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My Life With Pigeons

I was born in Norwich 1n 1963. My dad had pigeons when I was born so I was brought up in the sport. We had some really good times but also some real heartbreak.

I remember when I was 8 years old. My dad took me into the loft for the first time and I saw all these birds sitting looking at me. At that point I really got the racing bug. I knew that day that pigeons would be a big part of my life. I never looked back. My dad and I would spend many an hour in and around the loft. He would show me the best birds and what to mate them with to get the best young birds from them for the young bird racing. We would pair them up and settle them down on the nest. I remember getting really excited about the eggs hatching and seeing this tiny ball of yellow fluff. As they got bigger I got excited about what colour they were going to be. Then came the excitement of putting them out on the loft for the first time. Next was the excitement of watching them fly for the first time and the slight trepidation that they may not come back. All this excitement remains with me now with my own birds. Next came training the birds. We basketed them up and went 10 miles up the road in the car. When we arrived at the first toss point we would put the birds on the roof of the car and let them settle down for 10 minutes or so in the basket. While the birds were settling down dad would get out a flask of coffee, coca cola for me and something to eat. When we had had something to eat and drink we would let the birds up and we would return home. By the time we got home the birds would be there waiting for us. The next training toss would be 15 miles up the road and so on until we got about 70 miles from home. Dad made each time special for me.

Then came the time I raced my own birds. I will never forget the feeling of the excitement of going to the club on a Friday night. There the secratary got me involved in every aspect of racing. Marking, ringing and even showing me how to set the clocks. Then Saturday morning the birds were liberated from there race point and on their way home. I was straight outside with my dad waiting for the birds to come home. Dad would come out with a full fry up and a cup of tea and once again made it a very special day for me. I remember sitting there all excited when out of the clear blue sky came our first bird (a blue bar logan). It came 2nd in club. I remember jumping up and down with all the excitement. The hobby of racing pigeons was well and truely in my blood. I remember being in bed that night and thinking what great times my dad and I were having. That was to continue for many years to come. Before I knew it it was time to train the young birds and away we went training them. Dad made this special for me every time.

Well I have made it sound good up until now, but there was alot of heartbreak to. There was the time we sent 20 young birds to a race and lost the lot. I was heartbroken. We weren't the only people to lose birds though that week. Nearly everyone in the club and in other clubs in the area did to. I remember a time when we sent our best bird to a race. It came back with it's crop split right open. We tried to nurse it back to health but sadly it died. So i know that racing pigeons is not all good times. There's alot of heartbreak to.

Pigeon racing involves alot of work to. You have to get the feed right and keep them in good condition. The loft must be dry and well ventilated. The loft needs to be cleaned every day. A healthy pigeon is a good racer and it's no good sending a pigeon that's not in tip top condition. Dad taught me that you should never over race a pigeon. They must be rested in between races. Dad used to take me to the pigeon feed shop and show me all the feed you could get for the pigeons. He explained the differences between the different types of mixes you could buy for them. I don't believe in giving the pigeons lots of vitamins. I was taught the old ways by my dad. That was to keep it as natural as possible. It worked back then and there is no reason why it shouldn't work today.

My dad is an old man now and he gave up racing pigeons 8 years ago. Up until last October I didn't have any birds of my own. I moved up to North Yorkshire last May to live with my new wife and her children. My wife decided last October that she would like some white garden doves. We went to Selby auctions where they sell birds every Monday. There she purchased 2 white doves. I then started doing some research on the internet. I found a site that said that if you cross white garden doves with white pigeons then you get a bird that will stay in your garden but can also fly well. After this I spotted some pigeons that had been released from their loft. I followed them home and asked their owner if he had any white pigeons that he wanted re-homing. His name was Danny Woodcock and luckily he did. He gave me a pair to mate with the doves. Well within a month the garden doves were gone and I had another 5 pairs of logans from Danny. The racing pigeon bug was well and truely back. We then started looking on ebay for books on racing pigeons and equipment. The seller of some of the books I purchased emailed me to ask if I knew anyone who wanted some pigeons as they were giving up the sport. I wasn't to keen to start of with until my wife talked me into it. She was more keen on getting the birds than I was. She started to ask questions and found out they had some really good birds. They had a Janssen Supersprinter, Busschaerts, Barkers and Belguims to name a few. Needless to say my wife talked me into getting the birds and we ended up with another 24 stock birds. We went over to Skelmersdale in Lancashire to pick up the birds and we have remained friends with Lin and Day Goulding and their family. They are very interested in how the birds are doing and I hope they do well.

At the moment I have 11 old birds to race this year. I did have 14 but in the last 2 days I have lost 2 of them and have no idea where they have gone. Having the old birds has caused a little heartbreak in itself. I lost 1 of them a few weeks ago. My next door neighbours came round and said that they could hear scratching and cooing in their chimney. I went round but couldn't hear anything and dismissed it. The next day I was upstairs when there was a knock on the front door. My wife answered it and stood on the doorstep was our next door neighbour and their daughter. She told my wife the pigeon was definately in her chimney and proceeded to tell her that it had just stuck it's head through their gas fire. My wife came and told me and after a bit of growling on my behalf I went round to see what it was. It's very lucky that I am a qualified plumber and gas fitter. I went round thinking "this is not my bird". I proceeded to take the fire apart to reassure them that it wasn't my bird. After I had dismantled the fire low and behold my pigeon jumped into my arms. I was very shocked as she had been down there for 3 days. She was hungry, thirsty and very dirty but other than that she was fine. The day after she went missing another bird went missing. After 2 days she arrived back on the loft. She was covered in soot to so I think she must of gone down the chimney to but got out on her own. The birds that are missing now are the first bird that went down the chimney and a chequer. I just hope they aren't down the chimney again!!!!!!!!

On a final note I want to thank Lin and Day Goulding and Danny Woodcock for letting me have the birds.