Our doors are open for accepting birds starting next week through the end of April. Please mail on Mondays, Tuesday at the latest, the USPS seemingly has gotten slower and slower over the last few years so do not risk your birds by shipping past Tuesday, Monday is best!
We have mentioned lately several times our shipping instructions, here is the short version for those of you reading our updates for the first time. Please, take a few minutes to read our previous updates as it will give you a clear picture of what we have going on here at the Apple Cup.
Vaccinate for PMV 2 or more weeks before sending.
Register on Wincompanion before sending.
Put your LOFT NAME on the top lid of the box in bold lettering, not on the sides of the box, not on a note within the box, right on top of the box please.
Mail on Monday, Tuesday at the latest and never after, again Monday is absolutely the best day to ship!
Do not send any money with the birds, $350 due per bird ONLY AFTER the activation race hopefully in early September.
Put your phone number on the shipping label. If you print your own shipping labels and do not have the phone number on the label then write it on the label.
Mail birds to the below address.
Apple Cup
PO Box 313
Moxee, WA 98936
If you need more detailed information and it was not covered here then please read our other updates below, it was probably covered there. If there is a specific question not covered in our updates then send us a text at 254-247-9504 and we will get a response to you ASAP.
Everyone have a great day and good luck to those of you in one of the many late hatch races going on around the country!
Rick & Olga
Every year we get asked, what kind of pigeons do we recommend sending to the Apple Cup? The short answer is, send your best! Also, look through our archived results under the RESULTS tab and you can see what our speeds have been in AVG speed and on the final race, that in itself will give you some insight insofar as what you may feel you need to send here.
Below we shall list the year of the race, the first place AVG speed winner, and then the speed of the first bird on the final race.
2016 1252/1252
2017 1248/1421
2018 1395/1432
2019 1227/1409
2020 1514/1427
2021 1389/1369
2022 1372/1577
2023 1376/1543
8 year average, 1346 YPM in AVG Speed, 1428 YPM on the final race.
Hopefully the above information can be useful to those of you wondering what type of pigeon you feel you need to send here to succeed here.
We currently have over 1,200 birds reserved for this year, we are especting around 2,000 entered.
Remember, we are only accepting birds in March and April, the first day to put your birds in the mail is Monday March 4th, about 2 weeks away.
Please always mail on a Monday, Tuesday at the latest.
If dropping off birds do so on Wednesday or Thursday. This is when most of the birds arrive in the mail and we like to start all birds that arrive in a given week on meds on the same day, if birds are arriving all week long this is not achievable.
Vaccinate for PMV at least 14 days before sending, the vaccination we give them will act as a booster.
Register before you send, if you are having problems with this please send us a text at 254-247-9504 and we can assist you.
Put your Loft Name in big bold letters ON TOP OF THE BOX, on the shipping label is fine too.
If you have sick birds and you know you have sick birds, do not send them here or anywhere for that matter.
Yours truly is enjoying this little mini vacation we get every year between sending birds back and starting up again in March, Olga is back to doing taxes so it is nice and quiet around here during the day which I like.....but don't tell her I said that!
NO MONEY DUE WITH THE BIRDS WHEN YOU SEND THEM, $350 PER BIRD DUE ONLY AFTER THE ACTIVATION RACE. IF WE CAN NOT GET YOUR BIRDS THROUGH ACTIVATION YOU OWE NOTHING AND WE MAKE NOTHING!
5 races this year, 115 activation, then 165, 200, 250, 300, and 375 final race. We are hoping by extending out from our regular 350 mile final to a 375 mile final we should get closer to 8 hours on the wing which is what most of us want to truly test our birds.
Loft is being prepped for new birds, minor repairs and improvements, thus the life of a One Loft Race owner!
Hope all of you are having a great breeding season!
Already over 1,100 perches reserved, it is going to be a big race again so don't miss out!
We are accepting birds only 2 months just like last year, March and April, the earliest to ship is the first day in March which is March 4th.
Please vaccinate your birds for PMV 14-21 days before shipping here, our vaccination will act as a booster for your birds.
Finally getting some nice weather here and the ground has dried up. Today we are removing all of the pigeon poop from under the loft, inside the loft has already been cleaned and will be sprayed down with Virkon S several times before birds start to arrive.
Look forward to handling your new babies this year!
Time to get outside and shovel pigeon poop!
Everyone have a great week!
1099 MISC forms were sent electronically today to the IRS for those who won $600 or more last year, paper copies were mailed from the post office.
Remember, we are not accepting birds until the first week in March so please do not send us a suprise in the mail in February.
We are quickly approaching 1,000 perch reservations over the last 45 days since sign ups have been available. At the rate we are going we should hit 2500-3000 birds this year.....so don't miss out!
Do not send any $ with your birds, $350 total per bird only after the Activation Race.
There will be 5 races this year for AVG Speed, the 6th race is the activation race at 115 miles and is not part of AVG Speed. Activation race at 115 miles, then races 165, 200, 250, 300, and 375 mile final race. Our goal is to get 8 hours on the wing for the final race. If we fail to get 8 hours on the wing this year we may go to 400 next year as the final, we will make that determination after we finish this year's series.
We are accepting birds March and April ONLY, do not ship us birds in February. It is still going to be cold here next month with freezing temps and the ground is covered in snow today, next month is our month to get the loft ready for your new arrivals.
SHIPPING INSTRUCTIONS
Vaccinate your birds for a minimum of PMV 2-3 weeks before sending your birds here, this is very, very important. When they arrive they will be given a booster shot for PMV.
