June 2014 - Update

[willie reynolds]

June 27th

Very poor weather to-day thus no training, the B team were exercised morning and afternoon, we only had the A team out for a fly at mid-day but boy did they put it in, no training now until Monday weather permitting, race day Saturday, we are surrounded by liberations north and south, I don't think the birds will be out until late afternoon on Sunday, I have heard that the mighty UNC are basketing tomorrow for a race on Sunday so again we must take extreme care when flying our birds, tomorrow is bath day and a really heavy feed of my special mix, we also give them Buttermilk on the corn every Saturday & Sunday, this will continue until racing then we will put it on the corn Sunday & Monday, it helps keep the gut in top order and is natural, not much more I can tell you, I hope you all have a good race over the weekend, next update will be Monday evening.

Until Next Time Remember He Who Dares Wins

June 26th

Another good day to-day, the A team had 2 training tosses, I took them this morning and liberated them at 8.25am, they came bang on line in just 18 minutes for the 12 mile toss, I then basketed them again this afternoon and liberated them at 4.10pm they again came bang on line it took them slightly longer arriving in 21 minutes for the 12 mile toss, we did have a few which arrived 30 minutes after whilst excersising the B team they flew a further hour, it won't be long now before all the birds are running together we will not have an A & B team then, but I will not liberate them all together, they will be trained in small groups of around 60 birds, obviously we will not do this until we have all the birds coming on a good line, the B team are a week behind the others but I am not at all worried neither should you be.

The B team exercised morning and afternoon and are now really putting it together, I am confident we will be training them next week, the birds are in top order, not much more I can say at the moment, both of to-days training flights will be on the training page around 8.00pm.

Until Next Time Remember He Who Dares Wins

June 25th

Hi, Although I myself have been very busy to-day doing VAT returns etc, Annette exercised the birds this morning and they flew very well, she then basketed the A team this afternoon around 3.45pm, she counted 155, I took them to the 12 mile spot and liberated them at 4.35pm, I raced back and I had only been back 2 minutes when they arrived bang on line, this is only their 3 toss and after it taking them some 1hr 30 mins it appears they have perhaps learned something, It was a great site all were in a nice tight batch, I blew the whistle and most trapped superb, we had around 10 or so which wanted to fly a little longer.

I then turned out the B team and they also flew very well, we left the ETS turned on as you will see from the list on the training page, we have a few which did not register but when 200 plus are going through just 2 traps some are bound to miss, this will definitely not happen on race day as there will be 4 x 22" traps open, I will sleep well tonight knowing they have performed well, tomorrow weather permitting they will be off again to the same spot, I will if possible get 2 trainers in tomorrow but rain showers are forecast, the health of the birds is first class, droppings to die for.

Earlier we had an issue with the web site, after contacting Will he sorted things and this should not happen again.

Until Next Time Remember He Who Dares Wins

June 24th

I basketed the birds this morning and we dropped one from training yesterday but the good news is that one returned this afternoon, however the birds are still messing around, to-day it took them 1hr 24mins for the first arrivals, on the 2hr mark we had 28 missing but all returned in throughout the afternoon, I did basket most of them again at 3.00pm but just as we loaded them the heavens opened and we had dark skies after so I decided to leave them at home,

Until Next Time Remember He Who Dares Wins

June 23rd

Hi Everyone, everything at the loft is o.k birds are looking superb, I had my heart in my mouth this morning, the A team all 158 of them had their first trainer, I flew them for 1 hour 10 mins at 7.00am this morning then basketed them, they were realised at 9.00am for the 12 miler, I returned and then waited and waited, an hour went by still not a feather, I was pasting up and down, never in 40 years racing had we had youngsters fly like this kit but when they are in the sky they are not ours any longer, after 1 hour 30mins the batch came from out the north bringing with them around 20 pigeons so they had obviously clashed, I think there is just one missing so all is well, they will be off again in the morning to the same spot, I will post a list on the training page later probably around 10.00pm.

Hi we have just closed the training flight, it shows 8 birds missing but we left the ETS on whilst the B team exercised, they trapped very fast so some birds may have been missed, when I basket the A team in the morning I will know exactly what is missing and will up date the site tomorrow, to-days trainer is now on the Training page.

Until Next Time Remember He Who Dares Wins

June 15th

Well fanciers, not a great lot to report, except for around 25 of the later birds all the others exercised well all week, only turned the B team out yesterday that was around 7.00pm, none have been out to-day, I don't like the heavy conditions neither do the pigeons, yesterday our own federation had a good race but this was from only 90 miles, the Up North held over so it was not a good idea to have our birds out, the A team really are roaming and flying very well, the last thing we want is for them to get amongst 10,000+ birds going up North, I have set a date of Tuesday 24th June for the A Teams first training toss this will be from 12 miles the birds will have been off the Dark for 2 weeks by this time so the dreaded YB sickness stage should have passed, it is usually within the first 10 days of taking youngsters off the dark that they come down with YB sickness, our first training toss is 5 weeks before the first Hot Spot Race, plenty of time, the B Team will start a week later, after flying the B team yesterday I noticed a few were gapping so Myself and Annette took 2 hours to-day clearing out the nassel passages of the B team birds, we will do the A team next weekend, all the birds have just had a 5 day treatment of Ronidazol & Soludox 12% this was only as a precaution, it is common knowledge that when you have took the youngsters off the dark they need treating for Ornithosis they have just had 8 weeks plus shut up for 16 hours a day, you could see the dust when you went in the loft to take them off the dark so imagine they have been inhaling this all night, we achieved great results racing when we used these 2 products, yes I know we are letting out all our secrets but if we can help others including One Loft Races then thats good.

