Life in St Arnaud

[Murray]

And bold! I was out with the hose doing a little hand watering before it got hot and saw a flick out of the corner of my eye. It had been sitting motionless in a tree. It did a lap of the yard and flew right past me. It will be hot tomorrow and we have to go to Bendigo again so they have a day in tomorrow.

[Devo1956]

And bold! I was out with the hose doing a little hand watering before it got hot and saw a flick out of the corner of my eye. It had been sitting motionless in a tree. It did a lap of the yard and flew right past me. It will be hot tomorrow and we have to go to Bendigo again so they have a day in tomorrow.

Would you not get a drone Murray, and put it up for 20 minutes before you let the birds out. If I had birds now that is what I would try myself.

[Murray]

I mentioned that I had given them all a dose Moxydectin horse wormer after I found the odd louse. Thought that had eradicated them, but no. Found one on a wing today.
So I made a bucket of Pyrethrum solution and dunked them all. It's been a warm afternoon so they have all dried out. That'll fix 'em!

[Devo1956]

I mentioned that I had given them all a dose Moxydectin horse wormer after I found the odd louse. Thought that had eradicated them, but no. Found one on a wing today.
So I made a bucket of Pyrethrum solution and dunked them all. It's been a warm afternoon so they have all dried out. That'll fix 'em!

Sounds good hope they are all clear.

[Murray]

Happy to report that things have settled down and the youngsters are doing great.
I know they had been hit by hawks a few times and were very nervous. They were just going out of the loft and takingoes againstg off in a panic.
I let some old pigeons out with them for a few days to try to give them some confidence. It appears to have worked, the last couple of days they are flying on their own, plus the old Diver who enjoys it, and they are ranging and returning, zooming around then off the other way, just what you want.
The stock birds are now on sort of alternate days exercise, I lost one and another had a narrow escape. They seem happy getting a fly every two or three days. It's really the best I can do for them.
Sadly I lost the Trillian Baby. Vanished.
I kept one youngster from her and the Roadrunner which just started flying. The rest went to other lofts. Beautiful hen, this is Maggie.
Maggie had her first real big fly this morning, after poking around for a week or so. She stayed with the team the whole time and was the first one in the trap when they landed !
Clever wee girl

Sometimes you get one that is just super, special, clever and smart. Maggie is one.
She has been flying with the youngsters for a month, at a guess, and flies an hour. When they drop she is always, always the first one in. Was never taught to be, she just is.
I don't handle young birds much, but I picked her up to look at her wing this morning. I don't think I have ever had a young bird with a faster wing.
Catherine took these pictures. She really doesn't know what she is looking at. And Maggie was scared and wriggling.
But what think ye of this, then?

[Trev]

I'm in trouble now. Goshawk has found the loft.
The damned things never give up. I had trouble getting the youngsters in this morning and then I saw why.

Sorry to read this mate, I feel for you, I hope it moves on to pastures new.
They have over 30 breeding pairs of them in the New Forest, about 60miles down the road from me, there has been sittings of one around where I am, but thankfully I've not seen it or heard of anymore sittings since.
There are some decent fanciers in the Forest, goodness knows how they cope every day. There are also a couple of liberation sites in the Forest, one of which is Stoney Cross where Andy's Fed race from, I imagine it's a feeding frenzy when they are liberated.

[Trev]

Happy to report that things have settled down and the youngsters are doing great.
I know they had been hit by hawks a few times and were very nervous. They were just going out of the loft and takingoes againstg off in a panic.
I let some old pigeons out with them for a few days to try to give them some confidence. It appears to have worked, the last couple of days they are flying on their own, plus the old Diver who enjoys it, and they are ranging and returning, zooming around then off the other way, just what you want.
The stock birds are now on sort of alternate days exercise, I lost one and another had a narrow escape. They seem happy getting a fly every two or three days. It's really the best I can do for them.
Sadly I lost the Trillian Baby. Vanished.
I kept one youngster from her and the Roadrunner which just started flying. The rest went to other lofts. Beautiful hen, this is Maggie.
Maggie had her first real big fly this morning, after poking around for a week or so. She stayed with the team the whole time and was the first one in the trap when they landed !
Clever wee girl

Sometimes you get one that is just super, special, clever and smart. Maggie is one.
She has been flying with the youngsters for a month, at a guess, and flies an hour. When they drop she is always, always the first one in. Was never taught to be, she just is.
I don't handle young birds much, but I picked her up to look at her wing this morning. I don't think I have ever had a young bird with a faster wing.
Catherine took these pictures. She really doesn't know what she is looking at. And Maggie was scared and wriggling.
But what think ye of this, then?

