Johnbee wrote: Wed Aug 26, 2026 7:50 pm
Something I tried near the end of the old bird racing. Every week I was getting a bird home with claw marks on the breast. I was told about the hawk deterrent spray. I purchased this, sprayed the birds under the wing (it’s a pink colour) had a few nationals and never once had a bird come home after being attacked. Tried in on my hens were training for these races, not once were they broken up. Cocks were going up in 3’s, 1 batch was always spit up, taking hours. Sprayed the cocks and all started dropping together! It won’t stop the perigrines taking out tail flights and secondaries but does stop the bird being killed. Sprayed all the youngsters and not 1 has had a claw mark on it. Guys using it are scoring in nationals.
Brilliant John, I'll take that advice and do mine next year. I have seen it but didn't realise how effective it was.
As a retired cabinet maker/French polisher I can make up my own dyes so may try to experiment with different colours.
CHARLTON34 wrote: Wed Aug 26, 2026 8:40 pm
If you keep on making the same mistakes year in year out your going to get the same result.
Ob racing should start much later starting to early when it's cold winds just to please members who want to fly the Channel & sending pigeons that haven't had adequate training to start with in Classic, BICC NFC or cub races after being used for breeding to fat & to slow.
Yb racing should say have a 3/4 week break from the end of ob racing before they start, give fancier's the chance to get yb going, 1 thing I have learnt this season is those pigeons that are bred in December January don't run or range & that's another problem with the darkness ybs. We breed far to early every year, I've come to the conclusion that yb needs to be bred around April/ May time all natural & they run at a very early age also when weaned & up in double quick time the longer you leave them on the ground that's not a good thing. I've decided not to race this season 1 because of the heat this year.
2, to many fancier's sending ybs to races (fat eye, ybs it goes on) & it just spreads every year, so many losses.
3, make your ybs think for themselves if you don't split them up at an early age say in groups of 3/ 4 from the baskets can only help in the long run make them think make them use there heads, if you continue to release in big groups then all your doing is going to end with a loft full of dummies that just follow. I said at the start of this topic if you don't change things you'll get the same result.
Hi Dave, hope all is well.
Absolutely agree 100% mate. I shall make proposals to our club n fed along those lines but not sure how far it will go.
In anycase, I will breed later.
Yes my racing is with the bicc and have always said they start way too early and you have to have birds in the early club races to get them ready for the first bicc races so I might have a rethink and try something different next year.
My young birds always have a single- up from around 30 miles before they go in a race basket. For me it's essential they can find their own way home rather than being led.
Murray wrote: Thu Aug 27, 2026 1:13 am
There's another factor that we don't like to look at very much.
A lot of pigeons are simply not good enough. Mainly, I think because in order to breed plenty they are bred off pigeons that aren't good enough.
The OLR in Melbourne that Devo and I have a couple in lost a lot of pigeons in the training and the first race. That's a fact.
But yesterday they trained exactly 900 pigeons to keep them going before the second final race. Right now there are 897 home.
There are 3 missing from 900.
What has happened is the ones that for whatever reasons were not good enough are no longer there. And when you look through the individual fanciers you see that some have lost most or even all of their birds and some have lost hardly any.
The hawks are a massive problem, but some of our worries are of our own making.
Totally agree cobber. I can easily say most of my losses this year have been early doors either off the top or early training. A lot of what we breed are going to be duffers. Even top pigeons breed duffers.
Murray wrote: Thu Aug 27, 2026 1:17 am
In the last couple of minutes another one is home at the OLR, so there's 898 from 900, they might get them all. And there are falcons everywhere.
Make of it what you like.
Are you saying that the birds become sort of 'streetwise' Murray.....
I think there are a lot of issues around changing things to avoid the BOPS. I don’t disagree that something needs to change. The trouble with changing race points is that the options are few and far between, very few along the South Coast. The RPRA are supposed to source sites on behalf of its members but don’t seem to come up with any.
To get a change of racing date will only generally be possible of the National and classic clubs change their programs. Down here many fanciers only race for these races and use the clubs for training. Their programs have got too big. It would be better if they went back to just 3 or 4 old bird and 1 or 2 young bird races. There’s race nearly every week of the season from the middle of April, most now run at a loss. Apparently they are struggling to get people to help out and have convoyers who don’t want to do the job.
If racing later with young birds, which I’m not adverse to, it would have to be a much shorter program, maybe just 4 or 5 races.
Stopping racing for a year would have very little effect. It would have be for a couple of years or so and with no birds let out around home. I can’t see the “professional” lofts agreeing to that and the older generation who may only have a couple of years left and enjoy the social side of the sport would really suffer by this.
You will have to forgive me for momentarily forgetting that that was not a question about what we can change, it was what can be changed in the UK?
I do sometimes make that mistake.
Rings shouldn't be available in November, December should be issued late February or March at the earliest, trying to get yb going in cold damp weather in the early part of the year is a joke as well as ob.
Organisations going to the same race point with half empty wagon from the same area, should go together to share the cost, carry on like this is financial suicide.
Better to have tried to implement changes than carry on with your head in the sand jmo, but I expect it will be more of the same from people that they want control at all cost, & will never make changes to survive even if it's staring them in the face. Rant over.
As individuals, we can not change a thing. Its a case of getting on with it and hope for the best. I am sorry to say, all this talk of change. Will fall on deaf ears, because that is the system that dont like change. We have to be real about this, so prepare well for another season of 2027.
CHARLTON34 wrote: Thu Aug 27, 2026 12:45 pm
Rings shouldn't be available in November, December should be issued late February or March at the earliest, trying to get yb going in cold damp weather in the early part of the year is a joke as well as ob.
Organisations going to the same race point with half empty wagon from the same area, should go together to share the cost, carry on like this is financial suicide.
Better to have tried to implement changes than carry on with your head in the sand jmo, but I expect it will be more of the same from people that they want control at all cost, & will never make changes to survive even if it's staring them in the face. Rant over.
This IS something YOU can change yourself. I order my rings early always have, but don't use them till March. Those who breed early are feeding the BOP for the fanciers who pair late. I often here about fanciers losing YBs to BOP BEFORE my own eggs have been laid. Nobody is forced to breed early, it's the choice of the stupid. Nobody's ever told me what is actually gained by doing so?
Organisations going to the same race point with half empty wagon from the same area, should go together to share the cost, carry on like this is financial suicide. Whilst this makes sense on paper, a cost is still paid. Feds would have to central mark or ferry birds in. Central marking WILL cost Feds a reduction in members. Nobody wants to travel far to mark their birds. Local clubs work because they are local. When my area used to central mark for some races, their was ALWAYS fewer sending and less birds sent. If it was for every race, some may decide to call it a day.
