AN INTERVIEW WITH LEE
FRIBBINS
A hectic lifestyle doesn’t prevent
success with pigeons
by Gareth Watkins
Lee Fribbins, as many will know, is the Editor of one of the UK’s most
successful and innovative pigeon magazines – the Racing Pigeon. Lee also
edits the superbly produced Racing Pigeon Pictorial International, which
must rank amongst the finest glossy pigeon magazines in the racing
pigeon world. Add to these responsibilities the fact that Lee has developed
his own brand of “natural” pigeon health care products and you have a
fancier for whom leisure time is definitely in short supply. Nevertheless,
Lee has enjoyed great success when racing his pigeons in sprint and
middle distance races winning multiple first prizes in recent seasons with
his small team of predominantly Leo Van Rijn pigeons. The following
article sets out Lee’s methods and theories that have brought him so much
success despite the limited time he has available to care for his pigeons.
When did you start in the sport.
I first started keeping pigeons when I was six years old. I had shown an
interest in garden birds at an early age being a member of the Young
ornithologists club then the RSPB. This was before they actively protected
and encouraged birds of prey. For my sixth birthday my grand dad brought
me round six pigeons in a small crate. These pigeons were Westcotts from
Inspector Ralph Chapman. I kept pigeons as pets, chasing every stray,
breeding colourful babies and taking the birds a few miles training and
waiting days for them to return. They were kept in our coal bunker, then in
our out house then my first loft .My grand dad, Joseph Phillips, had raced
pigeons in Bellshill, Glasgow before he moved for work down to Halstead
in Essex when my mum was 11 years old.
Lee holding 2nd and 3rd Combine pigeons from Arbroath
Who was your first major influence.
I started racing Pigeons in 1984, I was twelve years old. I had about 10
youngsters which raced reasonably well for me. My first race win was from
Wetherby with a hen named '80' she was a blue hen bred by Mrs Pratt of
Sible Hedingham in Essex. Maureen bred me a beautiful pair of babies a
Blue hen '80' and a silver Mealy '79'. By 1987 I was racing more
successfully, I was bred six youngsters by Brent Oakey of Hulme and
Curley Busscheart lines which became fantastic racers for me. I won my
first Essex Central Race from Wetherby 1507ypm against 4,222 pigeons
with my favourite ever pigeon 'The Blue' ... GB87H44261. This cock was a
fantastic racer for me and died a few years back of old age. My first major
influences in pigeon racing were the fanciers who were top of the tree
locally at the time. I lived, breathed and slept pigeons and literally spent my
life working out how to beat Peter Lake of Colne Engaine. Peter was an
incredible fancier who week in week out was up there in the club, federation
and Combine . Another fancier who I was always looking for results for was
ironically David Coward-Talbot, Every week David would be top of the
Essex Central Federation or Essex Combine .The first time I ever met
David, I was literally 'star struck'... unfortunately this is no longer the case
and who would have thought 20 years later we would be working and
travelling the 'Far East' together!
How long have you raced to your present location.
Moving up to date, I have lived at my current location 7 miles to the East of
Colchester and 6 miles to the west of Clacton-on-Sea since 2007. My
youngsters that year were bred in December and not let out until May when
the loft was ready. I managed to get the youngsters out flying and racing by
July, they even went on to win the Fed and Championship club. Three of my
best ever pigeons have come from this 2007 crop of babies.
The range of racing lofts
Lee's widowhood loft
The YB loft
Can you give details of your present loft set up i.e.
overall dimensions, orientation, number of sections etc.
My present loft is made of white plastic - I have 2 sections for young birds,
each measuring 6ft x 6 ft, one stock section 6ft x 6ft, one yearling cock
section 8ft x 6ft, one old cock section 8ft x 6ft and a hen section 6ft x 4 ft.
The loft faces due south and there are aviaries on the front of all the
sections.
Do you use deep litter, grids or clean daily/regularly.
I clean every section TWICE daily every day. I use floor heaters as I firmly
believe that it is vitally important to keep the floor bone dry and clean.
