MICHAEL BINNS

of Thornton Le Beans

by Les Parkinson

For those who are not aware of the place called Thornton Le Beans it is a small village between Thirsk and Northallerton where one of the most all round knowledgeable fanciers in the country lives. He being Michael Binns l see Michael as one of the few professional pigeon fanciers on the British mainland because his life revolves around the sport that we love so much. The sport that we can compete in more or less level terms with the money men make no mistake about it if you are willing to put the time in to pigeon racing the rewards can be very good indeed.

The problem is the vast majorities do not want to put that time in but still expect to be the first to the prize table. For some that may be the case but for the wrong reason as there annual prize list starts from the lowest winning amount. For this fancier that is not the case and past prize presentations prove that fact. The term professional in Michael's case is because he is one of the main people in the Harkers company and therefore as first hand knowledge of the problem fanciers faces through out the year, He is also sort after to appear on panels again where he is extremely good knowledge of the sport becomes evident. The way he answers the questions tells you that he is a man who can help out with the problems that we have become a custom to in pigeon racing. It is a good job that such members of there pigeon fraternity take a keen interest as to what is actually going on Without them a lot of fanciers would suffer mainly due to the fact that there are not many veteran surgeons around who have taken time to study the racing pigeon sufficiently to answer the problems that arrive daily for the fancier.

However there are now more who are taking a keen interest basically because the finances of pigeon racing have altered and there is some money than ever being spent on the sport with the only problem being not enough seek such advice. Michael is 35 years a fanciers during which time he has held every office including secretary treasurer and president when he was 22 yrs of age with the Slaithwaite F C a delegate clock setter basket committee etc so you see he has gone the course of a knowledgeable man to the sport. He has done some 25 years serving pigeon fancier in work with 11 years at a feed company where he did a considerable amount of work with the pigeon fanciers and 14 years with Harkers where he is now a director.

One thing l will add so that you know he is a true fancier which is he is the first fancier to win the ever improving classic twice. More to the man himself Michael is like so many of the present day fanciers who has not come from a long line of previously educated people to the pigeon world his knowledge is mostly self taught. He has over the years being very reliant on the advice of those who have gone before and learnt from their mistakes to pass on much valuable information as well as the disadvantages of the new starter. They are also the advantages because you are not following in the footsteps of someone who has flown the same way for years and never bothered to look to the modern systems of the sport and therefore does not know why they are behind come race day. It is a known fact that some of today's fanciers are still living in the days of past generations when it comes to racing pigeons.

In the 90s there are also the fanciers who come from a long line of winning fanciers and also fail to get to grips with modern day flying which after all is now totally different. This is something Michael has not has to content with and will become more apparent and recognisable as the report goes on. The norm when you start in pigeon racing is to have pigeons from here there and everywhere with. Michael being no exception right back from the age of 12 when he was scanning the sky's and collecting thoughts and why do pigeons do this and that and why do people keep them locked in sheds in there back garden. This train of thought led to Michael visiting many lofts with the most memorable being when he went to the winning of Eric Fell of the successful Fell Bros. p/ship from West Slaithwaite. The enthusiasm gathered momentum one day when he received an invitation on a Sat afternoon in 1960 and from that day onwards it has been pigeons all the way. This was the time that Michael actually committed himself to the pigeon fraternity and could not wait to gain the experience of clocking the pigeons from the races the thought of clocking his own winners and not some on else's was exciting.

As with any new starter assortment is a first selection into the loft but the real first race team established came from Eric who's pigeons proved to be an asset to the new found fancier. It is of the utmost importance to encourage young fanciers into the sport because we do have a problem and Michael will never forget the help that he had during his early days. The local fanciers from Marsden were also very good to him and letting this new comer have a few from there individual tried and tested teams that set the foundation for Michael to build on. They were all very good to him a point that was very much appreciated at that particular time in his life. Although these pigeons set Michael on his way they were as could be expected an average team with the first prize being a 2nd position from Kempsey. During the season of 1964 when he was beaten by the legendary Leslie Banforth The winner received a velocity of 2197ypm a vel that to this day remains the highest winning vel that Michael has prized. More to the point the only time that he has been in the prizes with a pigeon over 2000 ypm.