A very nice looking youngster Muzza, I do like a nice pencil blue. A nice even looking wing with a decent step in it, has she thrown two flights together mate ?? I can only count 8 flights !!
Good luck with her.

[Trev]

Kevin from Horsham and his mate Terry came over today to get some youngsters. Terry has had a disappointing breeding season after some alterations to his stock loft were not totally successful. So we agreed that these ones should go to him.
I gave him the pick of 6 out of the 8, I assured him I would be pleased to keep whichever ones he didn't take. There were a nice kit of babies in the box, he was well pleased.

We were standing out by the loft in the sun, and both of them commented on how cool the air coming out of it was. I showed them how the back vent at floor level and the high peaked roof creates excellent air movement. It looks quite enclosed, compared to most Aussie lofts, but the ventilation is good.

I had given the birds some veggies, and they were enjoying them. I explained it's just some veggies whizzed up in the blender. Easy.
Terry said to Kevin, " I know what you'll be doing tomorrow". Kevin laughed and replied, "You will be too!".

It was a nice visit and I am happy to see some more youngsters go to a place where they will be given a good chance.

Pleased you had a nice visit, I hope the babies do you all proud.
Although my birds are on open loft during the season and are open fronted for most of the winter, ventilation is something I really need to get better.

[Murray]

Happy to report that things have settled down and the youngsters are doing great.
I know they had been hit by hawks a few times and were very nervous. They were just going out of the loft and takingoes againstg off in a panic.
I let some old pigeons out with them for a few days to try to give them some confidence. It appears to have worked, the last couple of days they are flying on their own, plus the old Diver who enjoys it, and they are ranging and returning, zooming around then off the other way, just what you want.
The stock birds are now on sort of alternate days exercise, I lost one and another had a narrow escape. They seem happy getting a fly every two or three days. It's really the best I can do for them.
Sadly I lost the Trillian Baby. Vanished.
I kept one youngster from her and the Roadrunner which just started flying. The rest went to other lofts. Beautiful hen, this is Maggie.
Maggie had her first real big fly this morning, after poking around for a week or so. She stayed with the team the whole time and was the first one in the trap when they landed !
Clever wee girl

Sometimes you get one that is just super, special, clever and smart. Maggie is one.
She has been flying with the youngsters for a month, at a guess, and flies an hour. When they drop she is always, always the first one in. Was never taught to be, she just is.
I don't handle young birds much, but I picked her up to look at her wing this morning. I don't think I have ever had a young bird with a faster wing.
Catherine took these pictures. She really doesn't know what she is looking at. And Maggie was scared and wriggling.
But what think ye of this, then?

A very nice looking youngster Muzza, I do like a nice pencil blue. A nice even looking wing with a decent step in it, has she thrown two flights together mate ?? I can only count 8 flights !!
Good luck with her.

Good spotting, T. Hodges.
No, she's on her second flight, but the 9th is over the 10th.
If you look you will see that the wing is held between the thumb and finger. I lost the rest long long time ago. Holding a wing is difficult.

[Trev]

Sometimes you get one that is just super, special, clever and smart. Maggie is one.
She has been flying with the youngsters for a month, at a guess, and flies an hour. When they drop she is always, always the first one in. Was never taught to be, she just is.
I don't handle young birds much, but I picked her up to look at her wing this morning. I don't think I have ever had a young bird with a faster wing.
Catherine took these pictures. She really doesn't know what she is looking at. And Maggie was scared and wriggling.
But what think ye of this, then?

A very nice looking youngster Muzza, I do like a nice pencil blue. A nice even looking wing with a decent step in it, has she thrown two flights together mate ?? I can only count 8 flights !!
Good luck with her.

Good spotting, T. Hodges.
No, she's on her second flight, but the 9th is over the 10th.
If you look you will see that the wing is held between the thumb and finger. I lost the rest long long time ago. Holding a wing is difficult.

I imagine it must mate, but you have obviously adapted well
Thanks for clearing that up, she is very nice.