By Adie McCormick
http://www.pigeonnetwork.com
“I DID IT MY WAY”
1st Open INFC Kings Cup Nantes 1971
By Sam Bell, Dundoanld.
Being declared winner of the Irish National Flying Club Kings Cup Race from Nantes in 1971, I must say came as quite a surprise to me as, although I have dreamed the dream of all fanciers, I just couldn’t believe that my champion pigeon “Moatside Monarch”, had brought this honour to me. However as I have never wrote anything before, this is quite a chore, but I will endeavour to in the following paragraphs say something that will be of interest to at least some of you.
"Moatside Monarch" winner of 1st Open INFC Kings Cup from Nantes 550 miles in 1971 Owned and raced by Sam Bell of Dundonald, Co.Down.
I first started taking an interest in pigeons as a schoolboy, and with the help of a few boys, built my first loft, then bought a few birds from local fanciers. I raced my first youngsters during 1950-51 and was fortunate to win the first race for which I entered. As is usual among boys, football etc, took over from pigeons and that time until I resumed racing in 1960 after my marriage, I didn’t take much interest in pigeon racing, although I always kept a few birds at my loft.
When I again decided to take an active interest in the sport I purchased some birds from the well-known National flier, G K Porter of Crumlin, and later my friend, John Turner of Bonnybridge. Around 1965 my original loft was in need of a lot of repair so, with the help of my brother, my present loft was erected. This loft is 32ft long and 6 & ½ ft wide, comprising of four sections.
I personally consider the first essential in the sport is to have birds fit to do the job, backed up by consistent management and patience.
Concerning birds fit to do the job, I think the greatest mistake by many when starting is going from loft to loft, picking up a bird here and there. Sometimes it turns out to be a case of having birds nobody else wants and after a time of hard work and expensive feeding, you end up a poorer but wiser man. Go to a consistent winning loft and get youngsters from the winning family; what you want is pure racers, never mind if they are pure this or pure that to use the phrase.
The real secret of success in racing is not found in pills etc, but through commonsense management which must be worked out by yourself to suit the time you have available. There’s no use being told to exercise cocks morning and evening and hens at mid-day if you don’t have the time to do so, as the average fancier has a full-time job and leaves home in the early morning and doesn’t return until around 6.00pm in the evening. I use the open loft for old birds and, except for tossing them, leave them to their own devices. I know that many fanciers, especially those living in built up areas, cannot practise this, as neighbours blame the pigeons for every missing seed in their gardens and much more. My birds pick around my nursery all day, yet everything seems to grow just the same.
Samuel Bell of Dundonald winner of 1st Open INFC Kings Cup in 1971 from Nantes.
Owing to pressure of business, especially during the racing season, I don’t have a lot of time to spend with my birds, although I do have the advantage of always being in the vicinity of the loft and have the satisfaction of seeing my birds flying around. I change the water twice per day and use the hopper method for feeding, the hoppers being filled during late afternoon. I feed beans, with the usual tit bits such as linseed etc. I don’t feed new seasons beans, but purchase them one year and feed them the following year. I also find it convenient to keep the birds in deep litter of sand and lime, owing once again to the limited time I have to attend to them, but to manage to scrape the perches and rake the floor once a day.
The management of Y/Birds, however, is entirely different. They are exercised morning and evening and shut in during the remainder of the day. They are brought in immediately on landing and, needless to say, any who decide to linger find food in short supply and they are usually in the front of the queue the next time. I don’t believe in flying youngster to the food tin, as it tells its tale in future years. I maintain it is easy to bring a bird down to racing condition quite quickly, but it is a much harder job to build it up, so my belief is ‘Don’t spare the food’.
