# 500 Mile Race



## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Just came from opening clocks.............and I won the A race this week end. (didn't ship the B race because of the weather) I was thinking (or hoping) I did when my little hen showed up so early yesterday. I wasn't even out watching for birds yet. My husband was in the back yard and yelled, "YOU'VE GOT A BIRD HOME".......I went flying out side.
This same bird came home from the 300 last week and it took her 10 minutes to trap. Yesterday it took her about 10 seconds. 
Don't know what the difference in last week and this week was. She's a 3 year old and has flown good for us and has been our first bird home a few times, but yesterday was totally unexpected. Just can't figure it out. 
Anyway, I'm very pleased and proud of her.


----------



## David Ey (Dec 31, 2007)

WOW ! Congratulations....What a thrill it must have been.
Do you ever sell quality pairs?


----------



## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

David Ey said:


> WOW ! Congratulations....What a thrill it must have been.
> Do you ever sell quality pairs?


Thanks David. I very seldom sell my birds. Actually the pair that this bird is off of is a pair that we borrowed for a couple of years from a friend up in Michigan. After the pair of birds left their babies 2 different times and I had to hand raise them, I sent them back to him.  
This bird is the only one that they actually raised themselves and only because we had a two week warm up in Jan of that year, so even though they STILL didn't sit on the baby after about 7 days, it was warm enough that she survived without my help.


----------



## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

do have a pic of her? 500 miles....wow  congrats!


----------



## Avion (May 28, 2007)

Want to see a BIG picture with a blue ribbon around her neck. LOL 

Congratulations and hope you win many more.


George


----------



## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

spirit wings said:


> do have a pic of her? 500 miles....wow  congrats!


No, don't think I have one. She's just a Blue Check with feathers on her leg.  

She's in this video. I show her from 38 seconds to 44 seconds. There's two Blue Checks. She the one in front being chased. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o64-J9yMadc


----------



## kalapati (Aug 29, 2006)

Lovebirds said:


> Just came from opening clocks.............and I won the A race this week end. (didn't ship the B race because of the weather) I was thinking (or hoping) I did when my little hen showed up so early yesterday. I wasn't even out watching for birds yet. My husband was in the back yard and yelled, "YOU'VE GOT A BIRD HOME".......I went flying out side.
> This same bird came home from the 300 last week and it took her 10 minutes to trap. Yesterday it took her about 10 seconds.
> Don't know what the difference in last week and this week was. She's a 3 year old and has flown good for us and has been our first bird home a few times, but yesterday was totally unexpected. Just can't figure it out.
> Anyway, I'm very pleased and proud of her.



hi renee,

i'm very happy for you and congratulations!

what time was it released and arrival time? when you get a chance please post her pic.


kalapati
San Diego
http://myracingpigeons.mypets.ws:81/jview.htm


----------



## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

*Race Winner*

Here's a picture of the little hen that won. And she IS little. You can see the feathers that run down her leg in the second picture. 
And, while I'm posting pictures....... this other hen came to see me while I was out taking pictures. She's always begging me to let her next door to see her man.......


----------



## Pigeon lower (Oct 23, 2007)

the last hen would fool me as i sorta think it looks like a cock/hen i would probally guess a cock bird.


----------



## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Pigeon lower said:


> the last hen would fool me as i sorta think it looks like a cock/hen i would probally guess a cock bird.


Well, she's laid a few eggs in her life.........so I think she's a hen.


----------



## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

she looks like a nice little hen. are the feathers on the feet unusual for homers to have?


----------



## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

spirit wings said:


> she looks like a nice little hen. are the feathers on the feet unusual for homers to have?


No, not really. In fact, she and her other brothers/sisters were the only ones I've ever had with that many feathers on their feet. Neither of her parents had them, so I guess they came from way back in her ancestors somewhere.


----------



## Maggie-NC (Jun 22, 2005)

Renee, congratulations! I know that was a thrill. Both of these little hens are so pretty. Love the way the second one is cocking her head like she wants to be sure she is in the picture.


----------



## Eriduardo (Aug 28, 2006)

Congrats Renee!!!


----------



## Rooster2312 (Mar 8, 2006)

I'm so happy for you Renee! You must be so so proud of her winning that race . Congratulations! She is a fine looking bird and a very fit one too..500 miles!

