LES J. PARKINSON'S

NEWS-REPORTS-ARTICLES

I see that the tracking devices are now available in this country via Brian Wall at Gem but at the moment they are only good enough for training purposes. Even so I suppose they are good to track the pigeons to see what route they are taking and this could be the future in getting a system where they can be tracked from liberation to home. I wonder how long it will be before we have an ETS ring that can also be tracked and with the registration number on at that. One ring doing all that would be interesting and one that many fanciers would soon elect to use the only thing that would stop most fanciers would be the price. We have all lost pigeons and would love to know where they have gone and whether they were still alive or hawk meat. It is a case of how far can the sport go and another thing are they’re any fanciers having their pigeons tagged because of theft. No doubt there is someone out there in the big wide world moaning about them but we do need technology in the sport as with any other sporting interest. We need going onto a new level all the time always looking for something new and different to try. We need to stimulate people into coming into pigeon racing and the more we move forward the more chance we have of doing that. 

Antibiotics

I had a call from a fancier who was telling me about advice being give on a chat room about using antibiotics in racing pigeons. This is something that should not happen and another reason why pigeon chat rooms are no good for the sport. In fact they bring the sport into disrepute and it would not be tolerated in other sports as it is in pigeon racing. I have said it before I had a type of chat room 8yrs ago and took it off for similar reasons it was being abused. Nowadays if anyone asks about treatments I tell him or her that the vet is the person to ask because we can all soon get it wrong. Miss-use of antibiotics can ruin your loft and you can take that from me because I did it over 30yrs ago. If you have the correct diagnosis and how to properly use them then fine but it is no good seeing every less knowledgeable Tom, Dick or Harry writing about them and the not so knowledgeable novice getting it wrong. If I am asked now and there is good enough reason to get an answer I do ask my vet as a short cut. I used to ask myself the question “Why are antibiotics restricted” but after seeing what ahs gone on in many cases where fanciers have destroyed their teams I can now see why. That is also the reason why I now talk to a vet on a regular basis to see what as far as the veterinary side is concerned is going on in the sport.

How many will go to the races

No doubt many are suffering in these hard times and I do not expect many of the one-loft races in particular to be paying out anywhere near what they would like to. The sport is going to suffer because of fanciers being out of work, I know what people are thinking “There are already many who do not work and still race their pigeons” Yes there are but there are also fanciers who find themselves in a far different position than they are used to. This will be uncomfortable to many of those people and I dare say that some will not be racing like they have in the past. Finances always dictate what we do in life and racing pigeons is no different.

One-Loft Challenges

What drives me on is a challenge within the sport and there are plenty around but we cannot compete in them all. The Challenging race for the enthusiastic breeder of long distance racing pigeons has to be the Barcelona Challenge that is apart from racing one to your own loft. I know the distance isn’t the same as competing to the central part of the UK but it is still interesting with all the competition that goes with this race. This year sees the first real test of the pigeons in this race and it will be interesting to see how high up a GB rung pigeon can get in this most prestige’s race. We sent 6 last year and they are all still in the loft but they will not get their chance at Barcelona until 2010 as 2yr olds. We shall be sending another 6 this year so in theory we should build up a small team of experienced pigeons in the loft and because they are all double grandchildren of 1st National winners the breeding should come out somewhere along the line. We are still going to send a team to the Europa Classic because I still think it is the best one-loft race in Europe and the one regret I do have is that I did not buy a few pigeons for the Europa 500. The only issue I have is that my interest in the race was from Edinburgh but that is not going to happen this year because it is such a hard race and getting them back from that point is not easy. It is always going to be a tough race but this year the final race is from about 250mls so there should be plenty dropping in for the excellent prizes on offer. I am also going to send to the Galway Classic who have also changed their racing strategy by keeping the birds in Ireland for the final race. This year sees the pigeons have their final race from Giants Causeway so again an easier task than it was intended when the race was started. Mind you racing young birds from Chester racecourse to Galway was always going to be the most difficult one-loft race around. And for the 2009 season that will be that but there will be plenty of enjoyment to be had over the season. The Galway race has carried the prize money over from the final race last year after no birds made it home in the final race so the 50,000 Euros will be a nice prize for someone somewhere. However news is that even though there are more or less the same number of fanciers entering to date in some of the races those same people are entering a much smaller team. Where they would enter two or three teams of three they are now down to either one or two. The main thing is that they are still entering in some of the races while others are in serious doubt for this year at least. These races were a good idea but there are getting far to many of them and the competition is not the same but like everything else they will come back when the doom and gloom of the recession has lifted.

Stray

Had a call from Harold Broadhurst who spends a bit of time with the pigeons that are around the Asda store in Crewe. Harold raced pigeons for many years but had a clearance sale a few years ago due to ill health. Even so he still takes an interest and one morning he saw a pigeon with a race ring and rubber so caught it. He duly reported the pigeon to its owner in the Chester area. The fancier was unable to collect it at the time so Harold decided to hop on the bus and take it himself. There was no one at home so he let the pigeon go outside the house. Next morning on his usual trip to Asda to see his feathered friend he was rather surprised to see the pigeon he had gone to so much trouble with getting him back to his owner was once again a resident of Asda. With this yearling having a rubber on it had obviously been raced and Harold found out that it was lost in a hard young bird race when many others also fell be the wayside. The pigeon has obviously decided that the local supermarket is his home.

Photo

My nephew Wayne Hargreaves is a very enthusiastic pigeon fancier but he has suffered in the past with chest problems. It appears that the changes he has made with his loft have sorted the problem out and he is looking forward to getting back into racing for the 2009 season. I know what it is like when the pigeons don’t always agree with you so I wish him all the best. Young enthusiastic fanciers are not plentiful in this sport so lets hope there is no reoccurrence of the problem and he stays with the sport. The one thing that he does need to do and that is be careful down at the marking stations.

Les J.Parkinson. Elimar, 11 Rushton Drive, Middlewich, Cheshire, CW10 ONJ. Tel/Fax; 01606 836036. Mobile 07871 701585  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  web-site www.elimarpigeons.com