RE-EDITED SINCE THE ORIGINAL POSTING
On Fridays, the race team stays in the loft. They are not
exercised. As I have said in previous blogs, Friday is a day
for motivation of the mind rather than training of the body.
Depending upon the length of the race and the situation prior to the
race, mates may spend all day with the widows or they may not see
each other at all. Usually, mates are shown on the shorter
races and not shown on the longer or two day in the basket races.
Showing mates excites a widow. If races are on Saturday, it
does little good to excite widows on Thursday night. Mental
excitement only lasts a relatively short period of time, i.e.,
from Friday afternoon or evening to Saturday morning at a max.
Widows that are excited on Thursdays, often suffer in the shipping
crate all day Friday, and are usually spent by their release on
Saturday morning. These widows will actually fly their race
mentally in the crate before the release.
Today, I am not going to show the widows their mates; although the
race tomorrow would be a great race day to show mates today.
However, I want to ship the widows as calm as possible on the first
race. First races are often chaotic and confusing for many of
the racers. I want my birds as calm as possible for the first
race.
A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY
As many of you may know, statistically speaking, many white pigeons
do not race well.
You may also know that I think the Antoine Jacops pigeons are the finest
racing pigeons in the world. In 1966, with a great deal of money in his
pocket, Antoine Jacops bought about 50 excellent young birds from the best
fanciers in Belgium and started racing pigeons. At the end of the season,
Antoine had 28 pigeons left from the original 50 birds. During the season,
he only won 3 or 4 minor prizes with these pigeons. At the end of the
race season, Antoine eliminated all of the pigeons except for one
outstanding white male known as the Oude Witte Verhaert (the Old White
Verhaert). This white male would eventually make history in the province of
Antwerp and became the foundation of his loft. The White male came from the
loft of Emiel Verhaert. Although you may not have heard of him,
Verhaert and Warre De Schutter of Pulle were geniuses in the history of
Belgian pigeon racing. Antoine went to De Schutter to acquire a blue
female to couple with the White male. This amazing pair of breeders
produced one champion after another. Among numerous champions, the
pair eventually bred the Gebroken Poot in 1970. This outstanding racer
won 9 1st prizes. After his racing career was over, the Gebroken Poot
(Broken Foot or Leg) was also an incredible breeder.
GEBROKEN POOT
He produced many of the champions that pock the pedigrees of the Jacops
breeders in my loft: the Vooruit (Ahead) won the super pool (1,000
euro) 12 times; the 171, the 184, the Feather Foot, the Limoges, and the
Cahors, bred in 1979. The Cahors won the 1st prize provincial and 5th
National Cahors.
CAHORS
In 1982, the Cahors became a legend by producing the Kleine Cahors, 1st
Ace Antwerp Union in 1985 and 1st Olympiade winner in the Dortmund
Olympiade, West Germany in 1987.
KLEINE CAHORS
In 1982, Antoine purchased 3 full brothers from his friend, Willy Van
Berendonk. These brothers were sons of the 78000, a son of Karel
Meuleman's Golden Couple. One of these outstanding breeders was the
famous Playboy. The Playboy was coupled with the best breeding
daughter of the Gebroken Poot known as the Schoon Witzwing (Beautiful White
Wing). This pair produced a super female known as the Schoon Blauw.
The Kleine Cahors coupled with the Schoon Blauw have bred countless super
pigeons and are known as the Diamond Couple. The Diamond Couple are
featured on Antoine's breeding card with three of their champion offspring.
DIAMOND COUPLE
The Diamond Couple have produced the
following supers:
1. Super Ace - 1st Ace Hafo Lier Antwerp Union 1988 and 1989.
2. Diamond Ace - 1st Ace Long Distance in the Antwerp Union in 1992.
3. The Witpen Ace - 1st Ace Antwerp Union 1991.
4. Fijne Cahors - an excellent racer that returned from a race injured
and was stocked. He has been an incredible breeder.
5. The Jonge Cahors (Young Cahors) - raised for stock and has bred
supers.
6. Olympia Son - bred 9th National Argenton against 22,017 pigeons and
19th National La Souteraine against 14,405 pigeons.
7. The Lichte Cahors - 6th National La Souteraine in 1991.
LAMBERTON CUYPERS are breeding from many sons and daughters to these great
champions. In fact, the nest mates to several of Antoine's newest
champions are breeding in Tulsa Oklahoma USA. There are three
incredible sons of the Diamond Ace that have all bred super pigeons.
The 1st Ace Old Bird 2006 in the Northeast Oklahoma Racing Pigeon Federation
was a son of the White Diamond, a prepotent son of the Diamond Ace.
The 1st Ace Young Bird 2005 in the
Northeast Oklahoma Racing Pigeon Federation was bred from a daughter of
Bubba's Diamond, a prepotent son of the Diamond Ace.
Since the days of the original White male Verhaert, the Jacops pigeons
occasionally breed a white or mostly white pigeon. In 1978, Antoine
won 9th National Bourges with a white female that would also bred super
pigeons. Even today, the Jacops pigeons still produce white pigeons
down from the original white male from almost 50 years ago. In the
early 1990s, my best widowhood male was pure white and was bred from blue
pigeons. In Tulsa, both Steve Trotter and Bill Kinyon have bred from
super white Jacops females. I believe that Bill's female produced 10 direct
children that all won first prizes. Currently, Kirk and Paula Hardin,
Tri-County Loft, Glencoe, Oklahoma, are breeding from a 50% white Jacops,
the "65 female," that produced 4 different top ten prize winners in her first
year of breeding. On one particular race day in the 2007 Young Bird
Race Series, 3 children of the 65 female placed in the top ten in the 3
Federation races on that single race day.
The White male Verhaert ultimately can be traced to
the pigeons of a wealthy fancier named Rene Maes. The Maes pigeons were
legendary in Belgium and were the basis of many lofts that you may know.
For instance, the Van den Bosch male from Karel Meuleman's Golden Couple was
down from the Maes pigeons. The pigeons of Huskens-Van Reil came down from
Maes. Many dark check pigeons with white flights and pied heads carry the
white gene of the Maes pigeons. In his book on the Janssens, Ad
Schaerlaeckens speaks of Maes and his influence on the modern day racing
pigeon. On page 28 in the Section, "Schoeters of Herenthout Belgium,"
where Ad traces the lineage of the Janssen pigeons, he speaks of the
contribution of Rene Maes: "Of Tournier it is known that he purchased
pigeons at the fountain head: from Maes, and that his name would become
world famous thanks to Rene Maes' pigeons." To cite Ad further,
"Tournier was to make a name for himself, particularly in the Netherlands.
Men like Van den Hoek, Postma, Pepermans, and even Braakhuis owe their fame
either directly or indirectly to Tournier." As you can see, Rene Maes
and his pigeons had a tremendous domino effect on the development and
history of the Belgian racing pigeon.
Antoine Jacops lives in Vorselaar which is starred on the map. Maes
lived in Herenthout only a few kilometers south from Jacops. Schoeters
and Cas Goosens, his protégé, competed there also. While we are
looking, find Arendonk, the Mecca of the Janssen Brothers. Find
Merkplas, the home of Gust Hofkens, the butcher. The Antwerp Union is
virtually the birthplace of the modern day pigeon sport. Most of the
famous historical names with which you may be familiar and many names that
are famous in Belgium but unknown in America came from the Province of
Antwerp. Baarle-Nassau, the home of Ad Schaerlaeckens, can be found
just across the Dutch border at the top right on the map.
Antoine Jacops has been racing at the top of the sheet since the 1960s
against these very legends. His racing and particularly breeding
system is classic.
when Antoine coupled the Kleine Cahors with the Schoon Blauw, the Diamond
Couple, he crossed the genes from Maes inherent in the White male Verhaert
that was the great grandfather of the Kleine Cahors with the Maes genes
inherent in the Van Den Bosch male that was the great grandfather of the
Schoon Blauw female.
It is no wonder that this pair produced nothing but Diamonds. The
prepotency of this breeding couple was no accident. It was the result
of excellent and thoughtful line-breeding. As I have said, Antoine
Jacops is the finest breeder of super pigeons in the world.
The white pigeons are a little like the recessive reds in the Meuleman
pigeons. White is a recessive color that becomes dominant in certain
pigeons. As a recessive gene, white comes out in white flights and pied
heads. About one or two percent of my Jacops pigeons turn out white or
mostly white. Several birds that have been posted on ipigeon this
week and last week are mostly white. I have had several emails lately
asking about the white Jacops pigeons. As I said in my response to
these questioners, often, white Jacops pigeons are pure gold.
Friday's blog has been re-edited to include
additional information.
4.5.08 - Saturday
Today was the first Northeast Oklahoma Racing Pigeon
Federation race from Paris, Texas. My distance is 169.346 miles or about
272 kilometers. There are two races each week released 30 minutes apart.
The A race has a 5 bird limit and was released at 8 am. The B race has no
limit and was released at 8:30 am. There is disagreement among fanciers as
to how to fly these races. Theoretically, a fancier should select the 5
best racers in the loft. However, because of the artificially low number
of birds in the A race as a result of a 5 bird cap, some fanciers enter their
best birds in the B race to earn more points on diploma winners due to the
increased number of birds in the B race. If there are 200 birds in the A
race, the winner receives a number of points equal to 1% of the birdage towards
an AU Championship. In this example, the winner would earn 2 points or 1%
of 200 birds. If the B race had 1,000 birds in the race, the winner would
earn 10 points towards an AU Championship. It would take five A races with
200 birds entered to earn the same number of points as one B race with 1,000
entered. In our Federation, very good pigeons can earn a AU Championship
much faster in the B race series than the A race series. I like to try to
send A birds that don't need many points to qualify as an AU Champion, if any
points at all. Today, my second bird clocked (there were two on the drop),
PACER, has earned over 200 points and should qualify as an AU
Elite Champion when we submit his papers to the AU.
PACER
AU 05 LAMBERTON 46 Blue Pied male
Antoine Jacops cross
PACER is line-bred to the tremendous pigeons
of Antoine Jacops including two excellent racers, the VOORUIT (Ahead), won the
super pool (1,000 euro) 12 times, and the SUPER ACE, 2 times 1st Ace Antwerp
Union 1988 and 1989. PACER is outcrossed to the excellent
pigeons of Louis Van Loon and femaleri Custers. The Custers outcross was bred
from the super pigeons of Jan Grondelaers and Maurice Vandevelde.
In the A race, 1st place in the West Tulsa Club went to TNT
TITANS, Tony Smith & Josh Cooley, racing LAMBERTON CUYPERS pigeons. 2nd
and 3rd places went to LAMBERTON CUYPERS. TNT TITANS was 4th. The
winning pigeon for TNT TITANS is a first cousin to PACER, the 3rd place pigeon.
The winning pigeon's father is a full brother to PACER'S mother. In the B
race, TNT TITANS won 2nd place with a PHANTOM/ANTOINE JACOPS cross. I had
4 pigeons in the sky above the loft in time to win the B race. But they
flew over 15 minutes around the ranch valley because of Coopers Hawks soaring
over the loft at the exact same time as the birds returned. After 10
minutes of waiting for the B birds to trap, Morgan and I went into the house to
eat lunch. The damage was done and we knew we were not going to win the
race. After about another 5 minutes of flying around the loft, one B bird
finally clocked. About 3 minutes later, the other 3 birds clocked.
Our first pigeon scored 27th out of 150 birds with a time to win of 11 minutes
and 40 seconds. He should have won the race. He is an Antoine Jacops
bred racer. But such is the nature of pigeon racing. Race time
doesn't count until the birds have clocked in the loft. Even though the
hawks were agitating the race birds, they still should have trapped. This
week, I'm going to blend about 1/3 barley in the race mix to encourage the race
birds to trap.
The race birds received Pedialyte in their water when they
returned. I want their first drink to include the Pedialyte. Since I
introduced Pedialyte to them during training, they have no trouble drinking
plenty of it. After drinking the Pedialyte, in about an hour, the race
birds will look like they had spent the day in the loft instead of competing in
a 150 mile/240 kilometer race. After settling for about 10 minutes, I let
the widows into the half of the nest box containing their mates. The race
birds understand this procedure and wait expectantly until I open the door to
their mates. While settling before I allow them to tread their mates, they
receive a mix of safflower and small seeds to eat. I let them eat all they
want. Tonight at dusk, I removed the mates from the widowhood loft.
Since the race birds returned between 11 am and noon, they spent about 8 hours
with their mates. After the race, I let the young birds have open loft.
I thought the Coopers Hawks would help motivate them to train well around the
loft. I was right. when I inventory the young birds next, I will see
if the Coopers Hawks eliminated any slow, stupid, or inattentive young birds
from the team.
The race results will be posted as soon as I receive the
backup files from our club race secretary and the combine and federation
statistician.
4.6.08 - Sunday
Today is a day of rest. The widows had open loft all
day. On Sunday, I like for the race birds to exercise at their leisure.
Although the B birds refused to trap in yesterday's race, the overall condition
of the widows is good. On race day yesterday, 32 of 33 racers were home
within two hours of the first bird. Considering it was the first race of
the series and about 40% of the team were late breds that flew their first race,
I have to be pleased in the overall performance of the race team. This
week, I will build on the form and condition established after yesterday's first
race. This week, the weather is forecasted to rain during the middle of
the week. Rain could interrupt the training schedule. But we'll see
what happens each day and adjust to the weather each day.
As the males come into form, they will act out individually
by exploding off the loft and displaying actively in the air. They pop
their wings, soar high in the air, and then coast with their wings fully
extended upwards. During an hours-worth of training, the widows will not
fly one hour continuously. Instead, they will train in frequent bursts by
taking off, displaying, and then landing. On the roof top, they will
constantly look around nervously and explode at the slightest sound or object in
the air. If you've never seen a widowhood team in true form train around
the loft, I believe that you are missing the most beautiful experiences with
race birds. Individual widows will crisscross across the blue sky as they
race imaginary combatants for superiority. Not all male pigeons are
capable of fully executing the widowhood system. Only the most aggressive,
territorial and confident males will make great widows. The overall
condition of the race team is far from what is called "true form." They
are still training around the loft primarily as a group. But I'm hoping
they'll be in much better form in the next two weeks. Top form won't come
until a little later in the season before the longer races. Widowhood
males will train themselves into form during proper exercise periods during the
race season. Widowhood is the easiest racing system to use; regardless of
what others may have told you.
I'm pleased with the overall race results yesterday.
Our pigeons took the top 4 places in the A race and the 2nd prize in the B race.
Had my B birds trapped properly, the B results would have been much different.
As I said yesterday, today, the widows received a race mix containing 1/3
barley. By the end of the week, I'll have their complete attention when I
call. Perhaps then my voice will overcome their fear of any hawks in the
area. Years ago, I fired a number of warning shots from a twelve gauge
shotgun in the air before I thought the race birds would be home. For
several years, the hawks seemed to stay away. This year, the Coopers Hawks
are everywhere.
4.7.08 - Monday
I received the race results for the first Old Bird race in
the West Tulsa Club and the 75 Combine. The top 10% of the West Tulsa Club
"A" Race Results out of 40 pigeons are as follows:
1 TNT TITANS/5 14 AU 06 TNT
BBW H 11:20:51 176.134 00.00 52.6165 25
2 LAMBERTON C/5 123 AU 06 LAMB BB C
11:13:41 169.346 00.34 52.4607 24
3 LAMBERTON CUY 46 AU 05 LAMB BBPD C
11:13:43 2/ 5 00.36 52.4517 23
4 TNT TITANS 436 AU 06 WTUL BBW
H 11:22:03 2/ 5 01.12 52.3040 22
All 4 of these race birds are bred from LAMBERTON CUYPERS
pigeons.
The top 10% of the 75 Combine "A" Race Results out of 135 pigeons
are as follows:
1 TNT TITANS/5 14 AU 06 TNT
BBW H 11:20:51 176.134 00.00 1543.417 25
2 LAMBERTON C/5 123 AU 06 LAMB BB C 11:13:41
169.346 00.34 1538.847 24
3 LAMBERTON CUY 46 AU 05 LAMB BBPD C 11:13:43
2/ 5 00.36 1538.582 23
4 TNT TITANS 436 AU 06 WTUL BBW
H 11:22:03 2/ 5 01.12 1534.251 22
5 KEN ROBINSO/5 953 AU 07 GTO BC C
10:57:38 154.586 01.21 1531.647 21
6 Bob Lephew/5 60845 AU 07 ARPU BCWF C 11:11:01 165.996 01.43
1529.465 20
7 TOP GUN LOF/5 594 AU 07 TGUN SILV C 11:12:59 167.404
02.05 1526.718 19
8 FAST LANE L/5 1459 AU 06 VITA BBW C 11:13:46 167.756
02.28 1523.743 18
9 L & C DOBEL/5 927 AU 07 GTO CA C
10:59:31 155.256 02.28 1522.151 17
10 L & C DOBELBO 673 AU 07 GTO BB C
10:59:36 2/ 5 02.33 1521.444 16
11 Wegge Wings/5 7704 AU 07 TUL CA C
11:15:05 168.129 03.21 1516.828 15
12 TAISHO LOFT/5 949 AU 05 WTUL BB C
11:10:53 164.183 03.39 1513.811 14
13 Steve Trott/5 5139 AU 05 TUL BCWF H 11:15:37 168.212
03.47 1513.439 13
14 Lakeview lo/5 7315 AU 07 TUL
H 11:11:51 164.788 03.56 1511.738 12
The importance for me in these results comes from the
calculation of race points for LAMBERTON 123 and LAMBERTON 46. Since these
two pigeons won the same prizes in the combine and the club, the combine race
results are more valuable because of the increased birdage. While there
were 40 birds in the A Club Race there were 135 birds in the A Combine Race.
Let's calculate the points for each bird.
AU 06 LAMBERTON 123 won 2nd prize in the club and the
combine. AU points are awarded by allotting 20 points to the winner.
Each place after first receives one less point than the previous position until
the twenty points are exhausted. Consequently, second place is worth 19
points. Since 123 won the second prize in both races, there is no
mathematical advantage to the Combine results over the club results. AU
points also include 1% of the distance and 1% of the birdage. The distance
for me is 169.346 miles which calculates to 1.69 points. For 40 birds in
the club race, the club race results yield a figure of .4 points. For 135
birds in the combine race, the combine race yields a figure of 1.35 points.
A comparison of the club versus the combine races for LAMBERTON 123 and 46 are
as follows:
AU 06 LAMBERTON 123 AU Points
Club Race: 19
points for 2nd prize + 1.69 for 1% of 169 miles + .40 for 1% of
40 birds. Total = 21.09 points.
Combine Race: 19 points for 2nd prize + 1.69 for 1% of 169
miles + 1.35 for 1% of 135 birds. Total = 22.06 points.
AU 05 LAMBERTON 46 AU Points
Club Race: 18
points for 3rd prize + 1.69 for 1% of 169 miles + .40 for 1% of
40 birds. Total = 20.09 points.
Combine Race: 18 points for 3rd prize + 1.69 for 1% of 169
miles + 1.35 for 1% of 135 birds. Total = 21.06 points.
Based upon these results, I will use the combine race results
to add points to each birds total points; unless the Federation results are
better than the Combine results due to the increased birdage.
4.8.08 - Tuesday
There were violent thunderstorms all over northeast Oklahoma
last night. There were at least three major hail storms on the Ranch.
The hail that fell here were not as large as hail that pelted other parts of
Tulsa. It rained 4 or 5 inches over night and the Ranch is saturated.
The temperature has dropped and there is a chilly wind blowing today.
Currently, the race birds are in the loft quite dry and comfortable. While
in the loft, each section is closed so that only the birds from a particular
section can roam their section. In this way, the widows tend to stay in
their box much better than if they have a larger loft in which to play.
One of the primary reasons I want the widows to stay in their box is so that I
can observe their droppings several times a day. I make the assumption
that on the average, the droppings in a nest box belong to the pigeons that
claim that nest box. when the widows are alone, I assume that the
droppings in each box belongs to the widow in that box. As I have written
several times before, I like to evaluate the consistency and color of the
droppings as well as the placement of the droppings. I want the droppings
to be cast in a very small area and preferably, piled up. This "scatter
plot" allows me to infer that the widows rested quietly or were active during
the night. The droppings of quiet pigeons are not scattered. Instead, they
are laid one on top of the other in more of a mound. The more scattered
the droppings, the more I infer that the race birds were active. There are
numerous reasons for active race birds; none of them are particularly good in my
opinion. First, the racer may have external parasites. Second, the
race bird may be ill. Third, the race bird may be wild or unsettled in the
nest box. There are other reasons why individual racers move around at
night. In my loft, moving about at night is a rare exception to the norm.
The normal scatter plot of the droppings in the widowhood loft is compact,
piled, firm, and dark brown in color with white tips. Check your racers
droppings twice a day if possible. Even if you must temporarily turn on a
light for a few minutes to do so. Observe carefully. Record what you
see. Compare and contrast the data that you record each day with the data
from the previous day. Over a period of time, you will begin to know your
birds in a way that will let you understand their health, conditioning, and form
much better than before you began this exercise.
During yesterday's open loft training for most of the day,
the widows began to act more like they are coming into form. Remember I
left the loft open most of the day because of the rainy weather forecasted for
the Tulsa area this week. Yesterday was mild and sunny all day.
Today is cold, wet, rainy, and humid. If the weather improves this
afternoon, the widows will be loosed to train around the loft. Tomorrow
looks good for a 60 to 70 mile midweek toss. Yesterday, several widows
began to display in the air by taking off individually, pumping their wings in
long hard motions, and gliding across the blue sky. These behaviors are
the precursors to "form." Form is an advanced condition in pigeons in
which the physical and mental readiness are optimized allowing the racers to
compete and race at their highest level of performance. In my opinion,
proper form cannot occur without the onset of the molt. In widows, the
molt is triggered by letting the widows mate, rear a youngster, go down on eggs
a second time, and removal of the eggs and female after about 10 days. At
this stage, the widows drop their first pin and begin molting. There is a
difference between conditioning and form. Many fanciers race when their
pigeons are in good condition. It is quite another thing to race pigeons
in form. Well trained widows in form will quickly break from the release
and win races by impressive margins. Sometimes, a win by 5 minutes on a
fast race is more impressive than a win of 30 minutes on a longer race.
Form can be maintained for many weeks; but it also can slip away overnight or in
less than a day. It is difficult to develop form in racing homers and
equally difficult to maintain form. Proper form makes racers champions.
Champion racers make champion fanciers. Your success will depend on many
factors. One of the most illusive yet most important factors is form.
Manifestations of form are snowy white wattles and eye ceres, sparkling clear
eyes that gleam in the sun, shiny clean feathers that are full but lay down
smoothly, clear and pink throats, pinks breasts free of scale, nervousness,
attentiveness, aggression, firm brown droppings with white tips, light
down sprinkled over the droppings, exercising and training with robust energy,
training alone, active displaying on the loft roof, and other signs of form that
need to be observed in order to understand and appreciate.
I am constantly humbled by the performances of racing
pigeons. We often take their weekly miracles for granted and therefore
sometimes take the racers for granted. Great performances in the pigeon
sport are the result of a combination of experience, expertise, hard work, and
proper management of high quality pigeons. Performing well should be
cherished and appreciated. Winning is not the result of shipping limits,
artificial club boundaries, skewed race stations or race courses, and a host of
other rules and policies legislated to create an advantage for a particular
fancier or fanciers. The Northeast Oklahoma Racing Pigeon Federation has
worked very hard over many years to create a first class opportunity for local
pigeon fanciers to race their birds in a fair and competitive atmosphere.
We in northeast Oklahoma are blessed to have such a great opportunity to race
our pigeons.
Although I am not sure if it's official, I believe that the
75 Combine wants to host the 2009 Texas Center Convention in the Tulsa area.
As that becomes finalized, I will post additional information on the blog.
4.9.08 - Wednesday
NORMAL PROCEDURE
On Wednesdays, weather permitting, it's time for a midweek
toss. Today, there is another storm entering Oklahoma from the south as a
warm front backs up northward from Texas into Oklahoma. On the Tulsa side
or the north side of the front, the wind is from the northeast at 15 to 20 mph.
South of the stationary front, the wind is out of the south and breezy. As
the front backs up north, the rain and severe storms associated with the front
will come with it. Before all of this weather occurred today, there was a
short window of opportunity to toss the birds in the early morning. Morgan
and I took the birds about 30 miles southwest of Tulsa to Bristow, Oklahoma.
This gave the race team a training exercise of approximately one hour into a
moderate headwind.
BASKETING THE WIDOWS
As I gently handled the race team, I placed each widow into a
small "Bobby Lephew" style metal hand crate which is easily transportable inside
the loft. In groups of about eight to ten birds, I transferred the race
team into a larger shipping crate by opening the release doors on the shipping
crate and the hand crate and let the widows walk into the shipping crate from
the hand crate. Since they've performed this task countless times before,
basketing 32 widows into shipping crates takes only a few minutes.
I OVERCROWDING
basketed about 1/2 of the race birds into one of two shipping
crates. About 16 widows were transported in one large shipping crate
thereby giving each race bird plenty of space to make the short journey down the
road. I cringe when I see fanciers "stuff" far more birds into a hand
crate or shipping crate than the crate was designed for. Packing race
birds into small crates for training will quickly remove any "race form" that
has been developed in a matter of moments. Moreover, widows can have their
eyes pecked and injured, their wattles twisted and torn, and their beaks
mangled, by overcrowding training crates during midweek training or shipping
crates on race day. Injured eyes, beaks, and wattles will obviously affect
the widows negatively since their vision can be impaired, their breathing can be
affected, and their ability to eat and drink can be affected by fighting in
overcrowded training and shipping crates. The AU has developed "suggested
shipping limits" for various sizes of crates. I strongly support the AU
limits as a "cap" for shipping limits. I believe that it is best to allow
the maximum space allowable for race birds in every transportation excursion.
I have disagreed for years with fanciers who constantly want to cut corners with
race birds. If a club is allowed 10 crates on a Federation trailer, I
think that all ten crates should be utilized each and every week of the race
season regardless of the number of birds shipped. I have heard fanciers
say that because a road training exercise was, say, only 80 miles/128
kilometers, that it was perfectly aright to overcrowd the crates because the
race birds were only traveling a short distance. I believe that if we are
going to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars for breeding stock, $20 per bag
for grain and grit, hundreds of dollars for medicines and supplements, thousands
of dollars for lofts and equipment, hundreds of dollars for clocks and chips, $3
plus per gallon or liter for petrol, and hours per day managing the loft and
birds, why should we sabotage those expenses and that effort by overcrowding our
race birds on their way to a race station? It makes no sense to me.
Therefore, I like to transport my pigeons with ample
space per bird regardless of the situation and circumstance.
Once the widows were basketed, I placed their mates in
their nest box by locking the mates in 1/2 of the nest box. The other side
of the box is open to receive the widows. I have an index card taped on
the back of the open side of the nest box that displays the ring number of each
widow and the ring number of their mate. Because old birds have performed
these tasks before, they have expectations concerning what I am doing. The
females enjoy getting back to their nest box and often coo and display in the nest
bowl as I place each female inside the closed portion of the box.
ARRIVAL AT HOME
In Bristow, we released the race team in the old Wal Mart
parking lot. We took plenty of coffee and the morning paper to read.
We let the widows settle for about 30 minutes before they were released.
Once released, we headed for home. After about an hour, the widows landed
and trapped. They immediately went to their nest box to see their mate.
I let them settle for about 10 minutes. then, I follow this procedure:
I slowly and gently ease my hand past the widow to the wire door contained
within the side of the wire nest front. I gently open the wire door and
let the widow inside the closed side of the box containing their mate and the
nest bowl. Again, the widows know the routine. As I ease my hand in
their side of the box, they lower their head or bob their head because the
expect that I am going to let them in the side of the box containing their mate.
As I open the wire door, they lower their head and rush into the bowl past their
mate. Usually, the mate moves past the widow and out into the open side of
the box. As they do, I gently pick up the mates and place them in the
small hand crate to transfer them into the loft for widowhood females. If I
have time, I can open the door to the female loft and let them into the widowhood
loft. However, this procedure usually takes a few more minutes than simply
loading and unloading the females by hand into the widowhood loft.
EXPECTATIONS
I have written before about expectations.
Sociologically speaking, expectations
constitute the "glue" of relationships; whether the relationships are with other
people or with pets and animals. Concerning the relationship between my
widows and me, the widows quietly wait for me to let them be
with their mates because of their expectations of me based upon their past
experiences with me. They expect for me to
repeat my job; if they repeat their job. when I write about "training"
your pigeons, I speak about "developing the expectations" of race birds by
continuously repeating the same procedures to develop and reinforce the same expectations.
There is a gigantic difference between catching wild birds sitting on perches in
a large loft and hoping they will return home quickly and taming pigeons by
training them the widowhood system in which they develop expectations for
rewards based upon their performance. It is a real high for me to walk
into the widowhood loft and see each widow in the open side of the nest box
quietly waiting for me open the wire door and let them into the closed side of
the box containing the bowl and their mate. As I near their box, the often
coo, strut and bob to me asking me in "pigeon speak" to please hurry.
They've just raced hundreds of miles because of their expectation that I will
allow them a few precious minutes or hours with their mate. As I ease my
hand into their box, they sometimes peck at my hand, lightly slap my hand with
their wing, coo and bob - all signs of "pigeon speak" that say hurry up - I'm
tired of waiting any longer - I've done my job - now please do yours.
This interaction with the birds - the mutual love and respect
we have for each other are the reasons that I play the game. True success
for me in the pigeon game is meeting the expectations of my best racers after
they have bested the competition with their awesome racing performance.
Last week, 123 and 46 were quietly waiting for me when I entered the loft to
open the closed section of the nest box and allow them to experience the thrill
of loving their mate. I perform this ritual with every widow that I race
regardless of when they return. If a widow returns home the next day, I
will place his or her mate in their box for a brief time together. It is
not possible for me to attend another event during the several hours after the
first bird has returned. I am required to be at the loft to meet the
expectations of my best racers. I can't expect them to blister the
competition for me if I am not there to properly reward them with relatively
instant gratification. Late birds, however, can wait on me for hours if
need be - if Morgan and I are attending a sporting event of a grandchild - but
when I return home, I allow them to see their mate just as if they were the
first bird home. I consider a bird late one hour after the first bird
arrives and very late after two hours. A racer will not remain on the race
team if he or she doesn't consistently perform in the top 25% of the race sheet.
Getting back to the events of today, after about 10 or 15
minutes, I removed the mates from the widowhood loft. Immediately, the
widowhood males began to call their mates. I like this reaction. I want to
be able to affect the motivation of the widows. If they don't react to the
removal of their mate, I question whether or not they feel passionately enough
about their mate and their box to properly race home on race day. It began
raining shortly after the race birds came home from their road training before
noon today. It is still raining at 9:30 pm. Parts of northeastern
Oklahoma are under tornado warnings and we are under a flood warning in the
Tulsa area. It has rained steadily all day and all evening. I may
not be able to get the widows out again for loft training before tomorrow night.
We'll wait and see.
I am pleased with the health and conditioning of the race
team. While I won't say that the team is in form, they're moving closer to
form.
4.10.08 - Thursday
THE 2008 YOUNG BIRD RACE TEAM
Lastly, I've ignored writing about the young birds. I
loft train the young birds in the evening after the second exercise period for
the old birds. I have removed about 20 young birds from the team.
Several have been hurt. The hawks have claimed about 10 youngsters.
A number were lost off the loft. More were lost after a group of
youngsters experienced a night flight due to the hawks in the area at dusk.
While I started with around 120 young birds, there are currently about 80
youngsters on the race team. The young birds are training very well as a
team. They are flock flying and training for one to two hours each day.
In several more weeks, I will begin to road train the young birds. In
Belgium, the races begin in May and the youngsters start their road training.
I try to coordinate the training of the young birds in Tulsa with the youngsters
in Hakendover. when the youngsters begin their road training, I will start
exercising them twice a day - each time immediately after the old birds have
trained.
I have already eyed several of the young birds that look
really good to me. Although I have few red birds, I really like a silver
male that is a grandson of the Postman, 1st Federation Ace Young Bird 2005, and
line-bred to Red Angel, a super widowhood male for Silvere Toye that was
purchased by my friend Mike Ganus and re-purchased by my friend Mike Schmidt,
Speed Shop Loft, Duluth, Minnesota. I believe that Red Angel is a special
breeder.
WIDOWHOOD FOR YOUNG BIRDS & OLD BIRDS
During the calendar year, the old males are mated with
old females during old bird race series and with young females during the young bird
race series. Conversely, a set of old females are mated to old males during
the old bird race series and mated to young males during the young bird race
series. As soon as the old bird race series is
over, I will select the young bird race team and place each young male in his
own nest box. I will mate each young male with an old female.
Conversely, I will mate the young females with the widowhood males on the old bird
race team. Both young males and young females will mate with old birds,
build nests and raise a single youngster prior to the young bird race season.
Why? Because I race the same widowhood system for young birds and for old
birds. While I prefer widowhood males, I often race both sexes; but mate
each sex to pigeons that don't race. I never race mated pairs. when
a young widow is lost during the young bird race season, I simply clean the nest
box and close the box until the next race season. Currently in old birds,
although each widowhood section contains six nest boxes, each of the sections
contains four widows or less. Several sections contain two widowhood males
each. To introduce a new widow into the old bird or the young bird
widowhood lofts after the birds have raised a youngster and are ready for racing
would produce a chaos that would negatively influence the calm and the
performance of the birds within that section during the race season.
I just received the results for the first race last weekend
from Paris, Texas for the Northeast Oklahoma Racing Pigeon Federation.
Congratulations to Tony Smith & Josh Cooley, TNT TITANS, for winning 1st and 4th
prizes in the A race with LAMBERTON CUYPERS pigeons. TNT TITANS was also
16th in the B race competing against 1,273 pigeons with a LAMBERTON CUYPERS
pigeon that is a cross between the SHADOW, our super son of Mike Ganus' PHANTOM,
with supers from Antoine Jacops. LAMBERTON 123 and 46 were 2nd and 3rd
Federation A race competing against 273 birds from 56 lofts. Both birds
have enough points to qualify as AU Champions. We will submit their
results to the AU this week.
