Sheffield & District 5 Bird Championship Club
By Chris Gibson
Loft report: TONY BURTON of Darnell
The quiet one - Tony Burton
For many years I have known of the name Tony Burton of Darnell HS, Sheffield as a name never to be far away from the prizes in what is the biggest club in Sheffield and has been since I can remember. The club at one time of day used to send over a 1,000 birds and these days can still manage up to 400 some weeks, bigger birdage than some Federations. So to be at the top in this club takes some doing. Although I have known the name and have always had respect for Mr Burton knowing what performances he’s put up over the years, I’ve never really known the man himself as we have only ever spoke briefly on a few occasions. Part of my respect for him is down to the fact that whenever I have spoken to him I found him to be a very quite, unassuming modest man. However, I could also see that behind his quiet modest exterior was a man who is confident in his own and his birds' ability to win against top quality competition. To add to this he is never one to boast about his achievements.
Super condition
With all this in mind I was very happy to see his name on the members list for the Championship Club in 2010 and what a good 2010 Tony has had. Being Premier Prize winner in Darnell HS and the Halfway 5 bird nom club that is run within Darnell HS itself. Also this year he has topped the mighty Barnsley Federation three times with birdage of up to 6,000 birds - and that takes some doing. In the last five years at Darnell Tony has been Top Prize winner four times and runner up the other.
He began his racing career some 30 years ago, joining the then massive Darnell HS competing against over a 1,000 birds each week. Darnell is the only club Tony has been in, as like a lot of it’s members he sees it as the one to win. However, when speaking with him I got a little inkling that he’s enjoyed his first year in the 5 bird Championship club and will be trying very hard to win in this club again next year, as he agrees it is a different ball game to normal club and fed racing with many top fliers send their very best 5 birds being liberated with a fed that finishes some 20 mile in front. He even said that he may have made the mistake this year of not send his very best to the Championship club as he now knows that this is what is needed if you want to be in the prizes.
Ventilation in the loft
Although, he is far from having the biggest team off pigeons compared to some other local fanciers Tony still admits to keeping too many pigeons, but he is happy with the number he keeps and they’re not too much work for him and you’ll see why when I go on to his method. He has 20 pairs of stock and starts the season with around 40 widowhood cocks and approximately 60 to 70 young birds. He is also going to try a team of 12 widowhood hens in 2011 aiming them at the Championship club.
He’s just brought in a few pairs of Heremans Ceusters and Anton Reynarts “FIGO” lines from his good friend Author Taylor of Maltby to see how they compare to his own Vandenabeeles that he’s had for many years that go back to the old M&D Evans lines. I must admit I’ve never been a Vandenabeele fan but Tony’s best cock, who is now in the stock loft, is an absolute dream. The “Pencil Cock”, as Tony call’s him, won 6x1st with up to 500+birds and many other prizes, and in the Federation he won 3x1st, 2nd,4th, 5th plus other prizes against up to 3,000+birds. To add to this the “Pencil Cock” has gone on to breed winners including 1st Federations, some pigeon.
The pencil cock
As mentioned Tony starts the season with approximately 40 widowhood cocks and will be trying 12 hens in 2011 for the first time. The method that Tony races his cocks is similar to how I know some people race their widowhood hens. They are house in large aviaries that run the full length of the loft perched on lats and v perches. When I say housed I mean 24/7 all year round except for when they are paired at the beginning of the year and on a Saturday afternoon when they return from the race when they are allowed into the back of the loft where their hen is waiting in the box. His birds are very rarely handled as even on a Friday night for basketing they are run through a hatch straight from the aviary into the basket then are off to the club having not seen their box, bowl or hen. The motivation on this system is two fold with the cocks being deprived of their box all week as well as the hen. Tony explained that the yearling cocks soon get to know the system and generally trap like bullets onto the boards and through the traps like lightening passing over the ETS pads then quickly make their way into the loft where they know their hen is waiting.
