By the time that these notes are published we will mightily close to the longest day from which point it is all downhill to Christmas, how sad is that thought.
On the bright side for me is the fact that pretty well all of the pairs that I put together over the last weekend of April have produced the goods and are now raising very contented looking squeakers, with not a duff egg or weak hatchling in sight. What a difference having the sun on their backs and a couple of extra daylight hours in each day seems to make to them. The problematic exceptions are my yellow Nuns. Two old hens of seven years and two late breds of just about seven months have so far not produced an egg between them. The free flying Archangels have built nests some three inches deep using a variety of 'flown in' nesting materials that is beyond description. The Ice, which are also given their liberty, now at the end of their exercise period drop out of the sky and trap like widowhood cocks returning after a race. The racing instinct in me means that they are a real pleasure to watch and are as hard as nails to handle. When allowed to stroll around the garden they all, whatever the breed, seem intent on flicking over every bit of fresh soil and devouring every young plant that they can find. They are obviously finding, or searching for, something that they are not getting either from their expensive diet or from the combination of grits, minerals and fresh 'greenstuff' that are daily put in front of them in the loft. If I could discover just what it is they are after I could probably make a small fortune by bottling it and selling it on.
News of the latest (end of May) outbreaks of Avian Influenza over in Corwen in Wales plus at least two more sites of suspected infection, together with their joint links with a market up in Cheshire is a timely reminder that we must always be on our guard and should not let our bio-security regime lapse. Fortunately for us pigeons are not yet affected by any governmental knee-jerk reactions although my understanding is that all poultry and waterfowl shows were banned nation-wide for eight days, the ban then being lifted, but not a good scenario with the summer agricultural events coming up thick and fast. Neither Inland nor Channel racing or our summer pigeon shows are affected at this point in time. The Welsh outbreak was stated as being of the low pathogenic H7N2 variety, which despite being claimed as the version which caused the death of a veterinary officer in Holland a few months back fortunately does not appear to wreak the livestock havoc caused by H5N1. Fifteen chickens have died and consequently some more were slaughtered, but the outbreak was apparently quickly identified and where necessary containment orders were imposed and at worst it necessitated nothing more than a one kilometre exclusion zone being enforced. Other centres of infection, though not necessarily directly connected with Corwen have already been identified. No other birds have so far had to be 'contained'. The original source of the disease has, at the time of writing these notes, not been formally identified although it is strongly suspected of originating from a totally different part of the country and spread via purchases made from a single market in Cheshire. When the originating source is located, which may indeed prove to be from another part of the UK, restrictions may also need to be put in place around that location. I am afraid that this is another of those 'watch this space' cases. We can but hope that the news media in general do not once more reach out for their 'panic' headlines. Unfortunately it appears that at least one 'local' rag has jumped the gun on the issue without any obvious signs of them having researched the problem, that's both typical and dangerous.
I have just returned from a trip to Europe where I met a lot of pigeon fanciers, many of whom were still full of admiration for both the display and the quality of the birds presented by the Irish lads at the huge Leipzig show. I have a strong feeling that with very little in the way of pushing, the Limerick Tumblers may well have now found a niche in the hearts of some continental fanciers. Take a well-deserved bow you guys from the Limerick Tumbler Club over there in Ireland, you and your birds have earned it. Let's hope that you can manage a repeat of the display in the not too distant future. As an aside, I can foresee that European recognition for your breed cannot be too far off. And I for one am officially 'on your case'.
