The good thing is, the following week the pigeons will have a fly under their belt, the babies will be about 17 days old, and the cocks will be looking at the hens again.

With a head wind.......?

I agree with you. I do think that dealing with livestock all our lives does give us the edge with stockmanship. I do also believe that to a degree this is something that you either have or you haven’t. It’s not something you can particularly teach or learn. What would take the likes of us seconds to see when walking in a loft other would never see.Murray wrote: ↑Tue Apr 04, 2023 8:53 am People like you and I, with a background in getting things done at certain times, you in dairying, me in racing, have a better understanding of projecting ahead.
I have tried to give a thumbnail sketch of what I am thinking, like that one, to some people and they look at you like you are speaking a foreign language.![]()
It happens a bit down here.
Here you start racing with 100 young birds, and keep going until you run out.
I was surprised when a bloke, a very good local flyer, got in touch with me. He had a red hot yearling which had paired up. It was driving the hen to the corner where they had a nest.
What to do? He had heard that i used to race widowhood.
I just told him the same thing.
Don't send a yearling cock driving. They are distracted and get lost
The next week on fresh eggs or the hen close to laying, send him.
The next week he's sitting eggs very hard. send him.
The next week if he's sitting and resting. send him
The next week, they are hatching. If they have hatched, send him. If they haven't keep him, because they can get too anxious again.
The next week, send him. Small babies are good.
The next week. give him a week off. He's done a lot, and the big youngsters are demanding.
The next week the babies are big and the hen is starting to make moon eyes at him, send him again!![]()
He was astonished.![]()
He did that and his yearling cock won week after week after week.
I have a pair of youngsters off him in my stock shed.![]()