Life in St Arnaud

[Andy]

All looking lovely Murray. You’ve done a great job. The cats look well at home.

[Murray]

I've been following events in the US of A, after another attempt to take the life of President Trump.
I have reached a conclusion.
Difference between a democrat and a Republican? Republican can think straight AND shoot straight...

I said it months ago, if the Democrats want to win the election there's a bullet proof solution. Run a better candidate. Pretty simple. They know Kamala is hopeless, and stands a good chance of getting beaten. So why didn't they select someone who has some credibility? There must be at least one Democrat who can construct a sensible sentence?
Trying to shoot the opponent is not a good way to go about it

[Andy]

I've been following events in the US of A, after another attempt to take the life of President Trump.
I have reached a conclusion.
Difference between a democrat and a Republican? Republican can think straight AND shoot straight...

I said it months ago, if the Democrats want to win the election there's a bullet proof solution. Run a better candidate. Pretty simple. They know Kamala is hopeless, and stands a good chance of getting beaten. So why didn't they select someone who has some credibility? There must be at least one Democrat who can construct a sensible sentence?
Trying to shoot the opponent is not a good way to go about it

That was just another PR stunt from Trump just like the first one was. It wouldn’t be hard to take him out if anyone wanted to. He knows his chances of winning are waining so he needs the American voters to feel sorry for him. I watched the first supposed assassination attempt again the other day. There were a number of gun shots in just a couple of seconds. Are you trying to tell me that the gunman only had one shot and the security guards spotted where they came from and shot back within a second of the first shot. It’s all signs of a desperate man trying to get back into power for me.

[Murray]

You may very well be right, Andy, but you have to remember that President Trump was 'winged' in one ear with one shot.
Another shot killed a man and several other people had gun shot injuries.
It was not "one shot".
Only my opinion, but the Democrats are the ones worrying. Finally they admitted that Joe has dementia and cannot run again. So, now they have Kamala.
Not good.

[Murray]

Anyway, I've got 7 pairs in nests, 4 pairs with babies and 3 pairs on eggs.
It is so exciting going through the process again. I feed a simple mix all year round. So now I am starting to put small bowls of peas in the nest boxes as they start picking the peas out of the mix.
I have read a million articles about raising youngsters, but I wonder if the blokes who wrote them have ever raised one?
The White Flight Thone" and the 600 mile hen hatched on the 13th. On the 18th they start pushing peas into those youngsters. For 10 days they will stuff peas into those babies, then just as suddenly, they will stop

[Andy]

Anyway, I've got 7 pairs in nests, 4 pairs with babies and 3 pairs on eggs.
It is so exciting going through the process again. I feed a simple mix all year round. So now I am starting to put small bowls of peas in the nest boxes as they start picking the peas out of the mix.
I have read a million articles about raising youngsters, but I wonder if the blokes who wrote them have ever raised one?
The White Flight Thone" and the 600 mile hen hatched on the 13th. On the 18th they start pushing peas into those youngsters. For 10 days they will stuff peas into those babies, then just as suddenly, they will stop

Good to see they’ve settled quickly Murray. When are you going to start letting a few out? Or are you going to wait to get the babies out first?

[Buster121]

Good to see all going well Murray

[Murray]

Anyway, I've got 7 pairs in nests, 4 pairs with babies and 3 pairs on eggs.
It is so exciting going through the process again. I feed a simple mix all year round. So now I am starting to put small bowls of peas in the nest boxes as they start picking the peas out of the mix.
I have read a million articles about raising youngsters, but I wonder if the blokes who wrote them have ever raised one?
The White Flight Thone" and the 600 mile hen hatched on the 13th. On the 18th they start pushing peas into those youngsters. For 10 days they will stuff peas into those babies, then just as suddenly, they will stop

Good to see they’ve settled quickly Murray. When are you going to start letting a few out? Or are you going to wait to get the babies out first?

I am wanting to start getting some out, but the weather has been playing against me. We have been getting strong blustery winds day after day and it's not ideal. I don't want them getting up and ending up too far away first time out.
Winds up to 45 kilometres per hour are forecast again today.
No rush, we will get a spell of good weather shortly. I don't want to get impatient and do the wrong thing.

[Andy]

That’s right. They have been shut up for a while now so need to choose your time correctly. Be nice when you have them out again though.

[Murray]

It's a grey, damp old day in St Arnaud, I cleaned out the birds, fed them and put fresh grit in all the boxes, which they all dived on.
New Mrs Gordon has laid, so I can float the eggs of the big inbred Heremans and B$B's daughter under them.

I put the rings on the first St Arnaud babies and put them in a clean nest bowl. 7 days old already! It's just a habit of mine, when I put rings on I put the babies in a clean nest bowl. After the first week the bowls are often a bit grubby.

When in the loft I was talking to the Grizzle Thone'. He's really come good now he's back in the loft, he was prowling around and growling away at me, biting my finger. The pigeon looks fanatastic, he's just gleaming.
Unlike a lot of pigeons which are a bit of a mixture, he is a straight Thone', and is off the imported directs from all the national and international winners. I have a lot of time for him. My mate David hates him. He tells me I need to get rid of him, he's no good.
The reason is he had the same pigeons but they were not as fast as the Hawkeye Heremans which keep winning all these short Fed and combine races.
He's mated to the same hen as last year, one of my old family. Next year he'll have a daughter of the white flight Thone' and the 600 mile hen. Then I'll test all the Thone' progeny over some distance.
There's plenty of people want the Roadrunner / Van den Bulck / Pitbull / Kittel type things. I'm taking orders... Not many are keen on distance type pigeons. It's the way the sport is going everywhere I think.