Today there seems to be an issue with the antennas and the birds clocking correctly. We have run the birds through the antennas twice today and figured out what the issue was. We have spoken to the Benzing Technical Support, however to "Restart" the system and have the birds clock a 3rd time is to much stress on the birds and it is very warm here right now. We will reset the clock tomorrow while the birds are out and things should be working correctly.
We hope everyone enjoyed the 4th of July Holiday. Now that we are into July, we have started the process of flagging the birds to get them to fly. We do still currently have the birds separated into 2 groups, as the younger birds are a little behind in the molting process. Our goal is to alternate the birds going out and we have begun the process of flagging them to get them to fly. We do put a little bit more pressure on the older birds when we do this, making them fly in longer intervals than the younger birds. We will gradually get them both flying for equal amounts of time. We have also begun to allow the birds to venture into the crates for the trailer. We have placed them in the loading areas and allow birds to go in and out of them as they please. Allowing them to do this will make the loading process less intimidating to the birds when we do start to trailer train them. We did have a collision yesterday morning with 2 birds while flagging and those breeders have been notified about their birds. The overall health of the birds is very good and we are very happy with the loft. We will be running them through a canker treatment in the coming week as a preventative. The weather for the next week looks to be good with mild temperatures between the 70's and low 80's for the next 10 days with 1-2 days of chances of rain. We did have a 2-3 day stretch of very hot temperatures over the holiday with high humidity. That has since moved out and things are much more comfortable for the birds. Remember there are still birds on the For Sale list that can be purchased to participate in the 2023 season. Enjoy your weekend!!
A reminder that the race is CLOSED for 2023. We are not accepting anymore birds for this season. We have been busy since last week with getting the last few weeks of birds settled, and learning the traps. We still have 1 more group of birds to put chip rings on and then we should be able to do a final import with Benzing to get all of the birds registered into the system and have all of them to be able to clock. We are going to aim to get chip rings put on tomorrow and have an import done by Thursday and hopefully be able to run all the birds through the system on Thursday.Thank you everyone for your patience during the last 2 weeks. We have had a lot of birds come in during this time and putting chip rings on should be the final step for these arrivals. Our weather looks to be good through next week which will allow us to get the birds out daily in different groups. The older birds enjoy flying around the loft and are very confident in their surroundings. The younger groups definitely enjoy getting out as well, and we monitor those younger groups closely while they are out. If you need corrections, loft name changes, anything like that please send an email today or tomorrow so it can be done before we update with Benzing. We will not change loft names during the season. No Exceptions!
This will be the last week of accepting birds for the 2023 season. This will include new entries and replacements. We have done an inventory today of all birds except birds that arrived between May 6th - 14th. The birds that arrived during this time have only been here a week and are still learning the traps. Please check your loft lists and see if you have any birds that need to be replaced. We would only suggest shipping birds on Monday - Tuesday. We were notified that someone tried to ship on a Friday and the post office made them come back and get them on Saturday. Shipping on a Thursday also does not allow enough time for the post office to deliver in a timely manner. The older birds have been out quite a bit over the last week. The weather has been very good for the most part, with no high winds and barely any rain. These are ideal conditions for the birds to be settled and allowed to loft fly. Hopefully the weather stays like this.We will do a final import with Benzing next week. IF you need to move a bird to another team, change your loft name, etc., it needs to be done before we do a final import. We will not make loft name changes once this is done. Please be 100% sure that the loft name you are flying under is what you will want to finish the season with. We will not change names mid season, NO EXCEPTIONS. Also, if you have birds here that you have not paid for, they must be paid for by the end of the week. Next week once we do an import, any birds not paid for will be marked ineligible. This will also prevent them from showing up on any clocking results. We want to have all payments settled and changes made so our time can be spent focused on the birds. If you would like to participate but are unable to get birds here by the weekend, there are over 150 birds currently available on the For Sale List. These birds are available to be added to any team. Perch Fees and Activation are paid for by the "Buyer." Any and all prize/auction monies are split between the "Breeder" & "Buyer" with a 50/50 split. Bird(s) belong to the "Buyer" at the end of the season, IF the bird does not go to the auction. All breeders names are listed for each bird. Finally, thank you to everyone who has sent birds and supported the Hoosier Classic Race this year. We are looking forward to an exciting season and big winners this year. If you need help checking on your loft lists, please feel free to call the office and we can help you check to see if anything needs to be replaced.
Birds were out flying today. While in the process of letting the birds into the loft, a cooper hawk came and spooked the birds. There was 1 casualty from the visit, and the owner of that bird has been notified. While we are sure that the birds rushed into the loft and possibly jumped the antennas, we also see birds sitting on other buildings on the property. We do see a difference in numbers between yesterdays clocking results and today's clocking results. We are not going to push the birds out into cages to have them trap again because they are very stressed out after the hawk attack. We will let the birds out again hopefully tomorrow depending on the wind.
There are just 3 weeks left to get your birds in for the 2023 season! We currently have over 3150 birds in the loft. This week has been quite busy with over 20 boxes arriving on Tuesday afternoon, another 30+ arriving Wednesday, and close to 30 on Thursday. We also have breeders dropping birds off almost daily as well. We have been battling some major fluctuations in weather with daily changes including high winds, rain, or drastic temperature changes from 30's all the way up to the 80's. It has definitely been a roller coaster of weather the past few weeks. There are several birds that have arrived in the last few weeks with no payments. As we have said before, birds sent without payment will not be entered under your loft name. Any birds received without payment will be entered under an unassigned loft name and will not be viewable. Once payment is made, the bird(s) will be transferred to the correct team name. If you have sent birds with no payment you will need to contact the office in order to see them under your loft name. We cannot stress enough how important it is to provide information in or on your box as to the loft name for which the birds belong. There have been several occasions this year where birds have arrived with no name on the box, only an address, no paperwork, or payments. Our time is much better spent taking care of the birds, instead of tracking down payments or owners of birds. With so many boxes coming in daily, it is very helpful if you provide information. We would like to Thank everyone who has sent birds for the 2023 season so far. The quality is outstanding in the birds that have arrived, and breeders are definitely sending their best! There are also currently over 100 birds listed on the "For Sale" list from various fanciers. The breeder's name is listed under the "Bird Name" so you will know who's bird you will be purchasing. As a reminder, birds from the For Sale list will have any "prize and/or auction money" split between the buyer and breeder. Buyer is responsible for all fees. While we will put together "kits" of birds once all of the For Sale birds have arrived, you can certainly put together your own kit of birds by choosing 6 birds from the For Sale list for $1000. Please see official rules page on the website for more information regarding For Sale birds. We would also like to thank everyone for their patience over the past few weeks while we dealt with a pressing family issue. While our communication during this time was minimal, please be aware that we continued to make the birds health and well-being a priority. We are beginning to get back into a normal daily routine and will get back on track with updates, pictures, and videos. We hope everyone enjoys their weekend. As always if you have questions, please feel free to reach out to the office during business hours 8:30 am - 4:30 pm. at 219-733-0011