05/28/2006

All of the birds, with the exception of the two birds I received this week, have been out of the loft and have flown around a least little. Most of the birds have been out several times. Even the two birds I received with the third flight half grown in have taken a spin around the loft and have both returned. These two birds have been out twice now.

The body molt is still going pretty heavy, and the birds look ragged. They will be looking good in due time.

By my count, I am out only one bird from the ‘B’ team, but sometimes it is difficult to count the birds. They have all been out flying a bit so it could be back later this week. (Update: All birds appear to be present and accounted for).

Bird 0022 will probably have to be removed from the team. It is very light and cannot seem to eat enough to gain weight, even after being separated and having plenty of food. I started with some antibiotics and it appears to be OK health-wise, but doesn’t want to eat.

The ‘A’ team has been out to 5-miles. All are present and accounted for.

My Old Bird races have been going OK, but I have only won one race. The bird that won the race was subsequently lost the next time out. All birds home but the Club winner. I am not sure why that happens.

I was interviewed by our local news channel. While the news people always seem to ‘twist’ what you say/mean, and take things out of context, here is the link to the story and video.

http://www.kstp.com/article/stories/S16645.html?cat=1

05/14/2006

Most of the birds have been out of the loft now. There are only 10 birds that I recently received I have not yet settled. As soon as they appear to be fitting in, they will get some freedom.

I had one bird from this new team flying a bit when a pair of cooper hawks flew over. They were not really aggressive, but they were not just flying by either. The young bird with white flights seemed to fly towards them and all three birds went out of sight. That bird came back, but had blood on its wing from a injury on the underside of its wing. Maybe just a coincidence, maybe not.

I have taken the young birds out to about 2.5 miles. No losses to date. They are into a heavy body molt, and should start to look a lot better in a month or so.

My Old Bird race that I thought was a disaster, was actually bad for everyone. I would up wining the club ‘A’ race, and did OK on the ‘B’ race. This past week, I only shipped four birds due to the weather. I actually only shipped the hens that had previously lost their mates. All four returned, only 2 in race time. It is just enough to keep me in the running for average speed and not take any losses. I will be shipping more aggressively in the races to follow.

The City of Eagan has passed a moratorium on the issuing of pigeon permits until September. They will be finalizing their pigeon ordinance and then start taking applications based upon the new ordinance. I will hopefully be able to work with them to help draft it. What ultimately it means is that I am ‘in the clear’ until September. That should take me through the Gold Band Race. What happens after that is up in the air. I think I may be OK, but I may also be the last person in Eagan that can own pigeons.

Eagan is a fairly large suburb, with over 80,000 people. What happens in Eagan will probably affect the other suburbs. They may re-evaluate their ordinances too.

05/07/2006

I received several more birds this week from Out of Area breeders. I am glad I separated the young birds into two teams. Next year I am going to evaluate the timeframes that I will accept birds, as it is difficult to train birds when you have new young birds coming in every week. I will start to settle the second batch this week, if I get time and the weather looks good. If we have a rainy day, with no wind, they may all get out.

As far as settling goes, my plans are something like this. I will begin by taking ~10 birds at a time and giving them a forced bath and putting them on the landing board. All of the birds have been trough the trap several times, at least 1 or twice a day I make them go, plus any self trapping that they can do. Hopefully, they will dry out and take a few small laps. Maybe even big laps, as long as they return.

I have two birds that were just received with their third flight already half grown in. I suspect that they may be the first ones lost. I will make a whole-hearted attempt by soaping their wings, but it is almost like re-settling a bird when they come in at that age.

My setup allows the birds to go into the settling cage on their own, but they must go through the trap to get back in. I have pictures on the site that shows how it is done.

All birds are now on ~8 hours of light per day. They are beginning to molt fairly heavy. In mid-July, they will go to 16 hours.

The YB “A” team was out to 1.5 miles today. After leaving the crate, it was a circle or two at the most, and then a steady flight home. I will get them out to five miles before next weekend. They are really coming good and are almost ready to race.

My “certified” mailing labels for the City are being mailed to me. It is a list I had to get from a title company of all properties within 350 feet of mine in order to apply for the variance for the lofts. It cost $395, which I thought was excessive, but that’s what the City requires. There will be several more fees and permits before I am complete.

I built a privacy fence around the lofts as I had an employee from the business next-door releasing birds that would periodically get caught in my trap during business hours. Without being able to see the trap anymore, I hope that this problem is solved. If it continues once more, I may have to go to plan B.

My first Old Bird race of the season was a disaster. Many other flyers reported similar results, so I will know more tomorrow when we all figure the race. Three Cock birds are still out. I suspect that even if they return they will need to be culled. If they are lucky, they found a place to eat and drink, and will be home in good shape. I have found that if a bird is very skinny, it hardly pays to try to get it back in the game. I even lost the bird that came home first to my loft in last years Gold Band race.

My team is now down to 14 widowers. I gave up racing the hens as they were not doing well in training and I did not have the time to train them. I may have to evaluate my training methods.