# 2011 Au Bands



## bbcdon (Oct 16, 2007)

My 2011 AU bands came in today. I thought they would be in the latter part of this week.


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## rackerman (Jul 29, 2009)

bbcdon said:


> My 2011 AU bands came in today. I thought they would be in the latter part of this week.


Are they red this year?


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## bbcdon (Oct 16, 2007)

Yes, a very pretty red.


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## blongboy (Nov 10, 2009)

bbcdon said:


> My 2011 AU bands came in today. I thought they would be in the latter part of this week.


cool cant wait to get mines!!


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## ThePoultryFarm (Oct 1, 2010)

Got mine in today as well. They will definately show up on the birds!


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## ERIC K (Mar 29, 2010)

did you all order online or are your bands from a club ?


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## ThePoultryFarm (Oct 1, 2010)

I ordered mine via telephone from the AU.


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## MaryOfExeter (Sep 30, 2007)

I'll have to wait until thursday to get mine from the club at the meeting. Ours are yellow this year. Too much yellow in the past couple years!!


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## bbcdon (Oct 16, 2007)

ERIC K said:


> did you all order online or are your bands from a club ?


I ordered for myself with a written form for personalized bands.


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## ERIC K (Mar 29, 2010)

Thanks, I had my first hatch on the 25th of dec. I can get my bands from the club at our next meeting or maybe after the first of Jan. I think I will need them before ten days. bbcdon , where did you get the personalized bands from.


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## MaryOfExeter (Sep 30, 2007)

I would like to eventually get some RKM Loft bands 
You can get them from the AU.


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## SmithFamilyLoft (Nov 22, 2004)

bbcdon said:


> My 2011 AU bands came in today. I thought they would be in the latter part of this week.


You can't open the box or distrubute until 12:01 on Jan 1st, 2011 !


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## [MN]eXist^_^ (Feb 13, 2009)

That's what I thought also.


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## MaryOfExeter (Sep 30, 2007)

SmithFamilyLoft said:


> You can't open the box or distrubute until 12:01 on Jan 1st, 2011 !


If they really wanted to enforce that, they shouldn't have shipped so early


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## DEEJAY7950 (Dec 13, 2006)

Well with the weather and the holidays like it is I sure hope they did ship a few days early, I don't think a few days makes all that much difference anyways! I'd be interested in hearing what supply houses shipped early for future reference if anyone is willing to say so?! Like- NEPS-JEDDS-FOYS-SIEGELS-GLOBAL-HIGHPOINT-VITA KING Please only respond if you actually have 2011 bands in your hand before the 1st of January!


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## eyespyer (Jul 14, 2008)

I got mine Christmas eve

But I live in Oklahoma and UA office is in Oklahoma City just 50 miles away


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## sky tx (Mar 1, 2005)

Banding a bird 3-4 days earlly will not make a WINNER.
If we do not have bands to band birds Hatched Jan 1st-Yes we have 5-10 days to band the bird-Then we are cheated out of flying that bird --as a young bird--for 1 year.
So its "tit for tat" as to what is Right or Wrong.
I have some bands/rings in my collection from Holland that "can not" be streached to fudge banding a bird---it will be a split band

I expect to receive bands this week--Just do not have them in my hand.


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## SmithFamilyLoft (Nov 22, 2004)

No one in our club has even paired their birds together yet, so it is pretty much a none issue for us this year. I had been doing the December breeding now for a number of years, and I just can't seem to make it worth the effort or wear and tear on the birds. So, sometime next year I will put my birds together and if I havn't lost the box of bands by then, I will be in business !


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## bbcdon (Oct 16, 2007)

I just now have the first pair of eggs, so it will be the latter part of January before I band any.


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## eyespyer (Jul 14, 2008)

I had one pair that hatched eggs Saturday Christmas day. So that set should be banned on new years day. Other than that I have about 12 other pairs sitting on eggs that should start hatching any day. A bird that is just a few days from another is not going to make that much difference, sence they all will be trained the same.

just my thoughts


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## conditionfreak (Jan 11, 2008)

Well. My combine is racing young birds and old birds together, starting July 16th. So I put my breeders together two days after Thanksgiving. I have babies hatched on Christmas day already. I hope my bands from Foys arrive soon. At worst, I should be able to get them from my club on the 1st or 2nd of Jan.

