DonDon
1 post
Sep 18, 2008
11:27 AM
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Just wanted to introduce myself. I'm Don McDonald and MAN I miss having birds. I got into Pigeons as a kid. I was maybe 10-12 when I got my first Rollers from Ralph Smith. MAn, I need to find him and see if he has some he would sell!!!! Anyways. At one time, when I was about 18-19, I had around 300 birds. Rollers, Tipplers, Homers, Fantails, LaHores, Owls. Several different breeds. They were so much fun to watch and yeh, I made a few bucks off them when I'd tell my friends I had pigeons that would turn flips in the air and they'd want to bet me. LOL Anyways, I'll be 45 in a month or 2 and looking to get back into things. I'm in Ridgeland , MS and have checked the city regs along with my subdivision regs and YES, I can have some. I've already got my loft plans drawn out (I'm a draftsman) and going to start building it in the next couple weeks. 6'x8' loft with a 8'x8'x6'high chicken wire flypen. Should be enough for a few birds anyways. I'm looking for some good stock Rollers, a few fantails and some Homers if anyone knows anyone near the Jackson, MS. area that has some to get rid of. Man, that turned into a life story LOL Anyways guys and gals. I look forward to getting to know you guys. Anyone know if Ralph is still around? I saw a pic of a Ralph Smith on here and was wondering if thats the same guy. He was an older gentleman when I got my birds from him 30 years ago. Thanks and happy rolling!!!!
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PR_rollers
1602 posts
Sep 18, 2008
11:39 AM
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Welcome DonDon, man i feel your enthusiasm look like you coming back strong, I remember when i was a kid i had about 300 pigeons too with two other guys and they were tipplers homers Canadian high flyers Chinese owls danish flyers tumblers, flights,you name it.the only different now is that i know quality back then all i care was that they kitted together and flew high and didn't bank on no one's roof.we would fly and catch other people birds and sell it back for a buck so we can buy our feed with that money.a dollar was worth alot of money back then in the 70's..now I'm just into rollers and have no time for no other .don't mix your birds with other strains... rollers with rollers homers with homers. you will see why as you read along here if you haven't yet..good luck..
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Ralph
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RUDY..ZUPPPPP
2101 posts
Sep 18, 2008
11:44 AM
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Welcome Don...............
your in good hands with roller pigeon.com
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RUDY PAYEN
PANCHO VILLA LOFT
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kopetsa
1556 posts
Sep 18, 2008
11:57 AM
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Welcome Don! Good luck with the birds!
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Andrew
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DonDon
2 posts
Sep 18, 2008
12:03 PM
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Thanks guys. PR, that was the funny thing. I never had any problems with crossbreeding. For some reason, they all stayed with their own breed. I remember when they'd get so high you couldn't see them without some binoculars, that was awesome to say the least. Those birds I got from Ralph were some fine birds. had one that would get up almost outta sight flyinh with the kit and then you'd see a little dot getting bigger and bigger(moderated) HOPEFULLY, I can get some good stock to start things out with and have some good 20-50 foot deep rolls outta them
Last Edited by on Sep 18, 2008 12:55 PM
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Ballrollers
1492 posts
Sep 18, 2008
12:05 PM
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Welcome back to the hobby, Don, and Best of luck!
Cliff
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PR_rollers
1604 posts
Sep 18, 2008
12:15 PM
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Don you know come to think of it they never did cross breed they use to be pen up in the same old coop too.but now i wouldn't take that chance time change ,people change ,birds change too now they do anybody and their mother lol...lol..
thats something i use to love seeing them go up to the pins and turn into a dot and now i hate it .got to see them perform at all times..see what i mean times change..lol.
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Ralph
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DonDon
3 posts
Sep 18, 2008
12:39 PM
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Guess I'll need to watch them close then LOL It was a different time as a kid watching them cause you had ALL DAY to watch them LOL I work for a civil engineering firm as a surveyor/designer and have to work so darned much, not to mention, I teach Taekwondo 2 nights a week after work, hunt, fish and I'm a field researcher for the GCBRO LOL DON'T LAUGH, GCBRO stands for Gulf Coast Bigfoot Research Org. LOL I had an encounter as a kid and now have had seen and heard so much in the last 2 years of doing that on the weekends. Just ready to get me some birds and start back to enjoying them again. I was readin on here where most of you guys seperate your hens and cocks? I let them breed all year long. What are the bad things about doing that?
