Spring Spring Spring 16-03-17

Spring,Spring,Spring

 

Now in March is the ideal time for nesting birds. Today bumble bees were out, and a charm of over 100 goldfinches, were in a frenzy of communication in the trees. Soon ladybirds will appear and swallows will migrate. I like March to May hatches for ybs, so that they mature in warm days of extended daylight in the summer. A clever fancier can be competitive on the open loft natural system. The secret to condition is extensive ranging on an advanced feeding system-they will fly then. Living on the edge of the country, we are surrounded by plant, bird, insect and animal life in one glorious ecosystem. In terms of weather and climate in the UK, months May and September take some beating.

 

March to May hatched YBs

We prefer young ones hatched in the spring of the year, under natural daylight when the stock is in great condition. We have 4 chosen pairs together as an experiment, then the rest are love matings of groups in aviaries-inbreeds and outbreds of marathon breeding. Simplicity is genius with us, and we do not follow trends and fashion, unless certain aspects mesh with our overall master plan. You can race these birds right through the programme if the exercise and feeding regime is spot on. The purpose is the production of marathon pigeons from our excellent gene pool. The ybs are on open loft, where they range for miles and miles and are fed all they need to grow into proper adult racing pigeons. In this regard the fancier is the key element. At the moment our cocks are wafting around the sky like butterflies and searching for hens, as we pair in March with a free for all. The central philosophy behind our young birds is open air freedom from a secure loft for contentment.

 

“41 Years Later”

Having put the birds together.  In one aviary they are all bred down from my original 7 foundation pigeons, and we are experimenting with extreme inbreeding. All young the good, the great and the small will undergo progeny testing in race reality. This is the scientific end of our mad experiment with nature. Many of my good birds were from concentrated breeding, although I do not adhere to pure genetic theory. I believe in what is, is i.e. the bird in the clock at Barcelona International is always a good one - makes great intuitive sense to me. That is the judgement we make in practice. The other aviary consists of the outbreds of great origin. Our race birds pair as they like and are all out together on open loft from 22nd March. The young will be out with them when weaned. It works for us, so why effect many changes?

Jim Emerton