Michael admired the late Leslie Banforth in his early days as he was one of the best fanciers of the day when Michael first started and to this day still rates him as one of the best he ever meet. It was Leslie who first introduced Michael to Hormoform over 25years ago an introduction that we now know has go on to better things via his full commitment to the Harkers Company. Michael now follows in the footsteps of all those years ago by helping fanciers when ever possible because it was not only pigeons that came his way but also loft accessories which were a great help to a young lad starting into the sport. Some things stick in your mind and that is the main point that this fancier does remember and therefor helps out the new starter. Even remembering that point he still helps out the already established areas of the sport when needed. As a sportsman Michael's interest were limited even so he did take quite an interest by playing football and cricket at school but they were soon dropped in preference to the further involvement with the pigeons.

Michael's other main interests is horse racing which he does admit proceeds the pigeons and has always been very interested in the breeding side and over the years accumulated quite a vast knowledge on the sport. The competitive side of pigeon racing is what gives Michael a buzz and there is no finer example than when is you come to clock a pigeon in from the races and the greater the distance the greater the buzz becomes. This fancier is no different than any other when he first started because in those early days he to was more than thrilled just to get on the result in those days it was a case of competition. Being hard a book fair and the definitely knew what competition was because you had to work hard to get in amongst the prize winners. One of the most important lessons he learnt in the early days was that no matter how kind and helpful any one was it all ended there Saturday afternoon and winning races was never going to be an easy business it was always going to be hard work.

One of the sad things today there are far too many rules made at club level to stop good fanciers winning and getting prizes which ultimately go to inferior pigeons that do not mean a lot. The, ore, modern approach to pigeon racing has brought in more rules at club level rules that are aimed at stopping the good fanciers winning in excess of what others think they are entitled to. What fanciers should do is get there own house in order first then they would be in a position to compete against not only the rest but the very best as well. How often do we hear that the first loft lets say Fred Bloggs has a old garden shed or an ex chicken shed there are no differences as Michael also started with the unused garden shed or should we say what was originally in it was soon removed. To add to it he visited the green grocer for a few apple boxes the things the new starter does in the opinion world are never far from each other are they? The next step was to get a proper loft which he did by purchasing a natural loft in 1962 that came as a present via his fathers wallet. That loft that is still the best present he ever had a loft that replaced rather unsightly shed down the garden that is more than likely the main reason he got it in the first place.

As years go by it is the norm to get a bigger loft and in Michael's case it was a 24ft x 8ft Petron loft that he races the present team to. It is not always a replacing a loft for the sake of it but more so because one's requirements change through life ie the type of racing that we compete in. A excellent observation on his original national lift was that when it came spent a considerable amount of time painting to make it look pretty. Yet when he first let them out all the wanted to do was go back to the old garden shed and did not want to entertain the new special loft just for there comfort. Back too the present day loft, which Michael has slightly altered to suit his requirements of ventilation because if you do not get it right not only the pigeons suffer but also the fancier. There is also a 10 x 8 stock loft with an aviary to help keep them in good order after all life does need to be out in the open. Any alterations to the loft have been made because Michael is a firm believer that the pigeons with in any loft must be content if they are expected to perform well in both racing and breeding.

When it comes to racing pigeon's common sense is not a tribute to some fanciers because they fail to see the easy way around their individual problems. Michael has always believed that common sense plays a big part in the success of any loft and it always amazes him the lengths that some fanciers go to really compete. He does not think that there is a short cut to success but dedication does go along was to achieving you goal.

The present-day team housed at West house consists of 12 good sound pairs with 20 pair racers that generally rear one round not always their own with eventually team of 40 young bird's. The stock loft is prepared for Christmas time when they are generally put together to start there seasons work while the race team are given a few weeks extra rest and paired towards the end of February. But for the 1993/94 season that changed because the circumstances and he had the best team ever. The 1995 season has also been a much later pairing because they were in Australia for Christmas and the New Year then it was on to Blackpool and then on the Olympiad. You need time when you are pairing the pigeons which lead to Michael pairing the stock on the 11th February. The racers are usually paired around the 24th February because he has found that they always perform at their best and the young birds are out of the way. For the first races Michael has no ideas about racing the widowhood system because of the way his work dictates and for that reason the natural system is more suited, better still here is what Michael has to say on the subject on how he races his team of top class pigeons.