It is going to be a learning experience for me (us), racing old and young at the same time and starting in the middle of July. So far, every year I have raced with this combine, something has changed. Course direction every year, and now a course and timing change. You would think that after 60 years or so of racing pigeons in this area, it would have all been figured out. But....new people,,,new gas prices,,and personal agendas, have all played a part in these changes. If so and so is doing winning, then the other so and so's want a change, and vice versa. If young bird losses are heavy, a change is in the air. To be fair about it though. Most in the combine just want to race and don't really care when or where from. That is my attitude also. As long as the birds are let out from the same location at the same time, I'm game. I don't care if we race from Canada. My birds will hack it.

Or they won't. 

I think I gotta figure out how to use lights to make the molts work out alright, considering this new race schedule. If anyone has any suggestions, or better yet, explicit instructions, on how to do that. Please PM me, or post here.


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## atvracinjason (Mar 4, 2010)

I'd like to question the "legality" of banding a bird born in 2010 with a 2011 band
-I have birds that are ready, but I HATE cheaters and was planning on banding them as 2010 even though they will not be able to compete as yb's
-What is everyones take on this


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## GEMcC5150 (Oct 24, 2010)

2010 birds are 2010 birds not 2011 Right is right if not then through out the rule books


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## conditionfreak (Jan 11, 2008)

I, like most. Band my birds on the first of January. Even though they may have been hatched in late December. It is not that difficult to band birds 6 to 9 days old. Even older.

Last year I banded a couple of young birds that had feathers. Just takes lubricant, patience, and technique. It is not against the rules to band two week old birds on January 1st. 

But if some want to band their birds on December 27th, go for it. I'll put my early January banded birds up against them anytime. As a matter of fact. I am sure I have already.


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## atvracinjason (Mar 4, 2010)

I also hate wasting stuff...so I'll use up my 2010 bands


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## Crazy Pete (Nov 13, 2008)

I recieved 4 Sure Bet, Hollywood crosses I could have waited to breed but I didn't want to wait to see if they are any good. By the time the old bird season starts they will be as old as if I raised them in March for the young bird season. I could have waited a month, but sending them to 300 mi be it old bird or young bird. I'm just to impatient.
Dave


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## ERIC K (Mar 29, 2010)

I checked the AU web site and could only fine the rule about clubs could not give the bands out until Jan, 1/2011. It said nothing about banding a bird by its birthday. I guess it up to each person as to what they will or won't do. I've got babies on the 25th of Dec. 2010 and they will get 2011 bands when I get them from our club in Jan 2011.

I'm also like Crazy Pete because I got some babies almost weened from a special mating and I can fly them as old birds or keep to cross back in my breeding program. Banded with old 2009 bands.


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## conditionfreak (Jan 11, 2008)

To respond to the question about the "legality" of banding birds born in 2010 with 2011 bands, I say this.

There is nothing "illegal" about it at all. It is not a law. I guess you meant that it is a "rule violation" of the AU. Well, if that is what you actually meant. You are wrong. It is NOT a violation of any AU rule. 

It would be a violation of an AU rule to distribute the bands to members to use, or to band your birds in late 2010, with 2011 bands. 

Using the word "cheaters" is going too far. How is it cheating if the AU allows it, and it has been "precedent" in this sport since the invention of numbered bands?

It is NOT CHEATING if a bird born on Dec. 25th, 2010, is banded on January 1st, 2011, and flown in the 2011 young bird AU sanctioned races.

The young birds just have to be banded in 2011. Not born in 2011.

The only rule the AU has on their web site, that specifically pertains to this subject. Is from their "Code of Ethics" section. It reads:

"310.04 Under no circumstances will officers of member clubs distribute bands to individuals prior to January 1 of each year."

Now, I will grant you this. If someone does receive 2011 bands in 2010 and bands their birds prior to Midnight on Dec. 31st 2010. That might be something that has to be judged by the AU. For instance, if Foys mails me my bands and I receive them on Dec. 28th and band my young birds that day. Then I "may" be in violation of an AU rule or rules that refer to conduct detrimental to the sport. But I can not find anywhere that subject is directly addressed on their website.

