Are the cost affecting the sport?

[Devo1956]

With membership going down on a yearly downfall of they say 7 %, is this affecting your racing and training. Also the birdage cost sending to races, not forgetting the channel racing cost. We are also looking at Fuel cost, this is before we start looking at food cost.

[king]

I'd say 7% is an underestimate. More like double that.

[Devo1956]

I'd say 7% is an underestimate. More like double that.

You could be right King, I am just going from what I seen on a video. Even if you base it on 10% you would be looking at a possible 10 years left in the sport. This is where I think OLR will be the future of racing for the choice for some.

[Andy]

I'd say 7% is an underestimate. More like double that.

You could be right King, I am just going from what I seen on a video. Even if you base it on 10% you would be looking at a possible 10 years left in the sport. This is where I think OLR will be the future of racing for the choice for some.

I know you love OLR Devo and not knocking you for that. Each to their own. It’s the only way that you can continue in the sport you love. But I think OLR will be gone long before club/individual racing does. A lot in the sport wouldn’t be able to afford the costs of entering OLRs so if this became the only way of racing it would then become just for the elite and those with money. No sport, hobby, would exist if the grass roots were taken away.

[George and Morgan]

i agree Andy cost of birds and courier is a lot of money do you remember the test lofts they were great

[Devo1956]

I'd say 7% is an underestimate. More like double that.

You could be right King, I am just going from what I seen on a video. Even if you base it on 10% you would be looking at a possible 10 years left in the sport. This is where I think OLR will be the future of racing for the choice for some.

I know you love OLR Devo and not knocking you for that. Each to their own. It’s the only way that you can continue in the sport you love. But I think OLR will be gone long before club/individual racing does. A lot in the sport wouldn’t be able to afford the costs of entering OLRs so if this became the only way of racing it would then become just for the elite and those with money. No sport, hobby, would exist if the grass roots were taken away.

I think to be honest Andy, if you where to look at a loft with 20 racing old birds and 40 young birds for racing. the overall cost for the season, would turn out to be a tidy figure. Some people may not be able to afford that the way things are going. Myself I do not wish for club racing to end. but there is a yearly decline. So to what point do members say we can not cover the cost of racing.
I think myself things have to change, but can anyone say where change can be made. To keep the sport going, I am all ears myself on this. Again there will be many different views, but I don't think many answers.

[George and Morgan]

changes have to be made in less ybs in a olr

[Diamond Dave]

I race off my state pension. I wouldnt be able to keep the birds if my missus werent getting hers too.
Its a bit of a bummer though, having to keep her sweet all the time, especially when I need a bag of good corn. Ha -ha!!
I do a couple of little jobs around the village to help pay for racing but its getting harder and its not much fun having to work everything on a shoestring budget.
But, hey, I'm happy and enjoying my birds so you can put the violins away now.

[Andy]

I race off my state pension. I wouldnt be able to keep the birds if my missus werent getting hers too.
Its a bit of a bummer though, having to keep her sweet all the time, especially when I need a bag of good corn. Ha -ha!!
I do a couple of little jobs around the village to help pay for racing but its getting harder and its not much fun having to work everything on a shoestring budget.
But, hey, I'm happy and enjoying my birds so you can put the violins away now.

Good for you Dave. The enjoyment of keeping and looking after the pigeons is the main thing. The actual racing is secondary. Yes we all want to win and will do what we can to compete. I can’t afford to spend a lot on the pigeons so my racing is done on what I can afford. Yes the initial start up can be costly but even that can be done within a budget. I don’t now race over the channel because I can’t justify the cost of the vet visits, the cost of joining the BICC, BBC, NFC or CSCFC. For probably no more than 6 races a year at a minimum cost of £4.50 per bird, excluding the internationals, which are more like £10 per bird. Taking time off work for marking etc. I don’t buy pigeons in. Much prefer and get more enjoyment from breeding my own and improving what I have through selection and testing. I have however been gifted some very nice pigeons from members on here especially when just coming back into the sport. I don’t keep a big team of old birds or youngsters, or waste money on unnecessary treatments or supplements. I’m only racing 12 old birds in 2 different clubs at a cost of around £10 per week.
In our club we have had 3 new members join this year following 3 last year with no one resigning. So our club is getting stronger. Admittedly all bar one have come from other clubs. So depending on what you want from the sport it can be as costly as you want it.

[Diamond Dave]

I have just had a young lad contact me who wants to start up.
Nice lad, not even finished his exams at school yet, can't drive but he wants to start up for all the right reasons.
I think the parents are split up. His mum brought him over to see me and to have a chat. One of her question
was how much does it cost?
I made an on the spot estimate to keep and race about 20 pigeons for a year on a shoestring budget would be around £800. I didnt think that would be far off - what do you all think......?
He was still keen but mum wasnt quite but I tried to explain that is still quite cheap for a hobby. It probably cost about 30 quid for a days fishing nowadays.