THE RACING PIGEON 19 APRIL 2024
3
Around the North East WITH BARRY PEARCE
feet but once we blended our current family together performances have improved season on season. We are currently, like most, in the breeding phase of our season, we pair up early to mid January depending on the first race date. We only keep 11 pairs of stock pigeons and we float the first round from these under the racers. Our stock consists of Woodroffe Bros, Ceusters from Premier Stud, Lambrechts from Steve Foster and a couple others thrown in, basically good stock to good stock. We do try one or two new pigeons each year, we are always looking to improve and progress. These new additions get a maximum of two years to be winning regularly. Sometimes only one season if they show nothing with John being ruthless in his selection they have to add value quickly or cards are marked. Our main stock pair called ‘Stock 2’, are 100% Woodroffe Bros, they’ve bred 3x1st Section and 2x2nd Ssection both times the seconds were beaten by loft- pearcebarry1946@gmail.com 15 Rossett Walk, Park End, M’Bro, Cleveland, TS3 7LX
The subjects of this write up is of a part- nership that has combined to make a formidable team that week in and week out, is one of the teams to beat, and one of those team members is a man that I’ve know and liked for quite some time.
as put me behind schedule, I’ll submit Adam’s run down. I must add though that these lads and and lady for that matter, are no one hit wonders, and they are no ‘I am’ sort of people, far from it. Jack I asked long before this visit, and season that I’d like to come across and see their birds, and he always laughingly sort of put me off. But thankfully he relented, and so the visit was on, and I’m oh so glad it was, because I got to see and handle some very exceptional pigeons, with the star being the section winning top cock, and he was out all winter as a YB. But I’ll now let Adam take over, so read on people. COCKCROFT, SON & GRANDSON AND MR & MRS HUDSON The partnership was formed 2017/2018. Both former partnership’s, Cockroft, Son & Grandson and Mr & Mrs Hudson were very successful in their own right and would regularly see themselves fighting it out for the top loft in the Federation.
Another top stock pair.
Roundabout system, but if a hen is coming well the cock will usually be sacrificed and be stopped, this is also the case if a cock is racing well. Unless they both are racing well. Feeding changes daily/weekly depending on the forecast for the coming race, mileage for the coming race and the previous weeks workload. The feeding changes depending on what the pigeons tell you, if they look right in the loft, are they wanting to be out for the exercise. Are the hens fresh,
The Shotton and Trimdon Federation 2023 season top loft is that of Jack Cockcroft, his son John, his son Adam and the late Arthur Hudson and his wife Irene. Jack is the man that I have known for quite some time. Myself and wife Shirley, many years ago along with Jack, Jimmy Nicholson, Phil Coils, Keith & Matty Arkless, and the late and much missed Terry Craggs, we all travelled across to Dublin to judge and to be guests of the South Road Ireland FC, this as I was asked to present the prizes at that weekends presentation, along with judging, is right up there with my list of top memories. I asked Jack if after the success of the 2023 season, could I come across to Shotton and do a loft report, so with the answer being yes, one weekend in March I travelled across to see the lads. Adam has kindly sent a run down on what they have achieved over their time together, which I couldn’t better, so yet again, explaining that computer troubles Jack holding ‘Barney’ winner of 1st Club,1st Fed, 1st Section 4,599 birds Huntingdon and 1st Club 1st Fed 1st Section 1,479 birds Chelmsford.
John, Jack and Adam Cockcroft.
Plenty of land, but this is also where those BOP’s appear from.
The Cockroft team flew on allotments and this became unsustainable due to damage and fires to the allotments. So they moved behind the house of John, the son in the partnership and if truth be told the driving force behind the current partnership. After a couple season’s John was moving house so another loft move awaited. It was at this time Arthur Hudson extended the invite to race with himself and his wife Irene and so the partnership began. As any new partnership can attest a season or two was needed to find your
mates. Both have bred good pigeons to other mates also, a special pair. The cock being held by Jack in the picture named ‘Barney’ after his ring number was the year of birth of the next door neighbour. Has 16 Federation posi- tions in the top 20 of the Fed. He is from this magnificent stock pair and was 2nd Club, Fed and Section to his full sister the last old bird race of 2023. All racers (28 pairs) will rear at least one youngster and the hens will be removed at around the 15/16 day mark to leave the cocks to finish them off. Old birds are raced on the
maybe too fresh too early in the week etc. We look to exercise the old birds around the loft once a day for three days a week 40 minutes a time. We don’t train the old birds. Young birds, we aren’t a huge lover of young bird racing, we do keep a team to the side and train them heavily and send them to the come back race. This is simply to combat the losses we now see in our sport nowadays. Once split the youngsters, we usually aim for roughly 60 youngsters, are fed on 100% maples for a short time, this is simply to ensure they will eat the larger grains in the mix as some can favour the small grains the the detriment. After that it’s about giving them the nutrients needed to grow but also keeping them light enough they find their wings natu- rally and quickly. We do race the other young birds and we prioritise returns over results, they are however all trained heavily as we believe that to be hugely important for the experience. We have had great success with pigeons that only have one or two races as a young bird so we don’t believe you must race youngsters in order to create successful old birds.
Cocks section, some finishing off rearing.
A top stock pair, Woodroffe’s.
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