Optimum health is paramount for success.
GB07K21021: 10 x 1sts, 7 x 2nds, 2 x 3rds, winning the Essex and Suffolk Border federation, Stour
Valley federation and Saxon Valley Championship, also many other top ten club positions plus fed
positions and combine positions including 7th Essex and Kent Combine Berwick.
How many birds do you keep:- stock. racers, young
birds.
My race team consists of 9 - 10 yearling cocks and the best 6 old
widowhood cocks and I also race 12 hens. I keep six pairs of stock and
normally around 28 - 30 youngsters which are raced on Darkness and
separated.
What system do you use to race the birds e.g.
widowhood, round about, natural etc.
I race cocks on Widowhood - although they actually race home to their
boxes. The cocks do not see their hens on marking night or a Saturday, they
only see their hens on a Sunday, or the day after the race for 2 hours .I have
found that the cocks race much better being calm, the excitement tends to
upset the digestive system and causes undue stress.
Lee's racing view north
When do you mate your stock birds, racers.
I pair my birds up between Christmas and New Year, this works well
between the major winter shows for me as these are very busy times in my
calendar. I breed mainly from my stock birds but a few youngsters are also
taken from my best proven racers.
Do you mate the birds you intend for the longer races at
a different time to the other racers.
I pair all my pigeons at the same time. I do not have enough room or enough
pigeons to separate distance and sprint pigeons.
What is the preparation of the racers prior to the first
old bird race.
When the youngsters are 15 days old I remove the hens... I find the cocks
bringing up the youngsters really bonds them well to the nest box. After the
Youngsters are weaned I give the cocks and hens Vanrobaeys Super
Depurative for 7days plus SportHERB a detoxifying and purifying tea, I
find this really cleans the skin up. I DO NOT let the cocks out of the loft
until after this period. They tend to sulk a bit so I just leave them quietly
alone. The hens meanwhile go out TWICE daily and are fed and watered the
same as the cocks. I then let the cocks out once per day. If it is cold in the
morning I leave it until the evening for their exercise period. I do this for
two weeks after a couple of days they start to go looking for the hens. They
only see the hen once per week on a Sunday. Once they are clearing off
from the loft for 30 minutes or so I start to train them. They have 5 or 6
tosses from 10 -15 miles and then in to the first race at 85 miles. I always
train from the same spot and. never ever deviate from this location.
Yearling cocks
Yearling cocks
Stock cocks
Some hens
Do you force fly your birds during exercise or are they
left to do as they please.
None of my pigeons are ever made to fly. In my opinion a pigeon will fly if
it wants to. A good example of this was last season, when I sent 14 birds to
Retford. It was a South East wind being a north road flyer this was right
against them. I am the furthest flying member in the east of our club. The
cocks just wanted their boxes on the Thursday evening they didn’t want to
fly. On the Saturday I had pigeons to take the first 9 positions.
How often do you exercise the race birds.
The race birds are normally exercised twice daily Monday until Friday
morning.
GB07E92038: 5 x 1sts, 3rd Combine Arbroath plus many other club, fed and combine positions & YB
of the Year 07.
How often do you train the race birds before and
during racing.
I like Hens to have 14 or 15 training tosses before the first race ... the cocks
5 -6.
How far do you usually train .
I only train between 10 and 15 miles NEVER any further.
Is there any specific preparation for the birds before
National races.
My race programme is fairly straight forward. It means that all the pigeons
can race every week. The system is finely tuned for this.... I do not have to
worry about feeding for a two week rest period... they can all race the whole
season through.
YB mix
How much racing do your young birds receive and how
many training tosses do they have in the year of their
birth.
My Youngsters are trained and trained and trained... maybe 50 tosses before
the first race. They then as youngster race every week of the programme on
the darkness system.
How do you feed the racers, stock birds, young birds –
hopper /by hand. How do you gauge how much they
need at each feed.
