News and Updates
May-13-2021
125-MILE ACTIVATION IS A GO! High Desert Breeders,

Birds are loaded and ready to hit the road. And on cue, once everything was ready to go our internet provider took a dump on us. One of the downsides of the country. Currently no internet by this provider in the state of Idaho. No timeline of when it will be up. With that said hopefully it will be up sooner than later. So you might have to wait a little longer to see the results than normal. As the only thing that is inhibited is uploading the results from the computer to the internet. I will update once the birds are released. Best of luck to all!

Kenny and Corey King
May-11-2021
125-MILE ACTIVATION High Desert Breeders,

Hope everyone is doing well and enjoyed this past weekend with Mother's and their families. It is another beautiful day here at the loft. Birds will be resting today and tomorrow and the plan is to have the 125-Mile Activation race on Thursday, 5/13. If that changes we will let you know.

Birds did well from the 75-mile toss yesterday. For much of their journey yesterday they had a slight headwind. The group was flying above the main highway a few miles into the flight and I was able to follow them for several miles. They were going 45-50 mph just swerving back and forth. Always fun to watch the birds as you are driving.

When your team arrives back from the 125-mile activation, reminder that entry fees are $150 per bird. You can send a check or pay through PayPal; highdesertyc@gmail.com. Be sure to use friends and family. We are one of the last races that pay out the full entry fee. Most races are pulling anywhere from 10-15%. Please get your money in ASAP. We will be turning around and doing the 200-mile race in 6-8 days more than likely. Thanks and any questions let us know.

Side note; the 2022 birds have started arriving. We have plenty of loft space to accommodate the youngsters. 

Kenny and Corey
May-07-2021
ROAD TRAINING UPDATE High Desert Breeders,

Windy colder day at the loft compared to yesterday. Yesterday was mid 80's which has been the warmest day of the year for us so far. Yesterday's 75-mile toss, the first half of the birds made it home just fine but the second half overshot and flew past. The birds got cooking a little too fast. The birds that overshot came out of the North or the Northwest. Typically they come out of the South or Southwest. If they have the brains and the brawn they should keep trickling in. The later birds also had to face heat which they haven't seen yet and we had a late evening wind storm. We shall see what happens today with the late birds.

The last 40-mile toss, 5/4, there was a hawk that hit one of the groups once they got in the air. One bird had feathers fly but were able to get away but who knows if it made it home as it was in survival mode. The hawk scattered a few others in the group as well. To witness that from a release was a first for me.

The plan is to probably take tomorrow off as well because of higher winds. We will probably do another 40-mile toss or two and then do the 75 again. The second time from 75, the birds should do much better. From the 40-mile toss location to the 75-mile toss location the birds do have a lot of mountainous terrain to navigate. 

Quick clarification on the Entry Fee this year. 2021 it is $150 per bird and next year, 2022, it will be $200. 

Hope all is well and best of luck in all the young bird series you entered!

Kenny and Corey
May-03-2021
ROAD TRAINING UPDATE High Desert Breeders,

Beautiful day at the loft. Yesterday we had rain. Birds are looking great and coming home nicely from 40 miles. They did great again today. 

The plan is to have the 125-mile activation race next week. Somewhere between 5/11 - 5/15. Depends on which day is the best weather-wise. We will have several more 40-mile tosses and a couple of 75-mile tosses before then.

We start accepting birds this week for the 2022 series. When shipping us birds please include the Perch Form, which can be found on our website under Forms. Or just click the hyperlink.

Kenny and Corey
Apr-28-2021
40 MILE TOSS UPDATE High Desert Breeders,

Based on how the birds came home from 25-miles we decided they just needed some more miles and to be challenged. So they went 40 miles today. Birds did great. Most of the birds that are still not in the clock as of right now are still flying around the loft, 10:45 am mountain time. 

Kenny and Corey
Apr-27-2021
ROAD TRAINING UPDATE High Desert Breeders,

The previous 3 days we have had rain and heavy cloud coverage all day. It has been a very challenging April to get the birds down the road due to the weather. As you can see the birds went 25 miles today. Partly cloudy with minimal wind. We will do a few tosses from here and then we will go to 40 miles. 

Birds are healthy and happy. We separated the sexes over the weekend. We will change the sexes in Wincompanion once all the shy cocks reveal themselves.