Stock loft
Prior to the first race the cocks are trained approximately 15 times up to 20 to 25 miles then generally no training is needed as they exercise very well both morning and night. The medication for the widowhood cocks is generally very little with a canker treatment being used every 3 weeks and the relevant treatment being used as and when Tony deems in necessary, this also applies to the young birds. One thing he is a believer in is a preventative treatment against Paratyphoid and this is done by way of injection. He told me that the one year he didn’t do this he was the bottom of the sheet for the first 3 or 4 races before they started to come, hence he makes a point of doing this every year now.
Old bird loft
As far as supplements are concerned I got the impression that he’s not a huge believer in them and will buy whatever catches his eye when he visits the corn shop, or whatever is on special offer that week. The birds obviously very rarely need treatment for respiratory problems due to living in the aviaries day and night. Plus the fact that when inside the loft on a Saturday afternoon this is also a good environment with air escaping out of the birds section up into the open space above then out of the roof (see picture, inside cocks loft).
As far as young birds are concerned a team of approximately 60 to 70 is bred for the season. Both cocks and hens are raced on the same system as the widowhood cocks with the young cocks having access to a large aviary that runs along the rear of the young bird loft. The only difference on the motivation front is that the young ones are left to go together for a few hours on a Friday afternoon prior to basketing. Tony’s loft is very good for helping to cut his work load down, as I mentioned earlier he is happy with the number he keeps as the work is cut down by all his old bird team being housed in the large aviaries so very little cleaning out if any is needed this together with the fact that straight down the middle of his lofts is the stock loft and a large hedge row that effectively means that the old bird and young bird lofts are on separate gardens. This helps cut the time down massively as the old widowhood cocks go out to exercise at the same time as the young cocks and with no cleaning out to be done due to the aviaries Tony can sit in his cabin and enjoy watching them exercise, which he ensures me is a real joy when they are on form. Medication and supplements is the same as per the old birds.
YB loft
The training program for the young ones is similar to that of the old cocks but they will and often do get one or maybe two tosses in the week if he thinks they require it. The feeding is similar too with the feed at the beginning of the week being slim and healthy from Crawthers corn supplies and Versla Larga widowhood mix used from Tuesday night onwards.
When I brought up the subject of introducing new birds I found that we we’re both very much on the same wave length as far as that the best birds you have often turn out to be the ones that cost about £20 or £30 or are the ones that are gifted in good faith. The money that is spent on pigeons in this day and age is often ridiculous and in some cases is only helping to kill the game with people assuming that they have to spend silly amounts on big name birds to achieve results. However, as we discussed this is not the case. Look at Tony’s “Pencil Cock” both parents cost about £20 each. Also his “No Rings Cock” was a late bred gifted by a friend and he has gone on breed several Federation winners, proving big money birds from big named lofts are not the be all and all.
Young bird aviary
Tony enjoys both sprint and distance racing and is successful at both. A few years ago Darnell HS set up a specialist 2 bird continental club that was open to all Central Derbyshire Federation members. This was aimed at members being able to race two against two in the longer distance channel races and out of the four races it had Tony won 3x1st and 1x2nd. Unfortunately the club only lasted that one year.
In recent years Tony has won over 100 prizes in the first 4 in Darnell HS and remember that this club sends up to 400 birds and out of those 100 prizes the loft has been in the top 20 of the federation on over 70 occasions ranging from approximately 2,000 birds when the club raced in the Central Derbyshire Federation up over 6,000 birds in the Barnsley Federation that they fly in now. In Tony’s first year in the Sheffield & District 5 Bird Championship Club he won 1x1st, 1x2nd, 1x3rd, 2x7th, 1x8th and 1x10th winning approximately £568 in pools and prizes. Put this together with being top prize winner in Darnell HS with 6x1st, 6x2nd, 3x3rd, 5x4th and being highest prize winner in the Halfway 5 bird nom club not to mention his 3x1st, 2x2nd and 7th Federation from up to 6,000 birds I’d say he’s had one hell of a good year. And long may it continue.
It was a real pleasure to spend a few hours with a very successful but very modest pigeon fancier. Thanks Tony and all the best for 2011.
Note to all members, Sheffield & District 5 Bird Championship presentation evening is on Sunday 19th December at Club HQ, Woodhouse West End club 7:30pm. Guests of honour are Ray Night and Darren Peters. Sure to be a good night, see you there. Thanks for reading.
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