All winning systems are good ones and my hens have always raced very well on the natural system. I race all my pigeons on natural because it suits both the birds, and myself, which shows in their performances. With my work commitments taking me away from hone l rely a great deal on my wife Claire and it would be selfish of me to expect her to work too much with the pigeons which is most essential if you are going to be successful. I am in the fortunate position of being able to have the birds on a open hole and training is never a problem as l travel long distances most days and can take the pigeons with me for training tosses. l am great believer in having a system that suits the fancier because if they do they are half way to achieving there goals. It is my believe that a lot of fanciers fail because the try to race a system that is not suited to there individual needs. It suits me to pair my racers at the end of February for them to rear around of youngsters weather it is their own or from a special selected pairing that l may need extra youngsters from. l am very selective in my breeding which l believe not enough fanciers are they breed of certain pigeons just for the sake of it and wonder why they loose so many young birds. More care should be taken with the breeding and maybe far less fanciers would be disappointed it in the end product.

Generally the old birds go out at 6am each morning but l doubt if that is always the case when Claire is in charge they are then fed at 7.30am in troughs l like to give them 1. 1/4oz per day split by 1/3rd in the morning and the remaining2/3rds in the evening. Between times they are left on the open hole to exercise at random. When l let the old birds out at 6am l never force any of the hens out. Leslie Bamforth uses to turn them all out hens as well and they would fly freely. Mine were that same they would easily do an hour with the cocks but they did perform as well as they do now. They fly well late am and usually rest in the afternoon and go out flying before they go back to there nest. While they are exercising l like to clean out the lofts and change the water then all l do is sit and observe to see if there are any pointers toward the weekend races. I usually get in at 6pm when they receive the remaining corn in there troughs this is followed by a trip round the nest boxes with a bit of seed. I have found that over the years my pigeons have performed far better on a high protein diet.

Over many years of feeding different mixes l have found that they do not fly 14 -15 hours on a heavy maize diet. Feeding is of the up most importance l have always believed in protein for the distance feed the old birds Bamfords Premier Gold which is high protein and contains 20% maize. Once we get to the 250-mile the channel birds have a pot of beans in their nest boxes. Beans suddenly became unpopular a few years ago because some one decided they were poisonous l have always regarded them as an important part of the diet especially when they are expected to fly 14 - 15 hour races. They have Hormoform before them at all times of breeding and racing. My feeding is via the R & E Bamford Premier Gold which is high in protein with only a low percentage of maize. Once the distance gets to 200 miles the pigeons have a pot of beans in there nest boxes at all times l also do not feed young birds on maize.

Stock birds are also fed on a high protein mix with around 20% Homoform at all times. I have always found that the maize gets thrown all over the floor when the parents start pumping hard corn, l can never understand why so many breeding mixtures contain such a high percentage of maize because the pigeons themselves tell you what they need l have always found that if you feed mixtures with maize into the breeders in gets thrown all over the floor because they are searching for the protein,. The y/bs are fed twice daily made up of 75% good quality depurative and 25% Homoform then p.m Euro winner. That is how l successfully race my pigeons but as l am always looking to improve l change the diet for the 1994 season by giving them maize in the morning feed 70% depurative 20% Homon and 10 % Homoform then in the evenings 75% Premier Gold and 25% Depurative.

Training is most important and l am a firm believer in training preferably along the line of flight and for the longer races l prefer single or double up tosses from around the 70mile if l deam necessary will be extended to 100 miles. It is important that for the longer races the pigeons are treated as individuals because in may of the races they compete they may well be flying the last 60 -70 miles alone, and at 500 miles plus that is a lot. I also believe in exercising the young birds early in the morning once they are flying well around home. On this same theme l also like to train them early in the morning and have found by this system my y/b losses have been minimised. It is not very often that l loose any amount of y/bs with all been raced to either Eastbourne 256 miles or Picauville 341 miles. With youngsters they are very often let out late at night and there are far too many in the skies at any one time thus confusion and eventually losses. L much prefer to train the y/bs from the 25 mile stage early morning and once they are stable l like to train them up to 50miles when l go to work. It is a known fact that l do train hard at 50 miles before the start of the season Then once racing starts l like them to have 2 - 3 x 40 mile tosses per week. I also like to toss them in small batches say 3 - 4 to make them think more,.

