MR & MRS ANDY JACKSON
of Woodhouse, Sheffield
by Chris Gibson
My good friend Andy Jackson has many nicknames, two of which are “text message” and “daft Andy”. I will explain both during this report but rest assured he is far from what the latter name would suggest and the following will confirm it. But first of all I’ll start with telling you a little about this successful partnership.
Andy & Michelle
Andy is a lorry driver for Arnold Lavers timber merchants so works long hours which often include very early starts. This obviously means that Andy’s wife Michelle plays a much bigger part with the birds than most people realise. Michelle runs her own hair dressing business from her salon that is within their beautiful home on the outskirts of Woodhouse. This obviously means that she can tend to the birds whilst Andy is out at work all day, which is particularly handy for training as when Andy has a drop off down south then the birds go to work with him on the back of the wagon. This is where the “text message” name comes in as he has the TauRis ETS set up for the text alert from training meaning that after he has liberated them from wherever he is, he gets back on the road and awaits the text messages informing him the birds are back home. He then rings Michelle who pops out of the salon to feed the birds and lock them in their own sections. She obviously plays a huge part in operating the darkness system too. Andy, you’re a very lucky man mate...!
Accommodation
Andy first started with pigeons when he was 12 years old flying to a small tea chest cupboard then gradually progressing to a large rabbit hutch before building a small loft. Today’s loft is very much similar in lot of ways to that of Richard Turner, Worksop which I feel is not only ideal for small narrow gardens but is so convenient for the total widowhood system for both old and young birds. Andy only has a small back garden so his loft is very well designed to accommodate the numbers he requires. The size of the loft is approximately 20ft x 9ft with a 3ft aviary along the front. If you include the small aviary sections on the front then the loft is effectively three sections deep with a trapping corridor down the middle. With the main loft being only 9ft deep this means that his sections are quite small. The front sections are only 4ft deep but the birds housed in these, which are the hens the majority of the time, both young and old do have access to the aviaries as well. The back cocks’ sections are 5ft deep giving just that little more room to accommodate the depth of the boxes. Over the many times I’ve observed Andy in his loft you can’t help but notice the connection he has with his birds; obviously these small sections help to build that bond and assist in making the birds that little bit tamer. Like nearly all of the top lofts that I have visited both home and abroad, they all seem to have one thing in common - regardless of size and design they all have an environment that just seems to feel right. I can’t really explain it but it just feels nice, which is clearly aided by the ventilation and sunlight that enters the loft through the perspex sections which Andy has within the roof. Despite its very modest appearance the loft is a perfect one for racing pigeons. Some say that the loft is the most important ingredient in being successful as you can have the best pigeons in the world together with all the best medication and supplements but without a good loft you can forget winning, as the loft environment is so important. And I must admit I do agree, and this loft is one of those that naturally helps to condition the birds to win, and win they do.
Hens' section
Birds
Well, this section will not only be about Andy’s family of pigeons but will explain just when and what was the turning point in his racing career. Andy explained to me that in years gone by he would look at the federation result sheet and see that week after week year after year he would scratch his head in confusion. As not only was he yards behind his club mates but he was always several minutes behind the leaders of the fed. Most weeks the top 20 places in the fed would be littered with the same three names, all of which flew to the same small allotment patch in the centre of Woodhouse Village, which I often call The Golden Acre but it is more commonly known as “The Mauncer”. Andy was racking his brain wondering how he could get a piece of the action and compete with such fanciers. Around this time, which was in 2008, he heard that one of these lofts was having a sale in the local club. That was it, his chance to obtain some of these bloodlines, which he did. He bought just one pair, a De Klak cock for £30 and a hen for £20. Unfortunately the hen never laid an egg, however the cock turned out to be worth his weight