Birds being paired!

I have spent the last few days pairing the birds up and taking advantage of this milder weather. Last year proved quite difficult pairing them up in the cold and they were uninterested. I have nearly paired them all up now. I have decided that I will not be bringing any more new birds in this year and we will roll with what we have. I have spent several hours updating various parts of the webiste and I think they have improved the site (especially the stock section!)

Could be another top stock pigeon arriving within a week!!

We are still planning another 1 or 2 introductions to the stock team and have targeted a number of birds. We will bring news in the next week or so if we have been successful in aquiring them. The two new hens that have been purchased (both bred fed winners) will be arriving at the lofts sometime this week. I will say this - the 2 new birds we have in mind are equally impressive regarding the breeding of winners!
We are also in contact with various fanciers regarding entering two more test lofts so our entire stock loft will be put to the test in the coming season. We currently have 9 pairs of stock and I think I am looking at 10 pairs of stock for this season. We have 6 youngsters going to Somerset One Loft race, 4 going to the RPRA, 4 going to the test loft of B.Williams & Son and hopefully another two test lofts will be taking 2 each. So that will be the entire first round of stock birds more or less sent to be tested.
The birds in the loft are now settled and the cocks are picking their boxes. I hope to start introducing the hens in the next few weeks and get them ready for pairing. They have been treated for canker and worms already in the last 3 weeks and currently being treated for cocci. This year I will also be treating for Paratyphoid and hope to do this in the next week or so. I believe they will then be more than ready for the exciting breeding season that lies ahead!

First introductions of the year!

We have dipped into the market to acquire two superb breeding hens that were just too good to not purchase! We were short of one stock hen but decided both were worthy of a place in the stock loft here at Rasbull Lofts and I am pleased to announce both will be arriving in the near future!

"Flying in the Pontefract South Road FC we have been either the Highest prize winner or runner up since 1999, and flying in the Pontefract Central we have been the highest prize winners for the past three consecutive years. In this time we have been the highest prize winners in both the old Castleford & District Federation and our current Federation, Normanton. This year being our best channel season to date we have topped the Federation at 335 miles, 400 miles and 501 miles. In our Club we have won 12 out of the 15 channel races flown over the last three years, topping the Federation on 6 occasions. Below are five of our best stock birds, you won't get much better than these:

Rasbull Lofts purchased 2 out of the 5 and they are detailed below!

Blue Hen - Bred 2 Federation winners and numerous 1st Club's including 4, 1st prize winners from 6 children in the current race team of J&S Toon! A direct Peter Van der Merwe!

Blue Hen - Bred 7 x 1st Club, 1st Fed, 2nd Fed, 2 x 3rd Fed, 4th Fed plus many other positions. This hen is a Wall, Lunt & Green Koopman!!

2 Excellent hens that have produced endless winners between them and wil be a superb addition to Rasbull Lofts stock loft!

Rasbull Share Syndicate 2012

We can confirm we will sending to the RPRA and Somerset One Loft Races this year. We are going to enter 4 into the RPRA race and 6 will got the Somerset One Loft Race. There are 10 birds in total and therefore 40 shares. These will be sold on a first come, first served basis. I will be having at least 1 share in each bird so that leaves just 30 shares available! The birds will be bred from my top stock pairs and anyone wishing to enter please email Rasbull@hotmail.co.uk to book your space. I will need the deposit as soon as possible as the RPRA race in particular sells out very quickly. More information can be found on the Rasbull Syndicate 2012 page of the website by clicking one of the banners!

Quiet!

There is not much happening at the lofts at present. The birds have been separated with the stock and racing cocks being put into their respective sections for the coming season and allowed to pick their nestbox. The hens are all together at present and will remain there until mid December when they will be paired up in readiness for breeding. There have been no new introductions to the stock loft this year although a big deal is being worked on at present and I hope to bring news before start of breeding...Watch this space!