LES J. PARKINSON'S
NEWS-REPORTS-ARTICLES
Been a good start to the breeding season, that is for those who have paired in early December but the big question is how long will the milder weather last? Probably until these notes come out. It really has been mild and for those who have paired up early they have seen their birds go down well and even most who I have spoken to have had good hatches. As for myself I am in no hurry and I don't want any until about early April. I have got to the point where they are a lot of work early in the year when the nights are dark and it is too cold to spend a great deal of time in the loft and garden. The stock birds are a different matter because at Phil's they have gone down reasonably well.
Mite
This like many other health issues in pigeon racing is one of those subjects that never goes away long term because there are always other lofts finding that their pigeons are being attacked by a mite that are stubborn and keep appearing here and there. The problem is we have arrived at a time of the year when the pigeons are full in feather with a nice new coat or at least only a few months old and with that in mind we don't want anything attacking it. I have received another email from a distraught fancier who is experiencing the problem of depluming mite for the first time and after several attempts is not getting any further forward in clearing the matter up. "Hello Les, my name is B.C. I am a pigeon fancier from Ireland. I'm hoping you can give me some advice please. I heard that you did an article about dealing with depluming mite and we don’t know where else to turn. I found your email address online and I hope you don’t mind me contacting you. Our troubles started a little over a year ago when what we are sure is depluming mite entered our lofts with all the usual symptoms. It has spread to most of our 60 birds and after being told by local fanciers we tried a few treatments to no avail. We have tried Flowers of Sulphar mixed with Oil/Vaseline, a treatment called Borsk. Then recently we were told to inject them with 0.2ml of Harkers spot on endectocide [which is 0.35 percent w/v Ivermectin]. We injected 5 birds last week but this knocked the birds right off their perch, some not being able to stand. They were all disorientated and vomiting for some hours but all birds made a full recovery, thank God. Les, I'm not sure if we used the right Ivermectin or if we got the dose wrong or what. We are hoping that you could give some advice and any help would be much appreciated. Thanks, Brian." When I first started to inject I used the normal Ivermectin but Ferdy Vandersanden then told me about the injectable Ivermectin and that this was a better solution to the problem and yes it cleared the depluming mite from the birds and to date it has not reappeared so I am hoping that it has now been eradicated from the loft.
Club/Fed News
One of the most consistent suppliers of information to these notes is Kevin Bowers from the Macclesfield FC and here he reports on the club’s 2013 prize presentation held at the club headquarters the Navigation Inn on Boxing Day. Mr George Greenwood started the event by welcoming everyone with his usual wit and banter before going on to introduce the guest of honoUr for the day Mr Chris Knowles of Stockport, a very well respected fancier not only for his club, fed and national racing performances but also his knowledge of pigeon husbandry which is second to none and very often appears in these notes. Chris then gave a short speech and spoke of the sport in general and mentioned how he liked how the Macclesfield FC was being run with all members joining in together running the club and the warm and friendly atmosphere not just for the fanciers but the families as well.
So we now move on to the matter in hand. The top prize spot goes this year and not for the first time to the dedicated father and son partnership of Richard & Simon Geary with 9x1st 4x2nds 7x3rds 6x4ths 6x5ths and a grand total of £324 plus old and young combined averages another outstanding season. Runner up is Alan Senior retuning to the sport only a couple of years ago turning in some remarkable performances this time with 4x1sts 4x2nds 3x3rds 3x4ths 2x5ths and £242 winning the old bird inland averages. Roger Bowers is next having a fine season 2x1sts 5x2nds 2x3rds 3x4ths 2x5ths and £195 winning the young bird averages. The well known Martin Hough is next 2x1sts 4x2nds 2x3rds 5x4ths 4x5ths £191. Young Ben Walton won 3x1sts 1x2nd 2x3rds 1x4th 2x5ths £107. Stuart Goldstraw 1x2nd 3x3rds 2x4ths 1x5th £79. Bernie Barrett 1x1st 1x2nd 1x3rd 2x5ths £68. Kev Bowers 1x2nd 1x3rd 1x4th £38. G M Greenwood 1x5th £8. A very big well done to all prizewinners for 2013 the club would like to thank Chris for presenting the prizes and wish him all the best in his new roll as president of the Staff Moorlands fed and good luck to all in 2014 from press officer Kev Bowers.
The Minshull HS saw a runaway winner for the trophies taking the OB, YB, Comb aves plus the OB and YB points. So it was a good season from Tom Howarth who is really getting back into the sport after a spell away and looks like the one to beat at the moment.
The Lostock HS saw the top two quite close with Derek Woodward who won 12x1sts, 9x2nds, 3x3rds, 4x4ths most being won with old birds which resulted in him winning the OB inland ave trophy and £152 and £81 in nominations and £31.50 from the breeder/buyer. Kenny Burke and silent partner Gary Hodkinson were not far away winning 7x1sts, 6x2nds, 8x3rds, 8x4ths with the OB, YB & Comb aves and the trophy for Messac to make it worthwhile also collecting £150 plus a further £25 nominations. Keith Herbert is never far away ad this season picked up 3x1sts, 3x2nds, 6x3rds, 4x4ths, the Chanel ave and trophies for Fougeres & Niort, then there was prize money of £101 to go with £114 in nominations and a further £21 & £52.50 from the breeder/buyer. Other winners are Jason Lambert £49 prizes. Ian Cooper £41 and the Carentan trophy. K Riley & Son £40 & £25 noms. Malcolm Hewitt £16 and winner of the Breeder/buyer £52. Tom Howarth, B & G Mainwaring and Alan Dimelow all had a draw in the club.
Photos
I came across a photo of pigeons with wing patterns that I have not seen before and there were several versions. And as I have said before I have never seen so many different pigeons, in fact I didn’t know there were so many about. I suppose that’s the trouble with having only racing pigeons at the front of my mind.
Les J Parkinson. 11 Rushton Drive, Middlewich, Cheshire, CW10 0NJ, Tel: +44 (0)1606 836036. Mob: +44 (0)7871 701585. E-mail:
