Do not send any $ with your birds, $350 total per bird only after the Activation Race.
There will be 5 races this year for AVG Speed, the 6th race is the activation race at 115 miles and is not part of AVG Speed. Activation race at 115 miles, then races 165, 200, 250, 300, and 375 mile final race. Our goal is to get 8 hours on the wing for the final race. If we fail to get 8 hours on the wing this year we may go to 400 next year as the final, we will make that determination after we finish this year's series.
We are accepting birds March and April ONLY, do not ship us birds in February. It is still going to be cold here next month with freezing temps and the ground is covered in snow today, next month is our month to get the loft ready for your new arrivals.
SHIPPING INSTRUCTIONS
Vaccinate your birds for a minimum of PMV 2-3 weeks before sending your birds here, this is very, very important. When they arrive they will be given a booster shot for PMV.
Register for our race before shipping birds, when your birds arrive we need to know where to assign them. If you do not register before sending your birds then it can get very confusing for us especially if you have flown under several different loft names over the years in different races. PLEASE, register bfore sending!
Put your LOFT NAME in big bold letters on the lid of the box, you can also put it on your shipping label. PLEASE DO NOT FORGET TO DO THIS!
Ship ONLY on Mondays and Tuesdays, preferably only on Mondays. This ensures that your birds will arrive in a timely manner and that most of birds arriving the week you ship yours arrive Wednesday or Thursday. We like to start birds that arrive in a given week on our medication program on the same day, if they are arriving all week this makes controlling health all the more difficult.
If dropping off birds please do so on Wednesdays or Thursdays for the same reason above, that being we like to start all birds in a given week on meds at the same time so they receive them the same amount of days before coming out of quarantine and being put in to the loft.
If your birds are not healthy, if you know they are not healthy, do not ship them to us!
We are only accepting birds March and April, the first day to put birds in the mail for the Apple Cup is Monday March 4th. The first day to drop off birds will be Wednesday the 6th.
Register First
Vaccinate for PMV 2-3 weeks before shipping
Ship on Mondays
Put your Loft Name in big BOLD letters on the lid of your box when shipping
Do not send any money with your birds
Do not overcrowd your birds
Use approved USPS shipping boxes that allow for good air flow
Use straw, pine needles, or big pine chips for shipping. Do not use fine pine shavings, it creates dust in the box and clogs up your birds nostrils and eyes.
If you have any questions, or if you are having a hard time registering, please send us a text at 254-247-9504. We only use email when it comes time to receive W-9 forms, this is not a means of communication for us.
We hope everyone is staying warm and that you have a great breeding season!
Rick & Olga
No fees sent with the birds, $350 per bird due only after the activation race at 115 miles in September.
Please read previous updates for more detailed information on our 2024 race series, looks like it is going to be a big one again!
Based upon 3,000 birds activated, we are estimating $525,000 in prizes for 2024!
Final Race 375 miles, $455,000 in prizes
AVG Speed $57,000 in prizes
250 & 300 mile races pay $6,500 each for a combined total of $13,000 in prizes
Please click on our PAYOUT tab for full details for our 2024 race series!
Lets see if your birds can fly over the mountains, over the Columbia River and Columbia Gorge, over ridgelines and through the desert with rolling hills, through the forest and over Klammath Falls Lake, on a course that has a typical W to NW wind.
It takes a tough pigeon to win the Apple Cup, do you have the pigeon to do it!
We will be one of the biggest in 2024 and we are still the cheapest! Join us for our 9th year of hosting the Apple Cup for 2024, if your pigeons can fly here they can fly anywhere!
Olga and I hope all of you had a merry Christmas and that you have a Happy New Year!
Just like last year, no money due with birds!
$350 per bird due only AFTER the Activation Race!
Merry Christmas everyone!
Good afternoon Apple Cup breeders and potential Apple Cup flyers!
Only a few changes for 2024, other than the few listed below everything will pretty much be the same.
We will be charging $350 a bird due only after the Activation Race instead of $250 like we did this year. Of the $350, $150 is our perch fee. We have charged a $100 perch fee for 8 years straight and due to inflation and us taking on more employees to pay, not to mention us taking all the risk by not charging a perch fee up front which is nonrefundable like most races do, we feel this is more than fair and feedback thus far has been the same. In doing it the way we do we do not make anything unless your birds make it through activation and to the first race which will be 165 miles. If you have birds that get sick, injured, or are lost in training before the Activation Race you loose nothing because you did not pay for your perch fees up front. There will also be more prize money with the price increase.
The second biggest change is instead of having a 350 mile final it will be 375 miles. We feel this added mileage should get us closer to 8 hours on the wing which is our goal each year.
Other than a slight price increase and increasing the distance of the final from 350 miles to 375 miles, not much else to report. We will be more specific in our rules on partnerships and syndicates, shipping birds back, but other than that there is not too much we will change.
Not sure we will have optional race categories like we did this year. This created a lot of confusion for some no matter how clear we tried to be. Over the holidays we will of come to a decision as to if we want to try to tackle that again. If we do it will just be one category......just stay tuned.
All birds have been sent back with the exception of a few breeders who have extenuating circumstances like being out of the country, or in the hospital for treatment and will not be home until after the first of the year. If you still want your birds then send us a PayPal payment through our Payments Tab, no checks please. We will mail these birds out as soon as possible after 1 Jan, 2024 and then the remainder of the birds will be given to local breeders.