in gold and has gone on to be Sire, G Sire and G G Sire to many winners at both club and federation level. The fancier that had this sale was the well known Mark Sherwood and ever since Andy bought that original pair they have been close friends. Such is Mark’s eagerness to help and assist people he went on to breed Andy 6 young birds free of charge to help Andy on his way. These few young birds together with the Old De Klak cock are the backbone of Andy’s birds together with a golden breeding hen which he bought for just £40 from a charity auction which was donated by another top local loft, that of Brian & Christine Brelsford. This hen, like the De Klak cock, is a super breeder with many winners carrying her blood which is quite incredible really when you consider that in this day and age people spend a small fortune trying to obtain all the fancy, fashionable names that flood our shores from the continent. Andy’s top performing team of federation winning birds has been built up from 6 gift birds and 1 cock that broke the bank at £30 and 1 hen that was a steal at £40. The only additions ever to come into the loft are a few Lier Market specials, two of which have performed fantastically well winning many prizes. He also bought a few introductions from a well known stud which did cost him a small fortune but these have constantly been in the shadows of his own birds apart from the odd one that has scored a few times. Needless to say he regrets allowing himself to be drawn in by the fancy adverts and parting with his hard earned cash. So as you can see, there are no fancy pieces of paper kept at this loft just pure quality that has been selected by the basket and the basket alone! There are just 4 pairs of quality stock housed, obviously all of which have bred the goods. Nineteen pair of old birds are raced on total widowhood and he tries to aim for a team of around 45 to 50 young birds but admits this high number is only due to the fact that by the time racing arrives there may only be about 30 left such is their rigorous training schedule, but these will see the full season through. Clearly he is not a numbers man and doesn’t rely on sending big teams in order to win simply by playing the law of averages game, like some do. It’s simple at these lofts, QUALITY far out weighs quantity.
Very rarely are fanciers lucky enough to obtain birds from Andy’s loft but when they are they more often than not turn out to be good ones. For example in 2011 Andy gifted Richard Hodgekinson of Stocksbridge two pair of birds and already one pair has bred a young bird to win 1st club 8th Fed Maidstone, 3rd club 4th Fed Kettering and 3rd club 16th Fed Kettering. Also, Andy gifted Byn Brelsford a young bird that went on to win 1st in the Sheffield 5 Bird Championship Club which has now also bred a young bird that has won the same club twice, which is a good pigeon to win that club twice. In 2012 Kevin Jenkinson bought Andy’s breeder buyer pigeon in the club’s sale and this young bird won 2nd in the 5 Bird Championship only beaten by a decimal by Andy himself.
Whilst speaking about his family of birds he said that a local fancier had knocked on his door recently and asked if he had a spare hen. He said he may have and promptly went to the loft and gave the fancier a hen and when I save gave, I mean FREE. Now how many top fanciers would do that? Particularly when you look at what that hen had won: 1x1st 2x2nd 1x3rd also 5th Fed Salisbury 2,256 birds and 8th Fed Marlborough 2,781 birds, and she still had a few years racing left in her too being just a few years old.
Some of the top birds at the loft are: “The Brelsford Hen”. As mentioned above, this 2005 hen was bought at the NMCC sale in 2008 for just £40. This was a super buy as the hen had already won many 1st prizes to Brian & Christine’s old loft at Darnall HS but was then broken to their current location at Woodhouse (Mauncer allotments) where she won 2x1st 1x2nd 1x4th 1x5th in Woodhouse HS plus 1st federation 2,210b, 8th fed 1,561b, 10th fed 2,143b, and 12th fed 1,936b. She had also bred two, yes two NMCC Section winners which were 5th and 10th Open for the Brelsfords winning them over £1,600 in pools and prizes! Needless to say she has gone to be the Dam and G/dam to several good pigeons for Andy including a fantastic hen that amongst other prizes topped the federation from Carentan being some 18yds clear of the next bird and also scored 8th fed from Messac. How much would this old hen be worth on PIPA I wonder?
The Brelsford Hen
“670 Cock”. This beauty of a cock is half brother to “Miss Mauncer” the famed racing machine from the Sherwood loft. Again a top racer winning several prizes including 1st club 5th fed, 1st club 8th fed, 4th club 17th fed etc. He was put to stock in 2010 and has gone on to breed winners.
