Life in Bendigo.
The first race is ten days away, Saturday July 1st. Crazy.
It is the shortest day tomorrow, so we are slap bang in the middle of winter. It is cold. At 5.00 pm I had a jacket and a vest and a woolen hat on.get them out
And the blokes are tossing their young birds in winds that must be sub zero temperatures.
As I said mine had a 'big day out' last weekend'. The last couple of days I have been letting them out late so they can have an hour or so out then feeding them in. They are absolutely full of beans!
I said to Catherine that I really should get them out for a couple of longer tosses.
She just looked up and said, "No, keep them warm". Imagine that!
She is right. These things have had a million tosses, what they need is to be kept warm and fed. I will start putting a little bit more maize in the feed tomorrow, and I was out there putting a pinch of extra seed on the perch of every pigeon tonight.
And, realizing that the races start next week, and they probably aren't ready, the first race has been cut back from about 60 miles to about 45 miles.
Hopeless.
If the weather is not good I will not be sending mine. I haven't spent all that time and money training pigeons to drag unprepared ones back through the rain.
We shall see.
It is the shortest day tomorrow, so we are slap bang in the middle of winter. It is cold. At 5.00 pm I had a jacket and a vest and a woolen hat on.get them out
And the blokes are tossing their young birds in winds that must be sub zero temperatures.
As I said mine had a 'big day out' last weekend'. The last couple of days I have been letting them out late so they can have an hour or so out then feeding them in. They are absolutely full of beans!
I said to Catherine that I really should get them out for a couple of longer tosses.
She just looked up and said, "No, keep them warm". Imagine that!
She is right. These things have had a million tosses, what they need is to be kept warm and fed. I will start putting a little bit more maize in the feed tomorrow, and I was out there putting a pinch of extra seed on the perch of every pigeon tonight.
And, realizing that the races start next week, and they probably aren't ready, the first race has been cut back from about 60 miles to about 45 miles.
Hopeless.
If the weather is not good I will not be sending mine. I haven't spent all that time and money training pigeons to drag unprepared ones back through the rain.
We shall see.
Greetings from the land down under.
Blessed is he who expecteth nothing, for verily, he shall not be disappointed.
Blessed is he who expecteth nothing, for verily, he shall not be disappointed.
I understand what you’re saying Murray. I must say that I am in a quandary over what to do with the youngsters. Our first young bird race is 5 weeks away. I will give them a few trainers but the younger ones are still squeaking a bit. Even the older ones have only dropped 2 flights. The other thing is that the first 2 races are only 34 miles. I’m not sure that I will send to these and may wait until the third race which is still only 84 miles??Murray wrote: ↑Wed Jun 21, 2023 9:49 am The first race is ten days away, Saturday July 1st. Crazy.
It is the shortest day tomorrow, so we are slap bang in the middle of winter. It is cold. At 5.00 pm I had a jacket and a vest and a woolen hat on.get them out
And the blokes are tossing their young birds in winds that must be sub zero temperatures.
As I said mine had a 'big day out' last weekend'. The last couple of days I have been letting them out late so they can have an hour or so out then feeding them in. They are absolutely full of beans!
I said to Catherine that I really should get them out for a couple of longer tosses.
She just looked up and said, "No, keep them warm". Imagine that!
She is right. These things have had a million tosses, what they need is to be kept warm and fed. I will start putting a little bit more maize in the feed tomorrow, and I was out there putting a pinch of extra seed on the perch of every pigeon tonight.
And, realizing that the races start next week, and they probably aren't ready, the first race has been cut back from about 60 miles to about 45 miles.
Hopeless.
If the weather is not good I will not be sending mine. I haven't spent all that time and money training pigeons to drag unprepared ones back through the rain.
We shall see.
Back just enjoying club racing for the time being.
Of course some of mine are almost yearlings and are up on the last flight. Even the younger ones are up on the sixth. That's why I started training them months ago. It's no good leaving them until they are grown up then starting to educate them.
Greetings from the land down under.
Blessed is he who expecteth nothing, for verily, he shall not be disappointed.
Blessed is he who expecteth nothing, for verily, he shall not be disappointed.
Young bird training and racing is a challenge, over here many of us shut our birds up for winter so I couldn't imagine racing them 
I do however know fanciers who continue to train their birds all through the winter !!! I suppose at least you don't have the moult to worry about 
Including this weekend we have 3 more old bird races, a week off then we have an any age race before the young bird season starts. I will start training my youngsters in the next couple of weeks, I might send a few yearlings to the any age race but I won't send my youngsters until the week after.
I think for you Andy you are probably as well to train your birds out to 30 miles if possible then send to the 84 mile race.
Sounds like you could be right to hold yours back for a week or two as well Muzza
I do however know fanciers who continue to train their birds all through the winter !!! I suppose at least you don't have the moult to worry about 
Including this weekend we have 3 more old bird races, a week off then we have an any age race before the young bird season starts. I will start training my youngsters in the next couple of weeks, I might send a few yearlings to the any age race but I won't send my youngsters until the week after.
I think for you Andy you are probably as well to train your birds out to 30 miles if possible then send to the 84 mile race.
Sounds like you could be right to hold yours back for a week or two as well Muzza
The last week has gone quickly. We have a contract on the house, but it is a bit unusual. Instead of 10% deposit and settlement in 60 days, the elderly buyer has paid a small deposit and settlement is in 30 days.
So we get the money in 30 days and can rent the place back for a couple of months or so. Very satisfactory.
So we get the money in 30 days and can rent the place back for a couple of months or so. Very satisfactory.
Greetings from the land down under.
Blessed is he who expecteth nothing, for verily, he shall not be disappointed.
Blessed is he who expecteth nothing, for verily, he shall not be disappointed.
After their accidental 'big day out' last Saturday, I just flew the youngsters around home all week. The weather was rubbish most of the time anyway. For the last couple of days they have been slightly off their rockers, doing the sort of fly pasts one might expect if one was on the balcony at Buckingham palace! 
I have not been too worried, they have had lots of tosses, and I would rather keep them on their toes than taking them out for tosses in the cold and wet.
Today was clear and cold this morning, then a fairly strong wind came up with a fair bit of cloud. But no rain.
So I took one half of them, the A team, out for a short toss along the line of the new lib point for the first race next Saturday. The race is 45 miles to me, I took them 15 miles.
There was a strong cross wind when I let them out, and they were scooting around in the gum trees.....
But I was just arriving home and there they were.
It's raining again now, but tomorrow should be okay, so I plan to take the other half out.
If the weather is reasonable next Saturday I will send a few. I don't like winter racing. I am happy to wait for better weather.
I have not been too worried, they have had lots of tosses, and I would rather keep them on their toes than taking them out for tosses in the cold and wet.
Today was clear and cold this morning, then a fairly strong wind came up with a fair bit of cloud. But no rain.
So I took one half of them, the A team, out for a short toss along the line of the new lib point for the first race next Saturday. The race is 45 miles to me, I took them 15 miles.
There was a strong cross wind when I let them out, and they were scooting around in the gum trees.....
But I was just arriving home and there they were.
It's raining again now, but tomorrow should be okay, so I plan to take the other half out.
If the weather is reasonable next Saturday I will send a few. I don't like winter racing. I am happy to wait for better weather.
Greetings from the land down under.
Blessed is he who expecteth nothing, for verily, he shall not be disappointed.
Blessed is he who expecteth nothing, for verily, he shall not be disappointed.