4.11.08 - Friday
On Thursday night, the race team gets all they want to eat.
There is no barley in the feed. I gave the widows several peanuts as a
treat. The weather on Saturday looks clear. The huge storm that left
much of eastern Oklahoma in a flood has slowly moved into Arkansas, Missouri and
points east. There is a "wrap around" effect where the counter-clockwise
winds blow down from Kansas around the "backside" of the weather system.
In other words, the wind may blow out of the north at 10 to 20 mph. If
this is the case, the race birds will fly from Mt. Pleasant, Texas north into a
headwind all the way to Tulsa. The weather along the race course may or
may not be consistent. That is, the wind may be lighter in Texas than it
is in Oklahoma. Or, the wind could decrease as the birds make their way
north. The forecasted low in Tulsa for Sunday morning is 31 degrees
Fahrenheit. This would indicate that the north winds will be steady most
of the day Saturday in order for the temperature to dip past freezing Sunday
morning. Saturday's weather is a guessing game. when the race
weather is questionable, I always err on the side of caution. If there is
a headwind for 200 miles, the racers will need all the energy that can muster.
So, I will feed them all they can eat up until they are basketed for the race
tomorrow night. Today, as they do every Friday, the widows sit in the loft
with no training. Remember, Friday is the day the widows focus strictly on
motivation. Because of the strenuous race forecasted for tomorrow, I may
let them see their mates for an hour or more later today. when they
see their mates, they are so excited that they will not eat. If I show the
mates, it must be for a long enough period that they will eat after they calm
down from the excitement generated by seeing their mates. Also remember
that the Wednesday midweek toss was into a stiff north wind. This training
will prove priceless on tomorrow's race. The toss was a little over an
hour long. The success the widows experienced Wednesday will not only
cause them to fly faster tomorrow; but it will also help them stay motivated
when they begin to tire.
I also need to think about next week's race. If
tomorrow's race is very strenuous, the widows may not recover by next Saturday.
And, there is no guarantee that next week's race won't be as hard as tomorrow's
race or harder. In order to plan for this scenario, I will not send all of
the widows to tomorrow's race. Because 123 and 46 won 2nd and 3rd
Federation, they gave their best effort last week. Top ten Federation
performances are hard to win and should not be trivialized. Racers have to
expend a tremendous amount of energy to score a head prize at the Federation
level. Our Federation is the size of one of Belgium's Provinces.
Chances are, 123 and 46 would not repeat their same super performance tomorrow.
Although race birds can repeat super performances once or even twice, it comes
at a great cost in energy and reserves to the racers that repeat.
Consequently, I will prepare 123 and 46 for the 300 miles/480 kilometer A race
on April 19.
Later, today, I will make up my mind which widows to send on the
race tomorrow by studying the race sheet from last week. Those birds that
returned within 30 to 45 minutes after the first birds, on the average, will be
the first birds home the next week. To repeat this vitally important point
to picking race birds or pool birds, when selecting which birds to send on a
race, look for the birds that come in just after the first birds on the prior
week's race sheet. They are usually the birds coming into form.
Let's look at last week's club race results in order to demonstrate this point.
WinSpeed-1 BLUE SKIES RPC 04/06/08-22:14
Weekly Race Report Page 1
Open and Sportsman Category
Name: PARIS A Old Bird Race Flown: 04/05/2008
Release(A): 08:00 Birds: 40 Lofts: 8 Station: PARIS TX
Weather (Rel) CLEAR, CALM, 40 degrees (Arr) CLEAR, S 5, 65 degrees
GOOD
POS NAME BAND NUMBER CLR X ARRIVAL MILES TOWIN MPH PT
1 TNT TITANS/5 14 AU 06 TNT BBW H 11:20:51 176.134 00.00 52.6165 25
2 LAMBERTON C/5 123 AU 06 LAMB BB C 11:13:41 169.346 00.34 52.4607 24
3 LAMBERTON CUY 46 AU 05 LAMB BBPD C 11:13:43 2/ 5 00.36 52.4517 23
4 TNT TITANS 436 AU 06 WTUL BBW H 11:22:03 2/ 5 01.12 52.3040 22
--------------------------------- Above are 10 percent ------------------------
5 TOP GUN LOF/5 594 AU 07 TGUN SILV C 11:12:59 167.404 02.05 52.0472 21
6 FAST LANE L/5 1459 AU 06 VITA BBW C 11:13:46 167.756 02.28 51.9458 20
7 TAISHO LOFT/5 949 AU 05 WTUL BB C 11:10:53 164.183 03.39 51.6072 19
8 TNT TITANS 85 AU 06 TNT BC H 11:26:27 3/ 5 05.36 51.1893 18
--------------------------------- Above are 20 percent ------------------------
9 TNT TITANS 33 AU 06 TNT BBSP H 11:26:40 4/ 5 05.49 51.1356 17
10 LIU LOFT/5 1057 AU 05 WTUL BB C 11:45:52 191.831 07.07 50.9586 16
11 TOP GUN LOFT 567 AU 07 TGUN RCS C 11:17:52 2/ 5 06.58 50.7627 15
12 LIU LOFT 67232 AU 07 ARPU SILV H 11:50:50 2/ 5 12.05 49.8622 14
13 BULLSEYE LO/5 591 AU 06 WTUL BBW H 11:32:25 171.633 16.41 48.4801 13
14 FAST LANE LOF 160 AU 07 TEAM BBWP H 11:27:47 2/ 5 16.29 48.4416 12
15 TAISHO LOFT 60 AU 07 OLLI SILV H 11:24:10 2/ 5 16.56 48.2496 11
16 TOP GUN LOFT 536 AU 07 TGUN RC H 11:28:31 3/ 5 17.37 48.1700 10
17 LAMBERTON CUY 69 AU 06 LAMB BB C 11:31:25 3/ 5 18.18 48.0604 9
18 TAISHO LOFT 679 AU 06 WTUL BB C 11:26:57 3/ 5 19.43 47.6006 8
19 LAMBERTON CUY 354 AU 07 TEAM BBPD C 11:33:28 4/ 5 20.21 47.5988 7
20 WEBSTERS WI/5 210 AU 06 TEAM BC H 11:26:00 163.395 19.40 47.5908 6
21 LIU LOFT 63 AU 07 BLUE GRIZ C 12:03:10 3/ 5 24.25 47.3332 5
22 WEBSTERS WING 6802 AU 06 ARPU BB H 11:27:38 2/ 5 21.18 47.2164 4
23 TNT TITANS 74 AU 06 TNT BBW H 11:46:21 5/ 5 25.30 46.6889 3
24 TOP GUN LOFT 457 AU 06 TGUN RC C 11:35:15 4/ 5 24.21 46.6631 2
25 FAST LANE LOF 92 AU 07 FAST BBS H 11:38:57 3/ 5 27.39 45.9710 1
26 LIU LOFT 78 AU 07 BLUE GRIZ H 12:14:25 4/ 5 35.40 45.2402 0
27 TAISHO LOFT 687 AU 06 WTUL DC C 11:38:42 4/ 5 31.28 45.0432 0
28 LAMBERTON CUY 324 AU 06 TEAM SILV C 11:51:16 5/ 5 38.09 43.9353 0
For the A Race, 123 and 46 hit their peak last week. I
will keep them home this week and give them a training toss tomorrow. 69
came in about 18 minutes after 123 and 46 and 354 came in about 20 minutes after
123 and 46. These two birds will be my first picks for the A Race.
324 came in about 38 minutes after 123 and 46 according to the race sheet.
However, 324 was scared by a Coopers Hawk and was actually the reason why the B
birds did not trap for about 15 minutes last week. 324 actually flew over
the loft about 23 minutes after 123 and 46. So although he is a strong
candidate to perform well this week according to his actual race time, I have
little confidence that he will trap well. If the race is a hard one, I'm
hoping he will be too fatigued to remember the trauma of last week. I
guess we'll know tomorrow. So there you have it. The line-up for the
A Race will ne 69, 354, and 324. I'll probably add two birds that went in
the B race last week since the shipping limit is 5 in the A race.