670 Cock
“Leir Market Special”. Andy always visits the spring fair in Holland every March and comes home with a few from the market to try. Last year he bought 6 from some old guy who couldn’t speak a word of English for just 140 euro. Well two of these turned out to be amongst his top performing young birds in 2012 with the best one winning 1st Sheff 5 Bird Championship Club, 3rd Sheff 5 Bird Championship, 1st club 6th fed, 4th club 19th fed winning him over £300 in pools and prizes.
Lier Market Special
Mealy Pied Hen. This is one of four sisters that are all top performers in the loft. All of which are bred from a pair of stock that Mark Sherwood loaned to Andy. She has won 5x1st prizes but she has had numerous 2nd 3rd etc winning 1st club 6th fed, 1st club 7th fed, 1st club 12th fed, 1st club 17th fed.
“Gibson Hen”. Last year in the 5 Bird breeder buyer Andy bought our young bird and we give him another to try along with the B/B. Both won him prizes and were knocking on the door each week. The better one of the two was a Cheq Hen that as well as winning a few minor prizes performed tremendously well from the fed’s Carentan race which was a very hard race. Being nominated back into all three clubs she won all three and by a big margin, finishing 6th federation behind 5 good birds at the front end of the fed some 20 to 30 miles shorter than Andy. As with the “Leir Market Special” it will be interesting to see how she gets on as yearling.
The Gibson Hen
“271” is another top performing hen that has already won 4x1st club including 7th fedm 14th fed and 16th fed and in the 5 Bird Championship Club has won 1x3rd 1x4th. Andy has high hopes for her this year and thinks she’ll be his main pigeon in 2013. Watch this space!
System
Andy will openly admit that until he met Mark he hadn’t really won much and quickly realised that his ideas and methods were out dated and he was basically wasting his time and money doing what he was doing. As mentioned above he was gifted 6 young birds from Mark but also Mark’s entire system lock stock and barrel with everything from feed, training, motivation and medication. Obviously we don’t all have the same circumstances and can’t all manage our birds in the same way and at the same time, so Andy made some slight adjustments to the system but still follows it to this day. As with many top lofts these days the young bird system hardly differs from that of the old birds so what you read below is what is generally practiced from April through till September.
All birds are paired up in December following a full treatment with a broad spectrum antibiotic to ensure 100% health. The birds are rarely exercised during the winter months but do go out as much as possible when the young birds have been weaned at which point all the lofts are thoroughly cleaned and disinfected.
I think Andy has OCD when it comes to cleaning the lofts out. He’s obsessive about cleanliness and damp and when I say damp I just mean slight dampness caused by droppings around nest bowls for instance. He’s constantly scraping out and uses a lot of the Versele Laga anti coccidiosis loft granules, more so during the winter months for obvious reasons. After a week or so of the babies being parted the old birds are then exercised regularly in order to get them in condition for training, although that doesn’t begin until the birds are really racing around the sky during their hour to 90 minutes exercise each day. Once training does begin it is the usual method of a few short ones before they really start to work down the road. As already mentioned Andy takes the birds to work with him when he’s on a run down south and this can often mean that he is up and out of bed at 4:30am to basket the birds in the dark and take them with him. The distance varies depending on where he his delivering too on the day but the birds will be liberated at about the 50 mile mark on a regular basis. Sometimes the weather hampers things a little and if it closes in or begins to rain then the birds will have a day out on the lorry, which Andy feels does them no harm whatsoever. If he isn’t taking them with him to work then he is still up before day break, sitting with his coffee looking out of the patio doors waiting for the sun to rise over the fields in the distance, then the birds are let out to exercise before he goes to work. The motivation before basketing is simple, the bowls are placed in the cocks’ boxes and the doors to the cocks and hens are opened for them to spend around half an hour together before they go in the baskets. As already stated everything is just about the same for both the old and young birds but I will speak a little more about the intense workload that Andy inflicts on both himself and his young birds.
