Hey Tom. This will be my first year racing. This type of information is invaluable for me. Thank you very much. Please, Please, Please provide more of these types of videos. There are lots of pigeon videos on you tube, but there are only a hand full that really matter for us new guys. This is one of them. My thoughts going into racing for the first time are along the same lines as this. Finding the correct birds, to add to the loft, for the right reasons, and raising them and treating them the right way is the beginnings of success. Thanks
Thanks for watching, glad it is helpful, I am working on getting one out hopefully this weekend with tips about acquiring birds and breeding ideas. Hope you have a great first year! Reach out if you have specific questions. All the best!
This is my second year flying birds, first year I’ll be racing birds. Got into birds because of bird dogs but now I just have two hobbies. I am planning to race old birds and I am already anxious about losing birds I’ve been caring for for a year and trained my first pointing dog with. Glad to follow you and I like that you treat every bird like it matters, that’s definitely how I want to run my loft.
100% Truth Bomb. I always asked people that wanted to breed to my multiple champion stud dog, will you be happy if the pups turn out as good as the mother. If they said no then they weren't breeding to him. Others would ask what line was best to breed to him. My answer was the fastest,toughest,track running female you can put your hands on. Birds are the same
Oh! i finally got my loft page... and i hope to have a you tube channel for my birds this coming year (im not very technical) so maybe by 2025 i can be in your one loft race!
We share the same outlook on making the birds comfortable around you. I’ve been saying all year, they race for us not for themselves so they need to be treated the best you can treat them. Great video.
Thanks for watching, I am sure you can find someone that does the exact opposite and wins, it is finding what works for us and participate in the sport in a way we enjoy
Good Fanciers have good characteristics You have quick powers of observation others don’t have. You see things others don’t. You also have a patience and calmness around animals most others don’t have. It makes your loft calm, which has to be an advantage for your birds Thanks for the journey
it's 50 percent the man and 50 percent pigeon it's a partnership. Many of the lofts in Europe showing fantastic results have the best loft locations and put in super results when the wind favours the loft that day . They are also top class fanciers that know how to manage pigeons . You see fanciers sell up a successful team of pigeons cash them in come back racing soon after with an entirely different family of pigeons and put in the same results .
Thanks for keeping your word Tom and putting out this video. Everything you say makes total sense to me and agrees with my 25 years of racing experience. The breeding section was in places controversial but in my eyes very accurate. People are now breeding large numbers and that in itself brings lots of issues and problems. I think part of your sccess this year with great returns (18/24) was partly down to fanciers sending you pigeons off proven racers/stock pigeons, the other part of your success was your pigeon management. Enjoy your time off.... think you've earned it. Have a great time with your family 👍
That is the beautiful thing about what I am doing. Being that I have a small audience watching breeders want to send good birds to represent them well. I really appreciate your support on the channel with what I am doing. I hope you have a great holiday season and breeding goes well for you. All the best!
Thomas. Good video as usual. Lots of stuff others don’t talk about. I also used Jeanie smith back in the day. I believe she was in the placerville area I like the concept of every bird being a 15 thousand dollar bird and be treated as such. Lot of good information in this video enjoy your break and look forward to seeing what next season will bring.
Thank you for the update and information that old and new flyer can use to the advantage of how to care for our pigeons. I would like to share this video so that others can learn from.
I know few people who have bred birds for stock and then they have won national races over and over,some birds can do it and some can’t, all depends on how good you train them and they race
Oh Tom , you promised me a small were are they now spot with the surviving birds , did you forget but anyways excellent video see you next year , can’t wait 👍🇬🇧
Hi Tom, How many days a week did you train your birds? And how do you know when they are in shape? Last year was my first year racing and I found that figuring how much/often to train to be very difficult.
Pre the first race, road training 3 times a week, loft fly everyday. I had to miss the first race, 90 miles for me. The postponed race number 2 a week. This might be over kill but I try to get the upcoming race distance mileage the seven days before that race. So my first race was Fernely NV 120 miles. Seven days before that race I took my birds 80 miles. 120-80=40 so sometime during the week I need 40 miles, it could be 1 40 miler say Weds( preferred ) or 2 20 milers may Wed&Thurs. Does that make sense? After that 120 mile race, the next race is Lovelock 170. 170-120=50 I want to get 50 miles road work before the next race. Not exact but a rough guide. I also loft fly everyday I am not on the road, sometime they would fly 20 minutes sometime an 45. Hope that helps. Let me know if I can clear anything up there.
@@joncurtis1898 I prefer tablets individual given to each bird. Prior to the season and after the YB sickness issue this year I used Tony’s Treasure Tablets. I have used doxy-t (powder in the water) in the past
Some good information for new flyers. Don’t buy birds because of the fancy names in Pedigrees. Find an honest winning flyer in your area and you’ll spend less money and have better birds usually. Bred for stock over several generations can lead to glorified fancy pigeons with little to no homing or racing ability. Although I don’t agree with all your sentiments as far as medication, to each his own. There are many roads to Rome. I’ve enjoyed being a part of the journey. Look forward to defending the crown.- Reigning King of the Little Loft on the Hill. 😂
Treating a bird like it cost 15k is fine and I get what you mean but the losses would be almost identical as peregrine and hawk don’t care what it’s worth but the way the birds would be treated would be so much better and they would be given every chance to shine
Yes, peregrine doesn’t care… away from the loft predator losses would be the same. However at the loft there are things we can do to minimize hawk issues. I never give my birds open loft, they are in a crate, in the loft, or flying. Not on the roof, not messing around on the ground. I try to train them to land on the board and trap fast. That really helps with hawk losses.
@@MrTy1984@MrTy1984 I have to believe that as the peregrine is eating my bird, it thinks the $15,000 pigeon, pampered and hand-fed peanuts, tastes better than the $5 bird 🤣😂😅
AS a newbie... i can tell you that knowing which bird needs treatment and which bird is just a little stressed? that takes a lot of practice. i HATE mass dosing animals (whole loft, etc) but as a newbie? the odds are i wont recognize a problem until its severe. also... i never actually showed dogs, but i had friends who did, and i owned a "failure" (pet quality) dog growing up. two of the best champion dogs in the AKC will give you better odds of a champion dog than two "never ran" BUT! you will still get the occasional "mediocre for show" or even "not show quality at all" dog! (PS, they are still great dogs, as dogs) so it makes perfect sense that EVEN the same parents that produced an incredible pigeon, can have a poor racing offspring... and if you dont test? if that "clumsy guy from a family of athletes" is the one that gets bred from?
I want to get one more video out that expands on this. Genetic diversity between the offspring from the same couple is huge, a great breeding pair will produce more average birds than the genetic anomaly which is that super pigeon. Thanks for watching!
I really don’t have one, some meds are harder on the birds than others. I don’t recall what I have offhand. David Marx is a vet. I really like his book. He gives recommended medications to treat with. Some have a lot higher safety margin than others. The supply houses also state when you can use a treatment… racing breeding etc.
Nice closing video, Tom.. I could debate the pedigree issue all day, but won't go there... LOL. What it all boils down to is, purchase birds from a proven, prepotent family of birds and your percentages of breeding good birds should be much higher. That pedigree is all you have to go by if a person doesn't have that particular bird in their hands already who has performed in the races.. A pedigree will sometimes tell you a probable racing or breeding outcome of the offspring of that family on paper. It's not always true, we know that, but the odds are stacked more in your favor if you go by the pedigree when buying a certain bird or bloodline from an auction site, especially if you haven't tested the bird already yourself from racing it... Mob flyers I do not like.. One of my pet peeves when it comes to OLR races.. They send 70 birds and hope they get one or two that do well.. The REAL test is to only send 3 or 4 and let's see how they do.. Have a good holiday season and hope to see you back on here soon..
