Happy Sunday to everyone, hope all of you are having a great day!
We settled a new group today, after being out a hour a pair of Red Tail Hawks flew over the loft and scattered the birds. The hawk did not try to catch any, just spooked them. We will keep the clock on at least through tomorrow so if any birds do not trap in today we will trap them in late AM afer we have the loft cleaned and fresh water and feed waiting on them. If there are any out over night they will be pulled in when the mob that has already been settled is allowed to come out to fly for their morning exercise.
Yes we are still accepting birds, last days to ship will be May 30th/31st which is the last Monday and Tuesday in May.
There is no replacement period this year since there is no perch fee up front. If you do notice a bird missing, and there are very few this year, then by all means send a replacement if you like but not after the 31st of May.
Rick & Olga
Good afternoon everyone, hope everyone is having a great day!
Yesterday we settled a new group of 193 birds, about 30 minutes after the new birds were let out we had our first Cooper Hawk show up for the year. By the end of the day we were down 5 pigeons and today all are accounted for. Look at the inventory we started on April 14th, the clock has been running since so any birds which may of stayed out overnight have clocked in now.
We will mention this again because we keep getting asked the same questions, these are your shipping directions.
Register first.
The address to ship to is the PO Box address on our site under the Contact Us tab.
Put your loft name on the shipping label, not inside the box, not on the end of the box, right on the shipping label.
There is no reason to email us, call or text to let us know your birds are on the way. As long as you are registered before you send, put your loft name on the shipping label or right above it and only ship on a Monday or a Tuesday, that is all we need. There is no band list required, no forms, just register, put loft name on the box, and ship on Mon or Tue.
Too easy!
Accepting birds until the end of May, we are allowing you to mail on Monday May 30th and Tuesday May 31st if you need to.
Happy Easter everyone, hope everyone is having a great day.
Today we let out a new group that arrived 3 weeks ago counting this week's arrivals, 193 birds total. We forgot that the clock was still running from the last inventory on the 14th so the birds today clocked in on that inventory as well. There were 790 birds on the last inventory, adding the 193 who were let out for the first time today should bring the inventory up to 983. There are currently 978 that clocked in today after our first Cooper attack of the year, so we are down 5 birds. There are still a few birds out on the landing board and we will keep the clock running through tomorrow, hopefully we get everyone back.
Just wanted to give a explanation as to why the last inventory shows birds clocking in a few days ago then another group today.
Accepting birds through May 31st, we are allowing breeders to mail birds on Monday the 30th or Tuesday the 31st if you wish.
We have been asked more than once lately if we pull the 9th and 10th flights. After all birds have been settled around mid June, we will handle each pigeon individually checking chips and pulling the 9th and 10th flights as well as any damaged feathers. We are hoping that by the first of August we are road training and by the week after Labor Day we are having the activation race.
Everyone enjoy the rest of your day!
Thanks to everyone who sent birds this week, 160 more new birds and more probably arriving tomorrow!
364 breeders signed up so far and new breeders registering daily!
2,399 perch reservations thus far!
1,363 birds in the loft, all birds settled except last 3 weeks!
Expecting over 2,500 birds this year to start training!
Incredible, no unbelievable health this year, only 2 removed due to sickness and a few due to wing injuries!
6 races this year, optional 400 at the end!
Test your birds over mountains, ridgelines and hills, forest, desert, crossing the Columbia River, typical N to NW winds!
It takes a tough bird to win at the Apple Cup, do you have the right kinda bird!
When sending birds please put your loft name on the box and please register before sending. We STRONGLY suggest you only mail on Monday our Tuesday to preclude your birds getting stuck in the post office over the weekend.
Everyone have a great Easter Day weekend!
Today we are running a inventory of all of the birds except for the birds that have arrived yesterday and today, as well as the two weeks prior. The birds that arrived last week are at the far west end of the loft where they have access to the aviary for a week, the birds that arrived the week prior are trap training at the east end and are not part of this inventory.
