I was a bit sharp getting away from work today, and had the birds out by 4:15.
I scooted around, scraped and swept, put ACV in the drinkers, put the little broken wing one in the box so she could eat in peace, put some grit in and tidied up. By then it was 5:20 ish, and they were putting themselves away.
I quickly put feed in the trays, put the lights on and put a scoop of feed in the ones in boxes.
At 5:30, all away, sputniks covered up, all nice and snug.
Then I saw 2 pigeons on the roof.
Ooops.
Life in Bendigo.
I uncovered the sputnik and called.
Nothing.
The light was fading enough that it was hard to pick them, so I went in and checked them. All the big chequer pigeons are there, all the small blue bars are there......
They are not mine.
I know whose they are.
I trained mine while the weather was fine and the days were long. An Australian I know has waited until the weather has turned cold and unpleasant, and the days are short to start training them.
I will send him a text......
Nothing.
The light was fading enough that it was hard to pick them, so I went in and checked them. All the big chequer pigeons are there, all the small blue bars are there......
They are not mine.
I know whose they are.
I trained mine while the weather was fine and the days were long. An Australian I know has waited until the weather has turned cold and unpleasant, and the days are short to start training them.
I will send him a text......
Greetings from the land down under.
Sorry to hear that mate, I hope our health improves soon and that you do manage to enjoy some successful racing year
All the best.
Murray wrote: ↑Tue May 17, 2022 8:31 am I uncovered the sputnik and called.
Nothing.
The light was fading enough that it was hard to pick them, so I went in and checked them. All the big chequer pigeons are there, all the small blue bars are there......
They are not mine.
I know whose they are.
I trained mine while the weather was fine and the days were long. An Australian I know has waited until the weather has turned cold and unpleasant, and the days are short to start training them.
I will send him a text......
great and entertaining little read again Muzza, I hope the two strays get home ok.All the best
I’m a little bit surprised about that summary Murray. Having your experience with horses I don’t think you would compare a flat race horse with a hurdler or a steeplechaser. Horses for courses as they say. Most pigeons can return and compete at 100 miles, but as the distance increases the percentage of pigeons that can perform well decreases until you get over 500 miles when very few will be good enough. The sprinters would be finished long before reaching home.Murray wrote: ↑Mon May 16, 2022 7:58 am I am not sure what the longest race is.
I think it is from somewhere over in South Australia.
Doesn't interest me much. Speed and quality has always always been more important to me.
You struggle to win with slow ones, and the high quality ones will have the stamina to go further.
If they are not fast enough to win short ones, you can be fairly certain they are not fast enough to win long ones either.
Back just enjoying club racing for the time being.
Yes, You are right about that Andy, but yes, I was Jockey, and this much I know. When they have their first training gallops, the good ones show ability, the top ones show exceptional ability, the slow ones are, slow. That never changes.
Some horses are only sprinters, others are better over longer distances, and some are real stayers. The top class stayers can still run the last two furlongs nearly as fast as the sprinters.
I found that was the same with the pigeons. In NZ I had some honest widowhood cocks that could win from south at 300 miles into a head wind.
Sent north, from 400 miles in a tail wind, they would arrive in good time, I would go to the club, and be an hour hehind the winner.
Some horses are only sprinters, others are better over longer distances, and some are real stayers. The top class stayers can still run the last two furlongs nearly as fast as the sprinters.
I found that was the same with the pigeons. In NZ I had some honest widowhood cocks that could win from south at 300 miles into a head wind.
Sent north, from 400 miles in a tail wind, they would arrive in good time, I would go to the club, and be an hour hehind the winner.
Greetings from the land down under.
Thanks for that Murray. I had a team of widowhood cocks back in the 90s that would win from 90 miles to 350 miles. I must admit that I never tried them further than that. I used to race sisters to these on natural for the distance races.
The distance pigeons shouldn’t be far behind the sprinters on the short races and will come into their own as the distance increases. The big difference being that the sprinters just can’t maintain speed for hour after hour. When it gets to over 8 hours flying many will fall by the wayside.
The distance pigeons shouldn’t be far behind the sprinters on the short races and will come into their own as the distance increases. The big difference being that the sprinters just can’t maintain speed for hour after hour. When it gets to over 8 hours flying many will fall by the wayside.
Back just enjoying club racing for the time being.
Once again, yes and no.
My 'good old boys' were old New Zealand families, and were notable for their longevity. They would race a dozen times a year for 4 or 5 years. Always home and always on the sheet from races that had a headwind or were a bit slower.
When sent to fast races, they were beaten by crosses with the fast European imports. 1500 to 1600 yards per minute from 400 miles on a fine day, normal.
On a real fast day, guess what was winning? Staf Van Reets and things. From 400 miles.
I recall reading, many years ago, Dean Pallat saying that the Van Reets will go 500 miles, but they lose their speed. Well they would.
It's easy to make pigeons go slower.
Getting them to go FASTER! That's the trick. 
My 'good old boys' were old New Zealand families, and were notable for their longevity. They would race a dozen times a year for 4 or 5 years. Always home and always on the sheet from races that had a headwind or were a bit slower.
When sent to fast races, they were beaten by crosses with the fast European imports. 1500 to 1600 yards per minute from 400 miles on a fine day, normal.
On a real fast day, guess what was winning? Staf Van Reets and things. From 400 miles.
I recall reading, many years ago, Dean Pallat saying that the Van Reets will go 500 miles, but they lose their speed. Well they would.
It's easy to make pigeons go slower.
Getting them to go FASTER!
That's the trick. Greetings from the land down under.
Having done more than plenty of hours this week, I finished early, and observed Poets day.
I let the boys out early and they had a good poke around, I had to growl at Banjo for getting up on the roof again he takes no notice at all.
At 2.30 the cats were happy to go in, and I let the birds out.
During the week they are out at about 4.20, so an extra hour or two, on a sunny day, bonus. As we head into winter, the days are drawing in so quickly!
I let the boys out early and they had a good poke around, I had to growl at Banjo for getting up on the roof again
he takes no notice at all. At 2.30 the cats were happy to go in, and I let the birds out.
During the week they are out at about 4.20, so an extra hour or two, on a sunny day, bonus.
As we head into winter, the days are drawing in so quickly! Greetings from the land down under.
That's the happy story.
After a couple of hours I was wondering why the young birds were nervous and constantly flying away from the loft.
Sparrowhawk.
I was standing between the loft door and the back door of the house. It's a space of about 3 metres. I was calling the pigeons in when the hawk went through the gap, at shoulder height, at 100 miles an hour. The pigeons went in all directions.
Another hour latter, I finally got them in. They were all over the loft, none were are on their own perches. I spent half an hour sorting them out, making sure they had a feed and they all had a perch.
It was dark by then, so i left the lights on for a few minutes so they could get their minds sorted out.
Next issue?
There's a sparrowhawk needs to go away.
After a couple of hours I was wondering why the young birds were nervous and constantly flying away from the loft.
Sparrowhawk.
I was standing between the loft door and the back door of the house. It's a space of about 3 metres. I was calling the pigeons in when the hawk went through the gap, at shoulder height, at 100 miles an hour. The pigeons went in all directions.
Another hour latter, I finally got them in. They were all over the loft, none were are on their own perches. I spent half an hour sorting them out, making sure they had a feed and they all had a perch.
It was dark by then, so i left the lights on for a few minutes so they could get their minds sorted out.
Next issue?
There's a sparrowhawk needs to go away.
Greetings from the land down under.