Question for you: My Irish Paddy who I took in after he got terribly lost from his race last year still has his racing band on. I didn't think to remove it (and wouldn't know how), but it got me thinking recently, that perhaps I should have removed it. It looks tight, but his leg is fine and he has nice pink feet. I do wonder what the skin is like underneath though. His other band (which I still have) had to be removed at the vets as his leg was fractured. 

Do they get new race bands each race or keep the same number?

Lindi


----------



## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Rooster2312 said:


> I'm so happy for you Renee! You must be so so proud of her winning that race . Congratulations! She is a fine looking bird and a very fit one too..500 miles!
> 
> Question for you: My Irish Paddy who I took in after he got terribly lost from his race last year still has his racing band on. I didn't think to remove it (and wouldn't know how), but it got me thinking recently, that perhaps I should have removed it. It looks tight, but his leg is fine and he has nice pink feet. I do wonder what the skin is like underneath though. His other band (which I still have) had to be removed at the vets as his leg was fractured.
> 
> ...



I'm sure his band is fine. They are banded as baby and wear it for the rest of their lives. This is the band with the club letters and numbers, year, etc.......right? Or is it one of those chip ring bands?


----------



## Rooster2312 (Mar 8, 2006)

His 'baby' registration band was the one that was removed at the vet. Its is the other brownish coloured band with very illegible stamped on numbers that remains.

Lindi


----------



## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Rooster2312 said:


> His 'baby' registration band was the one that was removed at the vet. Its is the other brownish coloured band with very illegible stamped on numbers that remains.
> 
> Lindi


I'm not sure what that is, but it's got to be removeable. The registration band is the only one that is put on for life. Any other band should be able to be put on and off as you need to. 
Does it look at all like this one? The blue one. These chip rings come in a few different colors. 
http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=8846&d=1209938255


----------



## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

Congratulations!!!!!!

Give the darling little hen a big kiss for me, she is a cutie as is the other one!!!


----------



## Rooster2312 (Mar 8, 2006)

Hi Renee,

It doesn't look like a chip ring as shown in your pic but it must be another type of ring that serves the same purpose as the blue chip ring. It is quite hard to even see this ring on his leg as it is kinda the same colour as his leg. I shall try and get a photo of him tomorrow. There appears to be no 'give' around his leg with this band but he seems fine with it. I just wondered if it would be best to try and remove it. He accepts me much better but is still not hand-tame so I don't want to stress him unnecessarily.

Thanks for your help.

Lindi


----------



## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Thanks everyone..........now the next question will be where did I place in the combine. Won't know that until Tues or Wed.............I'll let you know. With the wind the birds had behind them, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see even faster speeds.............especially the guys who were flying *125* miles shorter than me.


----------



## MaryOfExeter (Sep 30, 2007)

Congrats!
I was hoping I'd hear something from at least someone about the race.
Then again I haven't really asked...haha.
I'm sure you did good in the combine as well


----------



## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

MaryOfExeter said:


> Congrats!
> I was hoping I'd hear something from at least someone about the race.
> Then again I haven't really asked...haha.
> I'm sure you did good in the combine as well


I haven't talked to anyone other than our members up here either. Can't wait to hear. Boy, the weather scared the CRAP out of me yesterday morning. I was SO worried about the birds, but it seems that most of them came through ok. We never did get any bad weather.


----------



## MaryOfExeter (Sep 30, 2007)

Lovebirds said:


> I haven't talked to anyone other than our members up here either. Can't wait to hear. Boy, the weather scared the CRAP out of me yesterday morning. I was SO worried about the birds, but it seems that most of them came through ok. *We never did get any bad weather.*


It looked cloudy here too but nothing ever happened. My dad even worked his butt off to finish whatever he was working on before it rained...which never came, so all that hard work for nothing.
I can't wait until I get to race. I know it'll be tough but there's a fun side too. I'd just like to see how good my birds really are.


----------



## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Lady Tarheel said:


> Renee, congratulations! I know that was a thrill. Both of these little hens are so pretty. *Love the way the second one is cocking her head like she wants to be sure she is in the picture*.


probably cause the first one I snapped, I cut her head out of the pic. LOL


----------



## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Avion said:


> Want to see a BIG picture with a blue ribbon around her neck. LOL
> 
> Congratulations and hope you win many more.
> 
> ...


She drew the line at the blue ribbon. Picture, yes. Ribbon, no.


----------



## David Ey (Dec 31, 2007)

Rooster2312 said:


> His 'baby' registration band was the one that was removed at the vet. Its is the other brownish coloured band with very illegible stamped on numbers that remains.
> 
> Lindi


I would think you would not be able to compete this bird in a santioned race.


