Parkinson. LJ

Over the years we have heard about young birds dying in the nest and even the old hens sitting them have been found dead. This has been something that was in quite a few lofts last year and put down to airborne Ecoli. Fanciers need to find a natural preparation that supplies a gastric mucus layer compounds which reduces the intestinal inflammation. Such natural products are recommended for the combat against adenovirus infections and infections caused by E-coli and Streptococcus Bovis. Those who get these under control have less of a health issue in their lofts, spotting problems in the first place is the easy way to keep them at bay, observation should be with all of us. If you keep an eye on the droppings in the loft the more observant will notice the change as soon as it happens and those who don’t are in trouble. I have spoken to a good friend David Coward-Talbott about medications in pigeons and he is a strong believer in moving to natural products and not antibiotics. He was saying that by doing this your loft will be less prone to disease. Antibiotics can be good but in the pigeon game far too many have been abused and race team’s immunity affected by over use of them. Staying with young birds we were visiting Dr Vandersanden in the 90’s and he was telling us about problems that were going to become more of a problem in the UK. At the time he was talking about Adenovirus whish is now accepted as young bird sickness where the food is not digested and can be thrown back out. You can see this coming when they are sitting on the perches with what appears to be no energy in the pigeons affected. Their crop also smells because they are not digesting the food, for some it is gone in a mater of days while in others it can linger on. The problem being that some don’t recognise it and continue to exercise their young which results in them dropping on other lofts and spreading the problem to others. Some also continue to send their young birds to the races and spread it that way, it is annoying but that’s the way it goes. It is the same with all problems in lofts there are always some fanciers who do not consider the affects on other lofts as long as they are getting a race. As with most issues with racing pigeons there are secondary issues and with young bird sickness it can result in respiratory or E-Coli. However, the latter is not down to YBS it can come at any time, you will see wet slimy droppings in the loft which can be a brown or dark green colour, if you have E-Coli you cannot miss it. In Australia they would not accept vaccinated pigeons, but they still got PMV via the wild bird population and then it spread to the racing pigeons, so they would have been better vaccinated in the first place.

I was talking to Janet Hull recently and she was saying that herself and husband Dave had been talking about my writing and Dave said that reading between the lines I would be staring again shortly. If only, circumstances don’t allow me here now, so the only way is a move and at just short of 69yrs I don’t fancy that idea. It has been suggested that I form a partnership with someone else but that is not an option. For me to race I need them in my own back garden and not somewhere else, I need to know what is going on in the loft all the time. I wouldn’t spend a lot of time with the pigeons but what I used to do was take a walk down the garden at spells during the day and just look at them through the door. I never went in all the time but then again you don’t need to, all you need is observation as to what is going on in the loft all the time. I raced mostly natural so there were wire doors on the front of the loft for viewing purposes, plus it kept the air fresh in the loft all the time. The stock birds were different being in a 4ft wide loft down the side of the house where I could walk down and see them in the boxes. Having this narrow loft was handy because as you walked through the loft you were always close to the birds and especially when they were rearing a nest of young they kept that bit quieter. I was always within 18inches of any of the pigeons at any time and that is what you need. I was at the lofts of Tony Haynes when he lived at Blandford Forum, he had a double decker loft that was very narrow and as I recall it was Gary Squibb (Planet Bros) who helped Tony with the construction ideas and did help with the work. I have seen some big lofts over the years, when I say big I am referring to the size of the sections and to me they need more time spending with them otherwise they become wild because they can get out of the way and therefor take some catching. Traditionally nearly all lofts are 6fh deep which includes the boxes or 8/9ft with a corridor. The size of any loft depends on two things, firstly the amount of land available and secondly the amount of work you want to do with the pigeons.

The weekend of the 10th/11th sees the Fugare Show offer a weekend in Belgium to fanciers from around the world where you will have the opportunity to see and talk to some of the premier names in pigeon racing. We have been to the show all but once since it started and have had a good weekend. Because of where it is situated the show has been described as the ultimate international pigeon meeting of the year, with exhibitors and visitors from over 15 countries. There is usually a good contingent from the UK o explore no less than over 100 suppliers of pigeon related items as well as plenty of pigeons. From a UK point of view this is a good show to visit with easy access through the chunnel and into France and then Belgium which is not all that far to drive. Also, because you are in their own back yard you have the chance to talk to the pigeon feed and pigeon supplement manufacturers themselves. Yes, like all shows they are there to promote their latest developments but here they are mostly the people in the know who don’t always travel abroad to shows. Loft and aviary builders from the Benelux region will be sharing their knowhow with the visitors and as I found out they are willing to listen to ideas and change where needed. Because of my connections on the continent I have very often been asked about DNA and genetic advice, well Dr Vandersanden will be at the show plus various veterinarians present at the fair. Also, such names as Gino Clique who had the highest priced pigeon in the world sold while this show was in progress last year. Annemie Vanhee a well-known name in pigeon racing plus the exceptional racing team of Marc and Geert Polin plus the legendary Emiel Denys has a stand at the show. They will all be at the Fugare Show on Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 February 2018 in hall 6 at Kortrijk Xpo Doorniksesteenweg 216, 8500 Kortrijk Belgium. Entrance fee is 10-euro per male person however ladies and children up to 12 years visit the fair for free. This has always been a good idea because people take their children along and even if only a handful of them take a further interest, but a handful are better than none at all. To give you some idea of the show I have included a couple of photos from last year’s successful event.

The North West Classic is going well and at the moment with the additional prize money already being £800 per race from money raised by young bird sales and sponsors. The Gold Ring race is also going well with nearly £2,500 prize money spread over 10 prizes and there is still plenty of time for more sales. You can go on the NWCC section of the Elimar web site to see a list of 10 prizes to be paid for this race. We are looking to make it £1,000 per race prize money before we start the racing season and on top of that we will have the excess from the entry fee's increasing prizes even more. We started the 2018 season at the AGM with 111 members with 3 resignations making it 108, we are now up to 126 but that is expected to rise considerably. We attended the Blackpool Show taking 70 application forms with us and took only 7 home. We have also been asked to send application forms out to people wishing to join the club. At the start of the year our target was 150 members which I see as no problem. The club is moving forward week by week so all the hard work is paying off and we look forward to another improved season.

Les J Parkinson. .

11 Rushton Drive,

Middlewich,

Cheshire,

CW10 0NJ.

Tel: 01606836036 or Mobile 07871701585.

Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Web site www.elimarpigeons.com