LES J. PARKINSON'S

NEWS-REPORTS-ARTICLES

This week will see a busy spell when many fanciers will be pairing their birds or at least some of their pigeons that will probably be mainly their stock birds. Some racers will also be paired to get the youngsters out of the way and the widowhood cocks settled down for the racing season ahead.  This will carry on in one loft or another from now until probably late March depending on what you are looking for with the pigeons.  As I have already mentioned Richard was pairing the stock birds at Crewe last weekend and to get them in the right frame of mind he has been working with them as part of their preparation of going to nest without to much disruption in the breeding lofts. The weekend prior to pairing Richard had them locked in their boxes for a couple of days and this helped to settle them when they were put together to stay for the breeding season ahead. He is hoping to get some young birds ready to take up to the Blackpool Show for the Irish fanciers and it will be a bit tight but I am confident that he will have them ready with a little time to spare. Richard is not going for the weekend this time but will be taking a run up on the Monday with the pigeons that are going to Ireland. I don’t know if they will miss meeting the usual once a year crowd but will no doubt find out. In fact if it were not for those fanciers the stock birds would have been left for another few weeks. With the weather systems changing we have been having comparatively mild weather in December for some years now so the stock birds go down without too much trouble. The colder weather has moved to February & March with the cold winds going on into April and that causes quite a few losses with the yearlings that don’t like those cold East winds. Stock birds are ok being paired at this time of the year but when it comes to the race team then we are looking at a different proposition. Many years ago I paired the race team the first week in December let them rear a round and then split them before the hens could lay their second round. I then left cocks with the young birds to finish them off and the hens went into the young bird section. They were then paired again about three weeks after the youngsters had been moved and I let them rear another round. Yes two rounds of youngsters were reared from the race team prior to the racing season starting and a good season was the result. This worked fine because we won most of the old bird trophies and the fed grand average this was one of those rare occasions’s when I actually raced the club programme. This was the only year that I raced the full club programme in probably the last 20yrs but I do miss the weekly banter down at the club.

In 2009 we did send to a few more races in the club and with ETS being used for the first time and I really did enjoy the pigeons and felt far more relaxed on race days. Anyway getting back to pairing them up and what I am going to do with the race team. I have so many ideas going round in my head that I am going to act on impulse and pair them when I feel the time is right for me to get the best out of the races that I am going to compete in. I am not going to get a date in my mind I will just go into the loft one day and put them together and I must add that will not be happening for quite a few months. Although I have not been spending a great deal of time with the pigeons in recent months they have had some peace and had a good moult to see them into next year. A good moult is what they need and when I have gone into them and taken a look I have been happy at what I have seen. Going back to pairing the breeding my ideal way of pairing the pigeons is to make a list give it to someone reliable and go away until they are all settled and on eggs. My patience does wear a bit thin at times when I am pairing the birds, which is why it works well with the stock birds being with Richard at Crewe so I don’t have to deal with them. Richard has far more patience when it comes to pairing the pigeons up than I do. But when it comes to racing I have all the patience in the world and can bide my time with what I want to do. I set my goals and can wait for them whereas many cannot wait to get the pigeons going in the early races and then wonder why they cannot compete in the longer races unless it’s an easy one. All this is going through the fanciers mind when they are pairing their pigeons up, which do I pair to which so that I can get them ready to send them to the right races.

When is the right time to pair the pigeons? Is always a burning question and to be perfectly honest we don’t know because every year is different. You can have a cracking season one year and then do the same the following year without success. That is something we don’t know and we never will that is one of the mysteries in life, not only with the pigeons but in all walks of life and if everything worked the same every year just think how boring life would be. There would be no challenges and therefore no goals to aim for because they would continually be achieved in the same boring way. Does it really matter when we pair the pigeons I don’t think it does as long as they are conditioned right for the races and they are perfectly healthy? Many pigeons will not be paired until well into the New Year because when you think of the number of pigeons sold at Blackpool then there are going to be a lot paired up much later. You don’t have to pair up early for the National races because with the darkness you can get them right with the moult anyway so why bread early and pay for bags of corn that we don’t really need to be buying in the first place. I noticed at the Europa Classic there were many good performances by later bred youngsters so they don’t have to be bred early to win young bird races. What I will say is the pigeons do get through a moult better if they are bred early and the darkness is not used and they are less stressed in the later part of the year. Pigeon racing is so good because there are so many ways to race your pigeons and no matter what you do or how you do it as long as you condition them right you will achieve success. It’s all good fun and gives us plenty to talk about when we meet down at the club or at any of the shows over the winter months. Yes how many prizes are won at the bar over winter but when the actual racing comes many are still looking but they no doubt enjoy what they are doing.

Loft report

I always try to get a good loft report for you to read over the xmas period and this year I am compiling a report on Derek Woodward from Wincham, Northwich I have got the first three pages done so we are on course. Derek is as competitive as they come and is always the one to beat in his local competition. But as with many fanciers Derek is now broadening his horizons and looking at the National races but as we all know they are a different proposition to the weekly club races. Because Derek was a latecomer to the sport he does have his own ideas mixed in with those of top fanciers. Some are much different than I have seen in most lofts but they are winning methods so one to look for.

Shows

There appears to be a revival in showing at some of the local shows with many being full and that has been the case in Middlewich where they have had good turnouts for all their shows to date. This of course could be down to the fact that there are far less shows around than there used to be. However there was a time when you could go to the shows at Nantwich and Audlem to see a couple of hundred competing and what a job they were for the judges. At that time we used to go round them all because Elizabeth likes showing the pigeons.

Photo

I saw the B___ S____ trophy being presented to Eamon Kelly at the BBC presentation so I could not resist adding this photo as a follow up, this one was taken at the Europa Classic.

Eamon Kelly and Mark Gilbert

Les J.Parkinson. Elimar, 11 Rushton Drive, Middlewich, Cheshire, CW10 ONJ. Tel/Fax; 01606 836036. Mobile 07871 701585 elimar.pigeons@sky.com   web-site www.elimarpigeons.com