Billy Gordon - Winner of Lanarkshire Federation West section Combine Averages 2024
I phoned Billy on 22nd March on the off chance that after my Saturday afternoon refereeing in the local area of Cambuslang I could pop in and catch up with his loft report on his fine season of 2024.
This was obliged and I made my way after my game to visit one of the most consistent and respected lofts in the Lanarkshire federation. Billy Gordon has always been a name that is at the top of the average boards.
Initially we both spent a time reminiscing on our professional football careers with Billy playing for a good number of years in the professional leagues with such teams as Queen of the South, Stenhousemuir .
Billy showing his Lanarkshire West section combine average cup.
He was a striker turned defender who plied his trade against such top names as Kenny Dalgleish and Tommy Burns.
Billy is into his seventy's but has a very sharp memory of his playing career remembering the fine details of who he was up against and the score in each game.
Like myself Billy has a lifelong love for playing football and keeping dogs.
Billy like most of us had to suffer the horrendous racing in 2024 season racing down the "traditional 2route for racing into Lanarkshire following the M6 up through the borders and into Lanarkshire via the M74 road. Billy wasn't an advocate for this route.
The racing was that bad that an emergency meeting was held to change the young bird programme back to the east route.
Billy had his losses as most with a number of birds returning with tell- tale signs of falcon attacks, but he soldiered on in the old bird season when large number had given up the ghost due to the losses.
Billy maintained an excellent level of consistency that seen him win the West section Combine averages in Lanarkshire federation.
Like the football Billy reflects on his time in the pigeon sport remembering ring numbers and names of his top pigeons over the decades.
Billy suffers with his eye sight and diabetes over the recent past and has to rely on the great friendship of good friends Dave Allison, Tam Houston and Frank Welsh .He has the loving support of is daughter helping with the daily management and weekly training flight.
The pigeons like the football has played a big part of his daily routine and like the football you have to be disciplined in your management of both.
Pigeons are very much a way of life and with the support of all the forementioned have kept him in the sport especially after the loss of his beloved wife.
Billy is a winner at any distance he has applied himself to, in the near past he has won the coveted Lanarkshire Social Circle Gold Cup which is based on the most difficult of distance races in the SNFC programme.
This wasn't my first report on Billy's fine pigeon husbandry with an article appearing in the fancy press in the year 2014 & 2015 winning the top races at the distance events. His achievements can be viewed in Elimar website Lanarkshire news archives.
Most of the breed of pigeons have changed with more sprint/middle distance being sourced for stock by himself and good friend Dave Allison which are housed at Billy's or Davies,
There is the odd old line among them.
These days Billy programmes his pigeons to compete in the 19 week programme of the Lanarkshire federation that is between 70 to 400 miles, which as earlier stated was possible the hardest of all seasons completed.
Billy stated he voted against this season but had to accept the majority but with serious consequences to losses.
But these days the don't have to attend a race to loss them.
Billy has only recently being giving some spare hens some exercise around loft with three pigeons missing to raptor attacks already.
View of Billy's loft set up
Pigeon management.
24 pair of stock pigeons of all the best of Lambrechs, Vandenabelle, Custer lines with some Ron Williamson Busschaerts sourced through Martin Hughes "Hurricane Mick" lines.
Two rounds of YBs are reared with no youngsters being taken from the racers. These are raced on the Darkness system.
The birds receive Versele Laga Breeding with Frazerform mixture.
On observing the youngsters in the nest ,they looked nice and healthy, with dry droppings surrounding the bowls.
The mineral/Grit mix of Vanrobayes super grit mixed with normal grit is provided daily to the pigeons which they will follow Billy and his daughter Isa around the loft to obtain. Billy says grit is one of the best things for keeping pigeons healthy.
Birds don't receive any grit after Wednesday during racing season.
When YBs are split the youngsters around 60 are on the darkness system with young cock pigeons being stopped usually before last race to make up the widowhood team for following season.
Billy races 24 cocks on traditional widowhood with the hens not being raced and out of sight from the racing cocks.
