Les J Parkinson What’s on my mind.
ETS
It’s a few weeks now since I had the 8 pigeons that did not register on my new M3 series system, all had registered previously. I have had correspondence with Benzing who were quick to respond, and they said keep an eye on it and see if it happens again. To date the system appears to have settled down but I will keep an eye on it and listen as every pigeon goes through the trap. The ping on the system is very clear and if it does not register when a pigeon goes through it is noticeable and picked up with the younger ears of Ebony. If you remember last year, we were directing both mine and Ebony’s to their own section because we had the Unikon system where only one fancier could use it, which caused a few problems. This year with having the M3 series they can all go through the same traps and their times are recorded and printed off separately. Last week when I was basketing I put one of Ebony’s in with mine by mistake. With the M3 series this is picked up and because Ebony’s had already been marked the system put this down as one on its own for Ebony. So, we have found something else out about the system, we don’t need to sort the pigeons out before going to the club, they can just be basketed and marked. The system will then allocate both mine and Ebony’s to our own section, we can then print them off individually. This could make life a lot easier when I change the system for basketing come the 2025 season. I am finding the system is better and better all the time, all I need now is someone to set it up so that when a bird arrives it goes to my phone. If it was already set up, I would have known we had two arrivals in the Middlewich Mangotsfield race. I needed to go to the loo, and dashed off, as I came out, I saw a pigeon drop on the landing board and straight through the trap. I opened the door to give the arrival a bit of corn, that is when I found the that two had arrived while I was otherwise engaged. I couldn’t believe it, the pigeon I put in with mine by mistake and was printed on a sheet of its own won the race for Ebony and I was 2nd a few seconds later, Ebony was at work for this race, so I was on my own. I remember the late Carlo Napolitano who at the time was manager at the Royal lofts telling me of a similar incident when he possibly could have won the National. These things happen to us from time to time, everything is not always perfect.
Health.
Every now and again we seem to have different health issues crop up in the pigeons, at the moment we are suffering with Fat Eye or the official name of Herpes. I have been away for a few years so when I started racing again last year, this was first time I had heard about it in the lofts was when a pigeon of mine was pointed out in the basket as having Fat Ey. I looked at the pigeon and it was clear the pigeon had been pecked; however, I did keep an eye on it for a few days. My feeling on the pigeon being pecked was correct on information received regarding what to look for with Fat Eye. I looked it up on the internet and this is what I came up with. “Avian herpesviruses (AHV) are an important group of pathogens affecting a most species of domestic, wild and captive birds. With a large DNA genome that shows some degree of structural conservation, AHV encode several structural and non-structural proteins that are usually expressed in different kinetic classes” What all that means is another matter, but that is what our pigeons are suffering with when they have Fat Eye.
Stray.
At Elimar we are often getting emails and calls from non-fanciers about the stray’s that they become attached too. I had several calls from a lady about a stray that had dropped on her balcony and decided to stay. I am not sure what her intentions are, but she has taken a liking to the pigeon. She has reported it to the owner who said this pigeon has gone missing before. Here is a text she sent to me, she has taken too it and has plans, but will it stay, that’s another question. “I Am waiting for a charge bird cage I ordered. It has a stand inside the cage, and he can fly up and sit on one. I will order a cover to protect it outside from the harsh cold. I might put a bird box inside to keep itself warm. I ordered yesterday some pigeon food for racing pigeons. Is he a good racing pigeon from seeing the picture?” I wish I knew the answer to the last part of the text, I would be well away if I could tell. Sounds like the lady is an animal lover and even has the pigeon in the house to feed it. I think she will be disappointed one day when the pigeon decides to go home or at least go looking for a mate. Would have been much easier if the fancier had collected the pigeon in the first place.
Steve Fisher reported one of ours that had only dropped in to his lofts that day, it had been to the race the day before. After speaking to Steve about the pigeon he said he would meet me at Beeston and hand the pigeon over. I put the phone down but then thought about it, Beeston is only a few miles across the country from here so it would be better all round if he let the pigeon go there and find its own way home. No such luck, Steve phoned later that day to say the pigeon had arrived back at his loft. So, he said the next day he was sending to Whitchurch so we could try it from there, after all the pigeon had been sent to and returned from the previous 5 races. Steve once again called the following day to say that the pigeon had returned. We decided to keep it in training at Steve’s and go from there, we await the pigeons decision on where he wants to be in the future.
They come from far and wide.
“Hello, I’m here in California in the U.S. and rescued an exhausted racing pigeon with leg bands, I haven’t been able to track down. A person on my Facebook post said the bird looks like a Mr. Bosma bird. I am reaching out in case you have any info that could help. These are the band numbers on his/her legs:
NL 2018 1819405
NPA 06 9 MO 854
Then a blank gray band. I contacted the NPA, and they said that the band is outdated. The NL pigeon group is still getting back to me. In the meantime, I have a huge cage and have taken care of lost racing pigeons many times. I am trying to do everything I can to find the owner and see if they want him back. Thank you for any help! Chelsea” As always when we get these emails, we reply one way or another.
Les Parkinson. 11 Rushton Drive, Middlewich, Cheshire, CW10 0NJ.
Tel: +44 (0)1606 836036. Mob: +44 (0)7871 701585.
E-mail:
Web site: http://www.elimarpigeons.com