Over the years l have very often been asked about early breeding which l never condemn because l have had some very good pigeons from my December pairings including West Faith if you are going to breed early then you have to do something with them. Ideally they want keeping on there own and trained early and where possible paired up to just train them as you do with the later youngsters would not be beneficial. I do have one benefit with training because of my work as a director of Harkers l am very often on the road so l take the pigeons with me when ever possible y/b losses seem to have come more of a problem. In recent seasons with many fanciers theories being offered my own view is that fanciers are not selective enough with there breeding and tend to breed more hopefully to compensate there losses this causes over crowding and this is probably the biggest single factor that is responsible for stress once pigeons are under stress the doors are open for disease related problems ie coccidiosis and respiratory problems.

Pigeons that are continually fighting for perches cannot be happy and they will go under. I do not see clashing as a major problem though there are days when this will happen usually when the east winds are blowing with very little sun. Also since road transport there are far too many race points in the same area l have always been selective and never afraid to cull anything that l do not like, cull first then check up what it is off afterwards. I also like y/bs to go out early a.m once they are flying well. Too many get lost in the evenings when they are ranging l also train a.m, first toss of around 15 miles is important. I have had them reported having let the cocks out for exercise as close as 10 miles away so l do not see any point at messing about from 2 miles down the road.

Michael has a fair selection of clubs to race his pigeons in the Northallerton H S. Thirsk Social F C both being members of the Stockton and Disc Fed in the great Yorkshire Amalgamated racing on the southern route there is also the Northern Classic, National F C and a 700 miles club. The National event saw Michael achieve his life time ambition when he won the L A Banforth Memorial Trophy for the first bird into Yorkshire at Nantes other impressive high lights for this modern day fancier include first Northern Classic Rennes and 1st Northern Classic Picauville 1994 also twice Fed Nevers 544 miles both being day birds continuing in Michael's own words and the birds he had this to say : l basically have two families made up of Krauths that l brought in on the advice of Leslie Banforth in the early 70s since which time they have done tremendously well. Further additions came when l brought in a very good team from my friend Sydney Montgomery of Northern Ireland and also from another good friend who died a few years ago Jack Eaton of Accrington. My second team consists of Wildersmeerch lines from Ian Parsons all being direct of his main winning and breeding pigeons ie Blue Beer the Pencil Cock etc. However for the 1994 season l reduced these pigeons and introduced more proof the distance birds l also had two cocks of his strain from Sydney Montgomery which have also done very well for me.

l am also trying the Van Bruanns from John Lovell these are also doing very well and proving an excellent first cross Krauths which are looking very promising indeed. The Krauths are proven to be a good all round pigeon winning at all distances as well as having the beauty to win in the show pen. The Wildersmerch are very good racers up to the 250 miles stage with the odd ones putting gaining a few extra channel prizes and including 544 miles but in all honestly are no where near a reliable as the Krauths when it comes to the distance events l have been very pleased with my racing performances with the hogh light being when l won the Northere Classic with a pigeon called "Helga" in 1993 what made the win more pleasing was that it was against all the odds. They were held over until Tuesday and liberated at 11 am to cover a distance 429 miles in to deteriorating conditions the game hen arrived home and into the clock at 9/06pm winning the race by 16 ypm ahead of the second prize winner flying some 65 miles less.

It as also a great thrill to clock excel in the Northern Classic Niort race 553 miles flying a little under 15 hours to finish 11 open collection �613 again all pigeons in front on the result also well short on distance flown. To finish there are a couple of points for the fancier to remember for old birds find a system and pigeons that suit you and more importantly stick to it. There is no use what so ever chopping and changing from one system or type of pigeon to another get a bit of stability's and remember do not by pigeons because they are a fashionable thing at the time. For y/bs feed them well and work them hard which will see them come up with the results that you are aiming for that is of course if you have not joined the fashion state and kept changing. Michael has always been amounts the top flight of fanciers and 1994 was no different with 10 x 1sts plus his classic wins and many fed honours. Other highlights include sending 7 to the NFC Nantes race a distance of 488 miles it was a good race but the longer flying pigeons were finishing into a strong wind with a touch of North.

