QUESTION

[Anthony webster]

I send them both out to be raced
If there good racers then keep 1 in future for breeding but if neither can race you safed alot of time plus there not another generation of unproven birds in your loft.
My self looks mean nothing, but I like them to handle perfect most good fast pigeons are a bit ugly,
Normally winners breed winners with odd disappointment but g children n gg children to famous pigeons 2,3 generations of unraced birds now they can be a complete let down n waste of time effort n money.

[Murray]

Interesting topic.
I think it depends a bit on where you are. Here in Australia the losses are often heavy. It's all well and good to be Gung Ho, and send 'em all and sort 'em out, but that can mean nothing to carry on with at season's end.
I am always willing to hold a handful back. Last year I kept a terrific blue chequer pied cock. He is by my blue white flight Thone' cock out of my Melbourne hen that flew 600 miles three years in a row, as a young bird, a yearling and a two year old.
The young cock had all the tosses, and there were plenty, and he was always on line and on the board. When the races started I kept selecting others to go, and finally admitted to myself that I had no intention of sending him and losing him.
If you have a shed full of pigeons and no reference as to how good they are, you had better test them. If you know what the performance of the parents was and what they produce, you can safely keep back an extremely good type of youngster for stock. In fact I reckon they are often the future of the loft.

[Andy]

The hawk situation in particular makes it more difficult to select. Back in the day if you lost a pigeon or they didn’t perform you know it was because they weren’t any good. Nowadays it’s not so clear cut. If you have a team of pigeons that you know and have developed you’ll know the ones most likely to succeed. This is much more difficult if you’re constantly bringing in new stock that you know nothing about.

[Anthony webster]

The hawk situation in particular makes it more difficult to select. Back in the day if you lost a pigeon or they didn’t perform you know it was because they weren’t any good. Nowadays it’s not so clear cut. If you have a team of pigeons that you know and have developed you’ll know the ones most likely to succeed. This is much more difficult if you’re constantly bringing in new stock that you know nothing about.

Dont think selection is hard Andy most flyers want numbers not quality birds in team if you breed 40 baby's and they race until the end of the 3rd year with numerous prizes in club and fed on different winds then there the ones to breed from the others and parents should not still be in your loft in my opinion
That race basket never lies nor does the fed result
If you have a exceptional racer take few baby's of hit after racer retain them and try there children why the good bird is still racing.

[Albert]

Interesting topic.
I think it depends a bit on where you are. Here in Australia the losses are often heavy. It's all well and good to be Gung Ho, and send 'em all and sort 'em out, but that can mean nothing to carry on with at season's end.
I am always willing to hold a handful back. Last year I kept a terrific blue chequer pied cock. He is by my blue white flight Thone' cock out of my Melbourne hen that flew 600 miles three years in a row, as a young bird, a yearling and a two year old.
The young cock had all the tosses, and there were plenty, and he was always on line and on the board. When the races started I kept selecting others to go, and finally admitted to myself that I had no intention of sending him and losing him.
If you have a shed full of pigeons and no reference as to how good they are, you had better test them. If you know what the performance of the parents was and what they produce, you can safely keep back an extremely good type of youngster for stock. In fact I reckon they are often the future of the loft.

Hi Murray, I was interested to see you had a hen that flew 600 miles, three years in a row. When I was in New South Wales, I got the impression that most fanciers only flew thier birds as y/b's although the were a bit older than what we would call y/b's, is this just a thing that is relative to NSW. The only fancier I came across, that flew them older, was a fancier called Vince Murray. I also visited a loft where a guy was timing a lot of birds during the hours of darkness, his name was Davidson from Woolongong.

[Andy]

The hawk situation in particular makes it more difficult to select. Back in the day if you lost a pigeon or they didn’t perform you know it was because they weren’t any good. Nowadays it’s not so clear cut. If you have a team of pigeons that you know and have developed you’ll know the ones most likely to succeed. This is much more difficult if you’re constantly bringing in new stock that you know nothing about.

Dont think selection is hard Andy most flyers want numbers not quality birds in team if you breed 40 baby's and they race until the end of the 3rd year with numerous prizes in club and fed on different winds then there the ones to breed from the others and parents should not still be in your loft in my opinion
That race basket never lies nor does the fed result
If you have a exceptional racer take few baby's of hit after racer retain them and try there children why the good bird is still racing.