Thanks Kevin, I really appreciate your support on my channel and the RUclips racing community as a whole. Hopefully we can meet up next year either at my place or the Martinez race👍
Every pigeon we have on our stock loft is a flown pigeon they are either retired racers or pigeons that completed a one loft race series . I have mixed feelings about one loft race pigeons is the winner of a final a much better pigeon than say the pigeon that finished 300th in the final. Certainly a better pigeon on the day but rerun the race next week in a headwind Vs a tail wind and it's possible the the pigeon that finished 300th will beat that previous winner out of sight. We have one race pigeons bought from one loft race auction in our stock team firstly we buy a pigeon that we really like and pedigree which fancier it came from is taken into consideration Vs just a result on final day .Not often do we see a final winner also be ace pigeon so many one loft race winners had no previous form hotspots or semi final leading up to the one result of winning a final . Excuse my grammar I know it's awful I should have listened to my mother and attended school .
I would love to have a stock loft of money winners in one loft races. I personally would prefer the top ten average speed birds rather than the top ten finishers in the final race. All of them good birds but I would prefer the average speed birds. Thanks for your comments and for following along👍
Hey Tom. This will be my first year racing. This type of information is invaluable for me. Thank you very much. Please, Please, Please provide more of these types of videos. There are lots of pigeon videos on you tube, but there are only a hand full that really matter for us new guys. This is one of them. My thoughts going into racing for the first time are along the same lines as this. Finding the correct birds, to add to the loft, for the right reasons, and raising them and treating them the right way is the beginnings of success. Thanks
Thanks for watching, glad it is helpful, I am working on getting one out hopefully this weekend with tips about acquiring birds and breeding ideas. Hope you have a great first year! Reach out if you have specific questions. All the best!
Very cool Tom , great advice always good to hear points of view on subjects way cool.
This is my second year flying birds, first year I’ll be racing birds. Got into birds because of bird dogs but now I just have two hobbies. I am planning to race old birds and I am already anxious about losing birds I’ve been caring for for a year and trained my first pointing dog with. Glad to follow you and I like that you treat every bird like it matters, that’s definitely how I want to run my loft.
Thanks for watching
So many nuggets. Thank you for sharing.
"Treat every bird like it's worth $15,000" may very well be the most profound advice I've ever heard.
👍
100% Truth Bomb.
I always asked people that wanted to breed to my multiple champion stud dog, will you be happy if the pups turn out as good as the mother. If they said no then they weren't breeding to him. Others would ask what line was best to breed to him. My answer was the fastest,toughest,track running female you can put your hands on. Birds are the same
Well said.
Excellent info. Makes sense, thank you!
Oh! i finally got my loft page... and i hope to have a you tube channel for my birds this coming year (im not very technical) so maybe by 2025 i can be in your one loft race!
I wish you the best!
We share the same outlook on making the birds comfortable around you. I’ve been saying all year, they race for us not for themselves so they need to be treated the best you can treat them. Great video.
Thanks for watching, I am sure you can find someone that does the exact opposite and wins, it is finding what works for us and participate in the sport in a way we enjoy
Good Fanciers have good characteristics You have quick powers of observation others don’t have. You see things others don’t. You also have a patience and calmness around animals most others don’t have. It makes your loft calm, which has to be an advantage for your birds Thanks for the journey
My biggest fan ❤️
Thanks for sharing. Great video.
Thanks for watching!
it's 50 percent the man and 50 percent pigeon it's a partnership. Many of the lofts in Europe showing fantastic results have the best loft locations and put in super results when the wind favours the loft that day . They are also top class fanciers that know how to manage pigeons . You see fanciers sell up a successful team of pigeons cash them in come back racing soon after with an entirely different family of pigeons and put in the same results .
Tom that was an excellent post. Thanks for your effort and time to share that info. Very helpful.
Thanks Jeff! All the best!
Solid advice right here!
Thanks for keeping your word Tom and putting out this video.
Everything you say makes total sense to me and agrees with my 25 years of racing experience.
The breeding section was in places controversial but in my eyes very accurate.
People are now breeding large numbers and that in itself brings lots of issues and problems.
