LES J. PARKINSON'S
NEWS-REPORTS-ARTICLES
Many years ago I stopped buying young birds at the breeder/buyer sales because for whatever reason every time I did I had problems in the loft but during the last two years I have made changes and do things differently now and the problem has gone away. I bought a few this year and they have settled well and there are now 48 young birds all arrived into the loft within 8 days. Anyway they are looking well and they were soon perching with the exception of a couple that were a few days younger than the others. One was a breeder/buyer from Graham Davies at Crewe who had entered one into the Mid Cheshire Fed and for whatever reason Elizabeth decided to buy it. Graham was the leading fancier in the fed during the 2013 season so it could be a bargain buy. Obviously with going to any loft we take a camera and as usual Elizabeth takes most of those (should have taken a few more but I think her mind was on shopping where we were heading after collecting the youngster).
Graham Davies and Les J Parkinson
Talking of young birds, the end of March saw us set about vaccinating the pigeons plus a one spot and the young birds were wing stamped; the old birds have the Lambournes phone number tags around the ETS rings so they were fine in that department. So every pigeon on the bank was done on the last Sunday of the month and with there being no more young birds to be introduced to the lofts we are all done for the year in that department. It was certainly a long day because I adjusted everything down the side so that I can have the hens in individual widowhood hen boxes. I hadn't intended having any more pigeons down the side but when we moved the office we needed the space to put everything that was in the garage. That didn't last long because with making the decision to race widowhood cocks only I needed somewhere to put the hens so they are in individual boxes away from the cocks. Elizabeth helped with the vaccination and as always she takes note of how they are and she was saying what a difference there is between the hens that were done first and had been locked up in comparison to how well the cocks handled. The young birds, well they are young birds and are changing all the time and those that were in the loft first are handling well so only time will tell. While we were vaccinating there were 10 from Neville Flett and they are not even covered under the wing but they are eating and drinking quite freely. The night they were delivered I was on the phone telling Neville that I was watching them because they were so young. The following night Neville rang again and was a bit concerned that I said "I was just watching the 10 young birds that he had bred" so I told him that the garden isn't that big and the young birds were in a crate a few feet from the conservatory so I can watch them when I am working on the laptop in the comfort of an easy chair, or in fact having a brew or even watching the TV when I get the chance. Once young birds are moved it only takes a few days and they are different pigeons altogether. It is always debatable what age is the best to move young birds from the nest and their parents. Many years ago when I first started with pigeons I used to move them at about 17 days but in those days I would sit with them twice a day, every day and would hold them in my hand and make sure that they were eating and drinking properly. It's much easier now to leave them in the nest box a few days longer with a pot of peas to make sure they are feeding and it saves me a bit more time long term.
Im still having problems with the mealy cock that spent the winter out; he is still coming and going. Elizabeth has asked each day if he is here and when I told her he had spent the night out her reaction was, "He has another home and it cannot be too far from here" and I think she is right. When he returned I was thinking of him as a future Channel pigeon because he was bred right and had everything that I look for in a channel candidate. However he has other things on his mind otherwise he would stay permanently instead of chopping and changing his place of residence, which is a pity really when a pigeon looks and handles the part.
NWCC
Here are some more photos from the NWCC Presentation.
Mark Smith and Geoff Kirkland
Mike O'Hare's table at the NWCC
Mixed table at the NWCC
Mike & Rita O'Hare. I would love to know what Mike is thinking!
BOP
We are having a few problems with birds of prey. We have had three pigeons go missing so far for one reason or another and at this time of the year we can do without it and I know from past experience that there are other fanciers in a worse position that me. Mind you it is the wrong time of the year, the BOP are getting themselves built up looking after their own next generation.
Fancy colours
The internet is a good source of information and there is always something to look at and in this case various colours of racing pigeons in a racing loft. We recently shipped some pigeons out to Australia and in that batch were a couple of coloured pigeons going to Willie Theile. So I emailed Willie to find out what others he had and I found out that Willie raced pigeons with his father in Rheine, Germany during 1954 when he was 12 years old. He then emigrated to Australia in 1955 and has been breeding coloured racers for just over 50 years now. Willi went on to say: "I was always interested in all sorts of birds, Parrots and Poultry which I also bred for many years when I found out as a young lad that out of a red hen and a blue cock, all the blues would be hens and the cocks red, then a yellow cock would always breed yellow daughters and so on. The other flyers use to come and admire some of the colours I had. Regards Willi."
Mr & Mrs Theile
Unikon ETS
Just as a matter of interest, has anyone got a ring marker at their club with a white tipex mark above the connections on the back? This would have been returned to the club after a service (might be in Ireland). This is not a problem. I would just be interested to know because we had one serviced last February and have received another in its place, which works just the same.
Les J Parkinson. 11 Rushton Drive, Middlewich, Cheshire, CW10 0NJ, +44 (0)1606 836036 Mob: +44 (0)7871 701585. E-mail:
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