----------



## mr squeaks (Apr 14, 2005)

RENEE,

*CONGRATULATIONS!!*

*PLEASE GIVE THAT LOVELY HEN HUGS AND SCRITCHES!!*

From

_Shi & Squeaks_


----------



## Margarret (May 3, 2007)

Congratulations Renee. Those are both beautiful birds. I also liked the red cock with the white flights in the upper right hand nest box. He is a handsome fellow.

Margaret


----------



## k-will (Dec 15, 2007)

congrats on the 500 mile winner renee.remember the bird i told you flew 550 on the day?well,the same bird flew 660 on the day,and then 2 weeks later 550 on the day again.the bird will be a registered au champ with 5 diplomas,the other 2 being 340 mile races.the bird is 2 years old.believe that.my friend bernard keyes flew this bird this year.the bird is now residing in his breeder loft.i have some youngsters coming from him as well as his parents.


----------



## Avion (May 28, 2007)

Renee,
How did you make out in the combine?

George


----------



## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Avion said:


> Renee,
> How did you make out in the combine?
> 
> George


Haven't gotten the race results yet...........I already know I didn't win, but don't know exactly where I placed. Hopefully we'll find out tomorrow.


----------



## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Avion said:


> Renee,
> How did you make out in the combine?
> 
> George


Finally got the race results today. I took a 6th in the combine..........so that's ok. We used to have a clocking limit, but this year, that has been done away with, so for once, the combine results are TRUE.


----------



## DEEJAY7950 (Dec 13, 2006)

Renee ? is there a bird limit in the combine? or can someone fly say 20 birds and another 10 ? or does everyone fly the same amount of birds?


----------



## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

DEEJAY7950 said:


> Renee ? is there a bird limit in the combine? or can someone fly say 20 birds and another 10 ? or does everyone fly the same amount of birds?


We've always had a shipping limit and it's based on how many fliers there are for the particular season. However, this year, they decided to let people who wanted to, put in extra birds if someone else didn't ship the limit. If I could ship 15 but only shipped 5, then someone else could ship an extra 10 birds to replace the ones I could have shipped. I'm not big on numbers. A good bird is a good bird and will do what it does whether it has 20 loft mates to "follow" home or not. These guys that get 10, 15 birds on a drop from 300 to 400 miles and it's different birds every week, don't get me all excited. You've probably got 1 or 2 that would have come home if they were the only birds shipped and at some point the gang got together and most of the others just "followed"............that's the way I see it anyway.


----------



## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Lovebirds said:


> We've always had a shipping limit and it's based on how many fliers there are for the particular season. However, this year, they decided to let people who wanted to, put in extra birds if someone else didn't ship the limit. If I could ship 15 but only shipped 5, then someone else could ship an extra 10 birds to replace the ones I could have shipped. I'm not big on numbers. A good bird is a good bird and will do what it does whether it has 20 loft mates to "follow" home or not. These guys that get 10, 15 birds on a drop from 300 to 400 miles and it's different birds every week, don't get me all excited. You've probably got 1 or 2 that would have come home if they were the only birds shipped and at some point the gang got together and most of the others just "followed"............that's the way I see it anyway.


Not taking anything away from the guys who do that. It DOES look good on paper.  And it helps sell birds. I just don't feel the need to ship lots of birds week in and week out. I ship what I feel can fly the distance and get home. If that's one bird or ten.......doesn't matter.


----------



## DEEJAY7950 (Dec 13, 2006)

Well that's very interesting about the two birds breaking away and coming home straight away, I can understand that makes perfect sense to me, what I really don't grasp is the concept of one person being able to send say twenty birds and another sending 2 birds, seems like the advantage belongs to the person flying large amounts of birds given that all the birds are pretty equal in racing abilities! Does that make any sense?


----------



## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

DEEJAY7950 said:


> Well that's very interesting about the two birds breaking away and coming home straight away, I can understand that makes perfect sense to me, what I really don't grasp is the concept of one person being able to send say twenty birds and another sending 2 birds, seems like the advantage belongs to the person flying large amounts of birds given that all the birds are pretty equal in racing abilities! Does that make any sense?