I think that it is a moot point anyway. Although I am sure that if money was involved, someone will try to use it to "move up" in the race standings.

C'mon though. Would you really be pizzed if a bird that was banded on Dec. 30th, beat your bird in a race?

Yep. I guess you would. No one likes to be beat.

But the reason you got beat, will not be because the bird was banded a couple of days before yours was. I defy someone to make that case convincingly.


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## hillfamilyloft (Jun 22, 2005)

SmithFamilyLoft said:


> No one in our club has even paired their birds together yet, so it is pretty much a none issue for us this year. I had been doing the December breeding now for a number of years, and I just can't seem to make it worth the effort or wear and tear on the birds. So, sometime next year I will put my birds together and if I havn't lost the box of bands by then, I will be in business !


I am with you on this one. My birds will not go together until around the end of January. At -3 outside, I don't even want to mate. Ha Ha. The old guys used to put the birds together on Valentines day. I go a couple of weeks earlier. It seems to be much better than winter breeding for me. If I was in warmer weather, I would start earlier.


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## conditionfreak (Jan 11, 2008)

I would like to wait until later also. The hawk problem during the stage of having squeakers on the landing board is much less harsh the later you breed. But with a starting date of July 16th for our racing season, and being new to that. I need to see what works for me, so I am going to breed early, middle and late. Then see what works out best.


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## MaryOfExeter (Sep 30, 2007)

July 16th!? Holy crap! The hottest month of the year too


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## Pigeon0446 (Apr 22, 2007)

conditionfreak said:


> I would like to wait until later also. But with a starting date of July 16th for our racing season, and being new to that. I need to see what works for me, so I am going to breed early, middle and late. Then see what works out best.


I was just wondering how it was going to work with the combined young bird and old bird season. How long is the season going to be? I'll be waiting to sse how this turns out it seams like it's gonna be brutal on the birds having to fly all the races in the hight of summer. We pretty much get the same temps in the summer as you maybe you get a lil hotter since we've got the ocean to cool us a lil here on Long Island. But most ppl complain about our first few races in the end of August. Saying it's too hot to fly the 100 mile races I couldn't imagine them ever having 500 mile races that time of the year as it seams you'll be having with this new set up you guys are trying out.


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## raftree3 (Oct 16, 2010)

Okay.... right leg upside down right?


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## Thunderbird Racing (Jul 24, 2010)

I put mine on the left leg, upside down. I have birds with bands on either leg, I think it is a personal preference thing.


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## conditionfreak (Jan 11, 2008)

Most put them on the right leg, upside down so that they are easier to read when handling the bird. But as Chromie stated, it is a personal preference thing. There is no right or wrong. I know some flyers that intentionally do the opposite, so they can more easily tell which birds are porbably theirs, in a crowd of birds in a crate.


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## conditionfreak (Jan 11, 2008)

Yep. This July 16th start is gonna be interesting. We voted on it and all but one of us voted for it.

But prior to voting, we formed a committee to study it and in their report, they cited that they had conversation with another combine in another state of the mid west, that has already done the same thing. That combines members reported that they found no difference in the performance of thir birds, versus their race results from the old standard way of having an old bird and a young bird season separate. They also reported no signaficant difference in performance due to starting early, as we are going to do.

I do find that hard to believe, since the hotter weather "should" cause some effect on the birds and their performance.

But we are gonna try it and see how it works. With gasoline and driver costs going up and up, it makes sense to give it a try I think. Many ecomomists are predicting gasoline prices reaching 5 bucks per gallon in 2011.

We can always change back next year. Heck, as I have already mentioned. We change something every year. Who knows. Maybe next year we will be racing hawks and cursing those darn pigeons that are leading are hawks away from their straight line home to our lofts.


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## Pigeon0446 (Apr 22, 2007)

Is it gonna be one season that is the same length as one of the old split seasons. Or is it gonna be a longer season?