We are having problems with our internet after we had a very strong wind storm a few days ago. We are using our loft assistant's phone as a mobile hot spot so we can connect to the internet to show you the live clocking. Our loft assistant will be leaving here shortly and taking her phone with her so the birds still out messing around will not show up on the inventory once signal is lost, however the clock will still record. Tomorrow, or if we can figure out how to connect our own phone today as a mobile hot spot, you will be able to see the rest of the birds clocking in At the time of writing this there are 750 birds in the clock and with the birds outside they should all be accounted for. Thus far we have only had 2 sick birds and a few removed due to injuries.
So if you have birds that should be on this inventory but are not showing up please be patient and please read this before calling.
Good afternoon everyone, hope everyone is having a great breeding season!
We have over 1,200 birds in the loft and have been averaging about 200 birds a week. We have advertised that we are accepting birds until 31 May, however you can still ship on 30 May which is a Monday and 31 May which is a Tuesday, but absolutely no birds shipped after 31 May please!
Looks like we are most definitely going to be the 2nd biggest race in the USA ths year behind our friends at the Hoosier. We were shooting for 2,000 this year but at the rate we are going we may hit 3,000. Our loft can hold 3,500 however we will probably limit it to 3,000 birds for this year so there is no overcrowding.
Health has been absolutely perfect this year, only 2 sick birds thus far and please let it stay this way!
We will run a inventory this week, it will be all birds except the last two weeks arrivals and the birds that arrive this week starting tomorrow.
If you plan on dropping off birds personally please drop them off of Wed or Thur, this is so all birds can start on meds at the same time.
Long day today, we put chips on all of the birds that arrive the week prior on Tuesdays so we can make room for arrivals in the holding cages where they are medicated before being put in the main loft.
Off to dinner with my loft assistant, without her I just do not believe we would be having the success that we are having this year.
Happy April Fools Day everyone!
We currently have over 2,000 perch reservations and over 1,000 birds in the loft. Prior to today we had over 400 birds settled and today let out the group that arrived 2 weeks ago which is about 200 more, we will run a inventory in a few days.
Knock on wood, and no this is no April Fools Day joke, not one single sick bird this year! No this is not a joke, not one single sick bird! We had one bird crash in to the house and kill itself and the breeder was informed and from our calculations we have only lost 3 birds during settling. God please let this continue!
There are 8 more weeks to send birds, accepting until 31 May so the last day to mail would be May 30th which is a Monday, or May 31st a Tuesday, yes they will arrive here the first few days of June but we are OK with that just do not mail any birds in June period. We STRONGLY advise, do not mail your birds past Tuesday so you do not have birds get stuck in the post office over the weekend.
PLEASE, register before sending and put your registered Loft Name on the box so when the birds arrive we know exactly who you are and can assign the birds properly.
Remember, no money due with the birds. After the activation race which will be hopefully the weekend after Labor Day any bird that you have return you owe $250 per bird. We will take $100 as our perch fee and the remaining $150 will go toward the prizes, we are not taking a cut of the remaining $150. As stated previously, payout on our site is based upon 1,000 birds, at the rate we are going we will be closer to 2,000 birds activated.
On a personal note, wanted to thank all of you who have asked how my wife's family in Ukraine is doing. Her sister Tanya is being stubborn and will not leave because her husband Sasha has health issues. Tanya usually spends a few months each year with us here but since Covid has not been able to visit, then the war there. As far as we know, Olga's relatives and close friends are all safe, however there are a few she has not heard from so we are praying for the best. The Ukranian men are tough as nails, I could of told Putin he was making a big mistake. What everyone is not mentioning is those Ukranian men have to spend at least 18 months in the military so obviously they have weapons training, think about that for a minute. One breeder, Thunderwing Loft wrote a nice note under the lid of one of the boxes of birds he sent this week saying he was praying for Ukraine, it was very heartfelt and chokes me up again looking at it which I have in my loft window now, thank you brother.
Everyone have a great weekend and if you have birds racing today or this weekend like we do then good luck to you!