As regards training, I am limited for time but give my birds all the club training tosses and usually manage to take the young birds a few miles from home several times before the racing programme; my old birds usually have a few tosses of between 20 and 30 miles prior to long distance racing. This type of training is, I think, beneficial to bring birds into condition for such events. Very occasionally I have time to give them single tosses which I think is of benefit in teaching them to find their own way home instead of flying with other birds all the time, as many times during the racing they could find themselves far from home and so have to waste valuable time returning to their own loft. This type of toss also helps in that it keeps losses to a minimum.
I also believe in close breeding, with new blood introduced from time to time, but one has to give this new blood time to see if the breed introduced is going to do anything. One season isn’t sufficient time to show, as one cannot really judge by the performance of young birds. I do not worry about the performance of youngsters; they are basket trained immediately they are weaned and are given several club training tosses before racing commences and during the racing season. The best are stopped around the 150 mile mark and the remainder finish the programme, with about six going to the National race. We in the East Down Combine are fortunate as regards tosses – generally we have them once a week, and during the holiday period, two or three times.
Yearlings are flown through to Okehampton and Penzance 300 miles. Two-year-olds, if fit, must do to France, with one exception, if a pigeon is winning, say to 250-mile mark, it should be held until later in life before being sent further, as one can so often loss good pigeons by sending them further, especially with the type of races we get in Ireland.
A lot depends on the nest conditions also, as I find my birds race better on eggs rather than when feeding youngsters. Once again, a lot depends on the individual loft, but I never had any success with birds racing to youngsters. After the old bird racing all the lazy birds in my loft are killed as I do not like to wait until after they moult because they all look in fine feather in their new plumage.
I think fanciers should read all they can about the sport, and many items are available weekly, monthly and yearly books. First, this gives the novice a wide variety of views to choose from, then it is up to him to decide which method he is going to adopt or which he thinks is most suitable to his particular needs. He must then stick to the method he chooses but we must all keep on reading what we can about the birds as one never fails to gain knowledge by this means. I must mention here I think pigeon racing is a sport that is never conquered-you can always learn and experiment with pigeons.
Now for a little about “Moatside Monarch”. He has been a most consistent bird, having flown all stages to Skibbereen as a youngster. As a yearling he again flew all stages through to Penzance, a distance of 310 miles. The following year he flew all stages and was timed in from Dinard 450 miles. This year he flew one inland race from Wexford, then one from Haverfordwest and one from Okehampton and, as this race was four weeks prior to the National race, I decided he be should put to Penzance three weeks before going to Nantes. After the Penzance race he was put down on eggs and was given three short tosses during this time. He was sitting nine days before being put n the basket for Nantes. On the evening of July 2nd when he arrived at the loft after 14 hours on the wing, he was still quite fresh and didn’t show any sign of being flown out. I give all credit to the Monarch, as I believe it is 90 per cent pigeon and 10% man that makes for success, because it is the pigeon who is doing the work, and if the bird hasn’t got the stamina, there is nothing the man can do to make it win. When the Monarch returned, my friend, James Wightman, and I were standing in front of the loft and could hardly believe our eyes. James is a great help and takes my clock to the Club each week after the races. That evening in July is one that either of us is likely to forget. We were so thrilled that we just didn’t know what we were doing and with the bird arriving after 8.00, the race not closing for the first day until 11.00, it was early the following morning before I knew that the Monarch had brought this great honour to my loft.
Since July several people have asked me what it felt like to win such an honour Well, all I can say is that, it is something that is hard to describe; it left me feeling ‘have I really won this great award in our sport’ and with people calling to see Monarch I didn’t really have time ti get my thoughts sorted out for quite some time. Anyone who has won this award will agree with me that it is a feeling that has to be experienced.
During the years I have been racing I can’t say I have had any major disappointments except for the ones each fancier experiences when he sends good birds to a race which proves a disaster, as so many races in our British climate can be, or else the birds don’t return early enough from the race to gain a position-or perhaps a good bird eventually limps home after hitting wires.
In closing, I would like to thank all those who wrote, phoned or called on me after my win, and to wish all in the sport many successes in the future in their respective areas. I know some of you reading this article will be the future winners of this great award.