USA

Herb Cartmell

The visit to the states proved to be more exciting than I expected it to be. Bourbon Street was great, so was the Niagra falls and Times Square, not to mention the Phantom of the Opera (I'm speaking Broadway, not the one on Times Square who had to be offloaded from a Dubai-bound plane.). But most exciting for me as you may have already guessed was my meeting with fanciers in the US. I will always always remember Bethany Mueller who connected me with Herb Cartmell, the fancier with a vison from Woodinville Seattle. Boy oh boy was I excited when I heard that I was actually going to be meeting the man. Calls were made and we spoke. He must be the most gregarious man on the planet as he even offered and did pick me up from my hotel, whilst I was making elaborate plans to get to woodinville by bus. "It's easier this way," was all he said. The drive to his place was over 45 minutes and we chatted. I was too overwhelmed to think straight and ask the right questions but the way it went off I knew in my heart that this was only the beginning of a long long friendship and we had all the time in the world to talk pigeons.

Herb lives in a beautiful house in Woodinville, which as the name belies could very well be the woods. It's lovelly and green all around and if I have to describe it to my Indian friends, imagine having a house in a national park!!! Well most Americans live this way, more so in Seattle. It's a very beautiful part of a beautiful country. (New York of course was different.) Older Bangaloreans will feel at home in Seattle; younger ones will be at home in NYC.

Herb, like most Americans and a certian Indian we all knew and loved, going by the name of Col Smith, has his own complete workshop. He built his own loft and even maintains it all by himself!!! Learn pigeon people learn!!! You learn more about your pigeons by cleaning your loft than by surfing the net looking for magic potions.

Herb is a practical flier he believes in keeping it simple and allows the pigeons to do their job. The several trophies, diplomas and Hall of Fame certificates is proof of the pudding. However, it didn't take me long to discover the secret of his success. She wasn't home when we got in, but soon arrived from a work meeting -- The Gentle Marlene, Herb's wife, who not by her admission or Herb's commission, but entirely my understanding, is his greatest strength and ally. She's not a pigeon person, but a wonderful wonderful human being, who's stood by this man through his success and his loss (when his loft burned down), and hey presto, he's back to his winning ways. The weekend I was in Seattle his birds were back in business (check below for the race results). I have always maintained that there is no greater love demonstrated than by a woman who stands by a racing pigeon fancier husband! I mean it!!!

So there we were in the backyard and Marlene most graciously offered to take pictures of us and with that done we were in Herb's 'Pigeon Study' (looks the same anywhere in the world) He let me in on a few of his secrets (and if you've been reading carefully, I've already told you what they were). We talked more shop but what grabbed me was the visionary that this man is. He's started a club for young pigeon fanciers and supports them with both birds and information and the good thing is that he's got everybody and anybody who's listening to throw in their lot with him on the project. "It's a great hobby for the whole family, and it keeps the kids off the streets," he says. And let me tell you these kids are no pushovers and are dead serious in what they do. They compete with the senior fanciers in the shorter races and what do you know.... THEY WIN!!!

The real winner here is Herb and I wish his mission all the success. Anybody in India willing to chip in on a similar project here... let me know.

Herb and Marlene offered to show me around Woodinville and we were soon off for a tour of their beautiful country. A coffee was picked up at Starbucks and we drove past the Seattle Times, and into some vineyards. A stop however was made at a brewery and we had dinner and a beer here. In between we also stopped at Herbs favourite hang out -- The Home Depot. "He makes several trips here in a week," says Marlene. You get anything here from lumber to nails to seeds... can't blame him can you!

This lovely couple also dropped me back to the hotel (which is really a long way off) and before goodbyes was the promise that we'd meet again. Till then...

Tommy Erskine

When I set off to the US I wasn't sure I would meet up with even one pigeon person... but then to have met with Herb, I was immensely grateful, but Herb in turn put me on to one of the most intersting people I have met in my life - Tommy Erskine. A war veteran and pigeon fancier par excellence, he speaks over 14 languages and actually fought on the other side (Pakistan) during the 1970s war. A total asset he is to the pigeon world, having edited the Racing Pigeon Digest till very recently. Not sure if it was the pigeon in us or the writers in us, but we borders behind us and hit it off from the word go.

