Life in Bendigo.

[Andy]

It looks a very nice mix. I don’t feed barley either. The only time I fed barley was as a depurative early in the week when I raced widowhood.

[killer]

We mainly use it as a weight control thing ,with our sprint pigeons ,very rarely with our distance birds , but it as it’s use ,Murray take a look at who’s winning in your area & what they are using ,if feeding protein is the trick ,go down that path ,but all the Top Feds I know of use a more balance diet for sprinting ,with barley being part of it ,not all of it ,where I race 5 seconds means winning or 10th Fed ,if you race in a Fed where meets seperate times ,probly don’t matter what you Feed ,

[Andy]

We mainly use it as a weight control thing ,with our sprint pigeons ,very rarely with our distance birds , but it as it’s use ,Murray take a look at who’s winning in your area & what they are using ,if feeding protein is the trick ,go down that path ,but all the Top Feds I know of use a more balance diet for sprinting ,with barley being part of it ,not all of it ,where I race 5 seconds means winning or 10th Fed ,if you race in a Fed where meets seperate times ,probly don’t matter what you Feed ,

I would agree with that Killer. When I said the only time I used barley was when racing widowhood, this of course was mainly racing up to 350 miles. I think with distance racing they need more in the tank for the number of hours they are going to have to fly. Barley is good for breaking birds down and keeping excessive weight off which is fine for sprint racing, but even then only for the early ones. Any that make a mistake will struggle.

[Murray]

We mainly use it as a weight control thing ,with our sprint pigeons ,very rarely with our distance birds , but it as it’s use ,Murray take a look at who’s winning in your area & what they are using ,if feeding protein is the trick ,go down that path ,but all the Top Feds I know of use a more balance diet for sprinting ,with barley being part of it ,not all of it ,where I race 5 seconds means winning or 10th Fed ,if you race in a Fed where meets seperate times ,probly don’t matter what you Feed ,

The bloke who was very succesful here last year fed a mix from a local grain store, that had no barley, but was not heavy on peas either.
I like a mix with plenty of grains and safflower, and not many peas for racing. Protien for breeding and growing, Carbs and fats for training and racing, I think.
Where I live the flyers are spread out over a wide area, and actually getting them home is just as important as having them razor sharp. It can be carnage around here. 100 mile races can take all day and losing most of them is accepted as normal. Getting them all home from a race is a rare event.
They need to be topped right up before they go. They can take many hours to get home after repeated hawk attacks.
I took some 10 miles yesterday, for the third day in a row, Took 18. 11 arrived together, several arrived during the afternoon, one was on the roof this morning. Missing a couple. They were pretty nervous, something has had a go at them.

[killer]

Mate I know what your talking about in your area ,but we learned our trade I n Hobart conditions changed every15 min, & yes we flew Amore protein diet way back then,but to be honest we knew know better 70 years ago ,times change & we must learn or fall behind ,

[killer]

Murray , Dave. Hartley as been racing a long time out that way,,does he live close to you ,

[Murray]

Yes, Dave lives just across town from me.

[Murray]

It's been a wet old day.
I had a couple out overnight from a short toss, probably after a falcon gave them a chase. One was there this morning, the other one arrived at some stage and they sat out in the rain all day. Wouldn't come in.
Because I didn't let them out today, when I went out to quickly clean out and feed them, a couple of the small youngsters dived out between my legs and spent an hour on the roof, while the ones that had been out dived in.
It's a circus, I tell you.

[Andy]

Mate I know what your talking about in your area ,but we learned our trade I n Hobart conditions changed every15 min, & yes we flew Amore protein diet way back then,but to be honest we knew know better 70 years ago ,times change & we must learn or fall behind ,

Yes things have changed Killer but the birds haven’t got any quicker when you look at the winning velocities from way back.
The big thing that has changed over here is that in the past if you were missing birds from that days race they were usually on the loft next morning or back during the day, you don’t find that now. Many just never return. Is this a result of very light feeds and no fuel in the tank to continue and once down they are spent? Don’t know!! But the hawks can’t possibly be responsible for all the losses.
Just my thought.

[Andy]

It's been a wet old day.
I had a couple out overnight from a short toss, probably after a falcon gave them a chase. One was there this morning, the other one arrived at some stage and they sat out in the rain all day. Wouldn't come in.
Because I didn't let them out today, when I went out to quickly clean out and feed them, a couple of the small youngsters dived out between my legs and spent an hour on the roof, while the ones that had been out dived in.
It's a circus, I tell you.

Good that you got them all back in the end.