The handlers’ meeting from a couple of weeks ago was delayed, but we held one yesterday. All of the handlers are impressive, but I think very beatable. I am sure they felt the same way about me…
There are many birds already committed to the AU Race, and many will be arriving in March. I will be helping with several activities, but mainly with some of the mailings that will be done between now and the race. I have a fairly good setup for mailing and a solid handle of the software that can be used for it.
One of the recommendations I have made is the automatic tossing of the winning bird. I think all money races should do this as a way to promote the integrity of the races. I am not implying anything will go wrong; it is just a good measure to get settled up front – before any issues arise.
My new loft is almost complete. There are only a few items remaining, about 8 hours left. The weather here has been extremely cold, with temperatures rarely reaching 30 degrees F. Some days it is barely above 0 F. It is tough to get motivated to go and work when it is cold and dark. I will do a bit this week, so that the only thing I have left is a quick coat of paint on the inside. I am hoping that we get 50 degree days real soon.
The earliest we can take birds is 3/15, which is a Saturday. If you are mailing a bird, please mail it either early in the AM on 3/13, or wait until the next week. I would rather a bird not sit in a shipping box in some post office for the weekend.
I believe that I will have the most loft space dedicated to the AU birds of many of the handlers. I will have both my Young Bird loft, and my newly redesigned Old Bird loft. Both lofts are 12x12, which includes the walk-in aviary. That gives me 288 square feet of loft space. They both have plenty of air, light and ventilation. Both will have the same trapping system, the ability to separate sexes, heat, darken, lighting, powered ventilation, widowhood style nest boxes, etc.
When I build my nest boxes, I build them in a modular style, allowing me to remove them, reposition them, move them to another loft or re-use them in my new loft. That seems to be the most difficult part, recreating the loft fixtures. With my individual nest boxes, I do not have a problem re-outfitting the interior of a loft. I have a very efficient pattern, and I can cut the wood on my table saw, nail them with my pneumatic nailer, and have a set of boxes ready in short order.
All in all, the race appears to be shaping up well, and I am
looking forward to proving I am up to the challenge of the most prestigious
race in the
You can always look at my loft at my web page.
http://Pigeons.EricDrenckhahn.com
This should be the first of many emails throughout the 2008 season that will give you some insights as to what I am doing with the birds, and what I am planning. As always, if you have advice, please feel free to send it. Questions are indeed welcome as well.
We are having the first handlers meeting for the AU Convention in a week or so. I do not have all of the details, but I am hoping that any questions that have been coming up will be answered.
I am now on my second round of youngsters. The first round wasn’t as good as I hoped, but it wasn’t too bad. The second round should be much better. I do not plan to band too many youngsters, as my lofts will be full of AU birds.
Hopefully most of you have paired your birds to get babies for the Convention race, but if not, that is OK too. I would prefer earlier birds, as close to 3/15 as possible. That is the earliest we can accept birds. Earlier birds will go through my entire program. Later birds, especially the very latest birds, will not get a good molt. There is also less time to replace the later birds, not as many second chances.
I didn’t realize it, but after listening to a seminar by the Bieche Loft this weekend, I have been flying that system for a couple of years. Last year, I did some experiments, and I am firmly in the camp that a good body molt is mandatory, and a good full wing molt is extremely nice. The light system, with birds hatched as early as March, didn’t seem to promote a full body molt. I think the body molt also matures the birds.
Last year, I put my pre-March 20th birds on 20 hours of lights until mid-July. The very early ones looked like a million bucks; the later part of that group didn’t get a full body molt. The worse part of that was when the days got shorter in September, they started to molt heavy. Even after some of them started to molt when they went from 20 hours of lights to 16 hours of lights, some of them still fell apart. There is about 16 hours of light naturally then, so there wasn’t much else I could do except actually darken them. I like the effect of the lights to start the wings molting, and then I actually go to the dark in late April/early May. I will give them 8 hours of lights and complete any body molt.
I have started my project plan for the AU race. This year, I am using Microsoft Project to plan the dates and tasks that need to be completed at certain times of the year. Assuming I stick to the plan, all birds should have a full wing and a smooth coat of new adult feathers.
Since I am not racing Old Birds this year, I rebuilt my old bird loft. It was two smaller lofts pushed together, with a large aviary in front of them. Both buildings had a different color, roof pitch and size. The rebuild keeps the outside same colors and makes it look much better. I am going to paint the inside of this loft, but I am going to have to wait until warmer weather. I can them hook up my paint sprayer and get the inside painted in about 3 minutes. I will be able to darken this loft and will use it for the AU Race. I will post pictures of it as soon as it gets a bit warmer.
With both lofts, I will have two 12’ x 12’ lofts, for a total of 288 square feet of floor space. The cock section will have box perches/next boxes and the hens section just plain perches.
You can always look at my loft at my web page.
http://Pigeons.EricDrenckhahn.com