Now let's look at the B Race:
WinSpeed-1 BLUE SKIES RPC 04/06/08-22:16
Weekly Race Report Page 1
Open and Sportsman Category
Name: PARIS B Old Bird Race Flown: 04/05/2008
Release(B): 08:30 Birds: 150 Lofts: 8 Station: PARIS TX
Weather (Rel) CLEAR, CALM, 40 degrees (Arr) CLEAR, S 5, 65 degrees
GOOD
POS NAME BAND NUMBER CLR X ARRIVAL MILES TOWIN MPH PT
1 LIU LOFT/34 67239 AU 07 ARPU SILV C 12:01:42 191.831 00.00 54.3687 25
2 TNT TITANS/21 94 AU 06 TNT BC C 11:45:37 176.134 01.14 54.0241 24
3 TOP GUN LO/20 641 AU 07 TGUN SILV H 11:37:06 167.404 02.21 53.6838 23
4 LIU LOFT 1274 AU 04 WTUL BB H 12:07:08 2/ 34 05.26 53.0082 22
5 TOP GUN LOFT 611 AU 07 TGUN BB H 11:40:44 2/ 20 05.59 52.6612 21
6 TNT TITANS 1383 AU 06 VITA BB C 11:51:02 2/ 21 06.39 52.5685 20
7 LIU LOFT 67231 AU 07 ARPU BB H 12:09:06 3/ 34 07.24 52.5324 19
8 TNT TITANS 124 AU 07 TNT DC H 11:51:18 3/ 21 06.55 52.4989 18
9 LIU LOFT 728 AU 06 WTUL SILV C 12:09:29 4/ 34 07.46 52.4407 17
10 TAISHO LOF/12 13 AU 06 WTUL BC H 11:38:44 164.183 07.32 52.1951 16
11 BULLSEYE L/17 563 AU 06 WTUL BB C 11:47:37 171.633 08.12 52.1109 15
12 LIU LOFT 1009 AU 05 WTUL RC C 12:11:36 5/ 34 09.53 51.9398 14
13 TNT TITANS 1376 AU 06 VITA BBW C 11:53:59 4/ 21 09.36 51.8083 13
14 TOP GUN LOFT 600 AU 07 TGUN SILV C 11:43:58 3/ 20 09.13 51.7833 12
15 TOP GUN LOFT 593 AU 07 TGUN SILV C 11:44:00 4/ 20 09.15 51.7744 11
--------------------------------- Above are 10 percent ------------------------
16 LIU LOFT 67222 AU 07 ARPU SILV C 12:12:33 6/ 34 10.50 51.7181 10
17 LIU LOFT 67258 AU 07 ARPU GRIZ H 12:12:36 7/ 34 10.53 51.7065 9
18 TOP GUN LOFT 556 AU 07 TGUN SILV C 11:44:25 5/ 20 09.40 51.6635 8
19 TNT TITANS 57 AU 06 TNT BB C 11:55:53 5/ 21 11.30 51.3302 7
20 LIU LOFT 1214 AU 04 WTUL BB H 12:14:16 8/ 34 12.33 51.3222 6
21 LIU LOFT 741 AU 06 WTUL BC H 12:14:19 9/ 34 12.37 51.3107 5
22 LIU LOFT 67219 AU 07 ARPU RC H 12:14:20 10/ 34 12.37 51.3069 4
23 LIU LOFT 781 AU 06 WTUL BB H 12:14:22 11/ 34 12.39 51.2993 3
24 LIU LOFT 702 AU 06 WTUL BB H 12:14:24 12/ 34 12.42 51.2917 2
25 LIU LOFT 67228 AU 07 ARPU BB H 12:14:25 13/ 34 12.43 51.2879 1
26 TOP GUN LOFT 527 AU 07 TGUN SILV C 11:46:17 6/ 20 11.32 51.1721 0
27 LAMBERTON /28 351 AU 07 TEAM BB C 11:48:34 169.346 11.40 51.1705 0
28 LIU LOFT 1202 AU 04 WTUL GRIZ H 12:15:26 14/ 34 13.44 51.0566 0
29 FAST LANE L/7 82 AU 07 FAST BB C 11:47:15 167.756 12.07 51.0284 0
30 FAST LANE LOF 62 AU 07 FAST BB H 11:47:28 2/ 7 12.20 50.9725 0
--------------------------------- Above are 20 percent ------------------------
31 TNT TITANS 16 AU 07 OLLI UNKN C 11:57:45 6/ 21 13.22 50.8689 0
32 TNT TITANS 439 AU 06 WTUL BC C 11:57:46 7/ 21 13.23 50.8649 0
33 TOP GUN LOFT 500 AU 05 I UNKN C 11:48:30 7/ 20 13.45 50.6007 0
34 TNT TITANS 15 AU 06 TNT BCW C 11:58:54 8/ 21 14.31 50.5889 0
35 TNT TITANS 147 AU 07 TNT BB C 11:58:54 9/ 21 14.31 50.5889 0
36 LAMBERTON CUY 183 AU 06 LAMB BBWF C 11:51:16 2/ 28 14.22 50.4841 0
37 LAMBERTON CUY 591 AU 07 TEAM BB C 11:51:16 3/ 28 14.22 50.4841 0
38 LAMBERTON CUY 169 AU 05 LAMB DCPD C 11:51:17 4/ 28 14.23 50.4799 0
39 LAMBERTON CUY 569 AU 07 TEAM BBSP H 11:51:17 5/ 28 14.23 50.4799 0
40 TOP GUN LOFT 533 AU 07 TGUN BBT C 11:49:02 8/ 20 14.17 50.4651 0
41 LIU LOFT 92 AU 07 GPS BC H 12:18:25 15/ 34 16.42 50.3897 0
42 TNT TITANS 128 AU 07 TNT RR H 11:59:53 10/ 21 15.30 50.3519 0
43 LIU LOFT 764 AU 06 WTUL BC C 12:20:00 16/ 34 18.18 50.0429 0
44 LIU LOFT 724 AU 06 WTUL BBSP C 12:21:15 17/ 34 19.32 49.7724 0
45 TAISHO LOFT 146 AU 07 WTUL BC H 11:48:06 2/ 12 16.54 49.7272 0
46 BULLSEYE LOFT 60828 AU 07 ARPU BB C 11:57:16 2/ 17 17.51 49.6847 0
47 LIU LOFT 67230 AU 07 ARPU BC H 12:21:58 18/ 34 20.16 49.6186 0
48 FAST LANE LOF 54 AU 07 FAST WHIT C 11:53:34 3/ 7 18.26 49.4450 0
49 TOP GUN LOFT 477 AU 06 TGUN SILV C 11:54:16 9/ 20 19.31 49.1722 0
50 TOP GUN LOFT 88 AU 07 BLUE SILV H 11:54:22 10/ 20 19.37 49.1481 0
51 BULLSEYE LOFT 34 AU 07 BLUE DCWF C 11:59:38 3/ 17 20.13 49.1238 0
52 TNT TITANS 52 AU 06 TNT BCSP C 12:05:08 11/ 21 20.45 49.1231 0
53 LAMBERTON CUY 13 AU 06 LAMB BBSP C 11:57:01 6/ 28 20.07 49.0818 0
54 LIU LOFT 773 AU 06 WTUL BC H 12:25:03 19/ 34 23.21 48.9677 0
55 TNT TITANS 43 AU 06 TNT BCW C 12:05:51 12/ 21 21.28 48.9600 0
56 LIU LOFT 77532 AU 03 WTUL BB H 12:25:06 20/ 34 23.24 48.9573 0
57 TNT TITANS 1177 AU 06 OKLA BBW H 12:05:53 13/ 21 21.30 48.9525 0
58 LIU LOFT 722 AU 06 WTUL SILV H 12:25:12 21/ 34 23.30 48.9365 0
59 LIU LOFT 1262 AU 04 WTUL SILV C 12:25:41 22/ 34 23.58 48.8361 0
60 TAISHO LOFT 65 AU 07 OLLI DC H 11:52:05 3/ 12 20.53 48.7470 0
61 LIU LOFT 1264 AU 04 WTUL BC C 12:26:58 23/ 34 25.15 48.5716 0
62 FAST LANE LOF 75 AU 07 FAST BBWP H 11:57:20 4/ 7 22.12 48.5468 0
63 TAISHO LOFT 124 AU 07 TSHO SILV H 11:53:11 4/ 12 21.59 48.4831 0
64 LAMBERTON CUY 213 AU 07 TEAM BB C 12:00:13 7/ 28 23.19 48.3347 0
65 TNT TITANS 115 AU 07 TNT BBS H 12:08:40 14/ 21 24.17 48.3294 0
66 LAMBERTON CUY 12 AU 07 BLUE BB C 12:00:15 8/ 28 23.21 48.3270 0
67 LAMBERTON CUY 15 AU 06 LAMB BB C 12:00:15 9/ 28 23.21 48.3270 0
68 TOP GUN LOFT 537 AU 07 TGUN BC C 11:57:52 11/ 20 23.07 48.3206 0
69 LAMBERTON CUY 840 AU 07 TEAM BBWF C 12:00:18 10/ 28 23.24 48.3155 0
70 LIU LOFT 1043 AU 05 WTUL BC C 12:28:37 24/ 34 26.55 48.2358 0
71 BULLSEYE LOFT 60832 AU 07 ARPU DCWS C 12:04:17 4/ 17 24.52 48.0578 0
72 BULLSEYE LOFT 570 AU 06 WTUL BB C 12:04:19 5/ 17 24.54 48.0503 0
73 BULLSEYE LOFT 60833 AU 07 ARPU BB H 12:04:24 6/ 17 24.59 48.0316 0
74 BULLSEYE LOFT 596 AU 06 WTUL BB H 12:04:27 7/ 17 25.02 48.0204 0
75 LIU LOFT 46 AU 07 OLLI BBWF H 12:30:31 25/ 34 28.49 47.8547 0
76 TAISHO LOFT 70 AU 07 WEBW RC H 11:56:23 5/ 12 25.11 47.7313 0
77 LIU LOFT 67204 AU 07 ARPU BBWF H 12:34:58 26/ 34 33.16 46.9854 0
78 LIU LOFT 61 AU 07 BLUE BC H 12:35:01 27/ 34 33.19 46.9758 0
79 WEBSTERS W/11 11 AU 07 OLLI GRIZ C 11:59:18 163.395 28.58 46.8404 0
80 WEBSTERS WING 63 AU 07 WEBW GRIZ C 11:59:21 2/ 11 29.01 46.8292 0
81 BULLSEYE LOFT 60838 AU 07 ARPU DCWS H 12:10:04 8/ 17 30.39 46.7948 0
82 LAMBERTON CUY 125 AU 06 LAMB BB C 12:07:52 11/ 28 30.58 46.6375 0
83 LAMBERTON CUY 533 AU 07 TEAM PEN C 12:07:55 12/ 28 31.01 46.6268 0
84 LAMBERTON CUY 19334 AU 03 ARPU BBWF C 12:08:08 13/ 28 31.14 46.5805 0
85 TOP GUN LOFT 944 AU 07 GTO CA H 12:06:07 12/ 20 31.22 46.4760 0
86 TOP GUN LOFT 468 AU 06 TGUN BCW C 12:06:09 13/ 20 31.24 46.4688 0
87 TNT TITANS 92 AU 06 TNT BB C 12:17:47 15/ 21 33.24 46.3951 0
88 LIU LOFT 67214 AU 07 ARPU GRIZ C 12:38:20 28/ 34 36.38 46.3484 0
89 LIU LOFT 749 AU 06 WTUL RC H 12:38:24 29/ 34 36.41 46.3360 0
90 LAMBERTON CUY 52 AU 06 TEAM BB C 12:09:21 14/ 28 32.27 46.3221 0
91 TOP GUN LOFT 509 AU 07 TGUN BBWT C 12:07:46 14/ 20 33.01 46.1239 0
92 LIU LOFT 62 AU 07 BLUE BB H 12:42:19 30/ 34 40.36 45.6167 0
93 BULLSEYE LOFT 60839 AU 07 ARPU BC H 12:16:47 9/ 17 37.22 45.4089 0
94 FAST LANE LOF 88 AU 07 FAST BBWS C 12:12:03 5/ 7 36.55 45.3293 0
95 TNT TITANS 24 AU 06 TNT BB C 12:23:10 16/ 21 38.47 45.3239 0
96 TAISHO LOFT 1595 AU 07 AHPI BB H 12:10:15 6/ 12 39.03 44.7262 0
97 TAISHO LOFT 109 AU 07 TSHO BB H 12:10:17 7/ 12 39.05 44.7195 0
98 TAISHO LOFT 4 AU 06 WTUL SILV H 12:10:19 8/ 12 39.07 44.7127 0
99 BULLSEYE LOFT 553 AU 06 WTUL BB C 12:20:30 10/ 17 41.05 44.6767 0
100 BULLSEYE LOFT 60810 AU 07 ARPU BB C 12:22:58 11/ 17 43.33 44.2037 0
101 LAMBERTON CUY 58 AU 07 TEAM DCSP C 12:20:03 15/ 28 43.09 44.1676 0
102 LAMBERTON CUY 822 AU 07 TEAM BC C 12:22:25 16/ 28 45.31 43.7179 0
103 FAST LANE LOF 39 AU 07 FAST BBP C 12:21:45 6/ 7 46.37 43.4320 0
104 TOP GUN LOFT 612 AU 07 TGUN BB H 12:22:25 15/ 20 47.40 43.2165 0
105 TNT TITANS 959 AU 04 WTUL BC C 12:37:21 17/ 21 52.58 42.7250 0
106 BULLSEYE LOFT 85 AU 07 BLUE SLAT C 12:32:21 12/ 17 52.56 42.4922 0
107 TOP GUN LOFT 372 AU 05 TGUN RC H 12:26:46 16/ 20 52.01 42.4225 0
108 LAMBERTON CUY 582 AU 07 TEAM DCSP C 12:30:41 17/ 28 53.47 42.2163 0
109 LAMBERTON CUY 479 AU 07 TEAM BB C 12:30:44 18/ 28 53.50 42.2075 0
110 LIU LOFT 67229 AU 07 ARPU RC H 13:03:07 31/ 34 01:01 42.1426 0
111 WEBSTERS WING 72 AU 07 WEBW BB C 12:23:42 3/ 11 53.22 41.9499 0
112 TAISHO LOFT 58 AU 07 BLUE DC H 12:25:15 9/ 12 54.03 41.8744 0
113 LIU LOFT 1234 AU 04 WTUL GRIZ H 13:05:39 32/ 34 01:03 41.7553 0
114 TAISHO LOFT 697 AU 06 WTUL BB H 12:26:00 10/ 12 54.48 41.7413 0
115 LAMBERTON CUY 472 AU 07 TEAM BB C 12:33:58 19/ 28 57.04 41.6481 0
116 TNT TITANS 131 AU 07 TNT BC H 12:44:09 18/ 21 59.46 41.5818 0
117 TNT TITANS 1380 AU 06 VITA BC H 12:45:03 19/ 21 01:00 41.4351 0
118 TOP GUN LOFT 575 AU 07 TGUN BC H 12:34:17 17/ 20 59.32 41.1172 0
119 TOP GUN LOFT 502 AU 07 TGUN BC H 12:38:50 18/ 20 01:04 40.3653 0
120 BULLSEYE LOFT 99 AU 07 OLLI BB C 12:47:57 13/ 17 01:08 39.9224 0
121 LIU LOFT 67210 AU 07 ARPU SILV C 13:18:24 33/ 34 01:16 39.9093 0
122 WEBSTERS WING 6835 AU 06 ARPU BB H 12:35:50 4/ 11 01:05 39.8795 0
123 LAMBERTON CUY 269 AU 06 TEAM BB H 12:45:53 20/ 28 01:08 39.7086 0
124 WEBSTERS WING 85 AU 07 OLLI BC C 12:37:22 5/ 11 01:07 39.6323 0
125 WEBSTERS WING 89 AU 07 WEBW BBWF C 12:37:23 6/ 11 01:07 39.6296 0
126 TAISHO LOFT 135 AU 07 WTUL WHIT H 12:40:31 11/ 12 01:09 39.3225 0
127 TOP GUN LOFT 559 AU 07 TGUN BB H 12:46:29 19/ 20 01:11 39.1614 0
128 WEBSTERS WING 209 AU 06 TEAM BC C 12:41:45 7/ 11 01:11 38.9422 0
129 LAMBERTON CUY 835 AU 07 TEAM BB C 12:51:38 21/ 28 01:14 38.8359 0
130 LAMBERTON CUY 605 AU 07 TEAM BB C 12:51:40 22/ 28 01:14 38.8309 0
131 LAMBERTON CUY 598 AU 07 TEAM WHIT C 12:51:41 23/ 28 01:14 38.8285 0
132 WEBSTERS WING 340 AU 07 TEAM GRIZ H 12:43:23 8/ 11 01:13 38.6912 0
133 WEBSTERS WING 37 AU 07 WEBW SILV H 12:47:19 9/ 11 01:16 38.0997 0
134 TNT TITANS 132 AU 07 TNT DC H 13:18:16 20/ 21 01:33 36.6606 0
135 BULLSEYE LOFT 60830 AU 07 ARPU INDI H 13:11:07 14/ 17 01:31 36.6324 0
136 LAMBERTON CUY 621 AU 07 TEAM BB C 13:11:09 24/ 28 01:34 36.1400 0
137 LAMBERTON CUY 815 AU 07 TEAM BBWF C 13:11:20 25/ 28 01:34 36.1164 0
The B Race is a little harder to analyze since the actual
results are skewed. Remember the first 4 B birds were home about 15
minutes before they trapped and actually clocked. Had they trapped when
they first arrived, they probably would have scored the first 4 positions.
