Having children is full of worrying moments. One such moment that happened to us was when I brought home a parachute from the RAF when I was flying with them. The parachute was an old one with no further use as a life saver. Anyway, the parachute was placed on our lounge floor and in seconds our son, only a very small chap, then opened up the packed 'chute and was soon in the actual canopy which filled our lounge. We could not actually see the lad but could hear his gurgling and see a hump which we assumed was him. Initially this was funny until we realised the danger our son was in and if we didn't act quickly the life saving equipment would become a killer, and panic almost set in. We could see our son, but finding an exit from the 'chute was easier said than done. Eventually he was rescued and a moment of prayer was given for his safe return. This illustration is given to explain that the type of flying I am going to talk about does not require a parachute and consequently won't give you the anxiety we, as parents, suffered on that occasion. However, there will be other anxieties and excitements to suffer if you become a tippler flyer - or perhaps you are one already. It is said there is more than one way to skin a cat, likewise there is more than one way to fly tipplers. I am going to write about my way: I'm not saying it is the right way or the best way, but it is the way I have devised to fit in with my life-style and to give me the maximum amount of pleasure in the sensation of flying and the breeding of small livestock.

It all started when, at the age of nine, I fell `in love' with a stray racer at my grandfather's address. The stray was fed and cared for and eventually returned to its owner. Eventually I had pigeons of my own and years later flying tipplers came into my possession. That is a synopsis of the story and I will go on to explain in simple terms the way I go about it.

THE LOFT. My loft is a small building measuring seven feet by six feet approximately. It started its life as a garden shed. The roof of my loft runs from the front down to the back. This has its difflculties as pigeons can be sitting on the roof but because of the design cannot be seen, whereas if it was designed the other way round no bird could sit on the loft roof unseen. Take note if you are about to make a loft. The back of the loft is solid wood as is one end. The front of the loft is half wire and half wood and the only door is in the centre of the front of the loft. The other end of the loft is all wire except there is a solid door which can be either open or closed to allow for weather conditions. There is no flight attached to the loft and the only protruding object from the simple oblong shape is the landing board which in fact started life as the floor of a hens battery cage. Trapping of the birds is by a racing type trap. It is in fact an entrance which is controlled by a small door which could be right open or right closed or angled half open Jhalf closed to form a trap. The door is supported in this trap position by a small chain and the amount of open Jclosed allowed by which link of the chain is hooked up. The loft is one compartment and the perches are of the big `V' type. The loft floor is covered by a mixture of wood shavings and/or peat and the birds are cleaned out properly when this mixture loses its sweetness more to the comfort of humans than the pigeon occupants.

THE BIRDS. At present I have eighteen birds (I would probably keep more if I had a larger loft but in this area the small loft has its uses) and they are a mixture of blacks, blues and grizzle i prints. All the birds are flown; I hate the idea of prisoners except under exceptional conditions.

BREEDING. I work a system of self selection by the pigeons themselves and selection by me - most selection by themselves. My logic is this: if my birds survive my all-weather flying programme and natural hazards then they are fit to be bred from whatever partner they choose. Again, because of the size of the loft and no separate compartments, not all the birds will breed - only the dominant ones. The others will accept this as quite normal, as they would if they were in a natural rock ledge flock.

FEEDING. I feed my birds on a commercially mixed racing mixture which does not include the supposed magical barley and consequently my birds do not get this grain. I would prefer to feed them on pellets but my stockist stopped having pigeon pellets as I was the only person buying them as they were very expensive. The only problem I experienced with an all pellet diet was wet droppings (the pigeons that is!) otherwise to me they were perfect. The amount I feed is worked out so that the birds are always `flying' hungry. In theory that means if on any morning I feel that I want to fly the birds I can. When breeding the breeding pairs are fed ad-lib in throwaway containers at their nests; while the other birds in the loft are kept `flying' hungry. Normally the birds are fed once a day at a time convenient to me or when they are flying upon their return to the loft.

FLYING. I fly my birds aIl the year round. The only weather conditions I won't fly my birds in are fog and snow, both of these conditions are sure ways of losing birds, snow more so than fog. Neither do I fly my birds every day. Being a shift worker I come and go at all times of day and night and likewise I have days off when other people are working. If I'm going to be at home most of the day and I've woken up early enough and the weather and birds are right, I will fly them. Some times I gently shepherd them out of the loft through the central door and into the sky. Other times I allow them to come out of the loft on their own, have a bath and generally `graze' the lawn for fifteen minutes or so and then they are gently encouraged into the air. When flying time is coming to an end I don't empIoy droppers (I haven't any) I just gently whistle to the birds and they gently drop down and in most cases trap quickly into the loft and feed, after feeding and drinking they go to their perches ready for the next flying day.

This has only been an introduction to my way of flying flying-tipplers but I hope it will show that there is another way of keeping, controlling and flying tippler pigeons. I know that there are people who are very competitive and must compete in whatever hobby they partake in. As for me I find work and life competitive enough without extending the competition into my pigeon flying. If you are a competitor almost ignore my jottings and seek the advice of a competition flyer. As for me I will just continue flying for fun and hope others will join me. See I told you you wouldn't require a parachute ! !

N.T.U. YEARBOOK 1984 Zeljko Fajdetic - Croatia