As I don’t keep stock birds I breed from my race team. As I am now racing widowhood again my hens are in reality my stock birds. My aim is to have cocks that win and hens that breed the winners. The hens will race as youngsters. I do have 6 pairs of naturals so the older hens can be raced natural. Having said that my best ever breeding hen was useless as a youngster and only kept because I was short of hens. She laid quickly as a yearling so as I wanted all my widowhood cocks to rear youngsters I kept the eggs. Both youngsters went on to win. She became the dam of my loft. I’m certainly not someone who want numbers rather than quality. I am only racing 11 widowhood cocks plus the odd natural that won’t start for a few weeks yet. I only have 15 youngsters.

[Albert]

Interesting topic.
I think it depends a bit on where you are. Here in Australia the losses are often heavy. It's all well and good to be Gung Ho, and send 'em all and sort 'em out, but that can mean nothing to carry on with at season's end.
I am always willing to hold a handful back. Last year I kept a terrific blue chequer pied cock. He is by my blue white flight Thone' cock out of my Melbourne hen that flew 600 miles three years in a row, as a young bird, a yearling and a two year old.
The young cock had all the tosses, and there were plenty, and he was always on line and on the board. When the races started I kept selecting others to go, and finally admitted to myself that I had no intention of sending him and losing him.
If you have a shed full of pigeons and no reference as to how good they are, you had better test them. If you know what the performance of the parents was and what they produce, you can safely keep back an extremely good type of youngster for stock. In fact I reckon they are often the future of the loft.

Hi Murray, I was interested to see you had a hen that flew 600 miles, three years in a row. When I was in New South Wales, I got the impression that most fanciers only flew thier birds as y/b's although the were a bit older than what we would call y/b's, is this just a thing that is relative to NSW. The only fancier I came across, that flew them older, was a fancier called Vince Murray. I also visited a loft where a guy was timing a lot of birds during the hours of darkness, his name was Davidson from Woolongong.

Bump

[Murray]

Hi Albert.
You are quite right, The great majority of pigeons only race one season here.
It was strange to me when I first came to Australia from New Zealand as well.
The racing here is terribly tough, the climate, the terrain and the predators extract a toll. Also many fanciers breed the youngsters after mid summer so they go into the winter racing quite young. In most areas there is only one season, all aged racing, out to 500, 600, or even 700 miles.
To survive the hawks and the terrain the youngsters have to be very thoroughly trained. You don't send youngsters to the races off a handful of short tosses and expect to see them again.
So by seasons end the remaining pigeons are generally well cooked.
The little Mebourne hen was one of the good ones. Flew the program as a youngster, again as a yearling, what they call two year old here, and in her third go from 600 miles got to within 60 miles of home before arriving at my place hawked. The bloke just gifted her to me.
Beautiful hen and breeds super youngsters.

[Albert]

Thanks for clearing that up Murray.

[Trev]

Hi Albert.
You are quite right, The great majority of pigeons only race one season here.
It was strange to me when I first came to Australia from New Zealand as well.
The racing here is terribly tough, the climate, the terrain and the predators extract a toll. Also many fanciers breed the youngsters after mid summer so they go into the winter racing quite young. In most areas there is only one season, all aged racing, out to 500, 600, or even 700 miles.
To survive the hawks and the terrain the youngsters have to be very thoroughly trained. You don't send youngsters to the races off a handful of short tosses and expect to see them again.
So by seasons end the remaining pigeons are generally well cooked.
The little Mebourne hen was one of the good ones. Flew the program as a youngster, again as a yearling, what they call two year old here, and in her third go from 600 miles got to within 60 miles of home before arriving at my place hawked. The bloke just gifted her to me.
Beautiful hen and breeds super youngsters.

That is a tough life for those birds over there.
I have to say though, a lot of the top sprint fanciers here mostly race yearlings and two year olds. By then they have the new crop of winners coming through so the 3 year olds, no matter what they've achieved, are surplus to requirements !! Three of the stock cocks I was given this year are are all club and Fed winners but are now 3 year olds so have been moved out to make room for the yearlings. Technically if your breeding is right then each years youngsters should be better than last years !!