In this race Michael clocked 4 pigeons in 15 mins and was the only loft in sect K to have four in the prizes flying almost 70 miles further than some. The same four pigeons were sent to Niort 553 miles with the Classic and again all four were clocked on the night "Rosie". The fist pigeon in both and is a 2 year old hen she was followed home by "Helga" the 1993 Northern Classic she was 2nd to her each race and is now retired to stock breeding some very nice pigeons indeed Picauville was another good performance winning the Northern Classic by 30 ypm flying 42 miles further it put the seal on a very good young bird season a lot of fanciers have made the mistake of disposing of a good family of long distance pigeons and brought in the more fashionable imported birds that just have not done the job.

There has been a lot of just good pigeons imported from the continent over the years but l am afraid it is reaching saturation point no body can go on producing pigeons in vast numbers [a] keep winning [b] keep producing top quality. We know ourselves if you breed 40 y/bs a year just look at the book in two years time and see how many good one there are also of course many pigeons are never given a fair chance. They are not given the time to develop it very much a game of patient which is seldom applied. Some families take more to mature than others do and get eliminated before they are given a fair chance. During my work with Harkers we have seen a lot of changes over the last decade in fact if any fancier thinks back we can see just how big those changes have been [a] loft design [b] breeds of pigeons [c] feeding systems [d] racing systems.

Unfortunately a lot of fanciers think that it is impossible to win races without using antibiotics and l guess a lot of playing about with drugs. It is amazing what you get asked for when we are at the shows any line of pigeons from the continent of course are classed as premier pigeons or in fact feeds or medicines. I was once in a shop and he had several containers on the counter which did not have a word of English on them when l enquired what the contained he replied he didn't have a clue but confessed they were selling well. I am very often asked if all the products that are available on the market are really necessary the answer it is entirely up to the fancier who has created the market in the first place. Pigeon racing has become very commercialised in recent years with more and more companies becoming more and more involved. Unfortunately the number of fanciers there are to purchase these products has not grown with it fanciers often complain about the cost of the sport nothing has gone up more than the price of pigeons and it is the fancier who has created this nobody else.

As far as the treatment of my own pigeons is concerned l think that the most important problems are that of canka and respiratory problems and this must be watched l have never been a supporter of the theory that good pigeons never catch anything or kill it if anything is wrong that is alright when they are some one else's pigeons. It is always a different story when it is one of your star birds l am quite aware a lot of very good fanciers never treat for anything. l am also aware they are out at sales every week to buy a few new pigeons because this is an area where a lot of problems come from. Another complaint we often get is that vets do not know anything about pigeons, fortunately more vets are now interested in pigeons and we must remember they are professional people who many fanciers go to as a last resort when things are serious inevitably expect an instant cure. For instance l had a fancier ring a few months ago who has a total of 17 pigeons die over a six week period and wanted to know if we had anything to cure them with. We see more and more in the fancier press recommendations of products that are licensed for other species and not pigeons. This can be very dangerous and a lot of damage can be done if used incorrectly with the wrong dosage.

I am also convinced a lot of produces are totally useless in the way that they are used something that the manufactures also agree with. Take as an example wormer's there are 4 very effective and safe to use for pigeons so what is the point of messing about products licence for other species when in many cases the fanciers do not have a clue to what the dosage rate is in the first place. With licence product s all that work has been done all the fancier needs to do is follow the instructions. At Harkers we are very proud of the fact that we are the only company in the U K with a range of products licence specially for pigeons.

It is expensive getting licences because a lot of work has to be done the main three areas are [a] it does what the manufactures claims [b] safe for pigeons [c] safe for the fancier to use. It is now becoming more and more difficult to get products licensed and can be very expensive which is a good reason why fanciers should be aware of all the cures all's that appear on the market without any licence substantiate the claims that are made.

An important note to finish on that a few years ago Michael was diagnosed as positive with pigeon allergies which as we know to be pigeon lung. When Michael asked his own G P what he should do he just shrugged his shoulders as if to say there is only one thing to do. Shortly after that he went up to the Scotland show and saw Dr Philip Lynch and told him what the G P had to say about his dilemma with his immediate answer don't get rid of the pigeons always wear a mask in the loft and a coat and try to remove the dropping when they are still reasonable still fresh this he has done and now manages very well his own advice to any one in a similar position is to seek the advice of someone who has been involved with the problem such ads Dr Lynch Don't give up your chosen sport too easily.

This has been a most satisfying report to compile because l feel that Michael has given his fair and honest views on all aspects of the sport and not gone by without giving any interesting and talkative points. Thank you for your time Michael and l look forward to seeing you in the near future.