By Keith
Stafford
April 2006
"If
I can offer one bit of advice then you must Keep it
Regular, Keep It Routine! That’s the secret!" – Pat Craven April 2006
One
thing for sure is that there is nothing regular, nor routine about the
performances being achieved at the lofts of Pat Craven of Ballyfermot,
Pat
took 5 wins in the highly competitive racing club of the Sarsfield
R.P.C. in 2005, along with numerous other positions which were good enough to
win him the
Overall Champion for 2005, along with the Old Bird
Average and the Inland Average. Let’s
not forget that the Sarsfield R.P.C. was the top club
in the Irish South Road Federation for 2005, and that Pat’s achievements
contributed greatly to this, when the club ran out top of the league with
almost 1000 points ahead of second place.
Pat’s
achievements at club level were coupled at Fed level, scoring 2 x 2nd
Feds and 2nd Open in the Old Bird Season of 2005, whilst also
fighting off some stiff competition to win Irish South Road Federation Old Bird
Champion and Top 50 Old Bird Champion for 2005.
But
that was last Season! 2006 is here now and why not start off this Season the
way he finished off last Season. Or maybe go one better?
On
the second weekend of the 2006 Race Programme an estimated 10,000 birds were
liberated in
One
of Pat’s Blue Soontjen-Busschaerts stepped up to the
challenge, and a velocity of 2026.407 was good enough to take 1st
Club, 1st Fed and open Pat’s account for the season.
This
4 Year Old Blue Cock has now racked up 3 x 1st, 4 x 2nd
and 4 x 3rd along with 3rd Fed and 4th Fed
before reaching top honours from Pilmore on the
weekend in question. This pigeon is proof that winners breed winners, as the
Sire of this Fed Topper has 3 x 1st himself on the road, and has now
bred a total of 9 winners for Pat. A goldmine Stock Cock and
the very backbone of Pat’s Loft.
Pat with
his Blue Soontjen-Busschaert Widowhood Cock
1st
Club 1st
I
had the pleasure of visiting Pat’s lofts after this win, and it was clear
immediately on viewing his setup why this loft is manufacturing winners year
after year. The setup is spacious, airy and extremely clean which shows in the
health of the birds on viewing them, and in the results they achieve on a
weekly basis.
Pat
was introduced to pigeons through his father who was a long-time member of the Sarsfield R.P.C. himself. Pat started racing to his own
loft in Clondalkin in 1985, and clocked his first
winner in his first Young Bird Season. This was the first of many a win for Pat
from this loft, regardless of the fact that he was flying approximately 2 miles
shorter than his fellow members located in Ballyfermot,
and positioned badly in the line of flight. In 1995 Pat moved to Ballyfermot, and immediately the successful results started
to roll in, and scored an excellent 1st Club, 1st
Station, and 4th Open.
Pat’s
family of pigeons is based around the Soontjen-Busschaert
strain, which he has developed over the past few decades. His Busschaert lines come from Ray Forbes, Jeff Fryatt and the infamous Park Busschaerts.
These birds coupled with the Clayburn and Mardon Soontjens, the latter of
which he obtained from Michael Flynn also of Sarsfield
R.P.C., have created a family of pigeons which are producing winners
generation after generation.
Pat in
his Stock Loft with one of Golden Stock Producers
Father
of 9 Winners to Date Including the Fed Topper Above
With
potential Champions in his ranks, all that is left for Pat to do is get the
system right to achieve the results. For Old Bird racing Pat races the
Widowhood system, and concentrates on the cocks only.
At
present he holds a maximum off 32 cocks, but is quick to point out that a box
will not be filled just for the sake of it. Any bird that isn’t up for the job
will not get a position in his loft.
When
asked what he feels is key to achieving top results at Widowhood Pat advises
that the training & exercise regime of the cocks throughout the season will
be the difference between those valuable seconds on race day. Pat trains his
cocks privately for the 2 weeks previous to the racing season in order to
sharpen them up. After the first race the birds will change to exercising
around the loft in the mornings and evenings for one hour. They are allowed to
fly and land as they feel, and under no circumstances will they be flagged. If
he feels the birds need an extra bit of sharpening up on their fitness, then he
will train them on the road, but by no means is this done by default. Training
the birds on the road too much or forcing them to fly will result in the burn
out of the birds.
