Diamond Dave wrote: Sun Oct 18, 2026 9:17 am
[quote=Wiley
Tony, some advice from my dad has always been `do your own thing', what I will caveat this too is advice from my old friend Frank Tasker 'if it sounds logical stick to it, don't chop and change, if it's logical it will come right'.
Worse thing you can do in season, is chopping and changing your ideas due to something you've read, or watched or heard someone say down the club.
We are all apprentices in this game and everyday is definitely a school day.
Wiley, again mate I wouldn't question any of your advice and I am only asking to better my knowledge.
I have heard this said many times about not changing things through out the season but then don't know if I am doing the right thing by switching from roundabout to natural for the distance. I can seem to get my birds fit using the roundabout system then pair up and let them lay when the races get beyond 500 miles.
[/quote]
Hi Dave
Pairing up for the distance i wouldn't call chopping and changing things for both of my London North Road Combine wins at 510 miles and 599 miles, and 11th open BICC international I done the same and had the two hens on 8 day eggs.
When I talk about switching things up I'm talking about feeding systems, routines etc.
Hi Jack. Always appreciate your advice mate.
OK, tbh I don't know that much about it. I know you generally keep the birds on roundabout but I believe you do things differently on their return.
However, I thought that you still paired up for the longer distances but from your post, Im now guessing you don't......?
Diamond Dave wrote: Sun Oct 18, 2026 9:17 am
[quote=Wiley
Hi Dave
Pairing up for the distance i wouldn't call chopping and changing things for both of my London North Road Combine wins at 510 miles and 599 miles, and 11th open BICC international I done the same and had the two hens on 8 day eggs.
When I talk about switching things up I'm talking about feeding systems, routines etc.
So this is where its gets confusing mate and pls don't think I am being cantankerous - I get the "routine" but when you talk about the feeding - isn't almost everyone changing it all the time by breaking down and building up.?
Aah, just read your last post again Wiley - and this is why I am confused .....
You say don't change things half way thro the season but the reality is - you actually did just that and the birds actually benefitted from it and did very well ?
Dave, I think your trying to read to much between the lines.....Joe bloggs races say better then you, and you hear he does this or feeds a certain way, and you decide to change....few weeks later you read that your favourite user on here does it another way, so you change. You hear someone uses this supplement....ect
Going from total widowhood to natural for 1 race and there last race of the year is not changing things, as the feed was still exactly the same, apart from the build up for these races is two weeks long. The 3 feeds I use were still the same, the supplements I used all year were still the same, so was the exercise sessions.
My very very good friend Tony Webster, mentioned me in a post here some time ago, when he used to post in here, when I decided to go all distance but I fed the same all the time, and the sprint birds I still had in my team still won 16x1st midweek and a Saturday. My way of doing things didn't change. I always feed in a hopper so everything gets fed the same. The drinker is communal so the supplements are the same. I didn't chop and change my system to say I was aiming to win the sprints this week but next week I want to win the distance.i wouldn't have been able to burn the candle at both ends. So I created a logical system and stuck with it all season. I didn't read that Geoff cooper, or mark Gilbert done it this way after one race where birds didn't perform as expected, so decided to try that....hopefully this makes bit more sense to you
Diamond Dave wrote: Sun Oct 18, 2026 9:17 am
[quote=Wiley
Hi Dave
Pairing up for the distance i wouldn't call chopping and changing things for both of my London North Road Combine wins at 510 miles and 599 miles, and 11th open BICC international I done the same and had the two hens on 8 day eggs.
When I talk about switching things up I'm talking about feeding systems, routines etc.
So this is where its gets confusing mate and pls don't think I am being cantankerous - I get the "routine" but when you talk about the feeding - isn't almost everyone changing it all the time by breaking down and building up.?
Dave, again it's just my opinion i don't believe in breaking pigeons down, if anything I want to build them up after a race, but that's a different talking point....
Tony-P- wrote: Sat Oct 17, 2026 9:08 am
We all have our own ways of doing things, I know this from past with keeping different birds over the years, but we live and learn every day.
I look after 80 Joinery Apprentices over 2 to 3 years of their life most straight from school into their working life, and yes some come to me knowing it all or so they think.
But after 2 to 3 years and they have qualified they have also grown up from boy to man, which is great to see they look at life with different eyes and most can see that you have to work hard to get the best out of life.
My point being is I look at myself as the Apprentice here on this forum but with many different mentors and I am hoping that in 2 to 3 years I will also have moved on in the pigeon world and be able to see things differently and maybe have some success, you all have your ways of doing thing and I will pick up pointers from all of you, try things out if they work for me and my birds great if they don't I will try again with something else.
Thanks to all of you on here for the help, support and tips you have given me so far
Tony, some advice from my dad has always been `do your own thing', what I will caveat this too is advice from my old friend Frank Tasker 'if it sounds logical stick to it, don't chop and change, if it's logical it will come right'.
Worse thing you can do in season, is chopping and changing your ideas due to something you've read, or watched or heard someone say down the club.
We are all apprentices in this game and everyday is definitely a school day.
Thanks for the Tips Wiley, I will try my best to work things out round work commitments / family and hopefully it works well for the birds your right about the school day everyday mate
“Although I’m a Scot, I’d be proud to be called a Scouser.”
