Keith Mott writes...

The Best of long distance in Scotland - Part 5

BOB McDONALD

of Fraserburgh

Although I have admired Bob McDonald's Ko Nipius pigeons for many years, I only met him for the first time on my video tour of Scotland in April, 1997. Bob has been in the sport for 65 years, starting up with a gift pair of fantails at the age of seven. He says some of his friends had racing pigeons and he soon caught the bug. Through the years the McDonald loft has won countless 1 st federation prizes and federation averages. Bob says his biggest thrill was when he recorded the first bird to be clocked from the Rennes SNFC race (660 miles) on the day to win 1st section and the same bird was 4 th North section the previous year, doing 700y.p.m. He likes to race at all distances but maintains that, if he could win every race up to 500 miles and didn't get a bird from 600 miles, he would be very disappointed. The furthest he has flown is Niort (784 miles) and says the more you put into pigeon racing, the more you can take out.

Bob has a wonderful set-up in Fraserburgh with the pigeons being raced on both widowhood and on the natural system. The 30 widowhood cocks are housed in a very smart 36ft long loft, with three sections, grille floors and open door trapping. Although Bob races natural pigeons in the SNFC races, he maintains that most of the time they can't compete with the widowhood cocks. The widowhood pigeons are paired up in mid-February and race from 60 miles through to 600 miles, with outstanding success. The cocks are broken down for two days only on the early races and their corn is beefed up with peanuts for the longer races. Bob is a heavy feeder at all times and always shows the hens on marking nights. The cocks are given the hens for one hour on their return from the race, unless it is a hard race and they are left overnight. Vitamins are added to the drinking water once a month.

Natural pigeons are housed in a three-section loft, fitted with 12 German-style nest boxes in each section, and the inmates are trapped through sputniks. These are also paired up in February and are only sent training in the local club, being set up for the SNFC events. Bob says he is a pigeon lover and keeps about 140 pairs of stock birds in a big, old, stone barn. These are paired up the same time as the racing team so eggs can be floated. When selecting stock birds, Bob likes performance birds with good physique and eyesign.

Two families of pigeons are kept, one of which goes back to 1947 and is still winning today. He purchased the Old Crippled Cock from the late James Mill in 1956 and this family has filled the loft with winners 'for many years, including only bird on the day from 600 miles. Bob first saw the Ko Nipius pigeons at the 1965 Olympiad and went straight over to Holland to purchase a few pairs. They are Jan Aarden based and flown on the widowhood system, win the short distance and are outstanding in the long-distance events. The Ko Nipius are still bred pure in the McDonald loft and have won everything in federation racing for Bob. They are wonderful looking pigeons and have won at many classic shows, including Best in Show at Edinburgh and Best in Show at the Old Comrades.

The loft houses about 200 youngsters each season and these are raced through to the Young Bird National (360 miles). The youngsters are trained every day but are not raced every week. Bob maintains that, if baby pigeons are overworked, they never make good old birds. He is a heavy feeder and never saves young cocks for the widowhood system - the 'whole team has to race. The box perches in the young bird loft have litter trays filled with sawdust to keep the inmates clean and sweet. Bob says the droppings in the litter trays indicate the health of the loft.

ERIC YULE

of Aberdeen

As I write this article, there's news filtering through my phone line from Doncaster that Eric Yule of Aberdeen has won Best in Show at the Old Comrades Show. This is great news as Eric is a good lad and deserves all his success as he is a very hard worker with his birds. He has been 'knocking on the door' at the national shows many times and this time has hit the jackpot. Well done, mate!

I visited Eric's Aberdeen home in 1997 and was greatly impressed by the man and his wonderful team of multi-purpose pigeons, which have excelled at racing and showing. Over the years Eric has recorded many major positions in national long-distance races, with 1996 being his best season, winning 3rd North Section Sartilly (1) SNFC (587 miles); 1st North Sect Rennes SNFC (631 miles); 1st North Sect Sartilly (2) SNFC. The loft has won Best Racer in Show at the British Homing World Blackpool Show twice and also twice at the Old Comrades Show. Eric, has had outstanding success with his good Kirkpatrick red cheq cock which won Best Racer in Show at both the major shows in one season, a fantastic performance. The Red Cock has also been a good racer, winning many cards in races up to 300 miles.

Eric's, smart 20ft loft has four sections and the birds are trapped through drop holes. The main loft has a closed-in front to keep the inmates warm and dry and the nest boxes are also very secluded, with hardboard fronts. Eric began in. the sport in 1963 with a pair in a rabbit hutch and is only really interested in long-distance racing. His 40 pairs of natural racers are paired up in early February and, after rearing a pair of squeakers, are parted again. They are trained and race the first four races apart, and then are re-paired for the rest of the season, it with the long-distance nationals in mind. The old birds get three 25-mile training tosses every week through the season. The birds are hopper fed a good mixture, with extra maize being added as the' distance increases.

The star bird on my visit to the Aberdeen loft was a blue cheq cock and he was a blend of several top long-distance families which run through the loft. This cock has won several cards - racing, including 1st North Section 85th open Rennes (SNFC) 631 miles, sent feeding two big youngsters. Another excellent bird was a red cheq hen sent for her first time over the Channel feeding a week-old youngster and recorded 1st North Sect Sartilly (SNFC) 587 miles. The Red Hen had won many other racing prizes and had been outstanding in the show pen.

A good type as well as good performance is preferred when selecting stock birds. Stock birds are paired up the same time as the racers so their first round of eggs can be floated in the racing loft. About 70 youngsters are bred each year and are raced from 35 to 202 miles with the federation, then a few are sent to the Young Bird National (300 miles). The youngsters are trained every day, in any direction, and are fed twice a day with the same heavy mixture as the old birds.