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## Matt Bell (May 5, 2010)

I really don't think the temperatures matter. When I was flying in SW Kansas, we would have our 600 mile race in the middle of June, flying from the very far southern part of Texas, almost on the Mexico line. It was always over 100 degrees for the birds on the majority of the course, and there isn't any water out there either. We got day birds on the 600s. To me, temperature never really mattered.


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## Jaysen (Jun 21, 2010)

Sorry to get us back onto the band topic, but my own lack of ability to build a loft! 

Bands won't be available for us until 1/9. Had I tried to time pairings I would have a whole round that would be unusable. I never thought it would ever be possible to say "incompetence has saved the day!"


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## Pigeon0446 (Apr 22, 2007)

Why wouldn't your bands be available until 1/9. My club has tried to pull that where the secratary wasn't gonna go down to the club until the weekend after new years. I just went to his house to get the bands. If they have the bands they should be available on the first of the year.


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## conditionfreak (Jan 11, 2008)

On the weekend of Sept. 3rd, we will have an old bird 500 mile race and a young bird 300 mile race. Then on Sept. 10th we will have our "Classic" money race. Young birds only at 350 miles.

Best laid plans of mice and men. We all know how the weather and other stuff can get in the way of our fun.


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## 4nursebee (May 27, 2009)

I got my AU bands today and they are a beautiful red!

What mystifies me is how got 701-800? Aren't there more flyers than that?

Side note: after building my new loft, cursing through my first real nest box building and having some joy with my next boxes, spending weeks with extra lighting, my first egg finally appeared yesterday, in the corner ON THE FLOOR! 

PS: If you want to know how I got my bands on 12/31 you need to video call me on SKYPE. Send me an email or PM and I will give you my skype name. (seriously, a friend gave me this dang camera and I have nobody to talk to with it)


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## MaryOfExeter (Sep 30, 2007)

You were just lucky and got low numbers 


I got mine last night. Won't need to band anything until tomorrow. I'm so tired of yellow  I got 11101-11200. Never had such large numbers before! 


Do you plan on racing nursebee?


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## Pigeon0446 (Apr 22, 2007)

I'm lucky I'm getting the low numbers once again since I won average speed. It's nice only having to write one or 2 numbers per bird to write out the sheet instead of having to write 3 or 4 numbers or even 5 like Becky has this year. I can't wait only 7 hours and 35 mins b4 I get mine at the club then I'll be out in the loft to banding all the new babies.


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## SmithFamilyLoft (Nov 22, 2004)

hillfamilyloft said:


> I am with you on this one. My birds will not go together until around the end of January. At -3 outside, I don't even want to mate. Ha Ha. The old guys used to put the birds together on Valentines day. I go a couple of weeks earlier. It seems to be much better than winter breeding for me. If I was in warmer weather, I would start earlier.


There are a whole list of good reasons NOT to bother with winter breeding, here are just a few that I can think of right off the top of my head. 

#1 Young will have to be settled right at the worst possible time in terms of hawks. 

#2 More eggs fail to hatch because of standing over 1st egg during cold weather.

#3 Hens tend to suffer more from being egg bound in very cold weather.

#4 1st rounds during this time never seem to be the best, don't seem to be fed as well, etc.

#5 Unable to really qualify, but I suspect it is much more work, more stressful to parents. I own some world class valuable stock, not some chickens which will simply be turned into chicken soup when they are worn out. I want more productive good years from my breeders, not fewer. I suspect that laying eggs into very cold dead of winter, and raising young is much more harder on my birds, especially on my hens. 

So my thinking is, what is the point ? Most of these very early youngsters never seem to be there at the very end of the season anyway. Besides, it is harder on me. So, I am like you Hill Family, some time over the next several weeks I will be getting them ready, but not today.


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## swaze (Mar 3, 2010)

SmithFamilyLoft said:


> There are a whole list of good reasons NOT to bother with winter breeding, here are just a few that I can think of right off the top of my head.
> 
> #1 Young will have to be settled right at the worst possible time in terms of hawks.
> 
> ...


and for every reason you list NOT to breed in the winter there is a good reason for doing so as well (especially if you live in warmer climates)

one thing you seem to be forgetting when you make posts like this is that you live in Pennsylvania where the winters are very cold. a guy living in San Diego, Miami, or Houston doesn't experience the same frigid winters that you do the elements you mention about being too cold don't apply.

as to your other points.

