RHONDDA VALLEY FED
Reports by Martin Dunn
Davies & Evans of Maerdy - Young Bird Average winners 2009
This loft report on the above partnership is well deserved, not only for winning the young bird averages, as they also topped the fed 3 times with the young birds and won the Maerdy £100 Single bird nomination to round off a dream season. The partners are Bryn Davies and Bryn Evans, with Bryn Davies being the first to admit that Bryn Evans is the man that does the hard work with the birds due to Bryn Davies’s work commitments.
Davies and Evans collecting their trophies at the Maerdy presentation night
Both had flown pigeons for a long time before going into partnership in 1986. Bryn Davies started as far back as 1961 as a loft boy with the late Tom Pike, this at 11 years of age. Prior to going into partnership, results like 1st club from Lerwick, 2nd section 5th Open Welsh National stand out. These were followed up with 7th and 11th National from this tough race point and when you add 7th National Thurso, 10th National Thurso, plus 1st Welsh North Road Fed Ludlow against11000 pigeons, you can see there is a wealth of winning from the partners over the years.
Moving onto the present, the team is made up of Staf van Reets direct from Bert Hession and Adrain Ware. These have been blended into their own family of pigeons that were based on the Taffy Bowen and Graham Warren lines. One other introduction was from an advert in the pigeon papers and a pair were brought in from Mr D. Downing of Newmarket. The partners said that these crossed into the other families really have bred the goods, with pigeons winning from the sprints and across the water. Unfortunately they have lost the contact details for this fancier to let him know how well they have gone. If anyone out there is reading this and has his details then Bryn would like to get in touch to update him.
There are 12 pair of stock pigeons and these are usually paired late January or early February. In 2010 they have brought another half dozen pairs to try and improve on this year's performances. That’s what makes them successful. When flying in the strong Maerdy club you cannot afford to rest on your laurels if you want to compete.
The old birds are raced on the roundabout system, around 18-20 pairs. These are exercised morning and evening for an hour each time. The old birds are well trained prior to racing and then only trained if they feel they need something to boost them. They are fed on Diet 200 beginning of the week, with a mixture of the Versele-laga corns fed at the back of the week. The pigeons are fed in their nest boxes after each exercise period, as much as they want before any food left over is removed from the loft. The boys also add Osmonds Codlivit and Avi Boost Tonic to the feed during the week. All the birds are treated for the dreaded Paratyphoid before the season starts, with Canker and Cocci kept under control with regular treatment.
As for the young birds, the partners normally rear around 70 for racing. When they are up flying they are generally left out on open hole all day to enjoy their freedom. When they are exercising well they are then trained, and this will be as a team until they know the ropes. They will then be sent with the local training transporters to give them a bit more experience before racing commences.
The young birds are fed the same mixes as the old birds, again using Osmonds' C odlivit and Avi Boost as supplements for them.The young birds are raced through the programme, with the best of them being sent to the Lillers race depending on how the moult is progressing. The young birds are flown on the Darkness, although one or two may hold a flight at the end of the moult. Usually the young birds will fly through the moult with no problems.
This brings us onto the 2009 young bird season, which can only be described as a f antasy season for the loft.They started off from the 1st young bird race by taking the first 9 position in club and Federation, the fed winner coming as a gift from Selwyn Ashton of Port Talbot. They then won the next 2 young bird races in the club, again with good fed positions. Then top form really kicked in from Guildford onwards. At Guildford they were 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 8th and 9th fed. The following week with the Welsh Combine at Maidstone, a tester, the loft again was on fire, winning 1st, 2nd, 3rd & 4th club, same again with the Rhondda Valley fed, plus the honour of having the first four pigeons into South Wales. (The National winner was with the wind in North Wales.) The following week, they once again take the first 4 positions in the club, plus top fed positions. Icing on the cake this week was winning the Maerdy Single bird £100 Nomination race, picking up over £2000 to help with the corn bills. They finished the season off from the final race from Swindon to take 2nd Rhondda Valley fed and take the fed's young bird average trophy to finish off in style. The partners ended up by claiming the top prize winner's spot in the Maerdy Club, taking 8 wins. They were also 1st Bonn and 1st and 2nd Folkestone in the Upper Rhondda 2-bird club. I am sure we will hear a lot more of this loft in the 2010 season.
