First YB trainer 2023

Trev · Sat Jul 08, 2023 8:34 am

With another old bird season at an end and only 3 weeks to go before our first young bird race it was time to get my youngsters on the road. I've been lazy the last few years and this year need to try and put more effort in. With the forecast for the weekend looking very unsettled although it was a bit hot I decided to take half of my team yesterday evening. So at 5pm I took my 26 oldest youngsters up the road to Coolham which is just over 10miles, I let them go at 5.35 and they seemed to clear quite quickly.
I got home just after 6, I didn't expect any to be back yet so poured myself a cold one and sat in the garden to see them arrive. After an hour I was starting to become a little concerned as it was still very hot and humid and nothing had arrived, which isn't that unusual for their first toss. After an hour and a half 8 dropped together on the house, they came down quick enough when called but were panting nicely so had obviously felt the heat. It was another half an hour before 5 more arrived, then another 3 between 8 and half past, 1 more arrived at 8.55 then another at 9.20 giving me 18/26 by nightfall. I got up at half 5 this morning to find one more on the loft and another turned up at 7 so I now have 20/26, I know who 4 of the 6 missing babies are but not sure of the other 2 until I go through them all which I will probably do tomorrow now as I don't want to stress them out again today. I'm pretty pleased on the whole with them as I think they'd have learnt a bit from their first outing. Weather permitting I might take the second batch of 20 with me to work Monday.
All the best.

Sat Jul 08, 2023 8:55 am

Well done Trev. Always a worry but good to get the first one out of the way. Weather not looking good for the next few days. I want to start to get mine going soon now.

DarkPiedCock · Sat Jul 08, 2023 8:58 am

They would of learned a lot. Nice one Trev.

Sat Jul 08, 2023 9:35 am

Well done Trev hope other return safely, as already been said they will have learnt a lot from it

Trev · Mon Jul 10, 2023 8:31 pm

Thanks all, having had 2 more turn up yesterday I've ended up with 24/26, the two missing are nest mates which sadly doesn't bode well for the others I have from that pairing lol

having looked at one or two of the youngsters who'd had the trainer I did find a couple carrying injuries, one had a few tail feathers missing (he arrived next day) and the other a gash under its wing ( she arrived at 9.20 on Friday) I'm sure they will recover ok but I will leave them out of the next trainer.

Mon Jul 10, 2023 10:10 pm

Trev wrote: ↑Mon Jul 10, 2023 8:31 pm Thanks all, having had 2 more turn up yesterday I've ended up with 24/26, the two missing are nest mates which sadly doesn't bode well for the others I have from that pairing lol having looked at one or two of the youngsters who'd had the trainer I did find a couple carrying injuries, one had a few tail feathers missing (he arrived next day) and the other a gash under its wing ( she arrived at 9.20 on Friday) I'm sure they will recover ok but I will leave them out of the next trainer.

Good to see they still coming, wouldn't read to much into being nestmates as some tend to follow each other and if one went down for whatever reason the other may have followed

killer · Tue Jul 11, 2023 12:51 am

Well done Trev work them hard , from the best should come the best ,

DarkPiedCock · Wed Jul 12, 2023 9:04 am

Good returns Trev. Does look like Percy paid a visit

Murray · Thu Jul 13, 2023 8:29 am

Great to see you have got them home, Trev, but my blood ran cold when you said you went 10 miles first up.

I don't doubt you had some out overnight.

My first toss is always from about half a mile away and I usually take them down to the creek when the old birds are flying around home.
Then I go 2, 4, 8, 10 miles, more or less, and this year I went several directions.
I have lost about 20 of the 45 youngsters I bred, as many of them being taken by the hawks while loft flying as in training, but the ones that are left have had lots of training and are now hard to lose.
I take them 20 miles to a place that is open country, and even going at the speed limit I cannot beat them back.

Good to see you are training them in two teams, Trev, If you have a bad toss, and one team gets torn up, you have not done all your youngsters.
Good luck and keep the work up to them.

Thu Jul 13, 2023 1:52 pm

Murray wrote: ↑Thu Jul 13, 2023 8:29 am Great to see you have got them home, Trev, but my blood ran cold when you said you went 10 miles first up.
I don't doubt you had some out overnight.
My first toss is always from about half a mile away and I usually take them down to the creek when the old birds are flying around home.
Then I go 2, 4, 8, 10 miles, more or less, and this year I went several directions.
I have lost about 20 of the 45 youngsters I bred, as many of them being taken by the hawks while loft flying as in training, but the ones that are left have had lots of training and are now hard to lose.
I take them 20 miles to a place that is open country, and even going at the speed limit I cannot beat them back.
Good to see you are training them in two teams, Trev, If you have a bad toss, and one team gets torn up, you have not done all your youngsters.
Good luck and keep the work up to them.

Mine always started at 20 miles then 30 finally 50 where they stayed all through racing