Another
area which Pat feels is very important is the hens. Although he doesn’t race
the hens at all through the programme, he sees the health of the hens and the
performance they put on for the cocks is vital to produce winners. Hens with a
sickness will pass it on to your racing cocks and affect the performances
indirectly. A hen which is not keen will not amuse the cocks, and the cock will
lose interest and his own keenness to get home. This has been more than evident
for Pat in the past. One hen in particular showed no interest in her partner,
and chose to stand on the edge of the nest bowl and ignore the cock. Needless
to say the cock never achieved. A quick switch of the hens in order to increase
the interest of the same cock, and the following week the cock wins the club.
Pats advice is to pay close attention to the hens. Choose old hens which react
well with the cocks!
With
regards Young Bird Racing I’m sure Pat would be first to admit that over the
past few years he hasn’t achieved the results he expects of his young team.
Although on questioning and quizzing him about the same it soon became evident
to me that his objective for young birds is to educate and mould his team for
the future, whilst trying not to burn them out.
Pat
currently houses approximately 70 young birds for racing, and they are split
50\50 on the Darkness & Natural Systems. Similar to the old birds he would
privately train his team up until the first race on the road, and then switch
to exercising around the house both in the morning and the evening. He admits
that by training them heavily all season it may produce better results, but he
feels that this is too much to ask of a pigeon which is still in its
development, and the long term career of the bird will be jeopardised.
When
asked to advise fanciers about young bird racing he points out that many lofts
have been struck down over the past few seasons with sicknesses. He feels that
this is mainly caused by overcrowding young birds into small, badly ventilated
and unclean lofts. The health of the young birds is seriously affected, and
even if one pigeon catches a sickness it will be spread rapidly amongst the
entire team. He recommends paying important attention to maintaining the health
and the fitness of the young birds and the results should follow.
The
Lofts of Pat Craven
On
querying Pat a little more about the health of the birds he informed me that
the three most important areas are Respiratory, Canker and Coccidiosis.
Pat feels it’s important to get into a cycle of treating for these three
important areas throughout the season, although to be careful not to treat too
often as it will affect the immune system of a pigeon. The canker levels of the
birds will increase throughout the season as the birds’ stress levels increase,
and this will affect young birds the most as they are still growing and
developing. Similarly the Cocci.
Level of the bird may be altered when mixed with other birds in training and
racing baskets. Respiratory is another very important subject in his opinion.
Respiratory will always be evident in a pigeon and it’s important that you
closely monitor your birds to ensure that the level doesn’t increase into a
disease whereby the birds will have difficultly with their breathing.
Pat’s
last word on the health of your birds is to be quick to remove and dispose of
any bird which can affect the health of your overall team. If an individual
bird has a serious illness it is better to cut your losses and remove this bird
before it destroys your entire loft.
During
a lengthy discussion about the sport in general, and the future of the sport
going forward Pat is worried that there is a growing number of people leaving
the sport. It is also evident that the numbers coming in are not matching the
numbers going out, and in an attempt to encourage new members to join the sport
and hold onto them Pat is convinced that the establishment of a league or
tiered system within the larger clubs would help. By giving people a chance to
race against people of equal abilities or experience should encourage new
members as they won’t have to compete directly with the best flyers who have
years of knowledge. If fanciers are competing well then they will promoted to
the next league up, thus keeping it competitive and interesting for them.
Sarsfield R.P.C.
Secretary Patrick Cording presenting
Pat with
Overall Champion, Old Bird Champion & Inland Champion for 2005
With
regards to new fanciers joining the sport, Pat has some pointers to help them
along.
When
obtaining birds they should do this from local fanciers who are flying
successfully at the time, and have been doing so for the past few years. He
doesn’t believe in obtaining birds from mainland
He
also advises to ask the top flyers in local clubs as much as possible, and
listen very carefully to the free advice you might get. These fanciers have
been doing it for years and know every little secret. Most fanciers will be
more than obliging to share their knowledge. Education of the fancier is very
important.
Pat
believes that when you have good pigeons, and have good loft management, keep
it regular, keep it routine, and results should speak for themselves.
Regularity and Routine are vital to success.
Pat
would like to thank some people who have helped him over the years. Firstly, Anthony Killeen for introducing him to the widowhood
system. Secondly, thank you to Michael Flynn and Tony Phelan for all
their help and advice over the years. Thirdly, A sincere
thank you to his father Noel, for all his assistance both past and present.
And lastly, to Alfie Henvey,
whom anyone close to Pat will know was of great support over the years, but
unfortunately due to health reasons cannot assist him in present day racing.
On
behalf of
www.racingpigeon.ie I would
to thank Pat and his family for their hospitality and to wish them all the best
for the rest of the season. It was a pleasure handling some of the champions in
his loft, which I’m sure will continue to be
successful for a long time to come.
Keith Stafford
E-Mail:
editor@racingpigeon.ie