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PR_rollers
1605 posts
Sep 18, 2008
1:46 PM
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yea so now you going after bigfoot huh ,,,lmao..
was readin on here where most of you guys seperate your hens and cocks? I let them breed all year long. What are the bad things about doing that?
rest got to let them rest keeps the hen healthy..plus alot of guys separate when breeding when they know that they can't afford to train the youngsters in times when the BOP is going to hit them..they breed smart..man you are a busy man but you will find time to get with the pigeons and just chill out sound like you will need it lol..
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Ralph
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DonDon
4 posts
Sep 18, 2008
2:34 PM
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Heck, I'd let mine breed year round and back then, I'd have the hole open for the 24/7 to go fly around. I never had much problems with anything except an occasional hawk. Think I mayyy have lost 5 or 6 to hawks over 10 years. I do stay busy as the dickens but when I'm home on the wekends now FAINLLY don;t have to work weekends. I need something other than my garden to occupy my time and rasing birds was always stress relief
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silent187
176 posts
Sep 18, 2008
2:49 PM
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hey don did u ever live in compton or anywhere in LA i have some birds with ur name on them.... better double check but im prettier sure it was ur name....
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DonDon
5 posts
Sep 18, 2008
2:51 PM
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LOL, mahhh, Grew up in Newton mississippi, population 3500 til I was 22 or so around 1984, then moved over to Ridgeland, ms. If you found some of my birds, MAN, that was one bad storm to blow them that far LOL
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silent187
177 posts
Sep 18, 2008
2:57 PM
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well let me check right now wanna make sure...
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DonDon
8 posts
Sep 18, 2008
3:08 PM
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No need looking for me. I haven't had any birds for 25 YEARS. Just now getting back into it
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silent187
179 posts
Sep 18, 2008
3:15 PM
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ohh my bad it was ron mcdonald so close to ur name.... haha well good luck starting over
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Oldfart
815 posts
Sep 18, 2008
4:22 PM
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welcome, DonDon, there are very nice people on this site, and they are always willing to help.
Thom
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Santandercol
3067 posts
Sep 18, 2008
9:53 PM
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Hey Don,Welcome!!which Gulf Coast are looking for the Bigfoot on?We got 'em up here on Vancouver Island and I've heard some have white hair.
If you fly your birds out of an open hole all day nowadays,you'll probably lose alot more than 9 or t10n birds.The BOP situation is different from when we were kids,let me tell ya.Good luck and have fun.
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Kel.
Rum-30 Lofts
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PR_rollers
1611 posts
Sep 19, 2008
12:03 AM
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White hair on Bigfoot thats cause he is getting old..lol
Yeah BOP today would definitely wipe you out,I know ppl leaving the hobby because of it..
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Ralph
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DonDon
9 posts
Sep 19, 2008
5:00 AM
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LOL, White hair, yeh, we've actually seen 1 with white hair. Most are reddish brown or dark brown to black. I'm in Mississippi and we research MS, AL, ark, lousiana, Ok and TN. Actually going to lousiana in 3 weeks for a big research trip. Got about 25-30 people coming in for it. Whats BOP guys? Have no idea on that. We had Hawk problems and some nedical problems with our birds. Canker on the mouth which drops in the water fixed and a couple more things. Nothing major though. I went through some OLD PICS and when I get them scanned today, I'll post some OLD PICS (from around 1980) of a few of my birds.
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Santandercol
3070 posts
Sep 19, 2008
6:30 AM
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BOP=Birds of prey.
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Kel.
Rum-30 Lofts
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DonDon
12 posts
Sep 19, 2008
7:06 AM
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Thanks for that, has no idea and I do know ain't much you can do about it these days at all.
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