Until Next Time Remember He Who Dares Wins

June 10th

Hi everyone, as promised we now have the up to date ring list on the site, also on the training page we have the training list which was created as we scanned all the birds by hand on Saturday, the birds themselves are looking superb and nearly all are performing as they should be, we have had much thunder and heavy showers so it has been a bit of touch and go, yesterday the A team went sky high just like little dots, the skies started to rumble and I feared the worse but no worries, most of the B team flew over an hour to-day, I really struggled to get 25 of them down as this was witnessed by a local fancier. There has been much interest shown in the ventures over the past couple of days, four sold on Monday, what can I say, these were personally selected by myself, you pay your money and take your chance, but don't get left out, no other One Loft Race is paying out what we are in Prize Money, the race title says it all WHO DARES WINS!!!

On the venture page we have a list of all the birds which are not yet activated, the owners of these birds have until Friday 25th July to activate their reserve bird/s at a cost of £200 each, any bird/s which have not been activated by Saturday 26th will go for open sale at a cost of £200 each.

Until Next Time Remember He Who Dares Wins

June 5th

A great couple of days weather wise, although yesterday it rained most of the morning it was not heavy rain so the birds exercised superb, to-day the same they flew exceptionally well, most of the B team are now flying and batching, the remaining ones will have some persuasion on Monday and so on until they know they must work, I took the A team off the dark to-day, it must have been a great surprise for them, at 5.00pm i looked in the aviaries and most were already perched ready for me darkening the loft out, it will take a couple of days for them to adjust, now is the time when the dreaded YB sickness can strike, I took 6 sections of dropping this morning and swabbed 6 pigeons , that is 3 from the A team & 3 from the B team, these will be at the lab tomorrow afternoon, I don't think there is anything to worry about but we are just being extra careful, the work load now steps up a couple go gears so they must be healthy.

I have altered the trapping system, yesterday most were a little hesitant going through the traps but to-day no problems, the main thing is we have rectified what I thought was happening, the birds were going through the traps too fast thus some were missing, not anymore the last two days every bird has been timed, I thought we were only 7 missing but we are 12 missing I had forgot about the 5 birds which had to be culled, most fanciers still have full teams, the others have at least 3 out of their 4 entries, the next six weeks will be make or break, I just hope we have some luck and no raptor strikes, we had a fancier ring to-day asking us to collect a couple of birds for him, this unlucky bloke turned 40 youngsters out, a Peregrine struck and he lost 26 in one hit how do you legislate for this, although we have a courier business I would not wish Y.B loses upon any fancier, I hope to have a full list posted on Monday plus the birds which are still not activated, the last couple of days has seen much interest in the venture birds, we purchased 30 of which we had the pick of the lofts we chose, touch wood all 30 are still in the loft, 25 of these are still up for grabs.

Until Next Time Remember He Who Dares Wins

June 2nd

Well fanciers finally we have some decent weather, from Wednesday until Saturday it was not fit to turn dog out, Rob and Annette have been on duty Friday till Sunday, I unfortunately had to help the federation out, I drove the transporter to Falaise for the federations 1st Championship race of 2014, just my luck we had to hold over Saturday but the birds must come first, we liberated Sunday and just as I hope the One loft birds will they went straight down the side of the castle heading for home, not a bird in sight in under 20 seconds, returns very good.

I was straight into the loft this morning, Rob and Annette had down a great job, lets remember when I was in the mines working 12 hours a day 7 days a week it was Annette who used to take care of our birds, we were more than successful so they are not mugs when it comes to taking care of pigeons, I turned the A team out and they flew over 2 hours, the B team also flew very well, as I said more and more are now starting to batch, if the weather stays good by the weekend they will all be batching, on Saturday we are doing a full loft check, every bird will be handled and inspected on Monday I will be sending the droppings and swab tests away, this is just for my own peace of mind, I want everything A1 before we start training, the A team will be off the dark at the weekend they will then be out twice a day, the work load will increase thats why we must be sure all are up to it, when birds come of the dark they are more prone to coming down with the dreaded YB sickness, you must introduce them to the new regime of work steadily, on Monday the birds not activated will be uploaded onto the site, we had a very nice comment by a fancier from Ireland, he said you cannot get Prize money like you have put up anywhere from just the small number of birds activated, as I promised we are going to take One Loft Racing in the UK & Ireland to a different level, everyone who know us know we love a challenge.

Until Next Time Remember He Who Dares Wins