I think part of your sccess this year with great returns (18/24) was partly down to fanciers sending you pigeons off proven racers/stock pigeons, the other part of your success was your pigeon management.
Enjoy your time off.... think you've earned it.
Have a great time with your family 👍
That is the beautiful thing about what I am doing. Being that I have a small audience watching breeders want to send good birds to represent them well. I really appreciate your support on the channel with what I am doing. I hope you have a great holiday season and breeding goes well
for you. All the best!
Great video the tunnel training help me settle much better thank you for every tip you share with the pigeon world
Glad to help
Thank you Tom for always sharing your knowledge. I definitely needed those for next year’s YB season.
Glad to help
Thomas. Good video as usual. Lots of stuff others don’t talk about. I also used Jeanie smith back in the day. I believe she was in the placerville area I like the concept of every bird being a 15 thousand dollar bird and be treated as such. Lot of good information in this video enjoy your break and look forward to seeing what next season will bring.
Thanks Lee, next year should be fun, as long as I don’t lose them all😬
Thanks for all your videos look forward to next race season
Same! I miss the birds
Thank you for the update and information that old and new flyer can use to the advantage of how to care for our pigeons. I would like to share this video so that others can learn from.
Thanks
I know few people who have bred birds for stock and then they have won national races over and over,some birds can do it and some can’t, all depends on how good you train them and they race
Thank u for the information
Hope you find it helpful
Oh Tom , you promised me a small were are they now spot with the surviving birds , did you forget but anyways excellent video see you next year , can’t wait 👍🇬🇧
I forgot 😢 I will see what I can come up with… but don’t hold your breath 😉 Thanks for following along the is year!
I like this part 16:40 it will help us breed for this kind of racing pigeon.
I learned that in lamaze class
Thanks for the video!
You bet!
Make a video and ask some of the big names in the sport if they would like to join your little loft season. I like to see how they would do.
Great idea… maybe a new format for 2025. Little loft on the hill invitational, biggest names go head to head
Hi Tom,
How many days a week did you train your birds? And how do you know when they are in shape? Last year was my first year racing and I found that figuring how much/often to train to be very difficult.
Pre the first race, road training 3 times a week, loft fly everyday. I had to miss the first race, 90 miles for me. The postponed race number 2 a week. This might be over kill but I try to get the upcoming race distance mileage the seven days before that race. So my first race was Fernely NV 120 miles. Seven days before that race I took my birds 80 miles. 120-80=40 so sometime during the week I need 40 miles, it could be 1 40 miler say Weds( preferred ) or 2 20 milers may Wed&Thurs. Does that make sense? After that 120 mile race, the next race is Lovelock 170. 170-120=50 I want to get 50 miles road work before the next race. Not exact but a rough guide. I also loft fly everyday I am not on the road, sometime they would fly 20 minutes sometime an 45. Hope that helps. Let me know if I can clear anything up there.
What product did you use to treat for respiratory during the season?
@@joncurtis1898 I prefer tablets individual given to each bird. Prior to the season and after the YB sickness issue this year I used Tony’s Treasure Tablets. I have used doxy-t (powder in the water) in the past
Some good information for new flyers. Don’t buy birds because of the fancy names in Pedigrees. Find an honest winning flyer in your area and you’ll spend less money and have better birds usually. Bred for stock over several generations can lead to glorified fancy pigeons with little to no homing or racing ability. Although I don’t agree with all your sentiments as far as medication, to each his own. There are many roads to Rome. I’ve enjoyed being a part of the journey. Look forward to defending the crown.- Reigning King of the Little Loft on the Hill. 😂
King of the Little loft on the hill. I like it! Thanks for participating and following along👍
Treating a bird like it cost 15k is fine and I get what you mean but the losses would be almost identical as peregrine and hawk don’t care what it’s worth but the way the birds would be treated would be so much better and they would be given every chance to shine
Yes, peregrine doesn’t care… away from the loft predator losses would be the same. However at the loft there are things we can do to minimize hawk issues. I never give my birds open loft, they are in a crate, in the loft, or flying. Not on the roof, not messing around on the ground. I try to train them to land on the board and trap fast. That really helps with hawk losses.
