats cannot get into the small mouse ones, I top up every Sunday, used some grain last time and when checking all still full so do not like grains only my pigeon seeds lol

I use bait blocks, I don't like grains in the garden as they seem to drag them out and the wild birds etc can then get to them, they do sometimes bring the blocks out too but the birds won't touch them.

[Trev]

Give your youngsters a chance to mature. Do not overwork and burn them out with long, hard training flights.

We would all agree with that. But we need to look at how they are flying at home. If your youngsters are flying like lunatics for an hour at home, they will be flying maybe 40 miles, probably more every day. I don't train mine every day or go 40 miles until just before the first race, but I have found it easy to be too soft on them and under train them.
Of course the pigeons need to be jumping out of their skins. Flying for 20 minutes, land in a clatter, eyes sticking out and looking mad, catch their breath and go, ZOOM! off again.
Youngsters flying loops around the shed because they are not allowed to come down until the flag comes down......Different thing.
Does anyone agree?

I think this is one of those very personal preferences, I know some fanciers don't race youngsters at all but train hard, others just let them loft fly, some race lightly whereas others work them hard. I personally have always been one to work them hard and keep them going as long as they are fit enough, no better way of developing muscle than working it !!! I have never flagged my birds but there are a few club members that do.
Late breds are a different matter, I do think they need to be just left to develop but again do need training. As I say, that's just my way not necessarily the best or only way.