Thus, according to my logic, all 4 of them should stay home. However, I am
actually going to resend all 4 of them. 13 and 213 came home about 20 and 23
minutes behind the official race leaders. So they're going to race.
125, 533, 19334, and 52 all were about 30 minutes behind the first birds.
I'll send them back also. 58 and 822 were about 45 minutes behind.
One of them may go back, 822. 58 is one of the good long distance males
that I want to race on the 500 mile races. So I will probably hold him
back. Most of the rest of the birds were too far back to race well in a
speed race; but since tomorrow may be a tough headwind race, all of them are
candidates. Only two late-breds, 821 and 548, two of my very favorites,
came home too late to race this week.
So there you have it. 351, 183, 591, 169 and 569 are my
favorites. then comes 13, 213, 52, 125 and 533. 19334 is one of my
best breeders and not quite ready for a tough 200. So, I'll save him for
the 300 next week.
I don't want to exhaust the race team by sending all of them
to a tough 200 and not have fresh birds for the 300 the week after.
Picking the proper race team each week is a strategy. Those fanciers who
simply send every bird every week not only lose good pigeons; but they often end
up with at the end of the race season with good homers rather than good racers.
There is a local fancier that has lost most of his high point birds because he
sends them until they don't come home. While I like tough pigeons that can
race week after week, there is a strategy to the game. All a fancier
accomplishes by losing the best racers over time is to permanently lower the
standards of the breeding loft. It is not possible to breed out of Ace
pigeons that are gone from the loft.
In Belgium, the race season is 4 to 5 months long.
That's 16 to 20 weeks of racing. An Ace pigeon can compete in half of
those races and compete 8 to 10 times. In Tulsa, we race 9 weeks. A
fancier must race pigeons every race in Tulsa to equal half of the races in
Hakendover. Good pigeons need to rest. Particularly if the races are
difficult. If every race is a blow home, then pigeons can race every week.
If in every race the wind is "on the nose" of the pigeons, even the good ones
need rest. I wish we flew more races in Tulsa. But here racing is a
hobby and most fanciers have a tough time racing 8 or 9 weeks. There are
those of us, however, who would like to race more. Fortunately, after old
birds in Tulsa, I have the luxury of racing in Belgium in June, July, and
August.
In summary, in my opinion, the proper racing strategy
involves racing each pigeon the maximum number of times while getting the
maximum performance each time; not blindly basketing every bird every week
regardless of the condition of the bird or the circumstances of the race.
4.12.08 - Saturday
Saturday's race wasn't quite as hard as originally
forecasted. I had predicted about a 7 hour race from 200 miles/320
kilometers. Others had predicted 8 or 9 hours. In fact, the first
birds arrived in about 5 hours. The widows arrived to find their mates in
the nest boxes, a hand full of grain in the nest box and an electrolyte in
the drinking water. Saturday night, each race bird, raced or unraced,
received a Pegosan tablet for Coccidiosis, Canker and crop infections. The
race birds become contaminated in the race crates with the maladies of the birds
of other less cautious fanciers. Each week, I believe they must be purged
of this contamination internally and externally. The mates were removed
Saturday night when the widows were medicated. The Club race results are
as follows:
WinSpeed-1 BLUE SKIES RPC 04/13/08-19:39
Weekly Race Report Page 1
Open and Sportsman Category
Name: #03 MT PLEASANT A Old Bird Race Flown: 04/12/2008
Release(A): 07:30 Birds: 42 Lofts: 9 Station: MT PLEASANT TX
Weather (Rel) CLEAR, CALM, 42 degrees (Arr) CLEAR, NNW 22, 50 degrees
FAIR
POS NAME BAND NUMBER CLR X ARRIVAL MILES TOWIN MPH PT
1 FAST LANE L/5 62 AU 07 FAST BB H 12:34:35 210.104 00.00 41.3885 25
2 TNT TITANS/5 74 AU 06 TNT BBW H 12:52:52 219.515 04.38 40.7928 24
3 WEBSTERS WI/5 210 AU 06 TEAM BC H 12:32:12 203.766 06.48 40.4565 23
4 TNT TITANS 14 AU 06 TNT BBW H 12:56:11 2/ 5 07.57 40.3780 22
5 FAST LANE LOF 1459 AU 06 VITA BBW C 12:44:21 2/ 5 09.45 40.1026 21
--------------------------------- Above are 10 percent ------------------------
6 TOP GUN LOF/5 614 AU 07 TGUN BB H 12:46:55 210.777 11.21 39.9043 20
7 TNT TITANS 33 AU 06 TNT BBSP H 13:00:05 3/ 5 11.51 39.9010 19
8 LAMBERTON C/5 13 AU 06 LAMB BBSP C 12:50:10 212.348 12.19 39.7945 18
9 LAMBERTON CUY 69 AU 06 LAMB BB C 12:50:10 2/ 5 12.19 39.7945 17
--------------------------------- Above are 20 percent ------------------------
10 TOP GUN LOFT 533 AU 07 TGUN BBT C 12:48:01 2/ 5 12.27 39.7663 16
11 LIU LOFT/5 1274 AU 04 WTUL BB H 13:22:36 233.592 13.57 39.7491 15
12 BULLSEYE LO/5 553 AU 06 WTUL BB C 12:56:13 214.804 14.49 39.5082 14
13 TOP GUN LOFT 594 AU 07 TGUN SILV C 12:50:38 3/ 5 15.04 39.4418 13
14 WEBSTERS WING 6835 AU 06 ARPU BB H 12:40:21 2/ 5 14.57 39.3941 12
15 LIU LOFT 1009 AU 05 WTUL RC C 13:26:48 2/ 5 18.09 39.2812 11
16 K & J LOFT/4 73 AU 06 TNT BB C 13:04:09 218.584 17.16 39.2490 10
17 TNT TITANS 85 AU 06 TNT BC H 13:05:37 4/ 5 17.23 39.2431 9
18 LAMBERTON CUY 569 AU 07 TEAM BBSP H 12:59:57 3/ 5 22.06 38.6146 8
19 FAST LANE LOF 82 AU 07 FAST BB C 12:58:23 3/ 5 23.48 38.3888 7
20 FAST LANE LOF 160 AU 07 TEAM BBWP H 12:58:34 4/ 5 23.58 38.3674 6
21 BULLSEYE LOFT 591 AU 06 WTUL BBW H 13:09:40 2/ 5 28.16 37.9438 5
22 LAMBERTON CUY 213 AU 07 TEAM BB C 13:09:35 4/ 5 31.44 37.5192 4
23 TAISHO LOFT/3 949 AU 05 WTUL BB C 13:06:24 208.482 34.10 37.1846 3
24 BULLSEYE LOFT 563 AU 06 WTUL BB C 13:22:07 3/ 5 40.43 36.6022 2
25 TOP GUN LOFT 567 AU 07 TGUN RCS C 13:17:26 4/ 5 41.52 36.3994 1
26 BULLSEYE LOFT 569 AU 06 WTUL NONE C 13:27:59 4/ 5 46.35 36.0023 0
27 WEBSTERS WING 532 AU 06 WTUL BB H 13:10:23 3/ 5 44.59 35.9182 0
28 WEBSTERS WING 21 AU 07 BLUE GRIZ H 13:13:04 4/ 5 47.40 35.6373 0
29 LIU LOFT 67219 AU 07 ARPU RC H 14:07:40 3/ 5 59.01 35.2444 0
30 WEBSTERS WING 6802 AU 06 ARPU BB H 13:17:23 5/ 5 51.59 35.1944 0
31 LIU LOFT 1202 AU 04 WTUL GRIZ H 14:09:26 4/ 5 01:00 35.0885 0
32 TNT TITANS 436 AU 06 WTUL BBW H 13:52:35 5/ 5 01:04 34.4256 0
33 LIU LOFT 1214 AU 04 WTUL BB H 14:19:21 5/ 5 01:10 34.2385 0
34 TAISHO LOFT 1595 AU 07 AHPI BB H 13:53:51 2/ 3 01:21 32.5880 0
35 LAMBERTON CUY 354 AU 07 TEAM BBPD C 14:09:56 5/ 5 01:32 31.8575 0
36 K & J LOFT 39293 AU 07 ARPU BBSP C 15:01:52 2/ 4 02:14 29.0241 0
37 TAISHO LOFT 135 AU 07 WTUL WHIT H 15:34:43 3/ 3 03:02 25.8066 0
38 K & J LOFT 39266 AU 07 ARPU BB H 16:01:04 3/ 4 03:14 25.6621 0
39 TOP GUN LOFT 88 AU 07 BLUE SILV H 15:54:34 5/ 5 03:19 25.0639 0
Eight of the first nine race birds were bred from LAMBERTON
CUYPERS pigeons. The winning bird raced by Steve King, Fast Lane Loft, is
bred from a Herbots/Antoine Jacops male bred on a female from LAMBERTON CUYPERS
that was a gift to Steve. The third place bird is a Ceulemans/Antoine
Jacops female that was a gift to Derik and Tina Webster when they first entered the
Sport. I gave nest mates, 209 and 210, to the Webster's to begin their
racing career. I wanted to give them the best pigeons I could breed so
that they would experience enough success to stay in the Sport through their
early years when winning or racing well is very difficult. Several other
fanciers, including a "President's Cup award winner, gave them youngsters.
