Where are we at with training

[Albert]

Started training at 15 Mls, had ten out to 35 Mls, first race 20/7/24.

[Buster121]

That’s decent Andy
Just keep them there to they do it in 11-12 mins I think
How old was the missing one ?

Hatched 24th January Neil. The youngest one hatched 11th May.
Born in May fly all day as the saying goes.

Birds bred April/May go all the way, I like this one better

[Buster121]

Well done everyone, hope continues well

[Albert]

The biggest problem around here are the numbers of youngsters being lost from training. One fancier lost 40 in one toss. A couple of club mates have already lost half of their team. I think a few are going to be down to very low numbers by the time racing starts.

Do you think that's all down to B.O.P. ?, or do you think other factors are at work.

[Albert]

The biggest problem around here are the numbers of youngsters being lost from training. One fancier lost 40 in one toss. A couple of club mates have already lost half of their team. I think a few are going to be down to very low numbers by the time racing starts.

Do you think that's all down to B.O.P. ?, or do you think other factors are at work.

It would be wrong of me to solely put it down to BOPs Albert. I do think it is getting worse down here. I have lost more old birds from flying around the loft than in racing this year. Some of these are birds that have had lots of races from different directions. I lost my best racing cock a week ago. He’d had 10 races this year and been my first bird 4 times and second bird twice. These birds haven’t just got lost, they must have been taken. The strange thing is that I haven’t had anything come back injured. They’ve either been fine or not come back.
Some club mates have been training their youngsters in groups. A couple of groups have got home fine but another one decimated.
But I do think there are other issues as well.
I’m think because of the issues with the BOPs people think they have to breed a lot more. Which is fine if you have the room. But many are just keeping more youngsters in lofts/sections not big enough, designed for 30 and housing 40 etc. I think that with overstocking you are bound to get health issues.
There is no way that a few hawks can take the number of birds being lost but they probably contribute to others being lost or hitting things.
I do think that a lot of rubbish is being bred just to make up numbers and too much is often asked of the birds. If you had a bad/hard toss like I did yesterday how many would stick them back in again the following day? My first youngsters yesterday flew 2 hours, the longer ones over 4 hours. If it had been an old bird race most would have given them a rest for a couple of days.

That description around your loft would indicate S/H, I have already had to deal with that issue this week. But fanciers aren't as selective as they once were, and that in it's self can cause health issues, and also result in heavy losses. There is a problem with the peregrine out there, especially this time of year. But in racing you get races with dodgy returns, and you get races with great returns, is the peregrine having a day off on the good days. I think with young birds you have to watch where you toss the first 2 or 3 times if you get a hit after that, they can deal with it better, my usual practice is to liberate in a large town the first couple of times, so the birds get a chance to orientate.

[Albert]

The peregrine isn't as successful as the S/H, and the reason for that is the S/H takes them by surprise, and depending if they hit them right away or have to chase them, I have found them 1/4 mile from the loft.

[Buster121]

25 miles tonight 29 mins so getting there
Nothing has done a half turn again
Just need to trim the time these next few days
So will have them chasing tomorrow

Going well Neil

[Winfort Lofts]

I feel like giving up on it all tbh! I started with a decent team of 18 young birds.

However doesn't matter where I take them, or what time of day, they getting hit by BOPs.

Took my last two old birds with my remaining two young birds out to 25mile yesterday afternoon, and had just one of the old birds drop in at 7am this morning, fortunately with no injuries but feather missing on both wings!

My B team is yet to even go out the loft!

[CHARLTON34]

Hello NeilA, best of luck with your team with the upcoming races, hope for good returns to build up confidence.
Regards Dave.

[Buster121]

I feel like giving up on it all tbh! I started with a decent team of 18 young birds.

However doesn't matter where I take them, or what time of day, they getting hit by BOPs.

Took my last two old birds with my remaining two young birds out to 25mile yesterday afternoon, and had just one of the old birds drop in at 7am this morning, fortunately with no injuries but feather missing on both wings!

My B team is yet to even go out the loft!

Such a shame, hope you get some back does seem a lot worse this year for some reason, I have 2 big hens every day same time 2 or 3 times a day thankfully the seagulls and crows help a bit