I spent a day with him and it flew byt too quickly... we spoke a lot and there's loads to write about that one day in Goose Creek... but of more importance to pigeon people here are the gems that he's offered me in our email exchanges. With his permission I have recorded them here for the benefit of fancier all over. I have tried each of his suggestions and have found them to be useful... here goes:

Some pointers on feeding

First, there are some things to keep in mind, with respect to feed and feeding—feeding is an absolute art. Too much protein, and the birds’ breasts literally turn blue! Too little, they become weak and thin! Too much carbohydrates and they keep the loft almost foggy and never want to come back in. Too little, and they won’t fly a hundred miles in a day!!

Secondly, how to know what and when to feed—pigeons will tell you what they need to eat. When they leave peas in the hopper, they need carbohydrates/CHO— corn or safflower or the major CHO component. If they are leaving the corn or safflower (carbohydrates/CHO), they need legumes (protein), either for breeding or for a moult!

The most interesting thing, and the one that seems to be proof to me about those old Army formulae? Across the entire military, through all the varying conditions and climates, the training routines, the schedules—the feeding regimens were exactly the same! And the mixes used? Grain for grain—exactly the same over the entire world, for thousands of homing pigeons.

General principles

1. A good racing mix

a. A good racing mix will be light (12-14%) on the protein (which tends to increase thirst, so birds may tend to go down!), well balanced with fiber, a little fat for reserves and heavier carbohydrates CHO/sugars/starches). CHO content can be adjusted with maize, kafir, oats, safflower or any one of 10 different grains. CHO produce heat...they literally warm the birds...and with your temperatures, they may not want to eat more sugars. When you first start adding CHO, the birds may leave the grains in the feed hopper or tray. As the team are trained though, and as race distances progress, they will eat more and more of the CHO. EVERY LOFT MANAGER TRAINS AND HANDLES HIS TEAM DIFFERENTLY, SO EACH MAY HAVE TO EXPERIMENT WITH THIS—THE ART!!!

DEPURATIVE MIXES.

I am not a fan of depurative mixes, to be used AFTER the races. Even with training, racing takes a lot out of a pigeon, and the longer the race, the more its little body has to give. Depuratives are low in everything, proteins, carbs, and fats...conversely, just when the pigeon needs everything to rebuild its body from the expense (in a physical sense) of the race course, depuratives restrict those very nutrients it needs. It simply does not make sense to me...and I admit, I could be wrong!

2. Breeding mix

a. A good breeding mix will be heavy (16 to 20%) on the protein (which builds bone, muscle and feather) so it will typically be a little heavy on the peas (legumes). It will be well balanced with little fiber, little fat and almost no carbohydrates.

BREEDERS AND BABIES DO NOT NEED GROSS AMOUNTS OF ENERGY!!

3. The build up to the races —this is where the true art of the feeding comes into play.

•Up to about a race distance of 300kms (190 miles), just about any ration of feed will suffice. Do not feed the day of shipping/crating.

•Beyond that, each day before a race, the feeding should be progressively heavier on the carbohydrates, lower on the protein and nominal as to fat content (the natural fats in the mixture).

For example: FOR Saturday evening shipping/crating.

1) 450km race prep

- on Tuesday, increase CHO by 10%

- on Wednesday, increase CHO by 15%

- on Thursday, increase CHO by 25%

- normal feed Friday

- FEED EARLY MORNING FOR Saturday evening shipping.

Note: Adjust feed for different shipping day!

2) As race distances increase (by 100km), the amount of CHO must be adjusted to account.

3) 800km plus...CHO is not the main factor here. Birds need additional stores of fat. Peanuts and oat/groats are a ready source of wholesome fat for racing! This fat should be put on over a period of 10-14 days SLOWLY. Too much fat will not only slow the birds down, but will infiltrate into the blood and displace oxygen-carrying red blood cells! This in turn limits the birds’ flying abilities. (The birds will use the liver stored sugars, then the other stored CHO, then the tissue stored fats as the race distance progresses!)

- To be contd...