I agree mate, when around loft they are either flying, in the crate or in the loft. Love the channel keep up the great work
@@MrTy1984@MrTy1984 I have to believe that as the peregrine is eating my bird, it thinks the $15,000 pigeon, pampered and hand-fed peanuts, tastes better than the $5 bird 🤣😂😅
@@littleloftonthehillhahaha I bet it sits there thinking “wow this is a Michelin star pigeon, it’s nothing like a kfc pigeon” haha
AS a newbie... i can tell you that knowing which bird needs treatment and which bird is just a little stressed? that takes a lot of practice. i HATE mass dosing animals (whole loft, etc) but as a newbie? the odds are i wont recognize a problem until its severe.
also... i never actually showed dogs, but i had friends who did, and i owned a "failure" (pet quality) dog growing up. two of the best champion dogs in the AKC will give you better odds of a champion dog than two "never ran" BUT! you will still get the occasional "mediocre for show" or even "not show quality at all" dog! (PS, they are still great dogs, as dogs) so it makes perfect sense that EVEN the same parents that produced an incredible pigeon, can have a poor racing offspring... and if you dont test? if that "clumsy guy from a family of athletes" is the one that gets bred from?
I want to get one more video out that expands on this. Genetic diversity between the offspring from the same couple is huge, a great breeding pair will produce more average birds than the genetic anomaly which is that super pigeon. Thanks for watching!
Have anyone told you, you are like James Bond 007 of a pigeon fancier.
Don't tease me
What is your opinion about the birds condition going down a bit after medication? What has your experience been?
I really don’t have one, some meds are harder on the birds than others. I don’t recall what I have offhand. David Marx is a vet. I really like his book. He gives recommended medications to treat with. Some have a lot higher safety margin than others. The supply houses also state when you can use a treatment… racing breeding etc.
Nice closing video, Tom.. I could debate the pedigree issue all day, but won't go there... LOL. What it all boils down to is, purchase birds from a proven, prepotent family of birds and your percentages of breeding good birds should be much higher. That pedigree is all you have to go by if a person doesn't have that particular bird in their hands already who has performed in the races.. A pedigree will sometimes tell you a probable racing or breeding outcome of the offspring of that family on paper. It's not always true, we know that, but the odds are stacked more in your favor if you go by the pedigree when buying a certain bird or bloodline from an auction site, especially if you haven't tested the bird already yourself from racing it... Mob flyers I do not like.. One of my pet peeves when it comes to OLR races.. They send 70 birds and hope they get one or two that do well.. The REAL test is to only send 3 or 4 and let's see how they do.. Have a good holiday season and hope to see you back on here soon..
Thanks Kevin, I really appreciate your support on my channel and the RUclips racing community as a whole. Hopefully we can meet up next year either at my place or the Martinez race👍
@@littleloftonthehill .. Cool beans! Sounds like a plan.
Every pigeon we have on our stock loft is a flown pigeon they are either retired racers or pigeons that completed a one loft race series . I have mixed feelings about one loft race pigeons is the winner of a final a much better pigeon than say the pigeon that finished 300th in the final. Certainly a better pigeon on the day but rerun the race next week in a headwind Vs a tail wind and it's possible the the pigeon that finished 300th will beat that previous winner out of sight. We have one race pigeons bought from one loft race auction in our stock team firstly we buy a pigeon that we really like and pedigree which fancier it came from is taken into consideration Vs just a result on final day .Not often do we see a final winner also be ace pigeon so many one loft race winners had no previous form hotspots or semi final leading up to the one result of winning a final . Excuse my grammar I know it's awful I should have listened to my mother and attended school .
I would love to have a stock loft of money winners in one loft races. I personally would prefer the top ten average speed birds rather than the top ten finishers in the final race. All of them good birds but I would prefer the average speed birds. Thanks for your comments and for following along👍
@@littleloftonthehill I also like the average speed birds as well as consistent pigeons rather than a one hit wonder in a hotspot or final race .