Thanks everyone for your tremendous support this year! We currently have over 800 birds in the loft and are nearing 2,000 perch reservations. Our loft can hold 3,000 birds, 3,500 if we add perches to the hallway if needed. If we ever feel we are going to start overcrowding your birds we will add on to the west end of the loft so no overcrowding occurs.
A few things we need you to do before you send your birds.
Always ship on a Monday, Tuesday at the latest to insure your birds get here before the weekend.
Register your loft name before you ship your birds.
Put your loft name on the address label or right above or below it. If you do not register before sending and put your loft name on the box it makes it very difficult for us to know where to assign the birds.
NO PERCH FEES DUE WITH BIRDS. $250 per bird due only after the activation race, $100 is our perch fee and $150 goes toward prizes. Our payout on the site is based upon 1,000 activated birds which will be $150,000 in prizes. At the rate we are going we will bring in well over 2,000 birds this year and hopefully get 2,000 activated which would make the prizes closer to $300,000!
We will most likely be the second largest One Loft Race in the USA this year. If you are looking for a cheap race to test your birds on a tough course, not a cupcake course, then this race is one you want to enter!
Accepting birds until May 31st.
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us, text us for the fastest response at 254-247-9504.
We currently have 432 birds in the loft and 220 birds have been settled. Last week we brought in 126 birds and the week prior 86. The birds that arrived 2 weeks ago are being trap trained all this week and will most likely will be liberated for the first time next Monday. The birds that arrved last week are at the far west end of the loft and have access to the aiviaries all week so they can look around, then they will be trap trained starting the next Monday.
Currently there are 212 birds in the loft who have not been out yet and 220 who have been settled and are out flying. At the time of posting this most of the birds have trapped and it looks like if we are missing any it is very few. By all means if you have a bird that comes up missing this year due to settling you can send a replacement.
Currently there are 316 registered breeders with 1,600 birds. Breeders keep registering daily, we are not complaining! The loft capacity is 3,000 pigeons, if we look like we are going to start overcrowding the birds then we will add on to the loft so that does not happen. We have a flatbed trailer ordered which we will use to make a self loading trailer, no crates this year which will make it easier on the birds as well as ourselves.
KNOCK ON WOOD, not a single sick bird this year! Lets hope it stays this way!
Happy birthday to my little brother who is 54 years old today. Today is a big day for my brother because for 5 days each year he gets to say he is exactly the same age as myself and I am no longer his older brother. He actually just called to rub it in, there are women and children reading this so I will not describe exactly how the conversation went or goes each year. All I know is that in 5 more days I am officially a senior citizen so qualify for discounts when I go out to eat!
KNOCK ON WOOD, 429 birds in the loft and not a single sick bird this yeaar, man we hope this keeps up! Anyone who has been associated with a One Loft Race knows that maintaining health when you mix birds from lofts all around the USA and Canada is not for the faint of heart. Like Tim Kirchner said in a video a few years ago, "If you want a challenge start a One Loft Race, I dare ya!" This being our seventh year running the Apple Cup, I can honestly and absolutely assure you that Tim was 100% right!
We started letting out most of the birds that arrived in February out on Monday, today is their 5th day out and they are already flocking up and taking trips out around the area checking things out. We want to settle the next group that arrived 3 weeks ago who went through the traps today for the fifth time and they all came in after being whistled to, these will be settled next week probably Monday providing the weather cooperates. After they trap a few times affter being whistled to we will run our first inventory.
Loft capacity is 3,000 pigeons, we currently have nearly 300 breeders registered with nearly 1,500 birds reserved. No need to contact us asking if we have room, just register and please send on a Monday, Tuesday at the latest.
There are no fees up front, $250 per bird due AFTER the activation race.
Put your loft name on the box please, it makes things ten times easier on us if you have already registered and your loft name is on the box near or on the shipping label.
Please keep my wife Olga in your thoughts and prayers. For the time being the Russians are not in the city she grew up in which is east of Kiev but they are moving in that direction. It is a beautiful country and I have visited there after we got married coming up on 20 years ago in June, we hope there is a country to go back to after this is all over with!