Register for our race before shipping birds, when your birds arrive we need to know where to assign them. If you do not register before sending your birds then it can get very confusing for us especially if you have flown under several different loft names over the years in different races. PLEASE, register bfore sending!
Put your LOFT NAME in big bold letters on the lid of the box, you can also put it on your shipping label. PLEASE DO NOT FORGET TO DO THIS!
Ship ONLY on Mondays and Tuesdays, preferably only on Mondays. This ensures that your birds will arrive in a timely manner and that most of birds arriving the week you ship yours arrive Wednesday or Thursday. We like to start birds that arrive in a given week on our medication program on the same day, if they are arriving all week this makes controlling health all the more difficult.
If dropping off birds please do so on Wednesdays or Thursdays for the same reason above, that being we like to start all birds in a given week on meds at the same time so they receive them the same amount of days before coming out of quarantine and being put in to the loft.
If your birds are not healthy, if you know they are not healthy, do not ship them to us!
We are only accepting birds March and April, the first day to put birds in the mail for the Apple Cup is Monday March 4th. The first day to drop off birds will be Wednesday the 6th.
Register First
Vaccinate for PMV 2-3 weeks before shipping
Ship on Mondays
Put your Loft Name in big BOLD letters on the lid of your box when shipping
Do not send any money with your birds
Do not overcrowd your birds
Use approved USPS shipping boxes that allow for good air flow
Use straw, pine needles, or big pine chips for shipping. Do not use fine pine shavings, it creates dust in the box and clogs up your birds nostrils and eyes.
If you have any questions, or if you are having a hard time registering, please send us a text at 254-247-9504. We only use email when it comes time to receive W-9 forms, this is not a means of communication for us.
We hope everyone is staying warm and that you have a great breeding season!
No fees sent with the birds, $350 per bird due only after the activation race at 115 miles in September.
Please read previous updates for more detailed information on our 2024 race series, looks like it is going to be a big one again!
Based upon 3,000 birds activated, we are estimating $525,000 in prizes for 2024!
Final Race 375 miles, $455,000 in prizes
AVG Speed $57,000 in prizes
250 & 300 mile races pay $6,500 each for a combined total of $13,000 in prizes
Please click on our PAYOUT tab for full details for our 2024 race series!
Lets see if your birds can fly over the mountains, over the Columbia River and Columbia Gorge, over ridgelines and through the desert with rolling hills, through the forest and over Klammath Falls Lake, on a course that has a typical W to NW wind.
It takes a tough pigeon to win the Apple Cup, do you have the pigeon to do it!
We will be one of the biggest in 2024 and we are still the cheapest! Join us for our 9th year of hosting the Apple Cup for 2024, if your pigeons can fly here they can fly anywhere!
Olga and I hope all of you had a merry Christmas and that you have a Happy New Year!
Just like last year, no money due with birds!
$350 per bird due only AFTER the Activation Race!
Merry Christmas everyone!
Good afternoon Apple Cup breeders and potential Apple Cup flyers!
Only a few changes for 2024, other than the few listed below everything will pretty much be the same.
We will be charging $350 a bird due only after the Activation Race instead of $250 like we did this year. Of the $350, $150 is our perch fee. We have charged a $100 perch fee for 8 years straight and due to inflation and us taking on more employees to pay, not to mention us taking all the risk by not charging a perch fee up front which is nonrefundable like most races do, we feel this is more than fair and feedback thus far has been the same. In doing it the way we do we do not make anything unless your birds make it through activation and to the first race which will be 165 miles. If you have birds that get sick, injured, or are lost in training before the Activation Race you loose nothing because you did not pay for your perch fees up front. There will also be more prize money with the price increase.
The second biggest change is instead of having a 350 mile final it will be 375 miles. We feel this added mileage should get us closer to 8 hours on the wing which is our goal each year.
Other than a slight price increase and increasing the distance of the final from 350 miles to 375 miles, not much else to report. We will be more specific in our rules on partnerships and syndicates, shipping birds back, but other than that there is not too much we will change.
Not sure we will have optional race categories like we did this year. This created a lot of confusion for some no matter how clear we tried to be. Over the holidays we will of come to a decision as to if we want to try to tackle that again. If we do it will just be one category......just stay tuned.
All birds have been sent back with the exception of a few breeders who have extenuating circumstances like being out of the country, or in the hospital for treatment and will not be home until after the first of the year. If you still want your birds then send us a PayPal payment through our Payments Tab, no checks please. We will mail these birds out as soon as possible after 1 Jan, 2024 and then the remainder of the birds will be given to local breeders.
Our #1 rule for 2024 will be, read your Wincompanion updates before contacting us with questions that 99% of the time are covered in our Wincompanion updates. It is just too time consuming to try to respond to every text when we are in full swing, and we definitely do not have time for long telephone conversations. If you want to just "pigeon talk" then the time to do that is January and February next year because from March through about this time each year, we are either taking pigeons in, taking care of pigeons, training or racing pigeons, or mailing pigeons back to include checks. Just ask Olga how much yours truly likes to talk about pigeons, it really affects my own time management so this is why we prefer to text unless it is absolutely necessary to talk on the phone.
All checks have been mailed out with the exception of two breeders.
OscarLoft - FL
Tx Lin Loft - TX
We have been getting a lot of questions on checks being mailed out. If you read our last few Wincompanion updates then you will know that checks were sent out last week, all but the two above which we need W-9 forms on. If you know either of these breeders please pass this information on to them. We really need to get all checks sent out and cashed before 1 Jan, 2024.
If you do not hear from us again before Christmas, here is a Merry Christmas to all of you and a Happy New Year!
