nicksiders
171 posts
Jul 24, 2005
12:56 AM
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Does everyone lock thier birds down in the winter?
Is the only reason not wanting to feed hawks?
When do you start your breeding season and when do you stop your breeding?
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highroller
39 posts
Jul 24, 2005
8:13 AM
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Nick,
I lock down my best birds by early October most years and sometimes fly the rest till they are gone and sometimes just lock everything down for fear of keeping hawks around till spring and have them nest nearby. The hawks always take one of the best in late September or early October and that's my signal to save the rest. I start putting pairs together in late February so I have young to train in mid-April and it's usually pretty safe by then. I usually start splitting pairs up in June so the youngest have some fly time before lockdown. This year I let them go another round and am splitting them up now as their young are weaned. I was going to donate the last round to the local pigeon club to raffle off at their fall show but they were not interested so now they are going to another local flyer who hopes to fly them out without too many losses to hawks.
Dan
Last Edited by highroller on Jul 24, 2005 8:17 AM
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Bluesman
Pigeon Fancier
376 posts
Jul 24, 2005
11:06 AM
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Nick.I don,t lock down.I fly all year weather permitting.
I breed my main family from Dec. to the last of July.From then on I breed my project rollers.David
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MCCORMICKLOFTS
91 posts
Jul 24, 2005
12:37 PM
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Nick, I lock down the A team about the end of October, depending on when the falcon shows up and becomes steady. But I still fly out the current year birds. I will let out the A team about once a month if the falcon took one earlier in the day.
Brian.
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motherlodelofts
196 posts
Jul 25, 2005
7:19 AM
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Nick I will lock down the A team some what in Dec. my biggest fear is weather induced losses.
Like Brian though I'll continue flying everything else though weather permiting.
I will also fly the A team here and there if everything looks right.
If you are doing nothing but feeding the preds then it is best to lock down, how far a head are you if you are getting chewed up ?
The survivers are for the most part trashed also due to shear fear.
To put birds out in such conditions is nothing short of cruel , but many do and end up with very little once the skies do clear up, it just serves no purpose at all.
Just my opinion
Last Edited by motherlodelofts on Jul 25, 2005 7:22 AM
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Shaun
61 posts
Jul 25, 2005
8:49 AM
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Scott and Brian, can you elaborate a little? Difficult to imagine, perhaps, but if hawks weren't an issue for you, what would you be doing in terms of flying over the winter? Of, course, winter has different meanings the world over and California is one where the weather at that time of the year, seems pretty nice. Correct me if that's not the case.
So, hawks aside, what type of weather would you consider too risky to let the birds out for a fly, and for how long a period would that be likely to last?
I ask this because in England, there are (as ever) different views on flying in, say, rain - which we do get plenty of!
I've also seen posts where guys in the colder parts of the US, happily let their birds out in sub-zero temperatures and the birds seem to love it.
Shaun
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Velo99
51 posts
Jul 25, 2005
2:14 PM
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Hey Shaun,
Where I live we get pretty cold in the winter, around zero a time or two. If I see the wild birds flying I will kick mine out. What costs me more fly days than anything is wind.I keep em in if it is over 20 mph. More than that is asking for a overfly.
Those Cali boys have a lot of fog and wind in the winter. Northern Cali is pretty wet anyway. Just not as cold as Northern England. Geez,you guys aren`t too far from the Arctic Circle up there.
Anyway there are a myriad of reasons some flyers lock down. I`
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Velo99
52 posts
Jul 25, 2005
2:15 PM
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Hey Shaun,
Where I live we get pretty cold in the winter, around zero a time or two. If I see the wild birds flying I will kick mine out. What costs me more fly days than anything is wind.I keep em in if it is over 20 mph. More than that is asking for a overfly.
Those Cali boys have a lot of fog and wind in the winter. Northern Cali is pretty wet anyway. Just not as cold as Northern England. Geez,you guys aren`t too far from the Arctic Circle up there.
Anyway,there are a myriad of reasons some flyers lock down. I`m sure more are on the way.
yits
v99
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MCCORMICKLOFTS
93 posts
Jul 25, 2005
2:35 PM
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Shaun, the lock down for me (and most others here) is about the predators. Now if it weren't for the predators, I wouldn't lock down at all. The best flying time of the year is winter here as long as it is not one of our intense winter high pressure days or worse, the Santa Ana winds which can last for up to a week straight. Excluding those extremes, my birds simply are at their peak in Dec-Jan here. The cooler weather is just prime flying weather as long as you are weary of the conditions. Obviously I wouldn't let them out in the 50+mph winds nor during a torrential storm. And that goes for all my kits, not just the A-team.
Brian.
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motherlodelofts
199 posts
Jul 25, 2005
3:22 PM
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Shaun where I live is in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountain range with elevations due east of me averaging over 8000 ft and up to 11000 ft.
The weather backs up against this mountain range and can destroy a kit of birds in a heartbeat. I also have to watch for fog blowing in from the Valley below , it comes in like a huge wall and it it hard to see until it is on top of me , that has swallowed up its lions share of birds.
Hawks arent a major problem here.
Other than the fog early Spring just gets dangerous due to unsettled weather, you will have clouds goings several directions all at once.
I've learned to fly pretty smart and limit my losses, but at times it still fools you.
California is a huge state with Coastal , desert, agriculture in the central valley and a huge mountain range on its backside that packs with snow in the Winter and along the coast is another smaller mountain range that blocks the cool coastal climate from swealtering heat of the central valley. There is a whole lot more to it than the beaches of S. calif and due to it size and geographics there is a huge differnce in climate depending on where you are.
Last Edited by motherlodelofts on Jul 25, 2005 5:18 PM
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spinnerpigeon
34 posts
Jul 25, 2005
4:57 PM
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Shaun,
For me it is the Coopers hawks, they get down right nasty in the fall/winter. I have even had them kill birds through chicken wire!! But I think the other factor for me is snow. Here in West Michigan, we can get lake effect snow in a heartbeat. Sometimes it comes down thick, to where the birds are unable to see the loft below, get disoriented and fly away. Just my 2 cents.
Caleb
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