1# hawks can definitely be a problem if you breed for older youngsters but again it depends on where you live. not all areas deal with the same amount of hawks at the same time. in a lot of places the hawks are actually worse in April and May then they are in February.

2# eggs would only fail to hatch if they actually froze inside. most hens are smart enough to cover the single egg well if it is really cold outside. female pigeons are not stupid and from what I have seen they know that they need to cover the eggs better when it is colder. i have noticed that in the winter months the first egg usually does hatch a full day sooner because the hen sat on it more to keep it warm

3# there may be something to hens getting more egg bound but again if you live in San Diego or Miami or anywhere else with mild temperatures you don't have to deal with this. by the way hens and cocks also get dehydrated during breeding when the weather is too hot....if you live in say Miami you'd be much better off breeding in January than you would in the heat and humidity of late april and may.

4# you base that observation that first rounds are somehow worse on what? if it was a given that first rounds (winter hatches) were worse to race why do so many people do it? are they all just stupid or maybe just maybe is there a benefit to having old youngsters? the benefit is those birds are much more likely to be through the wing and body moult before the races start and you know as well as i do that fully moulted pigeons race better than those in a heavy moult

5# you are basing this one what? you don't breed in the winter so how would you know? again if a guy lives in place with mild winters why would you not breed in the winter. ask a guy that lives in Florida what hurts his breeders more....breeding in January or breeding in May?

i keep mentioning people that live in warmer climates but even in saying that there are still plenty of people who live in cold climates that find a way to successfully breed in winter


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## Pigeon0446 (Apr 22, 2007)

swaze said:


> i keep mentioning people that live in warmer climates but even in saying that there are still plenty of people who live in cold climates that find a way to successfully breed in winter


Like me, the highs have been below freezing for all but a few days the whole month of December. And my 34 babies I banded today look great and they'll be almost like old birds b4 they have to fly a race. I personally like the older birds for young bird season especially for the first few races since they should be more experienced then the younger guys and they'll have full wings to fly with.


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## conditionfreak (Jan 11, 2008)

Warren. Your and my weather isn't too much different. Yours is a little harsher for sure. But it ain't like I am in Florida and you are in PA. So I have a question to ask of you.

If you were in your same location and your combine and club decided to race young birds from the middle of July to the middle of September. When would you put your breeders together? Also, what would be the latest you would have eggs hatch, for racing that year?


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## sky tx (Mar 1, 2005)

If a young bird is 4 months old--Race it.
So get your pencil & paper and decide when you want them to hatch.
Here in Dallas Texas some of us put the Pairs together Thanksgiving Day.


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## ERIC K (Mar 29, 2010)

I live in a cold climate and my birds that have eggs or young look the same as the bird sitting on a cold perch. Maybe more content raising their young. 

The amount of daylight on Dec.14 is 8.48 hours, Jan 14 its 9.07. Feb. 14 its 10:22. March 14 its 11.48 . I only need a few extra hours of artifical light to equal mother natures system . It also helps when I leave for work at 6 am I need the ligths to feed and water morming and night. The temp in Wisconsin stayes about the same until the end of March. I can't wait till then to breed my World Class Pigeons. 

I can't say I spent thousands of dollars on my birds like some people do , not to name drop but my hopes for a good race season is in part, a great grand daughter of Claessens "Katoog".
Just to name one bird that I treasure in my loft. I will let you know how her offspring do in young birds this year. She's on eggs now so we will see if her first hatch are better or worse off than the later born birds.


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## conditionfreak (Jan 11, 2008)

ERIC K said:


> I live in a cold climate and my birds that have eggs or young look the same as the bird sitting on a cold perch. Maybe more content raising their young.
> 
> The amount of daylight on Dec.14 is 8.48 hours, Jan 14 its 9.07. Feb. 14 its 10:22. March 14 its 11.48 . I only need a few extra hours of artifical light to equal mother natures system . It also helps when I leave for work at 6 am I need the ligths to feed and water morming and night. The temp in Wisconsin stayes about the same until the end of March. I can't wait till then to breed my World Class Pigeons.
> 
> ...


