The birds have been paired up for just over 3 weeks now. They have just been going out once a day in the mornings. Since the clocks changed at the weekend I am now managing to get them out again late afternoon. The problem I was having with them only going out in the mornings was because I race natural it was only really the cocks that were getting to go out as the hens were still sitting. By letting them out in the afternoon while the cocks are still sitting it gives the hens the chance to have a fly. They are starting to fly well around home now. Yesterday afternoon though when they went out it was raining. I don’t mind flying them in the rain. They enjoyed having a bath in the rain and were drenched. You could tell by the sound they made when coming down onto the loft. While I was in the loft cleaning out before getting them in I heard 3 or 4 come down. 1 thought hit the front of the loft. She was so wet she struggled to fly properly. She flew up into the tree behind the loft. Despite me trying to coax her down she wouldn’t. It then got dark and she wasn’t in so I shut up the loft with her still in the tree. When I got up this morning it hadn’t been light long but she was already on the loft trying to get in. Once I opened up the trap she was in straight away and back on her eggs.
I haven’t managed to get any training in yet because of the weather and with the first race being just over 2 weeks time I’m not sure I will. Although next week does look a bit better so will give them a couple if I can. I’m not too worried as the first couple of races are only 35 miles. Last year my first 2 birds from the first old bird race from 107mls were both only trained as youngsters and not trained prior to racing as old birds.
Exercising around home
Not sure if eggs will be ok if she been off all night as sometimes the cock will come off looking for her, sometimes my hens would come off have a quick fly to stretch wings with cocks and back on eggs always hatched ok
Sadies Lofts home of decent birds just a useless loft manager, and now a confirmed loser but proud 
The cock was still sitting this morning.
Back just enjoying club racing for the time being.
I like seeing them out in the rain, but not late in the day. If the go away wet just on dark they can sit all night damp, which isn't so good.
Ad Schearleackens is very clear on that. You should not let your race birds go to bed wet, it can damage the form.
I read that many years ago too. Some widowhood racers never let the cocks out if it was raining.
It's all food for thought.
Ad Schearleackens is very clear on that. You should not let your race birds go to bed wet, it can damage the form.
I read that many years ago too. Some widowhood racers never let the cocks out if it was raining.
It's all food for thought.
Greetings from the land down under.
Blessed is he who expecteth nothing, for verily, he shall not be disappointed.
Blessed is he who expecteth nothing, for verily, he shall not be disappointed.
Not sure I agree with that in my experience. Here’s why.Murray wrote: ↑Thu Mar 30, 2023 10:33 pm I like seeing them out in the rain, but not late in the day. If the go away wet just on dark they can sit all night damp, which isn't so good.
Ad Schearleackens is very clear on that. You should not let your race birds go to bed wet, it can damage the form.
I read that many years ago too. Some widowhood racers never let the cocks out if it was raining.
It's all food for thought.
Way back in the 70s, when learning about the sport, dad and many other fanciers at that time would certainly have agreed with you. It was a common thought that birds racing at the weekend shouldn’t be allowed out in the rain or have a bath after Wednesday. It was thought that birds that have recently had a bath/got soaked would lose a bit of form and would go down quickly if they ran into any rain during the race as their oils in the bloom on their feathers wouldn’t be as good. I believed this to be the case at the time and went along with it. I was in the Worthing club then which at the time was a very strong club with over 40 members and a lot of top class members at that. We had one member in particular who was the top prize winner in the club on many occasions. Trev will remember Russell Broad. He quite often would be one of the last members to turn up on basketing night. I remember on several occasions he would turn up with a basket of wet pigeons. His excuses would be that he had forgotten to take the baths away or if it had been raining he hadn’t shut the loft up. At the time we would think how silly of him. But he invariably won the race the next day with these “wet pigeons” regardless of the weather. Didn’t really think anything about it at the time and just put it down to him being a top fancier with class pigeons. A few years later, around the mid 80s, I decided to change to widowhood and brought a book called “The secret of speed”. I used this book as the basis of my widowhood system. In this book there was a section on bathing and the effects it could have on the pigeons. What I found out was that form could actually be enhanced with the use of the bath. I would put a bath of cold (tap water temperature) down for the cocks at around midday on the day of basketing. It would be down for about an hour before being taken away allowing the birds to dry out. I found that on the whole the first birds in the bath would be the front runners in the race. When returning from the race after being given their allotted time with their hens and once all the cocks were back I would take a bowl of warm water into the loft and immerse every cock in the water with just their head above the surface for a minute each before putting them back in their nest boxes. When going back to check on them a bit later they would all be laying quietly resting in their boxes. This system of giving the birds a bath just prior to basketing worked equally well with youngsters. It was a system that worked well for me and I won many races on this. Even by this time quite regularly beating the likes of Russell. Looking back I’m sure it wasn’t a mistake he was making back then but that he was fully aware of the advantages and knew exactly what he was doing.
Back just enjoying club racing for the time being.
Mine always had a bath friday's after loft flying exercise but always had them dry before basketting sometimes I washed the cocks tails with wet wipes just before basket just to clean them after they had been chasing whilst wet after bath
Sadies Lofts home of decent birds just a useless loft manager, and now a confirmed loser but proud
It is funny how they prefer to splash around in the baths when it is raining than when it is hot and dry.
On a hot day here they tear around for a bit, then drop and dive into the baths, but mainly to get a drink, then lay about in the sun for a while, then take off again.....
On a showery day they are all in the bath flopping about or upside down on the lawn.
On a hot day here they tear around for a bit, then drop and dive into the baths, but mainly to get a drink, then lay about in the sun for a while, then take off again.....
On a showery day they are all in the bath flopping about or upside down on the lawn.
Greetings from the land down under.
Blessed is he who expecteth nothing, for verily, he shall not be disappointed.
Blessed is he who expecteth nothing, for verily, he shall not be disappointed.
When it's wet and cold mine dive into the drinkers and bath soaking the floors when in winter months more so than summerMurray wrote: ↑Sat Apr 01, 2023 1:28 am It is funny how they prefer to splash around in the baths when it is raining than when it is hot and dry.
On a hot day here they tear around for a bit, then drop and dive into the baths, but mainly to get a drink, then lay about in the sun for a while, then take off again.....
On a showery day they are all in the bath flopping about or upside down on the lawn.
Sadies Lofts home of decent birds just a useless loft manager, and now a confirmed loser but proud