Of these youngsters, 209 and 210 have raced far better than any of the
youngsters that they received, including the "best pigeons" from the President's
Cup award winner. On Saturday's windy race, the Webster's
experienced the pleasure of a third place finish primarily because of the
superior quality of LAMBERTON CUYPERS pigeons. Our pigeons have made new
fanciers successful out of turn because they are bred down from the best pigeons
in the World. 210 is bred from imports, not from 4th or 5th generation
breeders. Both Fast Lane Loft and Webster's Wings are new fanciers,
staring their racing careers within the last three years. Tony Smith &
Josh Cooley, TNT Titans, are two of the best fanciers in the USA. In four
Club races so far, they have won 2 firsts and 2 seconds with LAMBERTON CUYPERS
pigeons and following my race management system.
I was not very happy with the first two A birds. 69 has
rarely been beaten when he is in form as has 13. I am not pleased with
their performance; and I have to look at my own management to see what I could
do better next week. I am pleased with the performance of 569. 569
scored 18th. 569 is a late-bred female and this was her second race.
Her pedigree can be accessed by clicking on 569's 18th prize in the race
results.
Now let's take a look at the B race.
WinSpeed-1 BLUE SKIES RPC 04/13/08-19:40
Weekly Race Report Page 1
Open and Sportsman Category
Name: #04 MT PLEASANT B Old Bird Race Flown: 04/12/2008
Release(B): 08:00 Birds: 139 Lofts: 9 Station: MT PLEASANT TX
Weather (Rel) CLEAR, CALM, 42 degrees (Arr) CLEAR, NNW 22, 50 degrees
FAIR
POS NAME BAND NUMBER CLR X ARRIVAL MILES TOWIN MPH PT
1 TNT TITANS/21 1383 AU 06 VITA BB C 13:05:38 219.515 00.00 43.0929 25
2 LAMBERTON /12 181 AU 05 LAMB DC C 13:00:43 212.348 05.03 42.3684 24
3 TNT TITANS 439 AU 06 WTUL BC C 13:13:51 2/ 21 08.13 41.9647 23
4 TNT TITANS 1177 AU 06 OKLA BBW H 13:13:53 3/ 21 08.15 41.9603 22
5 TNT TITANS 132 AU 07 TNT DC H 13:13:57 4/ 21 08.19 41.9514 21
6 K & J LOFT/16 772 AU 05 WTUL WHIT H 13:12:56 218.584 08.35 41.9100 20
7 LIU LOFT/23 67229 AU 07 ARPU RC H 13:35:57 233.592 10.42 41.7191 19
8 LAMBERTON CUY 15 AU 06 LAMB BB C 13:05:45 2/ 12 10.05 41.6709 18
9 LAMBERTON CUY 351 AU 07 TEAM BB C 13:05:45 3/ 12 10.05 41.6709 17
10 LAMBERTON CUY 324 AU 06 TEAM SILV C 13:05:48 4/ 12 10.08 41.6641 16
11 TOP GUN LO/20 611 AU 07 TGUN BB H 13:04:13 210.777 10.45 41.5701 15
12 TNT TITANS 16 AU 07 OLLI UNKN C 13:18:03 5/ 21 12.25 41.4106 14
13 K & J LOFT 1365 AU 06 VITA BC H 13:17:06 2/ 16 12.45 41.3593 13
14 TAISHO LOF/10 684 AU 06 WTUL BB H 13:03:01 208.482 12.44 41.2812 12
--------------------------------- Above are 10 percent ------------------------
15 TAISHO LOFT 124 AU 07 TSHO SILV H 13:03:14 2/ 10 12.57 41.2517 11
16 TNT TITANS 128 AU 07 TNT RR H 13:20:17 6/ 21 14.39 41.1218 10
17 K & J LOFT 1343 AU 06 VITA BB H 13:19:54 3/ 16 15.33 40.9973 9
18 K & J LOFT 39225 AU 07 ARPU UNKN H 13:19:56 4/ 16 15.35 40.9930 8
19 TOP GUN LOFT 641 AU 07 TGUN SILV H 13:09:07 2/ 20 15.39 40.9112 7
20 TNT TITANS 57 AU 06 TNT BB C 13:22:04 7/ 21 16.26 40.8941 6
21 TNT TITANS 92 AU 06 TNT BB C 13:22:05 8/ 21 16.27 40.8920 5
22 TNT TITANS 94 AU 06 TNT BC C 13:22:07 9/ 21 16.29 40.8878 4
23 TOP GUN LOFT 457 AU 06 TGUN RC C 13:10:48 3/ 20 17.20 40.6896 3
24 TOP GUN LOFT 527 AU 07 TGUN SILV C 13:10:53 4/ 20 17.25 40.6787 2
25 K & J LOFT 1433 AU 06 VITA BC H 13:22:29 5/ 16 18.08 40.6689 1
26 TNT TITANS 1380 AU 06 VITA BC H 13:24:09 10/ 21 18.31 40.6313 0
27 LAMBERTON CUY 125 AU 06 LAMB BB C 13:14:07 5/ 12 18.27 40.5610 0
28 K & J LOFT 1446 AU 06 VITA BB H 13:24:48 6/ 16 20.27 40.3788 0
--------------------------------- Above are 20 percent ------------------------
29 K & J LOFT 1332 AU 06 VITA BBWF H 13:24:49 7/ 16 20.28 40.3767 0
30 K & J LOFT 39285 AU 07 ARPU BB H 13:24:52 8/ 16 20.31 40.3705 0
31 TOP GUN LOFT 593 AU 07 TGUN SILV C 13:14:03 5/ 20 20.35 40.2686 0
32 K & J LOFT 580 AU 07 TGUN UNKN H 13:26:10 9/ 16 21.49 40.2096 0
33 TOP GUN LOFT 612 AU 07 TGUN BB H 13:15:30 6/ 20 22.02 40.0835 0
34 LIU LOFT 67222 AU 07 ARPU SILV C 13:50:15 2/ 23 25.00 40.0158 0
35 FAST LANE L/7 39 AU 07 FAST BBP C 13:15:02 210.104 22.29 40.0156 0
36 TNT TITANS 52 AU 06 TNT BCSP C 13:29:31 11/ 21 23.53 39.9696 0
37 LIU LOFT 1043 AU 05 WTUL BC C 13:51:10 3/ 23 25.55 39.9113 0
38 BULLSEYE L/19 60823 AU 07 ARPU BB C 13:23:25 214.804 24.20 39.8503 0
39 TOP GUN LOFT 500 AU 05 I UNKN C 13:17:25 7/ 20 23.57 39.8415 0
40 LIU LOFT 67258 AU 07 ARPU GRIZ H 13:51:51 4/ 23 26.36 39.8338 0
41 TNT TITANS 115 AU 07 TNT BBS H 13:30:58 12/ 21 25.20 39.7945 0
42 TNT TITANS 1376 AU 06 VITA BBW C 13:31:10 13/ 21 25.32 39.7704 0
43 BULLSEYE LOFT 111 AU 06 TNT NONE C 13:24:10 2/ 19 25.05 39.7581 0
44 K & J LOFT 304 AU 06 TEAM BC H 13:30:20 10/ 16 25.59 39.7024 0
45 LAMBERTON CUY 183 AU 06 LAMB BBWF C 13:21:13 6/ 12 25.33 39.6644 0
46 LAMBERTON CUY 472 AU 07 TEAM BB C 13:21:16 7/ 12 25.36 39.6583 0
47 TNT TITANS 43 AU 06 TNT BCW C 13:34:30 14/ 21 28.52 39.3741 0
48 TOP GUN LOFT 600 AU 07 TGUN SILV C 13:21:42 8/ 20 28.14 39.3110 0
49 TAISHO LOFT 70 AU 07 WEBW RC H 13:18:34 3/ 10 28.17 39.2662 0
50 K & J LOFT 39268 AU 07 ARPU BBSP H 13:34:05 11/ 16 29.44 39.2568 0
51 LIU LOFT 62 AU 07 BLUE BB H 13:57:21 5/ 23 32.06 39.2207 0
52 TOP GUN LOFT 477 AU 06 TGUN SILV C 13:22:33 9/ 20 29.05 39.2074 0
53 TNT TITANS 24 AU 06 TNT BB C 13:36:25 15/ 21 30.47 39.1498 0
54 WEBSTERS W/11 72 AU 07 WEBW BB C 13:13:00 203.766 29.17 39.0606 0
55 TNT TITANS 15 AU 06 TNT BCW C 13:37:31 16/ 21 31.53 39.0222 0
56 LAMBERTON CUY 169 AU 05 LAMB DCPD C 13:26:32 8/ 12 30.52 39.0186 0
57 LIU LOFT 728 AU 06 WTUL SILV C 13:59:44 6/ 23 34.29 38.9609 0
58 BULLSEYE LOFT 587 AU 06 WTUL BC C 13:30:50 3/ 19 31.45 38.9569 0
59 LIU LOFT 781 AU 06 WTUL BB H 14:00:31 7/ 23 35.16 38.8762 0
60 LIU LOFT 722 AU 06 WTUL SILV H 14:00:39 8/ 23 35.24 38.8618 0
61 K & J LOFT 285 AU 06 TEAM BB H 13:37:54 12/ 16 33.33 38.8134 0
62 WEBSTERS WING 9 AU 07 WEBW BB H 13:15:23 2/ 11 31.40 38.7654 0
63 LAMBERTON CUY 52 AU 06 TEAM BB C 13:29:14 9/ 12 33.34 38.6986 0
64 TNT TITANS 959 AU 04 WTUL BC C 13:40:30 17/ 21 34.52 38.6803 0
65 BULLSEYE LOFT 83 AU 07 BLUE DC C 13:33:19 4/ 19 34.14 38.6667 0
66 LIU LOFT 1264 AU 04 WTUL BC C 14:02:39 9/ 23 37.24 38.6475 0
67 LIU LOFT 702 AU 06 WTUL BB H 14:02:42 10/ 23 37.27 38.6422 0
68 BULLSEYE LOFT 60829 AU 07 ARPU BB H 13:33:40 5/ 19 34.35 38.6261 0
69 BULLSEYE LOFT 570 AU 06 WTUL BB C 13:35:45 6/ 19 36.40 38.3864 0
70 LIU LOFT 724 AU 06 WTUL BBSP C 14:06:28 11/ 23 41.13 38.2450 0
71 LIU LOFT 46 AU 07 OLLI BBWF H 14:10:25 12/ 23 45.10 37.8372 0
72 K & J LOFT 28619 AU 05 ARPU BC H 13:46:54 13/ 16 42.33 37.8064 0
73 LIU LOFT 1262 AU 04 WTUL SILV C 14:11:32 13/ 23 46.17 37.7235 0
74 TNT TITANS 124 AU 07 TNT DC H 13:49:57 18/ 21 44.19 37.6358 0
75 LIU LOFT 1057 AU 05 WTUL BB C 14:15:37 14/ 23 50.22 37.3134 0
76 LAMBERTON CUY 12 AU 07 BLUE BB C 13:42:22 10/ 12 46.42 37.2141 0
77 TNT TITANS 147 AU 07 TNT BB C 13:55:41 19/ 21 50.03 37.0292 0
78 TAISHO LOFT 65 AU 07 OLLI DC H 13:43:03 4/ 10 52.46 36.4638 0
79 TAISHO LOFT 146 AU 07 WTUL BC H 13:43:05 5/ 10 52.48 36.4602 0
80 TOP GUN LOFT 575 AU 07 TGUN BC H 13:47:06 10/ 20 53.38 36.4343 0
81 BULLSEYE LOFT 60807 AU 07 ARPU BC C 13:54:09 7/ 19 55.04 36.3920 0
82 LIU LOFT 78 AU 07 BLUE GRIZ H 14:26:30 15/ 23 01:01 36.2627 0
83 LIU LOFT 764 AU 06 WTUL BC C 14:26:36 16/ 23 01:01 36.2533 0
84 FAST LANE LOF 92 AU 07 FAST BBS H 13:48:35 2/ 7 56.02 36.1642 0
85 BULLSEYE LOFT 60838 AU 07 ARPU DCWS H 13:58:24 8/ 19 59.19 35.9605 0
86 WEBSTERS WING 340 AU 07 TEAM GRIZ H 13:42:51 3/ 11 59.08 35.6598 0
87 BULLSEYE LOFT 99 AU 07 OLLI BB C 14:02:59 9/ 19 01:03 35.5064 0
88 TOP GUN LOFT 537 AU 07 TGUN BC C 13:57:04 11/ 20 01:03 35.4174 0
89 TNT TITANS 131 AU 07 TNT BC H 14:14:03 20/ 21 01:08 35.2110 0
90 LIU LOFT 1244 AU 04 WTUL BB H 14:38:34 17/ 23 01:13 35.1648 0
