Grass Roots I
(Internet Published) Oct 2000
With monotonous regularity I have precede a sermon that nobody wants to
hear. A man can buy specimens from a proven flying strain with proven high
flying potential, but without the know-how and the determination, he will
get little or no high flying from them.
Some men will have such pigeons on the open loft system whereby the pigeons
are able to leave and enter all of the time. They think that if they throw
their hats at these pigeons they will fly high all day on a couple of days a
week anyway. It may take a long time before these men realise that this
notion does not work. Such pigeons will do everything but fly and will be
happy to do so.
To get any kind of flying a man has to take control and become very well
organised. His pigeons must be locked up inside of a comfortable and clean
loft with no overcrowding. They are to be released only for flying
exercises. After such flying exercises they must be very quickly made to
enter the loft and locked up to recharge their energies for the next fly.
One feed per day, per pigeon, not exceeding one ounce per bird, is a
practical diet. It is better to keep as few as necessary rather than to keep
as many as can be afforded space. The more pigeons we have the more likely
we are to have health problems and there is no future in trying to fly an
unwieldy mob. The aim surely is to be able to release the entire stock to
fly as a team with no "worn out has-beens" and useless ornaments.
In this way a man is able to get together a team of flyers, which will
become exceedingly fit and will fly high in suitable weather for the sheer
joy of flying. However, the weather is not suitable on all days.
These are the basics and the grass roots. The only missing factor (if you
really need it) is TIME on the wing. I frequently have to remind people that
Tippler contests are for time and that high flying is not essential in
England with Tipplers. It may be in other countries where the temperature
rises to 100 degrees plus. But this does not happen in England. In fact, it
seldom exceeds 80 degrees. Therefore English Tipplers may not be able to
adapt to these hot conditions and I would be surprised if they did. Marathon
times are available only to the extremist who flies on highly restrictive
routines and with just a few attempts.