Like several top lofts I know the emphasis on the babies is to brainwash them from a very early age by basket training them every day before their main meal then releasing them in front of the loft. The basket, home, feed regime is one that is drummed into them until naturally it turns to basket, home, partner/nest. Which I suppose is natural progression when the birds become increasingly sexually active and are placed on widowhood. This is also practised at this loft. When the babies can perch up they are placed in the baskets every day before being released just a few yards away with their food waiting inside. After only a few times of this they exit the baskets and head straight in the loft for their food. This early brainwashing obviously plays a part in how the young birds trap on race days and on the few occasions I’ve been at Andy’s on Saturdays I can tell you his babies don’t need any encouragement, he doesn’t even call them or rattle the corn tin and very rarely does he throw the fantail, he just sits up on the patio with a pint and enjoys watching them arrive.
The racing loft
Medication and supplements
In the sport of pigeon racing there appears to be two divided camps which fanciers belong too. There’s the anti medication and supplement camp who believe that birds can win on farm beans and plain water and there’s the pro medication and supplement camp who frequently use antibiotics and supplements to help their birds along the road to success. Andy sits firmly in the latter of the two camps with half of Michelle’s kitchen cupboards taken up by bottles and tubs containing all manner of magic potions. From personal experience I assure you this is no different to most, if not all the successful lofts I know and it’s probably no different to 90% of all lofts in the UK. However, I feel there are also two types of fancier that use medication. The ones who use it willy nilly and the ones who know just what to give, when to give it and how to give it. It goes without saying that the latter are the more successful. In a book written by the most famous pigeon author of all time there is a photo showing a selection of antibiotics, or drugs if you wish to call them that. And underneath it the caption says “Pigeons lack immunity more than in the past and we are to blame by abusing medicine”. Now the fanciers that sit in the first camp mentioned above will read that caption and believe that antibiotics are bad, but and it is a big but, nowhere in the book does the author say that he doesn’t use them. In fact he is extremely knowledgeable on the subject and truth be known, like most big names in the sport he probably uses more than most. However, let’s be clear about one thing, ABUSE is very different to USE!!!
Andy’s basic programme to keep his birds clean and healthy and ready for racing is to administer a 7 day course with a broad spectrum antibiotic followed by vitamins for several days then a 7 day course of ornithosis medicine again followed by vitamins and probiotic. Then during the season each week the birds will receive 1 ½ days broad spectrum antibiotic (starting Sat pm) and 1 day ornithosis antibiotic (Thursday) and every 2 weeks the birds each receive a ¼ of Flagyl tablet for Canker.
Amongst other medication products Andy is very happy with the DAC Pharma products and uses just about all of their range that you see advertised in the papers each week with the two main products used being Combi Mix and Broomhexine. Mycostatin is often used following any medication, given either on the food or in the water. When using Antibiotics in the water there is one product that Andy always uses with it and this is just one of the products that he uses from the Norban range; these are excellent natural products. The one used in the water with the medication is Rapid De Chlor. This is used to neutralise the tap water from the chlorine and other treatments that get added to our drinking water and that are still present even when boiled or left to stand for 24 hours. By putting this in the water before adding the medicine the birds receive the full benefits of it without the chlorine weakening the antibiotic. One thing that is used most days on the feed is GEM Oregano & Garlic oil; during the racing season his loft stinks of the stuff. He likes to use ProGem Plus as well, particularly with the babies; he believes this product is a must. Along with all the motions and potions lots of natural products are also used here such as Brewers Yeast which is added to the feed Saturday and Sunday, and cider vinegar and garlic bulbs are also often in the water. It would be fair to say that Andy’s birds probably only ever see plain corn and water during the moulting and winter period, but then again I very much doubt you’d fined an athlete that competes at any decent level who prepares for competition on plain food and water. Dietary supplements and performance enhancing products are a must at any decent level of sport and he feels pigeon racing is no different.
