JOHN DOUGAL
OF WISHAW, LANARKSHIRE
by Tom Corrie Jnr
John holding one of his section winners
This week’s profile took me a short drive to the lofts of John Dougal from Wishaw. John competes in the large east section of the Lanarkshire Fed and has caught my eye with his tremendous record in the sprint/middle distance racing with countless top performances in the section, federation and open races.
John's lofts are situated in the garden of his home and cover most of the garden area. He met my dad and I with his loft helper, Ian Stewart and we were also welcomed by his Jack Russell that lives in the garden to prevent vermin bothering the pigeons. John explained that the dog is a great asset due to the increased risk of foxes in the neighbourhood.
The loft set up consists of old bird, stock and young bird lofts that are very well maintained and nicely painted. He gingerly took me around the lofts as he is slowly recovering from a recent accidental fall from the steps of the loft, causing him significant back injury.
Old bird racing loft
We firstly entered the young bird loft which has just recently been kitted out with nest boxes in both sections. John likes his birds motivated on the nest cycle for the first young bird races, then changes to celibate and only shows to each other on the Friday, which he feels makes the birds very keen for a number of races.
John is a hard task master with his birds and his youngsters are extensively trained before the racing starts. He trains the young with the old as soon as they start ranging and they are in the training basket most days for up to 30-40 miles on the line of flight. John feels this is necessary to enable them to learn the breaking point. The youngsters also have access to aviaries at the front of the loft at all times, which he feels are essential. The racing loft faces north-east, which is not ideal and there is also the presence of a large pine tree to the left which prevents the early sunshine heating up the loft, but this doesn't stop them winning!
John has always been interested in pigeons, being around pigeon fanciers all his days. However, it was not until 1997 he took up the sport when moving from a flat to his present location and although he has a background with racing greyhounds it's the pigeons that have his 100% attention with total dedication to the feathered friends. He races to win, however he doesn't lose sleep over not winning every week, enjoying every win as it happens.
John is ruthless in his selection process with stock and racers, giving them only two seasons to breed winners or win! There are no ‘old’ pigeons in this racing loft as John feels the his best performances come from young birds, yearlings and the odd two year old. He started the season with 23 old birds and was left with 11 yearlings of which eight were winners.
Inside the young bird section
His sprint/middle distance team are based on Gerald Delaney of Oroory Hill Stud, Northern Ireland. They have produced winners every year at the highest level and John puts his trust on this fancier’s stock of Grondelaer/Van der Veken based pigeons. These win in any weather conditions and have very soft plumage, which John feels is important in a winning pigeon. John's selection of stock is based on balance, feather quality and good throat. John was good enough to take the time to explain the throat theory to myself.
The birds are all paired up by mid December, with the loft lights being put on until 10pm two weeks before pairing, to get the pigeons ready to pair. John puts all his breeders in a basket and selects pairs on handling and line. John owns cracking stock pigeons that ooze class and vitality. They are only lightly bred from by John switching the first round under the racers. Heoften breeds youngsters for his friends and with top results reported. These birds win in any competition and I'm sure are well sought after within the area.
Young bird loft
He is presently developing a team of distance pigeons that have been obtained from a good friend in England that are based on Van Wanroy/Delbar/Barker bloodlines. A couple of yearlings from these birds, SU11L4114 & 4115 both chequers, have won races and 115 won two federation sections, a really good sign for the future. Here’s a snapshot of John's performances this year in a very difficult yearling open from 240 miles was 1st, 2nd section 3rd & 8th Open out of 862 birds.
The racing method is simple - race every week on the celibate system - after the first race they are given loft exercise daily and one training toss for the cocks and hens (separate days) from 30-40 miles and only see each other on the Friday of basketing. Motivation used is 'playing with their heads'; anything that will give you the edge. Picking your pool pigeon is all about observation - watching the pigeon’s behaviour in the loft - jealousy system, mirror in box - anything that will gee them up and give them the edge.
The young are darkened from March till June and are encouraged to pair initially and then go on the celibate system with all going the full programme and some going to the National.
His feeding is simple. Eight different Versele Laga mixes and quality mixes of oil seeds like hemp, Hormoform and also pellets. All fed to the birds until they start going to the drinker once per day at around 4pm. This method allows the birds to pick out what they wish to eat as the birds know better than us what they need. He uses handfuls of peanuts as a trapping mix for the birds which they love and they will follow him anywhere for them.
All birds are vaccinated but receive no preventive products as he states 'I have tried everything and only now use natural products such as garlic and cider vinegar in the water every day except Friday when they get fresh water'. This appears to keep the birds in good condition and he no longer feels it necessary to send the birds’ droppings for testing.
Typical type of pigeon in the loft
He keeps a plastic container of creosote in each section with pin holes in the top to allow the vapour to enter the sections, which he feels benefits the pigeons. He also dips a mat in same under nest bowl when pigeons are rearing. Simple but effective from a top loft!
John doesn't tolerate weakness and pigeons are given the opportunity to recover naturally from any illness such as the dreaded YBS.
When the young are separated the section isn't cleaned out, not even the open top feeders, as the birds will develop natural immunity within this time. John was a great fan of sand as a deep litter in all his lofts, however at present he scrapes out with a long handle type on the floor due to not being able to sieve the sand. The ventilation in both lofts is good with bottom/back wall ventilation and front louvers and aviary.
Inside the old bird section
This is one of the top lofts in the biggest federation in Britain which has won 5 old bird club races, 4 x 1st section wins and topped the federation to boot! A cracking pigeon fancier who has used all his knowledge and experience to keep himself at the top in very keen competition. He competes in th Cambusnethan & Morningside club in the Lanarkshire Federation and the occasional inland National and local open races. John enjoys all races and even more so with the introduction of the ETS system (Unikon is used), which he thinks is brilliant for the sport. He hopes to concentrate on more distance events and has a plan to pair hens together to for the distance events.
John has an easy going personality and takes time to encourage others to develop in the sport. He would like to thank Ian Stewart and Shug Harkins for all their help managing the pigeons, which has been very much appreciated.
His hospitality was excellent with John, Ian, old Tom and I building up a good rapport talking doos for a number of hours! We both enjoyed their company. Thanks to John and all the best with your pigeons. Tom Snr enjoyed his few drams of whisky.
Tom Corrie Jnr
Lanarkshire Press Officer