Some people feel the same as you and in young birds, I DO believe it makes a difference. Young birds have to "learn" to break away from the pack. It's simply instinct to follow and it does take a good bird to learn to do that early on. 
I think by the time they are 2 years old, and 1 year old if they've been to enough races, they learn to think on thier own. 
I guess that's why some do the single tosses and train from where the birds have to break to come home.
Not making excuses, but.......where I sit, my birds would have to break from the basket and I'm don't intend to drive to the race stations to train them.  We have about 8 to 11 flyers that live 50 miles to the east of us that fly in the combine. We have 4 to 6 flyers that live 30 to 50 miles to the west of us. There are NO OTHER flyers in between us the these guys. We're out here all alone, so I really don't expect to win a whole lot of races. We've got a flock of 50 or more birds going east and a flock of 50 or more going west and then there's my 3 or 4 or at the most, 15 birds coming somewhere in the middle. And I KNOW they aren't breaking from the pack 200 miles from home, so when we do get birds at the top of the sheet or win a race here and there, you can bet that the bird THAT day was awesome. In my mind, there's no other way to look at it. 
That's what makes a win special though. I could probably raise a bunch of birds and have a team of 50 or 60 old birds and do a little better, but like I said, I don't play the numbers game. If a small team puts me at a disadvantage, so be it. I just know that if I do my job with the birds and the liberators do THEIR job with releasing and NOT releasing in bad weather, my birds do come home at the end of the day. 
These guys who ship 40 birds and loose 5 or 10, but win the race, don't care about the ones they lost. In their mind, it's all part of playing to win. I don't play that. I'll take every bird that I ship, home when the sun goes down, over a win and having lost birds every day of the week. 
So, that's my take on the whole situation.


----------



## DEEJAY7950 (Dec 13, 2006)

Hey just got back and read your post, well said and I like your take on the race game!


----------



## David Ey (Dec 31, 2007)

DEEJAY7950 said:


> Hey just got back and read your post, well said and I like your take on the race game!


So do I.

Exactly what is a combine?
As I understand it, OB races start in March and YB races start in September and each run about 6-8 weeks. Is that about right?
At about what age would a YB be ready to race if it were trained and conditioned?


----------



## Barn Pigeon (Feb 11, 2005)

Congrats, Renee
Sixth overall ain't bad. Was that one of the widow cock ? I just got the results last night. I will fly the 200 this week. Then I may send 1-2 to the 500. I got a couple of 2 yr olds that have been flying good. I would also like to get one or two of my whites down to the 500 as well. Good luck this week on the 200.


----------



## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Barn Pigeon said:


> Congrats, Renee
> Sixth overall ain't bad. Was that one of the widow cock ? I just got the results last night. I will fly the 200 this week. Then I may send 1-2 to the 500. I got a couple of 2 yr olds that have been flying good. I would also like to get one or two of my whites down to the 500 as well. Good luck this week on the 200.


Actually it was one of my 3 year old hens. She's done "ok" for us, that's why she's still here, but nothing like last week. We were surprised as we've ever been. 
It tickles me when you guys talk about flying the "200" and the "500"..........it's over 300 for us up here and 550 to 600.  
Anyway, haven't decided if I'll fly the Brewton race. Will send everyone this week that didn't go last week and then I might be done.
Been a rough OB season.....took some bad hits and I for one have never been more glad it's almost over.


----------



## Barn Pigeon (Feb 11, 2005)

LoveBirds,
You are right. It has been a rough OB season. I started off with 56 in which half were late hatches , but I may finish the season with 15-18. Those rain weekend s did a number on several lofts. I can't believe if is almost over .  But I can't wait to start traning YB's should have around 60. I have been talking with alot of guys and we are going to have to train together in order to keep the cost down. I will train out to 25miles then it is on the training truck with the rest of the club members. They got to learn to break as you were saying or they will be in VA for sure. My whites have flown good this season . I am giving Becky some birds tonight to help her out. Hope they do her some good.


----------



## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

I guess you all survived the storms last night. THAT is what scares me every week end. What happened last night could potentially happen all these week ends when the birds are being released when they're calling for 60 and 70 percent chance of rain.
Weather isn't looking so bad this week end, but then I have really checked it close this morning.


----------



## Maggie-NC (Jun 22, 2005)

Renee, WRAL weather forecasts Sunday as being possibly a bad, bad day for storms, supposedly worse than what happened last night.

We missed the majority of the bad weather last night, had a bit of rain early this morning and some thunder but I understand Greensboro got hit with a tornado last night. Hope all your folks in that area are ok.


----------

