Keeping your records.

[Murray]

On another thread I saw that a member had lost all their old records.
I was sad.

So it made me think, how do we keep a record of all our pigeons?
I have had various online loft management systems, but like all computer programs they are only as good as the data put on them.
I have found a pair of babies which should have been rung yesterday, squeezed rings on and gone inside to record them.
Saying to myself, "775, 776..."
Phone rings.......
Six months later, "What's that little blue bar?"

So, I still use my old loft book.
When I have to ring babies, I get the rings out, open the book and write the numbers on the page. It's old and backwards and all those things.
But it is foolproof.

[Devo1956]

I agree with Murray, nothing beats the old breeding book, all records of each individual bird. Right through to their time in the loft. i kept all my records right up to our move to Spain. Maria said it will be a new life, so i wont need to take all my racing pigeon collections. But then it all changed after getting rid of my records, Sad but true.

There is so much information to be kept on each individual. daily reporting on things going on around the loft. This is gathered by daily checks and observation.

[Anthony webster]

I have yearly diary's going back years but in race season I fill the diary out 7 days in advance will a plan and as each day goes by I tick everything as I do it so it's done absolutely perfect.

[king]

I've a record of EVERY bird I've bred since 1975. I write them in a book. The first book covers 1975 - 1994 the 2nd book is the one I'm using now and is from 1995 to present. I use a normal diary for when first egg is laid and hatch dates.

[MIL]

Record keeping is important in terms of breeding of course

Of much more value is like Tony says, a daily log of all things done at the lofts, treatments, observations, performances etc

Gary Gordon can tell you what he did at the lofts on any given day on any day in the last 30 years

[Trev]

I've always kept two books, one is my breeding book, in this book 1 record every pair I have, racing and breeding. Obviously I make a note of all the birds bred each year, but I also use it to keep a note of the nest position of all my race birds during the racing season, this information is used for me to determine the favourite nesting stage for each bird.
My other book is my race book, in here I record every race I send to and the time that each bird arrives home, I record in here next to each bird what nest position they were in for that race. Again this information is critical for me getting each bird in the best possible condition for their chosen races.
I also have a folder which has each birds individual records, pedigrees, race records and breeding records. I've been keeping these records since starting with pigeons of my own back in the early 80s, I also still have all our Dad's records dating back to 1959 when he started keeping them.

[Murray]

I have a folder in which I keep pedigrees of pigeons bought in for stock as well.

[Murray]

Record keeping is important in terms of breeding of course

Of much more value is like Tony says, a daily log of all things done at the lofts, treatments, observations, performances etc

Gary Gordon can tell you what he did at the lofts on any given day on any day in the last 30 years

I had a book, sadly lost, by one of the great old American racehorse trainers. He kept a card file, with a card for every horse in the barn. He wrote down every workout of every horse and every injury, or incident. He could go back 50 years and tell you how he trained a certain horse.
It would be easy to set up a spread sheet and do the same sort of thing on the computer.
In New Zealand I used to have a page in my book ruled up and record the order of arrival of the pigeons every week. I don't do it here, It would break your heart looking at it.

[MIL]

But we all agree the importance of the process is still there

[Andy]

But we all agree the importance of the process is still there

Very much so. I have a breeding book and a racing book. I also have a pad in the loft that everything is written into. This can then be transferred to the other books if needed.