Three Borders Federation March meeting

The Federation held it’s March meeting at the University Vandals Rugby Club recently and the turn out of club delegates was a bit sparse, with Tony Dann chairing the proceedings. The secretary, Bryan Poulton, read out the minutes and announced that Ian Mead had been appointed as the new convoyer / driver for the 2006 season. Ian who has a H.G.V. driving license, used to convoy for the B.B. & O. Federation and will be taking over from Bill Peacock, who has been suffering with some bad health problems in recent months. Bill is still hoping to keep an involvement in the convoying side of the sport and intends to cover two or three races for the Federation this season.

The Federation President, John Keywood, told the meeting that the breeder / buyer sale had been arranged and every thing was in place to follow the D.E.F.R.A. Avian Influenza code of practice. The annual breeder / buyer auction sale will be held on Thursday 6th. April, at the Hersham Royal British Legion Club and will be run on the same lines as in previous years, with the first £500 being used as birdage discount for the club in 2006 racing. Every club must donate at least four youngsters to qualify for the 50p per crate discount for this season. The remainder of the proceeds from the sale will be for breeder/ buyer prizes, to be won on the young bird Yelverton race and the pay out last season was excellent. Members can donate two birds, the first to be bided for in the normal manner and then the member can purchase the second bird for £10, to have a go for a prize. The fancier who wins the bid on the first youngster gets the pick of the two birds.

The whole meeting was mostly dominate by the Avian Influenza problem and how it might affect our racing in the 2006 season and seasons then after. The Federation will stay South Road and race through to Sennon Cove (250 miles), in the West Country. The Federation secretary, Bryan Poulton, has drawn up a memo to member clubs, outlining some of the D.E.F.R.A. requirements for our racing this season. I am reproducing Bryan’s document for all to see:

AVIAN INFLUENCA INFORMATION AND RESPONSIBILTY. 

The aim of this memorandum is to set out the Federation’s view of where the responsibility lies for the action that has to be taken in order to meet the general licence conditions with the R.P.R.A. and imposed by D.E.F.R.A.

ALL CLUBS:

As all secretaries are in the receipt of D.E.F.R.A. requirements from the R.P.R.A. they and the officers must ensure that all club members are informed of the details and the necessary action that they have to carry out in order to comply. In particular the paragraphs listed below:

• a)      General licence conditions Numbers 7 to 11.
• b)      Biosecurity best practice.
• c)      Sales.
• d)      Pigeon races.

Our race sheet does provide the information required except ‘Phone Number’, please ask members to add this on the sheet. Hence the large responsibility lies with the Club and it’s members to comply with the requirements of D.E.F.R.A.

THE FEDERATION:

For racing the Federation secretary will collate all information from Club secretaries as required and act as the ‘Event Organiser’ required in the conditions. It will be assumed that clubs have carried out their responsibility as above and their Biosecurity best practice will now be the responsibility of the Transport Contractor and Driver / Convoyer of the Federation, after crates are loaded onto the transporter. Inspection of all crates and birds for any decease will be carried out whilst in their charge. They will ensure the vehicle and sites are cleaned as necessary and any spillages are disposed in a proper manner as defined in the conditions. Notification of liberations to the Animal Health Office is required 14 days prior to the race. Having already submitted our programme to the R.P.R.A., I’m informed they will do this on our behalf.

For the Breeder / Buyer Sale on the 6th. April 2006, the secretary will act as the ‘Event Organiser’ required in the licence conditions. Biosecurity best practice will be the responsibility of John Keywood who is making arrangements with the secretary at the Hersham Royal British Legion, Heathfield Road, Hersham. Buyers of youngsters at the sale are required to isolate these birds for at least a week. If a Veterinary Surgeon should be required then he can be contacted at Beech House Veterinary Centre, 16, Queens Road, Hersham, Surrey. The telephone number is 01932 220768. This was agreed following my telephone conversation with Mr. J. Crittall today. Bryan Poulton – Federation Secretary (13th. March 2006).

There was a lot of discussion on what dressing the Federation should use in the race crates this season and it was decided it should be Peat or Sharp Sand, or a mixture of both. Several delegates at the meeting suggested wood shavings and although they work well in baskets, they blow around when used in crates and make a mess at the liberation site. One club wanted to use corrugated paper. With the ‘bird flu’ problem on us, it’s been very difficult for the Federation secretary to estimate a crate charge for this season, but came up with: Federation inland races, £7.80p per crate, S.M.T. Combine races, Yelverton and Wadebridge £9.00 per crate, Sennon Cove £10.00 per crate and Yelverton (young bird) £8.50p per crate. These charges will be monitored through out the racing season and if adjustments need to be made, they will be made. The Federation subscriptions have gone up £2 for the new season and are now £27 per loft.

It was brought up at the meeting about the PMV Vaccination now that all racing this season is inland and not from the Continent. This is a quote from an email that I received from Peter Bryant on 13th. March 2006:

Several fanciers have suggested to me that, as we are not racing from France, then is there a need to vaccinate against PMV. Well the simple answer is a definite YES. All racing pigeons that are racing or shown MUST be vaccinated annually. No ifs, no buts!

That’s your ‘FOCUS’ for this week. Quite a serious one, at that! Just to lighten thing up a bit, I’ve included two photos that I took at the Wadebridge liberation site in 1976. The first shows the S.M.T. Convoying crew there that day, Dave Blackwell and the late Reg Carlile, with their drivers. The other photo shows the old Three Borders Federation Transporter. When we look at that old trailer it shows how far the Federation has come in the last 30 years, now that our birds are taken to the race points every week in the plush Johnson transporters. As a matter of interest, I recorded the liberations that day on Super 8 Cine Film, which I have recently converted on to the DVD format. The London Federation was also at Wadebridge that day, releasing their young birds for their longest race. I clicked those photos off 30 years ago, makes you feel old!!! I can be contacted on phone number: 01372 463480.

TEXT & PHOTOS BY KEITH MOTT (FEDERATION PRESS OFFICER).