Any joy in club Andy
Guess the time
No not really Neil but not unexpected. I sent 10 and got 10. I only sent 6 hens that had been widowhood hens and only been loft flying for the past 4 weeks since re-pairing, 2 natural who had come back late from a race a few weeks ago and 2 stray cocks. The 2 stray cocks came in last year. I only kept them to keep a couple of natural hens happy as I was short on cocks. They hadn’t been transferred and were just put in as trainers. These hadn’t been in a basket at all this year. The Mealey who was the first bird is a 2 year old Welsh cock. He came 6 minutes before one of my own
He would have been about 4th club 
. The hens had only had the 9 mile trainer on Thursday morning with the youngsters. Apart from one they were all back within 30 minutes of the first bird. Including a latebred hen from last year who was having her first ever race.
I know not much but considering how short it was and the fact they were racing against pigeons that have already had up to 10 races I was pleased with them really. They certainly didn’t seem any the worse for a fly with no urgency to come down or trap. Next week will hopefully be a different matter again when the team I’ve been racing go to the last race at a much better distance.
Incidentally Buster the first one of mine was a yearling hen bred out of a pair of yours.
Back just enjoying club racing for the time being.
You could be a bit strict with what you move on and race the hens next year AndyAndy wrote: ↑Sat Jul 13, 2024 10:39 pmNo not really Neil but not unexpected. I sent 10 and got 10. I only sent 6 hens that had been widowhood hens and only been loft flying for the past 4 weeks since re-pairing, 2 natural who had come back late from a race a few weeks ago and 2 stray cocks. The 2 stray cocks came in last year. I only kept them to keep a couple of natural hens happy as I was short on cocks. They hadn’t been transferred and were just put in as trainers. These hadn’t been in a basket at all this year. The Mealey who was the first bird is a 2 year old Welsh cock. He came 6 minutes before one of my own
The hens had only had the 9 mile trainer on Thursday morning with the youngsters. Apart from one they were all back within 30 minutes of the first bird. Including a latebred hen from last year who was having her first ever race.
I know not much but considering how short it was and the fact they were racing against pigeons that have already had up to 10 races I was pleased with them really. They certainly didn’t seem any the worse for a fly with no urgency to come down or trap. Next week will hopefully be a different matter again when the team I’ve been racing go to the last race at a much better distance.
Incidentally Buster the first one of mine was a yearling hen bred out of a pair of yours.
In a total widowhood system to give you more options
well done all 
Well done Andy, it was always going to be hard for you at that distance, hopefully next week will be differentAndy wrote: ↑Sat Jul 13, 2024 10:39 pmNo not really Neil but not unexpected. I sent 10 and got 10. I only sent 6 hens that had been widowhood hens and only been loft flying for the past 4 weeks since re-pairing, 2 natural who had come back late from a race a few weeks ago and 2 stray cocks. The 2 stray cocks came in last year. I only kept them to keep a couple of natural hens happy as I was short on cocks. They hadn’t been transferred and were just put in as trainers. These hadn’t been in a basket at all this year. The Mealey who was the first bird is a 2 year old Welsh cock. He came 6 minutes before one of my own
The hens had only had the 9 mile trainer on Thursday morning with the youngsters. Apart from one they were all back within 30 minutes of the first bird. Including a latebred hen from last year who was having her first ever race.
I know not much but considering how short it was and the fact they were racing against pigeons that have already had up to 10 races I was pleased with them really. They certainly didn’t seem any the worse for a fly with no urgency to come down or trap. Next week will hopefully be a different matter again when the team I’ve been racing go to the last race at a much better distance.
Incidentally Buster the first one of mine was a yearling hen bred out of a pair of yours.