He also races a team of around 17 pair of celibate pigeons that are split all week and on Friday afternoon the doors are open to each section allowing the birds to mix and become the "Chaos" system .The hens on this system showing their worth in the longer events.
Some of these celibate cocks will only be lightly raced.
The widowhood cocks hens aren't always shown, sometimes hen is locked in box for cock to see. Its changed but mostly cocks are sent without seeing the hen, but always get hen on return. The cocks will not eat if the hen is there so the hens are basketed on race day till cocks are fed and then sometimes remain with cock overnight.
These widowhood cocks have been racing well in the Blantyre club over the past few seasons winning many races.
The widowhood hens(non-racers) are boxed in garage and receive barley as their feed during the week.
The celibate hens sometimes pair and lay in section, this is used as motivation with the hens sitting eggs were the birds timed in the longest races last year.
The birds receive a 10 treatment of Belgica De Weerd Parastop at the end of October, the pigeons are cankered when sitting 10 day eggs and after YBs are taken away.
A powder form for worming was done last year for the first time for a long time, the product is Belgica De Weerd.
Billy prefers the one treatment programmes of health and vaccinates with Nobilis PMV Vaccine .The youngsters are done when leaving nest.
Billy keeps the loft tidy but isn't a fanatic for spotless clean floors. He has a light coating of sand that is raked and sieved keeping the birds feet cleaned. The boxes are cleaned regularly.
He uses Med Tollyamin Forte which is in the drinkers(cap full per drinker) on return from races and once during the week again, this is also used during breeding.
Before racing they are treated for respiratory with him changing the product to prevent building resistance.
If you are going to treat for something ,treat for it ,not into these 4 in 1 products.
All racers go the programme with widowhood cocks mostly only getting the hen on return and the celibate doors being opened ,turning into the chaotic system with birds coming together on the Friday to do as they please within their sections .
The birds exercise around the lofts throughout the week with birds trapped immediately well they return to the loft.
A couple of short flights before going into the federation transporter before the start of the racing season. hopefully getting a couple of testing flights to get them into the condition for the first race.
Billy doesn't drive these days due to his eyesight and has to rely on his good friends to see him get the birds to the transporter. His daughter Isa helps with taking the widowhood cocks a 7 mile trainer each week from Hamilton.
Billy enjoys watching the widowhood cocks exercise as the dash around the sky strutting their stuff full of vitality.
Stick to your system and everything else comes easy!
Learned of the old fanciers from Halfway near Cambuslang ,they would share their winning systems when others wouldn't tell you were a birds nest was
The feed system for the team is a measured system with birds returning to VL Gerry Plus and Haiths Red band conditioning seeds mixture. Barley is added to trapping mix and when birds leave the barley they have had enough. Common sense approach.
When widowhood cocks are separated, they go onto barley for five days and then onto race feeding system.
Inside the widowhood cock loft
They are on a build up system with the birds moving onto Depurative, then switched onto Gerry Plus with VL Sports mixture at end of week.
As stated, they receive one and a quarter once per bird with the birds receiving all they want on the Thursday evening night (Day before basketing) This system produces the hollow buoyant effect on the birds that Billy is looking for.
They are fed at 7am on the Friday but usually don't eat much at this time.
Throughout the week they are fed morning and evening.
During the off season they receive Gibbs of Galston moulting mixture with a more laid back approach to the management.
Billy said it can be a bad thing spending too much time in the loft at any time!
He is usually basketing pigeons at 6am in the summer months to catch the Lanarkshire transporter at Uddingston club for training flights for the youngsters but on the off season its very much more relax mode.
Billy said he needed a kick up the backside a couple of years ago to remotivate himself .
Billy has no major goals in pigeons other than being consistent and try and win as many races as possible, he said you can’t win every race every week.
Be content with what you are doing!
Well thanks again Billy for your time and insight into your winning system and supporting Lanarkshire news.
Tom Corrie jnr
Lanarkshire Press Officer
