Is it all worth it

[king]

How I look at it is would it be like running a 100mtr race with only 1 track shoe on & bare foot the other, what I'm trying to say would missing feathers affect the arodinamic of the pigeon making it slower.

I doubt a few cover feathers would matter much. They are not flight feathers. They will be re-grown in a couple of weeks.

[Anthony webster]

If I'm cheif marker at a club n bird turns up with feathers missing it ain't getting marked sorry ,,
Birds with any imperfections should be left at home ,they will not compete with birds that are ,
Glad you got her home pal

[king]

If I'm cheif marker at a club n bird turns up with feathers missing it ain't getting marked sorry ,,
Birds with any imperfections should be left at home ,they will not compete with birds that are ,
Glad you got her home pal

So natual birds that drop a flight can't go then Ant?

[king]

How I look at it is would it be like running a 100mtr race with only 1 track shoe on & bare foot the other, what I'm trying to say would missing feathers affect the arodinamic of the pigeon making it slower.

I doubt a few cover feathers would matter much. They are not flight feathers. They will be re-grown in a couple of weeks.

King
I want her ( if I can) to go
Darlington in satirday 23rd 205 miles
Arbroath the week after 350
Blank week
Then 412

What’s your views is that asking a lot I really don’t want to lose her through my greed

How many feathers are missing Neil? Are they secondary or cover feathers? The first race from 205 miles maybe too soon. But as I said these missing feather WON'T stop her flying. If she was my hen the weather would play a huge part in my decision on sending. If the 412 is your target race you have time on your side, but may involve missing one or both of the other races.

[king]

King
I want her ( if I can) to go
Darlington in satirday 23rd 205 miles
Arbroath the week after 350
Blank week
Then 412

What’s your views is that asking a lot I really don’t want to lose her through my greed

How many feathers are missing Neil? Are they secondary or cover feathers? The first race from 205 miles maybe too soon. But as I said these missing feather WON'T stop her flying. If she was my hen the weather would play a huge part in my decision on sending. If the 412 is your target race you have time on your side, but may involve missing one or both of the other races.

I’m not really sure king ,I notice it on one hen but the main girl you notice when you open it i think it’s the covers near the body I’m not great at knowing
I’m let her out today she did a hour with the others
I had one hen not wanting to go out and she was one that come home on normal time

I'd see what she like this week Neil, if she's acting normal and flying the same as the others make the decision on sending nearer the time. If you get a good forecast for the race even better.

[Anthony webster]

If I'm cheif marker at a club n bird turns up with feathers missing it ain't getting marked sorry ,,
Birds with any imperfections should be left at home ,they will not compete with birds that are ,
Glad you got her home pal

So natual birds that drop a flight can't go then Ant?

Not talking about a dropped flight king talking about a hole in wing where a falcon as knocked all secondary flights out ,,some times u old timers amaze me with the bollix u say about racers because name a bird sent injured that's ever won f all

[king]

If I'm cheif marker at a club n bird turns up with feathers missing it ain't getting marked sorry ,,
Birds with any imperfections should be left at home ,they will not compete with birds that are ,
Glad you got her home pal

So natual birds that drop a flight can't go then Ant?

Not talking about a dropped flight king talking about a hole in wing where a falcon as knocked all secondary flights out ,,some times u old timers amaze me with the bollix u say about racers because name a bird sent injured that's ever won f all

A huge hole is very different to a couple of feathers missing. And having a few feathers missing is not an injury, so I ain't talking bollix. This thread is about Neil's bird which I believe has lost a few feathers without an actual injury. As I said in an earlier post theser are not flight feathers. They won't stop a bird flying. And whilst I've never seen myself as an old timer Ant, I do remember a time before fanciers flew on darkness. In the longer YB races birds were sent with feathers missing everywhere. I myself sent natural YBs to the NFC races of 368 miles and had a record in my area as good as any. I've myself have NEVER sent an injured bird to a race. I have won & carded with a good few that have beed injured in the same season. One returned from Nantes 464 miles 2nd day having been in wires. It was 1st club from 45 miles 4 weeks later. I had a YB break it's leg on the 3rd race but recovered to be 2nd Clock station, 29th sec K, NFC YB from St Malo 368 miles a few weeks later..
I have scored with birds with feathers missing though. I recall sending a latebred carring it's last 2 nest flights to a race that was super fit. The race was a 2 day holdover and the race was still a hard race. And although I didn't win the race the bird was 3rd and when it dropped I discovered it had dropped ALL 4 of the nest flights in the basket, so raced home with half it's main flight feathers missing.

[Anthony webster]

This one was lucky yesterday IMG_4623.jpeg

You would send that hen king with that wing

[Anthony webster]

I'm talking about a hen with a gap in its wing ,,I took first 10 six weeks running Carring 4 flights as yearlings topped fed 5 times ,,but that hen as lost feathers n it's not just that it's the mental damage done after a strike some just totally stop racing for us .

[king]

This one was lucky yesterday IMG_4623.jpeg

You would send that hen king with that wing

I asked Neil how many feathers were missing, still waiting to know. It's hard to see the gap from the pic Neil posted. So would I send her? If it was 3 or less feathers and it was a good forecast then YES. I wouldn't be looking to win, but use it as a prep race for the longer race. If the forecast was not great I'd let her start growing them and jump her to the next race.