Feed
During the resting period the birds are fed on all the corn that is left over from racing with the odd bag of a good moulting mix that has plenty of linseed and other small seeds added to it by Andy. However, much like his obsession with cleaning and keeping the birds 100% healthy his feeding system during racing is equally as detailed. The brands of corn vary but it must all be of good quality and very clean. The widowhood mix he feeds is a mixture of three bags all mixed together. I’ll start with Saturday on return from the race: small amount of Deperative, Sat PM and Sun AM high protein mix, Sun PM Mon AM and Mon PM a light seed type mixture is given. Tue AM + PM 50% seed 50% high protein, Wed AM high protein Wed PM Thurs AM and Thurs PM Widowhood mix then Fri AM is back seed. The last few feeds including Friday’s seed is coated with Vitamin B12. Just on the topic of Friday’s seed feeding, Andy likes to feed the young birds before they are basketed for obvious reasons and for the first few races he also syringes water into their crop to ensure they have sufficient fluid in them in case they don’t manage to get a drink on the transporter. In fact he says that one or two club members have commented when basketing his young birds that they are full of water. This is the reason why.
One of the young bird sections, full of bright sunlight from the perpex in the roof.
Results
I must admit getting this information sorted out has been a tough task such is Andy’s lax attitude towards paper work and keeping records. And I say that in a kind of positive way, as he doesn’t care for pedigree pigeons and doesn’t really keep all his prize cards in any particular kind of order. He knows his pigeons and which ones are his best performers and that’s all that matters to him, which makes a refreshing change to be honest. Believe me just sorting the 2011 and 2012 results out has been hard enough so that’s what I’m sticking too. And these are not exact either due to prize cards being mislaid or not having been received from the club etc, but they are there or thereabouts, minus one or two.
2011, Swallownest IFC: 20x1st, 21x2nd, 20x3rd, 19x4th. Woodhouse HS: 5x1st, 2x2nd, 5x3rd, 1x4th. Sheff&Dist 5 Bird Championship Club: 1x1st, 1x2nd, 3x3rd. Derby&Burton Federation: 1x1st 2x2nd 1x3rd 1x4th 1x5th 1x6th 2x7th 2x8th 3x9th 1x10th 2x11th 3x12th 1x14th 2x15th 1x16th 1x17th.
2012, Swallownest IFC (Old Birds Only): 12x1st 10x2nd 8x3rd 7x4th. Woodhouse HS: 16x1st 6x2nd 9x3rd 8x4th. Beighton HS: 2x1st 2x2nd 1x3rd 2x4th. Sheff&Dist 5 Bird Championship Club: 4x1st 1x2nd 3x3rd 2x4th. Derby&Burton Federation: 1x4th 2x5th 3x6th 2x7th 1x9th 2x10th 1x12th 2x13th 2x14th 2x15th 1x16th 1x17th 2x18th 2x19th.
So in total, in just two years Andy and Michelle have racked up no less than 60x1st 43x2nd 49x3rd 39x4th and a total of 49 federation prizes within the top 20 from up to 2,500+ birds. By anybody’s standards that is simply astonishing flying, particularly when you consider that three out of the four clubs they race in are very strong. During the last two seasons he has been premier prize winner three times, twice in Sallownest (2012 racing young birds only) and once in Woodhouse HS (2012) in just his second season in this ultra strong club. He also smashed the club record with 16x1st prizes in one season; I think the record was held at around 7 or 8. Also in 2012 he was runner up premier prize winner in Sheffield&District 5 Bird Championship Club, close behind, yes you’ve guessed it, his best pal Mark Sherwood. Also he was third to the table in Beighton HS 2012, his first year in the club only racing young birds.
So there you have it, from propping up the result sheet most weeks to becoming one of the most feared competitors for miles around in a relatively short period of time, through sheer commitment and a willingness to learn and move forward, and his openness to change. Add to the fact that some Saturdays Andy splits his team up to send in 4 clubs, so his small team becomes even smaller, but he sends them in confidence. I’m sure his winning ways will continue for many years to come. There is just one thing I would like to see though, that is for Andy to step up a level and test his birds in a national or classic type club. I’m sure you’d find it very interesting and rewarding mate.
Andy, I’d like to thank both you and Michelle for making me so welcome in your home on the many occasions I’ve called in for a coffee and a chat. I wish you many years of continued success. If anyone wishes to contact Andy with regard to any of the above, he can be emailed at:
Thanks for reading.
March 2013
