Editorial note: Please read this disclaimer first: The Boglin Marsh Archives
This article was originally published between 1999 and 2001. Reproduced here as recovered from the archived Boglin Marsh website. It may contain language and attitudes of its time.
This is historical writing, not current advice. Veterinary and husbandry practice has changed since it was written. Speak to your vet and your club before acting on anything here.
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Boglin Marsh: The 'Novices Social Circle' (part one)
Boglin Marsh The Boglin The Racing Pigeon Fanciers Portal
THE NOVICES SOCIAL CIRCLE.
(or climbing Everest with SPINKSY)
After a great deal of soul searching I finally arrived at the conclusion that the greatest mountain that I could possibly climb would be taking all novices to the peak of Everest and the prize table. If you are happy with your performances then read no further because nobody can teach you anything, but if you are not and have ambition then this is the column for you, provided that you faithfully promise to follow the guidance to the letter. It is my intention to take every novice to the top with their existing team of birds ( provided that they are healthy ) without any further introductions or expense. One thing that is necessary for understanding is knowledge of all things living click here for helpful books
Firstly you must take the vow : "I novice pigeon fancier do faithfully swear to follow the teachings of Spinksy!" Good that is first painless step. If you have been racing pigeons without winning your luck is about to change, but first you must dispatch all other books and systems into the darkest cupboard or corner of your mind. They haven't worked for you so far, so it is doubtful that they will work in the future! You and I together are about to rewrite the record books in simple easy to follow stages and become the envy of fancier friends? You know who I mean; those good pals that tell you that you have to make your own mistakes! Well in my book nobody needs to make mistakes because pigeon racing is the simplest common sense thing upon God's earth. We are going to start with your present loft, sufficiently large enough for ten pairs of pigeons. I would suggest 16 feet x 6 feet to be adequate. With two identical sections separated by a solid partition and ten nest boxes in each section. It must be dry and airy inside and so constructed that the birds in section A do not have sight of the pigeons in section B. It should, where possible have its back to the prevailing wind for speed of trapping; forget about facing south, that's useless if the birds approach is too fast for a first time landing. Trapping may be whatever system suits you best, open door, sputnik or stall trap, but it is essential that the different sexes can be exercised without catching sight of pigeons in the opposite section; the reason for this will be explained later.
Now the pigeons that you already own should have been vaccinated by end of Nov. if not then do so immediately it is no good waiting until racing is upon you. It is time to do some soul searching and hardening of the heart, because there is only room for ten pairs and even less at this juncture. Any old pigeon that has not been first bird to your own loft in the past season has overstayed its welcome; if there are only four then so be it, because pigeons that cannot beat their own loft mates, sure as heck won't beat any others. Remember you've taken the vow and I'm not carrying passengers to the top of Everest! These birds are most likely the product of all your years of labour and expense and yet up till this point you have been unable to get the best performance out of them and probably blamed the original supplier. Well you are now about to learn that the problem was yourself and I am going to prove it to you by taking you up the ladder. You will surprise yourself, win friends and influence people as you learn the tricks of the trade and motivation of pigeons. Keep this article to yourself, don't let the experts read it, because they are out to beat you if they can, but they won't and that is guaranteed or my name isn't Napoleon! You think that I'm joking, but I am deadly serious because we are going straight to the top in easy stages. Right son, selection is completed, these should be well balanced birds, supple muscles, none too deep, bright eyed, well feathered and healthy. Preferably they will be less than four years of age. The eyes will be rich in colour, the iris will be pebbled like a Cornish beach, there should be soot spots and dust evident without any eye - glass. Hopefully there will be a well defined but serrated circle of correlation around the pupil. Within the iris there should be a black line that appears as if someone has stroked a brush of black paint from the centre outwards between two and three o'clock. Failing this there could be a single large black spot, but if there isn't don't worry as your family improves these signs will appear! Iris colour does not matter, they could all be the same or different, but they must appear pebbled and bright. Now is the time to arrange your pairings: Throw away all paper pedigrees for the time being, because you are about to create a winning family of your own. If you have kept performance records of each bird as you should have done, for this first season they will be paired best to best down the line in order of preference. Do not keep an extra bird just to make up a pair, if one is without a mate it can be raced celibate without any bother. Your birds are healthy, exercised as often as possible and are not in need of treatment of any kind, it is pointless to treat pigeons that are not ailing and detrimental to their future condition.
All birds should be paired in one section of the loft only around February 14th for this first winning season and where possible two youngsters in each nest; because these will be the only young birds bred. Dispose of any chalky or malformed eggs, dispose of any backward looking squabs, in particular those with soft pulpy rear ends or dirty vents and infected umbilical. It is better to do this now, than once they are full grown, poor youngsters rarely if ever make winning adults, and it is too easy to make excuses. The feeding of your rearing birds is important if their condition is to be maintained and healthy strong youngsters develop. Where possible it is preferable to feed three times daily, but twice will do if time is limited. The parents must have access to fresh minerals; pink, black and pick stones of the clay variety. They must also have limestone and shell grit, this must be clean and dry at all times, because if left for several days it may be contaminated from atmospherics and dust etc. So serve it in sufficient amounts daily! Add Cytacon B12 to the drinker one day per week and make up the following supplement to be fed after each meal in small quantities i.e. one egg cup full between ten pigeons.
The supplement is as follows : 1 lb. of pinhead oatmeal, one teaspoon of Ascorbic acid ( Vitamin C obtainable from any chemist) 1 oz. of powdered fortified calcium ( obtainable at chemist or corn merchant 'Old Hand' product) 2 whole eggs. Mix and leave to dry overnight; this is sufficient to last for one week. The birds must be fed as follows upon hatching young : week one - morning 100% maple peas; just sufficient to pump the youngsters with soft food; midday - repeat; evening maple peas until the birds stop eating and have fully fed the squeakers, then return and top up with a good standard mixture. Don't forget the supplement and don't leave any food lying about. Week two : morning Maples; midday 50% maples 50% mixture, just enough to fully feed the squeakers; evening repeat then check that all young are satisfied and have full crops, then top up the old birds with their full requirement of mixture. Week three repeat this pattern until weaning, when you should have sound and healthy youngsters plus sturdy, healthy unstressed old birds ready to condition for racing. In the next chapter I shall go through the racing and training of the old bird team and you are already on your way to the prize table. Any problems then give me a call because I promise to take you to the summit. Step by step, week by week all tricks for motivation etc. will be yours along with a successful winning system that will allow you to compete throughout the programme and prove that what you already have in your loft is good enough. After which I shall tell you how to create and maintain a winning family of your very own without further expense! But you must promise to keep your vow and follow this to letter, because that is the real secret!
