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Clip rings are a blessing

To day people make a study of almost everything.
Some professor studied at what places people swear most.

That was on the soccer field, in jail and in the pubs, he found.

That was no surprise for me, I could have told you without his study.
Places where people swear the least are in church, at a cemetery and in the library. That was no shocking conclusion either.

But I wonder what 'swear' actually means.

Do you also swear if you say 'shit' or 'f..ck?'
In the old days we got punished if we used these words, to day parents will praise their children for their 'linguistic capabilities'.
According to the professor people curse a lot in the bedroom as well.

However, he did not say for what reason.
When I tell my cousins we couldn't use words like 'shit' and 'f..ck' when I was a child they look at me questioningly and say 'shit''

ME
To day I don't swear much any more and if it happens that is mostly in the pigeon loft after I had done something stupid.

We all make stupid mistakes, don't we?

- Who has not found a stray bird in his loft that must have been there for a long time?

- Who didn't accidentally basket an inexperienced baby, so that it got lost?

- Who didn't put a cock amongst the hens, or a cock in the wrong section? 
To day I make fewer mistakes, thus I do not curse that often, thanks to' clip rings.

 

CLUMSY
Once a youngster that got lost was reported by some one who lived real far.

Mostly I pick up birds that get lost and that is what I did this time together with my wife who 'wanted to have a break'.

I will never forget this trip.
The weather was nasty, the roads over crowded and we only got home 7 hours later, completely broken.  
When, two days later, the weather was nice I went to train my youngsters, but you must know that my memory is a disaster, although it is not as bad as that of a friend.

He sometimes forgets that he is married and finds himself in a wrong bedroom.

I forgot about that baby and the terrible trip, I put it in the basket and understandably it got lost again.
No big deal so far, if only I wouldn't have been so stupid as to tell my wife.
No plates broken, but curses were part of our conversation, to say the least.

That very week I went to the pigeon shop and bought myself clip rings and to day all my youngsters wear one, some even two or three. They have different colours and every colour has a meaning.

The result is that I make fewer mistakes and swear less.





SICK BIRDS
 I never have birds with wet noses or birds that suffer from respiratory problems.

This is due to the fact that I hardly ever use antibiotics or disinfectants.

I put birds that are not in good health in an aviary in which they mostly recover without any medication.

After recovery I put such a bird amongst the others into the loft again but before I put it on a clip ring, since I want to remember which bird that was.

In case it gets sick again it does not get a second chance.

Even the best bird can get sick, but for those that get sick a second time I have no space available in my loft.

 

LATE AND EARLY

Birds that return home late from (training) tosses or from regular races should be handled with care and get a fair chance to recover.
They do not get a fair chance if you (accidentally) basket them again too soon, but this doesn't happen to me (anymore).

As for old birds this is no big deal, since I know them.

Babies is a different story though.

The ones that get home late I put on a clip ring with a special colour.
It happens that the same babies are late from training tosses again and again, but how on earth can you recognise those when you have about 70'all blue bars, if you do not clock them electronically yet?

Clip rings are the solution. 
When they are on time from the next training I remove it, if they are late again they get on a second ring and' if they are late a third time I do not put them on a third ring any more; such birds can go.

Naturally it is inevitable that I may eliminate birds that don't deserve it but' not many, since there are not many good birds.

There are also young birds that are often ahead of the rest from the first tosses.

I say 'often' since one early arrival only doesn't mean much.

Once I got a bird home many minutes before others.

I found it was injured.

Probably the others had too much energy and the injured one returned first because it 'could not follow them'.
I like babies that frequently get home before the others from training tosses.

Clip rings are a help to remember which those are.

 

ALSO NICE
The following anecdote is also interesting,

Once I bought 4 birds from a real champ.

I crossed them with mine and bred a lot of babies off them.

I put the off spring off those crossings on a purple clip ring so that I could see from the beginning if they stayed as healthy as my birds and how they performed from training.

The first serious training was from 150 kilometres with head winds.

I had entered 32 birds and when I got 18; there was not even one among them with a purple band. l got rid of them the very day.

People who see my babies all wearing clip rings with different colours often ask me why and if the colours have a special meaning.

Then I try to explain.

Two red bands means: twice late from training.

Three green bands means: Three times early from training.

A blue ring means: Has been sick.
A purple clip ring means: Import.

And so on.

PROBLEMATIC

Of course things are a lot easier if birds are registered electronically from training.

I find electronic clocking a blessing but it has its drawbacks as well.

When in the past, when birds were clocked manual, several got home together it happened that I did not notice one.

But that was no big deal, since I could easily find it; it was the one wearing a gummy band.

Then I could grab such a bird and still clock it.

To day it happens that a bunch of birds arrive together of which one is not registered, since it entered head over heals with the others.

I rush into the loft to find the bird.

But how can I if they are nearly all blue bars that all wear the same chip instead of a gummy?

'God dam, God dam' I curse then.

I find clip rings that have different colours that you can take off and put on handy.

Moreover they are a help not to say words that are not fit for children's ears.