Did I miss something?


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## Pigeon0446 (Apr 22, 2007)

ERIC K said:


> I live in a cold climate and my birds that have eggs or young look the same as the bird sitting on a cold perch. Maybe more content raising their young.


I have two breeding lofts one coop all the pairs have babies and the other coop they are still separated and I'm with you on this one I think the birds I have in the breeding coop that I have together and on babies look so much happier sitting back there on their eggs and now babies in the morning when it's 10 degrees.


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## conditionfreak (Jan 11, 2008)

I also have two breeding lofts. One is what could be described as an "open loft". There is only two walls and a roog to protect the birds. But it does have individual wooden nest boxes in it.

The other loft is your basic enclosed loft, like most have.

I have babies and eggs in the "basic loft". None in the "open loft".

But the difference I think is, that in the "basic loft", I keep a very small light bulb on, 24 hours a day. Of course they also have a large aviary to get sunlight. Big enough for me to walk around in. 

The "open loft" is just sunlight. No eggs yet there. Lots of snow though. Until today because it rained all day here and the weather is in the forties. Been in the low twenties for a while. Until yesterday when it went up to 62. Supposed to get down to 15 or 20 tonight though.

The weather around here changes like....well, like the weather.


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## seanG (May 30, 2009)

this is going to be my 1st year racing and im not putting my birds together till the end of February, no need for me to rush down to the club and get my bands


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## DEEJAY7950 (Dec 13, 2006)

seanG said:


> this is going to be my 1st year racing and im not putting my birds together till the end of February, no need for me to rush down to the club and get my bands


Good luck in your first year racing but you'll soon find out that your racing against birds that were bred early, put on the dark system, have a full set of feathers for racing and your birds have little chance against birds raised like this! These days its more about the SYSTEM then it is about the birds as far as young birds are concerned!


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## swaze (Mar 3, 2010)

DEEJAY7950 said:


> Good luck in your first year racing but you'll soon find out that your racing against birds that were bred early, put on the dark system, have a full set of feathers for racing and your birds have little chance against birds raised like this! These days its more about the SYSTEM then it is about the birds as far as young birds are concerned!


in my opinion birds in a heavy moult should not stand a chance to begin with and it's up to the fancier and system to make sure the birds don't go into the race season in heavy moults. whether it be raising early birds with the light system or raising birds with the dark system either will give you a team of mostly moulted out birds for the races

in this day and age with all of the information out there there is no excuse for anybody to have a team full of birds in a terrible moult going into the YB season. when they look like this they don't feel their best and of course don't race as well

we don't race old birds in a heavy moult so from a logical perspective it makes no sense to expect young birds to compete in a heavy moult. yet we here all the time from old timers and guys that want to keep it "natural" that these systems are bad and/or some kind of advantage

the reality is the systems are a necessity if you want to compete and be fair to your birds by ensuring they are moulted out for the races. again from a rational perspective it makes no sense and it's not fair to your birds to send them into races missing a bunch of feathers around their head and neck. it's drain on their system and they suffer for it.

so call it what you want but at this point the systems should be considered the norm and guys that choose not to use them are going out of their way to put their birds at a disadvantage

anybody can do the light system with a light bulb and a timer so I don't want to hear about how it's too much work 

it's not so much


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## misoutullo (Jan 4, 2011)

*need help with bands*

Hi my name is mayra I got my bands for 2011 but they come with a space for the chip and now I don't know which way the bands are supposed to go would any body happen to know???????


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## Mader631 (Sep 7, 2008)

Had my (WRV) Wisconsin River Valley RPC Meeting last night........got are bands last night also. The red bands look nice.


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## Big T (Mar 25, 2008)

AND ANOTHER RACING SEASON BEGINS!!!!! We each have our way of doing things, from breeding, feeding, training, to racing. This is why I love this site. We can share ideas, thoughts, questions, and lessons learned. I wish you all a great new year where the hawks keep missing and the birds always come home.

Happy Flying!!!!
Tony


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## windycityflyers (Apr 26, 2010)

Big T amen to that. I can't wait till my birds turn and burn out a race trailer.
windy


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