91 TAISHO LOFT 58 AU 07 BLUE DC H 13:56:53 6/ 10 01:06 35.0504 0
92 TOP GUN LOFT 502 AU 07 TGUN BC H 14:02:19 12/ 20 01:08 34.9042 0
93 WEBSTERS WING 85 AU 07 OLLI BC C 13:51:19 4/ 11 01:07 34.8004 0
94 FAST LANE LOF 88 AU 07 FAST BBWS C 14:03:04 3/ 7 01:10 34.7216 0
95 K & J LOFT 39291 AU 07 ARPU RR H 14:18:50 14/ 16 01:14 34.6196 0
96 TOP GUN LOFT 559 AU 07 TGUN BB H 14:06:00 13/ 20 01:12 34.5529 0
97 WEBSTERS WING 63 AU 07 WEBW GRIZ C 13:54:57 5/ 11 01:11 34.4442 0
98 FAST LANE LOF 54 AU 07 FAST WHIT C 14:11:39 4/ 7 01:19 33.9197 0
99 LIU LOFT 77532 AU 03 WTUL BB H 14:56:04 18/ 23 01:30 33.6858 0
100 FAST LANE LOF 98 AU 07 FAST DC H 14:18:20 5/ 7 01:25 33.3205 0
101 LIU LOFT 67210 AU 07 ARPU SILV C 15:01:47 19/ 23 01:36 33.2292 0
102 WEBSTERS WING 209 AU 06 TEAM BC C 14:09:21 6/ 11 01:25 33.1013 0
103 TAISHO LOFT 13 AU 06 WTUL BC H 14:20:15 7/ 10 01:29 32.8965 0
104 TOP GUN LOFT 6809 AU 06 ARPU RC H 14:28:16 14/ 20 01:34 32.5714 0
105 LIU LOFT 773 AU 06 WTUL BC H 15:12:22 20/ 23 01:47 32.4158 0
106 TAISHO LOFT 4 AU 06 WTUL SILV H 14:32:37 8/ 10 01:42 31.8603 0
107 TAISHO LOFT 109 AU 07 TSHO BB H 14:33:27 9/ 10 01:43 31.7928 0
108 TAISHO LOFT 697 AU 06 WTUL BB H 14:34:56 10/ 10 01:44 31.6734 0
109 LIU LOFT 749 AU 06 WTUL RC H 15:23:28 21/ 23 01:58 31.6044 0
110 TOP GUN LOFT 944 AU 07 GTO CA H 14:41:36 15/ 20 01:48 31.4900 0
111 TOP GUN LOFT 468 AU 06 TGUN BCW C 14:52:17 16/ 20 01:58 30.6740 0
112 FAST LANE LOF 51 AU 07 OLLI BBW H 14:52:56 6/ 7 02:00 30.5285 0
113 LIU LOFT 741 AU 06 WTUL BC H 15:47:46 22/ 23 02:22 29.9626 0
114 K & J LOFT 240 AU 06 LAMB BCSP H 15:23:34 15/ 16 02:19 29.5672 0
115 K & J LOFT 39206 AU 07 ARPU BB H 15:33:01 16/ 16 02:28 28.9505 0
116 LAMBERTON CUY 822 AU 07 TEAM BC C 15:23:06 11/ 12 02:27 28.7540 0
117 WEBSTERS WING 11 AU 07 OLLI GRIZ C 15:06:08 7/ 11 02:22 28.6905 0
118 TOP GUN LOFT 536 AU 07 TGUN RC H 15:39:37 17/ 20 02:46 27.5151 0
119 LIU LOFT 92 AU 07 GPS BC H 16:41:14 23/ 23 03:15 26.8891 0
120 WEBSTERS WING 37 AU 07 WEBW SILV H 15:44:14 8/ 11 03:00 26.3358 0
121 LAMBERTON CUY 533 AU 07 TEAM PEN C 16:36:44 12/ 12 03:41 24.6566 0
122 TOP GUN LOFT 509 AU 07 TGUN BBWT C 16:33:40 18/ 20 03:40 24.6199 0
123 WEBSTERS WING 140 AU 07 TNT BBWF H 16:21:18 9/ 11 03:37 24.3885 0
124 TNT TITANS 948 AU 07 TEAM BC H 17:22:26 21/ 21 04:16 23.4174 0
125 FAST LANE LOF 75 AU 07 FAST BBWP H 17:03:13 7/ 7 04:10 23.2067 0
126 TOP GUN LOFT 372 AU 05 TGUN RC H 17:29:33 19/ 20 04:36 22.2042 0
127 WEBSTERS WING 93 AU 07 WEBW GRIZ H 17:22:43 10/ 11 04:39 21.7267 0
128 TOP GUN LOFT 556 AU 07 TGUN SILV C 17:56:54 20/ 20 05:03 21.1869 0
129 WEBSTERS WING 89 AU 07 WEBW BBWF C 19:08:50 11/ 11 06:25 18.2795 0
The first place bird is a Hofkens/Antoine Jacops cross.
This cross has raced very well for Tony & Josh. The second place bird,
CYCLONE, is a grandson of TYPHOON, a tremendous long
distance racer for Silvere Toye, purchased by Mike Ganus and eventually sold to
Mike Schmidt, Speed Shop Lofts. TYPHOON is a
beautiful son of BLACK DEVIL, and international Barcelona winner. CYCLONE is a
beautiful son of TORNADO, who is a son of TYPHOON, crossed on a tremendous female
from Gaby Vandenabeele. CYCLONE looks just like his father, TORNADO, his
grandfather, TYPHOON, and his great grandfather, BLACK DEVIL, pictured here.
CYCLONE now has a second place club prize from 200 miles to
add to his impressive race record. CYCLONE'S mother is an excellent female
from Gaby Vandenabeele.
4.13.08 - Sunday
On Sunday, the widows took a bath. They had
open loft all day while I went to my grandson's baseball game. The birds
did not race on Saturday were taken on a training toss about 50 miles south to
train into the north wind. Sunday night, they were wormed with a drop of
Ivermectin down the throat.
The young birds were exercised for several hours late in the
day. Soon, they will begin road training. I have already selected a
2008 young bird, AU 08 BLUE SKIES 180, a pencil pied white flighted pied male,
as my favorite. 180 is very aggressive and very tame. I gave him a
nest box in the widowhood loft with the old males. A also gave him an old
female. He coupled immediately. At 90 days old, he is acting just like
an old bird - only better. He has no fear and loves to peck my hand when I
place it near his nest box. He sits on the very front of the nest box
leaning forward as far as he can when I walk by; just to give me a peck if I get
too close. He is line-bred to the Antoine Jacops pigeons and the For
Vervoort PHANTOM of Mike Ganus. TNT Titans won the club and combine B race
last week with a cousin to 180. For me, 180 is what the pigeon fancy is
all about. As I have said many times, for me, the Sport is primarily about
the birds and not the people. There is a local fancier who continually
touts his President's Cup award to anyone that will listen. This award is
the reason why he competes. He competes to beat other people. He
enjoys beating other people. The Sport is all about beating other people
and feeling like he is number one. The award is something that
he won. I disagree with this fancier
and have said so to his face many times. For me, the beauty of the Sport
is primarily about the relationship between the birds and the fancier. The
President's Cup award winner, on his best day, was not a twench as enjoyable as
five seconds with 180.
In 2006, I raised TNT Titans a beautiful blue male, 123, that
is exactly like 180 in temperament. Almost every day, Tony plays with 123
and fights with him with his hand and fingers. Frequently Tony has
telephoned me to relate the last 123 story to me. Perhaps you have birds
like this. If you do, please cherish them. Don't mistreat them and
them tell others that there is no problem because you own the bird's parents.
Special pigeons are rare. Some Belgian fanciers say 1 in 100. Others
say 1 in 200. Others say once in a lifetime. Appreciate your best
pigeons. Train them hard, feed them well, keep them healthy, and have some
of the most fun that animal husbandry can give with them.
If you're a trophy person, then enjoy polishing your trophies
every day. While you're doing that, the real fanciers will be in their
lofts with their birds having a great time. I've never seen a trophy fly.
I've never seen a trophy breed or raise youngsters. I've never seen a
trophy win a pigeon race. While I may be going overboard to make a point,
while trophies are sometimes very rewarding, they are secondary to the main
point of the Sport - in my opinion. The main point of the Sport is the
thrill of developing a future champion; perhaps like 180? Let's begin his
career with a name. How about Diamond Sky? Below is Sky's pedigree.
His father, TEAM 523 SILHOUETTE, is a full brother to three pigeons that have
produced very well for TNT Titans. The B bird that won 2nd in last week's
B race was out of a brother to SILHOUETTTE. This same bird bred the 2006
600 mile Oklahoma State Long Distance Championship. TEAM 124 is a full
sister to DIAMOND JACK, the 4th National 2006 Ace Old Bird ARPU. His
nestmate, DIAMOND JACKIE, bred 4 top ten racers for Kirk Hardin, Tri-County
Lofts, Glencoe, Oklahoma. 180's grandparents, SHADOW & JENNI as well as
DIAMOND RIO & FLICKER are hit pairs. Birds from these pairs are currently
not for sale.
4.14.08 - Monday
During loft exercise today, AU 07 TEAM 354 was killed by a
Cooper's Hawk. 354 was young, but he was one of my best racers - and one
of my favorites. He flew lousy on Saturday; but was still an excellent
racer. I cannot express the pain and rage I feel at this moment over this
terrible turn of events. 354 was irreplaceable. He was line-bred to
Gommaire Verbruggen's KLETSKOP. He was a very very special pigeon.
More to come almost every
day.............................Thank you................Dr. John & Morgan
Lamberton