PICK A BOX, ANY BOX. MICK THE MAGICIAN
Drew Callan reports on Mick Carrick of Chesham
Mick on the right with Neil and Mick Harvey who won the MNFC Bordeaux national with similar bloodlines.
In the current climate within pigeon racing we see the media being used to promote mid-division fanciers to create a cluster of false champions with results that often flatter to deceive. It was refreshing therefore to be introduced to a fancier who is tucked away in deepest, darkest Buckinghamshire who has been quietly and ruthlessly chalking up a string of results that would stand up to and easily surpass those of any of the website wonder boys. The fancier in question is Mick Carrick, ably assisted by his beautiful and charming wife Tracy. He has won the Bordeaux race with the British Barcelona Club for the past 2 seasons but how many people were aware of that? Add to this a couple of wins in the highly competitive UBI Combine and regular assaults on the results in section E of the National Flying Club and you begin to put together an impressive CV. I was introduced to Mick by Neil Harvey, who has spent the past 6 months bending my ear about the quality of the man's performances and this led to me visiting Mick recently to see for myself.
I have to say that the set up that Mick has to work with was not what I was expecting. Mick lives with his wife and son in the middle of Chesham half way up a steep hill that is surrounded by trees and other houses. The climb up the steps to the garden is enough to give you a nosebleed and you can feel the air getting thinner!
Mick races 26 widowhood cocks to a 2-section wooden loft with an apex roof and across the garden from this a converted garden shed that houses a small team of hens that are usually flown on widowhood. I say usually because sometimes if the cocks these hens fly back to are fit and flying well round home they will get some channel racing and be expected to perform.
Widowhood cocks' section.
The birds are maintained on these systems throughout the season to help maintain fitness and motivation and to make things a little easier for Mick. They are then re-paired to go to the last 2 long distance classics sitting on eggs around 8 days old on basketing. The young bird loft is similar in design and style to the widowhood loft and has plenty of room for the 50 or so young birds that make up the race team each year. This has recently had an aviary added to the front to help settle the youngsters and allow access to the weather all year round.
Attached to this loft is the stock loft and it is here we find the secret to the ongoing success experienced by Mick each season. This small loft has room for 12 pairs and really it's a case of pick a box, any box as each one has a treasure in it. Now think about this for a moment... how many lofts anywhere can show you 2 national winners of 500 mile races paired together? And I mean birds that they have raced themselves rather than having bought them in to make a reputation off the back of some one else's hard work and skill. Then in another box the parents of birds to notch up 5 x 1st fed, 2nd open National Flying club and 5 turns in the top 50 of classic and national racing. In the next box is the old Litherland racing legend Punto who won a car in national racing and who still handles well despite his age and still absolutely oozes class. There is only 1 pair in the loft who have not proven themselves;, they were brought in this year to let Mick compete at 600 + miles in the near future. The gene pool that Mick has assembled is very impressive and he is reaping the rewards of this with a strong team of top drawer performers being put together in the race lofts.
The two-section widowhood loft.
Mick is following a belt and braces approach by putting top daughters of his main stock birds on to top racers to double up on the winning genes. The mainstay of the loft are the tried and tested George Litherland birds which Mick purchased when he restarted in 2003. The most successful of these being the Kellens lines which Mick added to regularly by buying directly off George and then filling his boots at the Litherland clearance sale. The Millie hen has been central in the success that Mick has achieved and he originally invested in 4 top daughters to put in to his original purchases. Not one to stand still, Mick has purchased a kit of young birds from other sources and raced these hard before crossing them back in to the Litherland birds. The most successful has been the Barbary family from Moulin Rouge Stud in France and these few birds have had a massive impact at all levels up to and including 1st open BBC Bordeaux. These birds are built to race and are a small, compact and well muscled type of bird that have proved to be up to the task.
Stock birds just paired up for the season.
Alongside these Mick has a select family of Dutch birds coming through Graham Calvert of the North East. These are the Jaap Jongedijk birds, a middle distance family based on the old vintage Grondelaar lines. These birds just ooze class and have backs on them like scaffolding planks! In the short time they have been raced by Mick they have had a massive impact and some are now trickling through to the stock loft and knowing the standards set by Mick they have to make the grade to gain a box in there. These are being put back in to the original family by pairing them back in to retired top race cocks and from what I have seen this cross will be dynamite.
Mick is a thoroughly modern fancier in his approach to all aspects of the sport. When it comes to keeping them healthy he is not a fan of stumbling about and treating them blindly. He has a simple but effective programme of treatment throughout the year that is underpinned by routinely having the droppings tested by Retford Poultry Partnership. The advice given after the testing is followed to the letter and the results speak for themselves. He is always trying to stay on top of the health of his birds and leaves no stone unturned. This is a trait of the most successful fanciers, I think. He has a passion for using a blowtorch that almost borders on the obsessive and the scorch marks on the loft timbers are clear evidence of this.
Mick is a busy man who works hard renovating pubs and restaurants. His working hours mean that his time with the birds is limited, but he clearly puts it to good use. He is also very lucky to have the support of his wife Tracy who takes over the reins in the winter when there are not enough hours in the day. Mick is very grateful for all the help and support that she provides on a daily basis. As a result of his job he travels around the area a lot and the birds come with him to be tossed at all points of the compass at distances up to 100 miles. I think this is one of the reasons for his success at national and classic level - of course you need the right tackle to perform and they need to be healthy as well.
So there you have it, a back garden loft that does not need to rely on partners who are at the loft all day. Mick has an impressive set of results that any loft would be proud of, and many fanciers with a fraction of these have built a business out of it. Mick lets the birds do the talking for him as he quietly goes about his hobby, and they have been doing a lot of shouting lately! Mr and Mrs Carrick please step forward and take a bow.
