When we are racing our pigeons one of the big topics is the weather and often how it changes from one area to another during the race and in such a short space of time. We all know that the weather is so unpredictable and even the professionals get it wrong so often, they wouldn’t admit it but they do. We are also aware that no matter what is thrown at liberation of racing pigeons there are always some that get through. You can throw all sorts at pigeons and if they have it set in their mind where they want to go they go, there is no stopping them. Yes, we know at time’s they go in the wrong direction but they go and keep going until they reach their destination. We could probably not count the number of times the weather has closed in unexpectedly on liberation of racing pigeons. The Gran Canaria One Loft Race was recently held from somewhere in the Atlantic, the birds were liberated into nice blue skies and a good race was expected. But about one hour into the race the weather deteriorated so bad the pigeons struggled. And yes, there were day birds when most fanciers would not have expected them, 37 made it home from a 400km race way out in the Atlantic. When you are thinking of the Canary Islands you are thinking sunshine and warm winds but not all the time. It was interesting to see how the birds were liberated on the ship, no they did not all get out of the baskets at the same time but that happens in all liberations anyway. The space was limited but I believe that will not happen again because I am told there are changes in this race to be announced in the coming weeks. If the changes are what I am told I am wondering if that will take the excitement of the race away because being liberated out in the seas as they are is a hard task for any pigeon. Only time will tell if the changes I was hearing go ahead, if they do it will be a much easier race and I am not sure if most people who enter these races want an easy option. At the end of the day I am sure the organisers have one thing in mind and that is getting as many pigeons to the final race and giving as many people who enter the race the chance at the final race prize money. As you will all know I have been a fan of OLR for many years because your pigeons are tested against other pigeons on an even footing. Pigeons from the best racing lofts in the world are tested in these races and no matter how good the breeder is, only the ability of the race organisers counts, they are the ones to get your birds home. There have been a lot of these races come and gone, why they fail is only down to the organisers. The one thing you can be sure of and that is they are here to stay, there will always be OLR races going on somewhere around the world. The only problem is some are not good enough with the management of these races and that does show as the races progress, looking after a large number of birds is not easy. I had a lengthy conversation with Paul Smith about OLR and he was saying that there are always going to be obstacles. He went on to say that he had recently been out at the two races in the Canary Islands and they neither run as smoothly as the organisers would have wanted to but that is OLR and that will never change. As we are all aware our own races here in the UK do not always go as planned.
There was a real good few days in late March when many fanciers took the opportunity to start their training programme for the season. There were certainly 4 days when the weather was really good for the time of the year and for those who tossed just after mid-day it was spot on because the temperature rose and it was sun bathing weather for many. There were plenty of pigeons crossing over this area and I have to say if they were low enough you could tell those that were in need of more training whilst others were really getting stuck in and pressing ahead. When they are going over whether racing or training there is a different sound to the fit birds, you can hear the wind passing under their wings, obviously, you can only hear this when they are low. This also applies to the pigeons flying around home and when we had them racing Elizabeth would comment when they were right and I have to admit I did not think about it that way until she was talking about it one day. This is what observation is all about, noticing when there are changes with the pigeons, little changes that many will not pick up on but Elizabeth does, even more than me at times. I said to Elizabeth, “I never thought about it until you said” to which she replied, “You have too much going on in your head to notice some things” I think there must have been something else that I had missed at the time and probably nothing to do with the pigeons. She is right I have to be doing things, I struggle when I am sitting round doing nothing and I have been asked on occasions “Am I boring you”. No, it’s not that, I find it hard not doing something and I am always thinking about things and I think that takes away the observation point that I keep saying you need in pigeon racing. The late George Stubbs from Sandbach who was one of the greats at racing pigeons into Cheshire. He said you must have good observation skills when it comes to pigeon racing. As we move into April I still know many who have not had a toss with their pigeons, I wonder how many will look back and realise they have missed a good chance of training when their pigeons are left behind as the race home.
Bobby Walton with Les J. Parkinson
Many years ago I had the pleasure of meeting and becoming a friend of Bobby Walton from Oldbury who is a well-known fancier in many parts of the UK. Bobby is probably best known for his great performances in the Vanrobaeys Gold Ring race where he was the master winning far more than any other competitor in this race. This is one of those races where fanciers used to set their season to reach the top because it was a mighty race to win. I remember compiling a report on Stopka Bros and one of the questions was about stock to which they replied. “We can all go and pay fortunes for birds, but our best have been gifts from Bob Walton and when Bob says this is special, it generally is” I do have to agree with that because Bob has good pigeons and knows what he is looking for and when he was serious about racing he brought in exactly what he wanted to keep ahead of the game. Bobby’s place is a real nice place to race pigeons and a lot of thought went into the lofts and how the sections were set for the best racing. Bob is the type of fancier we need in the sport and racing at his best he was one of those fanciers who we could set our sights on beating. Anyway, I thought I would go back through an old article and look for a couple of questions so here they are on feeding. “A very difficult question to answer because I am a great believer in variety and consequently I use many grains but I will now attempt to give you a general idea. During the racing season, I give a light mix in the morning of such things as, wheat, barley, dari, safflower, linseed, buckwheat, approx. half an ounce. Then in the evening a heavier mix of peas, beans, maize and tares approx. three quarters of an ounce. I have also been successful hopper feeding beans and feeding the light mixture in the morning as usual dispensing with the evening feed when the pigeons will take their requirements from the hopper. The widowers are fed slightly differently i.e. the lighter mixture in the early part of the week and the heavier mix to finish the week off. I feed the youngsters generously, for example I would add such things as tares plus a few peas to the above light mix and feed that as a morning feed approx. three quarters of an ounce after their morning exercise and for the evening meal as much as they want of the heavy mix. I do use various tit bits etc. such as dari, hemp and vit-energy but only in small quantities. I do give vitamins once a week in the water” I am sure that these feeding methods would work as well today as they did many years ago, it’s all about managing your pigeons to suit what your circumstances are.
Les J Parkinson 11 Rushton Drive,
Middlewich, Cheshire, CW10 0NJ.
01606836036 Mobile 07871701585.
Email
web site www.elimarpigeons.com