Our #1 rule for 2024 will be, read your Wincompanion updates before contacting us with questions that 99% of the time are covered in our Wincompanion updates. It is just too time consuming to try to respond to every text when we are in full swing, and we definitely do not have time for long telephone conversations. If you want to just "pigeon talk" then the time to do that is January and February next year because from March through about this time each year, we are either taking pigeons in, taking care of pigeons, training or racing pigeons, or mailing pigeons back to include checks. Just ask Olga how much yours truly likes to talk about pigeons, it really affects my own time management so this is why we prefer to text unless it is absolutely necessary to talk on the phone.
All checks have been mailed out with the exception of two breeders.
OscarLoft - FL
Tx Lin Loft - TX
We have been getting a lot of questions on checks being mailed out. If you read our last few Wincompanion updates then you will know that checks were sent out last week, all but the two above which we need W-9 forms on. If you know either of these breeders please pass this information on to them. We really need to get all checks sent out and cashed before 1 Jan, 2024.
If you do not hear from us again before Christmas, here is a Merry Christmas to all of you and a Happy New Year!
Things are finally winding down here at the Apple Cup for 2023. We have mailed out over 300 boxes this year and we have a few we will be mailing out Monday. If you still want your birds back then follow the directions below.
Go to our PAYMENTS TAB on our home page and follow the directions for paying for shipping, this MUST be done by tomorrow 15 December. We will not accept checks, this is your only option to pay for birds you want returned.
Text us at 254-247-9504 letting us know you paid via PayPal, identify yourself by Loft Name.
Checks are being mailed today once I hit send with this update, just putting a few stamps on the last few envelopes. There are only 4 breeders we are waiting on W-9 forms from and these are on the way.
On the way to the post office to drop off checks, everyone have a great weekend!
The crew made boxes today while yours truly created a ship list that we will use tomorrow morning to sort the birds one last time. Between checks and PayPal payments, we will have 169 boxes being divided up between Monday and Tuesday next week.
I create a packet for each breeder when we are in ship mode. First page is a print out of each breeder's birds which completed the final race, second is a copy of your check or PayPal payment for shipping, lastly your address off of Wincompanion. Once we get all of the birds mailed out we go through and attach W-9 forms to the top of the packet if we have received same.
Monday we will ship out 1 Flash Loft through King James, Tuesday will be Kwan Loft through Zion.
Seems everyone is happy with their returned birds thus far, this is good news to us!
We shipped out over 60 boxes Monday and the same Tuesday, also had about 60 pigeons picked up between some of our WA and OR breeders so 400 pigeons combined. The pigeons that were shipped out this week were ONLY to those breeders who won any amount of prize money this year, simple deduction of shipping fees from winnings and when we start sending out checks next week we will send the remainder.
Next Monday and Tuesday we will ship out all birds to those of you who who have sent checks or paid for shipping via PayPal.
As mentioned several times in the last few weeks, make 100% sure your Wincompanion address and telephone numbers are correct as this is where we retrieve information for shipping.
If you won $600 or more we will need a W-9 before we can send you a check.
After we get all of the birds mailed out next week we will work on sending out checks, then we will update our 2024 rules.
One of the main changes is we will be charging $350 per bird next year, again only after the Activation Race is when fees are due. We have charged a $100 perch fee for 8 years straight, with now having 3 employees to pay, inflation over those 8 years, higher tax bracket and us taking all the risk not collecting perch fees up front, we have finally decided it is time to make this change.
The second big change is the distance of our Activation and Final races. We are going to use our 115 mile race station as our Activation Race station instead of 15 miles shorter at 100 miles, the final race will be 375 instead of 350. Races will consist of a 115 mile Activation Race which is not part of Average Speed, then 165, 200, 250, 300, and a 375 mile final. The course will stay the same and the 375 mile station is on line with our current course, just 25 miles farther. Our goal is to spread the birds out a bit more on the final and try to get closer to 8 hours on the wing.
Other than that, no huge changes next year for the Apple Cup. We have not heard a lot of complaints and most we have talked to said they are sending again next year.
On this course your birds will traverse ridgelines, valleys, mountains, fly through the desert, over the forest, across the mightly Columbia River and the windy Columbia Gorge, lastly over Klamath Falls Lake with a typical west side wind.
It takes a very tough pigeon to win the Apple Cup, do you have the type of pigeon that can perform here!
WA/OR breeders who want to pick up your birds, this is mainly for you.
We originally put out that birds would be available for pick up Mon and Tue between 0900-1100, however after sorting the birds all day we found that we have over 80 pigeons being picked up. Usually we have far less and can stop what we are doing on shipping days which are Mondays and Tuesdays and sort through the few birds in the cages for WA/OR breeders by looking at band numbers. With the number of birds we have being picked up this year this just is not feasible because the clock will be in use scanning birds identified to be shipped on Monday and Tuesday mornings. On Wed, Thur, and Fri we will be able to scan the birds in front of you making sure you get every single bird that completed the series.
Therefore, we are changing the pick up days to Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday 0900-1100 for WA and OR birds. These three days are the ONLY days to pick up birds. Mondays and Tuesdays we will be putting birds in boxes to be shipped those days at 1300, we do not keep them in the box overnight and ship the next day. Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays you can come pick up your birds. Saturdays and Sundays we are sorting birds for the upcomming shipments, preparing boxes, shipping labels, just not a good time to come.
If you won any amount of money shipping will be deducted and your birds will be shipped out on Monday if your loft name starts with a number, or ends with Jones Family Loft. On Tuesday we will ship Kalanianaole Loft through Z & R Mandigma Loft.
The following week we will start shipping back to those of you who sent checks or paid via PayPal, which we have yet to go through yet but will start next week in preparation for the next week's shipments.
Once we get done shipping birds for the second week in a row we will start to mail out prize money checks, minus shipping.