The birds returning from tosses or lack thereof have been very interesting this year. This will be the 11th year of running the race, and this year has been unique in terms of how the birds have not returned home from short tosses on a consistent basis. Comparing to previous years' training and when we separate sexes, it has pretty much been the same over the last 11 years. This group in particular had a lot of wing time around the loft before we started heading down the road. 

Most of the tosses from 15 miles and 20 miles the birds have had to deal with 15-30 mph side winds (East some days and West the others). Some groups have taken off in the wrong direction and then had to fight the winds to return. The first toss from 20 miles, the groups all headed in the right direction but a group of about 40 broke from the main group and headed straight west (needed to head north). On the 2nd toss, we released everyone together to see what they would do. The group headed in the right direction and figured they would all be back but a couple. But that did not happen. 

Hopefully, the return rates will improve on the tosses. Looks like we have a few nice enough days ahead to train. 

Starting next week we are accepting birds for the 2022 series. Please be sure to send to the correct address as the post office recently changed the address.  Go here for the information. 

Kenny and Corey
Apr-20-2021
ROAD TRAINING UPDATE High Desert Breeders,

Lovely spring day here in the valley with winds of around 25 mph this morning. The winds should subside some this afternoon and if they do we will take them 15 miles again. Yesterday the winds were 30+ mph for the day. The next few days should be a little nicer to get the birds out.

Birds are healthy and happy. And overall the main group of birds is coming home great. A big group flies around the loft for an hour or so after they come home. If your bird can't make it home from these short tosses, they are doing you a favor and saving you entry money. 

The 10 and 15-mile toss are from and in the hills. With the 20-mile toss, we start to make our way around the hills. For whatever reason some years the birds really struggle with this release the first time. They end up heading west and eventually make their way back. We shall see what happens this year. Again every day that is nice enough the birds will be going down the road. The weather this April has been pretty typical for us. 

Kenny and Corey
Apr-13-2021
ROAD TRAINING UPDATE

Wonderful Spring weather is upon us. One day is fantastic and the next it's winter again. Tuesday and Wednesday the birds will be staying in due to high winds and possible snow/rain Wednesday. Hopefully, the weather is nice enough to get them back out Thursday. 

Friday's 2nd 5-mile toss the weather was fantastic. Little to no wind. Groups took off nicely. No excuses for the birds as to why they didn't make it home since the first 5-mile toss they essentially all made it home.

Sunday's toss from 10 miles, there were higher than expected winds that lasted most of the day. Birds were kicked out in groups of about 100, with west winds of about 10-15 mph. The loft is directly North of the release point. The wind was originally forecasted to slow down and pretty much be nonexistent shortly after they were released. But it only picked up and was 15-20 mph west for the whole morning and into the early afternoon. All groups took off nicely but headed more east because of the winds. Back at the loft, the birds came in from the east. Most groups looked like they all came back together but one group. All things considered, the birds did very well. 

The toss today, the birds did great and were pretty much all back once we arrived back at the loft. The 10-mile toss is a great location as it puts us on top of the hills that lay directly to the south of us. We will try and get several tosses in from this area as it gives them a great outlook of the valley. 
Kenny and Corey
Apr-08-2021
ROAD TRAINING UPDATE Gusty winds at the loft today, some reaching around 40mph. Birds will be staying in today. Tomorrow birds will be going 5 miles. Saturday looks like a crumby windy day again. Birds will probably be staying in then too. But after that next week is looking really nice. Should be able to have them down the road pretty much every day. 

Our goal is to have the activation race the first week or two of May. Depending on where the birds are at. 
Apr-06-2021
ROAD TRAINING BEGINS Hope everyone had an enjoyable Easter weekend. Gusty winds at the loft today. Birds stayed in yesterday and today because of the weather. The weekend was in the 70's and then Monday we were getting some snow. Overall the weather is looking pretty good in the coming days. Every day it's nice enough the birds will be going down the road. 

The first two tosses the birds did well. They grouped up and took off nicely. The biggest thing is getting the birds used to coming out of the trailer.  A few barn sitters weren't too sure what to do when their normal place wasn't there. One of the neighbors has a big indoor arena that some birds like to go sit on. When the birds made it home they loft flew, some longer than others. 

The next toss will be 5 miles. Depending on how the birds take off and come home will determine how long we stay at each spot. They are looking really sharp and healthy. Should be a fun group to train and race. Thanks for letting us test your birds. 

Kenny and Corey
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