All my pigeon have a small amount of White barley in the feed, as soon as
they leave the Barley they have had enough and feeding stops. My pigeons
are always fed to appetite. The cocks are fed in their boxes the hens, stock
birds and youngsters are hopper fed.
What mixtures do you feed.
I feed Vanrobaeys corns as I really like the mixes although if I see another
good quality mix that I like the look of then I will feed this also. I do not
have a consistent feeding programme. I understand nutrition and will give
the birds what I think they need based on the race distance, the race weather
conditions and whether it will be a hard or easy race. I use my instinct to
determine what to feed and when to feed it. I also use good vitamins such as
Sport V and Sport B regularly plus electrolytes Sport LYTE on return.
Young birds
Do you feed any differently in the build up to National
races.
As I said I feed every day and week differently I do not have a set feeding
programme. The pigeons get what I think they need, not what a feed
company gives me in a bag to feed them.
What are the main bloodlines that you house now and
which lines have proved the most successful.
The main bloodlines housed are the Leo Van Rijn Pigeons. This is a
relatively new family and I believe I have some fabulous pigeons which will
suit me and my business commitments. Running the Racing Pigeon
Newspaper does not give me much spare leisure time so I need pigeons
which are easy to condition, maintain form, easily recover from a race and
can race every week without a fuss. I found that the Van Reet 'Beardsmore'
Lines that I have raced since 2003 were possibly just becoming a little tired
for me. I needed an injection of new blood and found the Van Rijns a great
family.
Do you line breed, in breed outcross when breeding.
Which method has been most successful for you.
I just pair my pigeons up using my own judgement of which pigeons I feel
will compliment each other and produce a better pigeon than the parents.
Nearly every pigeon I have given to local fanciers has gone on to do well for
that person.
I like a certain type of pigeon and that’s that. Oh and they have to be Blues
or Blue w/f as you will not find a chequer, mealy, red or grizzle in my loft.
Young birds
Is there any fancier who has helped you more than any
other.
Brian Hawes has had a lot of time for me. In my opinion he is the best
fancier I know. To get some of the performances week in week out from his
pigeons is beyond belief - a VERY talented fancier make no mistake “Simply the Best” and a class guy into the bargain.
Do you have any views on how the sport can be
improved and how we can attract new members into the
sport.
Unfortunately I have spent many, many hours trying to think of ways to
encourage people back into the sport or encourage new people to start up.
There are very few hobbies or pass times that are thriving, we are not alone
in our plight for new blood. I have come to the sad conclusion that it is the
sign of the times in our modern day world of computers, I phones and game
consoles Youngsters today are just not interested. One particular area that
we should consider I believe is the 50 plus age bracket. Many people do take
up new pass times so I think this is certainly an area to target.
Young birds
Number One Stock Pair
Do you have a specific programme of medication.
I regularly test my pigeons’ droppings and so I only treat when necessary.
Do you use any supplements such as vitamins etc.
I manufacture a product range called Pigeon Health, I have invested a lot of
time into making good vitamin supplements for pigeons. I therefore tend to
use my own privately developed Sport Range of Vitamins and supplements.
GB08T10001: Winner of 5 x 1sts plus 2nd Combine Arbroath.
GB07J63318: Winner of 3 x 1sts.
How does your ideal pigeon look/ handle.
I really like small to medium hens and medium sized cocks. The pigeons
must be apple bodied and feel very powerful in the hand. The birds must
also have silky feathers, bright eyes and have an intelligent look about them.
If you could only use one product / supplement what
would it be.
If I could only use one product it would be wicker, the only way to find out
what you have is the basket. Supplements and products help to maintain
health and improve fitness but no product makes an average pigeon into a
Champion.
There you have it then, the thoughts of one of the leading lights in the new
generation of pigeon fanciers. Lee is a young man with a very busy
lifestyle who runs a number of businesses and also races his pigeons very
successfully thus proving that ability and intelligence, allied to hard work
and dedication when applied to pigeons of exceptional quality can
overcome most obstacles placed before them in the quest for success in
pigeon racing.