Message Pages

	News and Updates
	May-31-2020
WEEKLY UPDATE Good afternoon flyers, Beautiful day here at the loft. Birds enjoyed a nice cool morning and took advantage of some clear skies. Yesterday we were very fortunate in that we did not sustain any damage from a severe storm that past through the area in the afternoon. Some of our neighboring communities didn’t fare so well and many buildings were lost to the high winds and hail. Birds continue to fly well with a few injuries here and there due to collisions with each other. I have four birds on hold in the system that are either injured or unwell. The last group of birds joined the main flock and today was their first day out on the loft fly. The birds started their first course of antibiotics (doxycycline and tylosin) for respiratory infection today. I was hearing a bit of sneezing at night and this is usually the time of year I do a routine treatment. I’ll pick a nice cool day this week to handle all the birds and pull the 10th flight. Trailer is ready to rock ‘n’ roll so I will be letting the birds go in and out of it at will so they can get comfortable. Road training usually starts around the first week of July. I hope this finds everyone well. Take Care Lucas Crooked River Challenge is a proud user of Primalac, *Topigeon clocking system, and Ropa B*
	May-23-2020
GOOD MORNING Good Morning Flyers, Birds are out again today enjoying a beautiful sunny morning. This morning was 34 degrees, so it was a bit chilly but didn't get cold enough to freeze my gardens :). This coming week should be starting a warm up with some day time highs near 80! We all are looking forward to some summer weather. Fortunately, for us the health of the birds continues to hold. Birds continue to go out every day possible and while they are out I scrape and disinfect the loft with Virkon. I use the one gallon bullet drinkers and those are disinfected with bleach about every 12 hours. Every night I like to go out and listen to the birds while they are sleeping and check for any respiratory distress. I also check to make sure everyone is up on a perch and to see if there are any injured birds I have missed from the loft fly. Fingers crossed I can keep ahead of any major health issues. Birds are flying great and I only have 15 more birds to add into the main flock this coming week. The peregrines have visited the flock a couple times this week but haven't been successful, so the birds are learning. Unfortunately, the falcons are something they have to get used to here since we have a lot of them to contend with. Birds continue to receive Primalac and Ropa B most days and Kaslte YB developer a couple times a week. I handle a few birds each day and the on those birds the 9th flight seems to be coming in nicely. The 10th flight will be pulled the first week of June. I hope this finds everyone well! Take Care Lucas Crooked River Challenge is a proud user of Primalac, *Topigeon clocking system, and Ropa B*
	May-10-2020
ENTRIES NOW CLOSED FOR 2020 Good Afternoon Flyers, Bird were out again today and enjoyed the sunny warm weather. I however, forgot to reconnect one of the pads on the clock and didn't catch it before letting them in. I have noticed some birds piggy backing on clocking since they bombard the traps once opened. This will resolve itself once we start training, but I will be adjusting the traps a bit. There were a couple breeders unable to ship replacements last week, so I will allow shipment of birds tomorrow for replacements only. Saturday's loft flight is accurate and I have marked all birds that are missing. If you see a bird missing that I didn't catch, please let me know. The breeder list has been updated to reflect this years breeders in the race. Overall, birds are doing well and are starting to get back in the air after pulling flights last week. Main flock is receiving a canker treatment this week...first since the initial spartrix tablet on arrival. This spring has been really dry for us and I usually tend not to see much canker. Thank you all for the support and making it possible to reach my goal of 1000 birds this year! Take Care Lucas
	May-03-2020
9TH FLIGHT PULLED Good Evening Flyers, Busy day here at the loft. I went through and pulled the 9th flight on all the birds in the main group and checked overall health. I am very happy with how the birds look and feel. I did pull 10 birds out of the main flock for being underweight and one with some respiratory issues...breeders have been notified. Most should bounce back but time will tell. No visual signs of canker seen. May 5th is the last day to ship birds! Birds are flying really well...pulling the 9th will slow them down for a few days. I had a visit from the peregrine this last week but the birds are learning and didn't freak out and go everywhere. Birds will go out tomorrow and I will update the missing birds after tomorrows flight. I hope this finds everyone well. Take Care Lucas
	Apr-27-2020
MAY 5TH LAST DAY TO SHIP Good Morning Flyers, Beautiful breezy morning here at the loft. The birds got a to enjoy a shortened loft fly this morning. The winds were picking up, so they got to come in a bit early. Overall, birds are doing really well. Main group is flying well and really enjoyed the wind this morning. Appetites are great and birds are continuing to receive primalac or ropa b in the water daily. I'm also using Kastle YB developer on the feed a couple times a week. Next week is the last week to ship birds. I will be handling all the birds Friday/Saturday and pulling the 9th flight and assessing health. I will pull any bird I don't think is up to par and let breeders know. I have found that birds sent later in May do not do well in our race series, thus the early closing date this year. I do not do perch fee credits from one year to the next, so if you have a missing bird best to send a replacement or find someone to send a replacement for you. Also, please take advantage of the free perch fee available if you have paid for 6 perches. The new loft expansion/changes have been a great upgrade for the birds. The birds are loving the expansive aviaries and the added interior space. I hope this finds everyone well and feel free to give me a shout if you have any questions. Lucas
	Apr-18-2020
Good Afternoon Flyers, Windy afternoon here at the loft, but beautiful and sunny. Birds enjoyed a nice loft fly this morning and a bath this afternoon. Weather this last week has been beautiful allowing the birds to loft fly daily. Overall health of the birds is looking good. Appetites are great and many of them are molting heavy. I had to pull 3 birds this week for being unwell and another 3 for injuries. The birds are flying more and more each day with many groups getting up and flying in all directions....with that I am seeing some collisions resulting in injuries. There are currently over 900 birds here at the loft and about 50 perches still available. Last day to ship birds is May 5th. Several boxes were delayed this week in shipping, so be sure to give the birds plenty of extra space in the boxes. I hope this finds everyone well. Take Care Lucas -- Lucas Cramer 503-510-2661 CrookedRiverChallenge.com Crooked River Challenge is a proud user of Primalac, *Topigeon clocking system, and Ropa B*
	Apr-05-2020
WEEKLY UPDATE - CHECK BIRD LIST FOR MISSING OR LOST BIRDS Good Morning Flyers, Wet and foggy here at the loft today. Birds will be staying in, but most of them are out in the aviaries enjoying the rain. This coming week looks to be more like spring with temperature getting into the high 60's and no temps below freezing at night. Birds will continue to loft fly every day the weather allows. I have updated the "missing/lost" birds, so be sure to double check your bird list so you can replace. Many of the birds are flying well and learning which raptors to be wary of. Currently, I have 750 birds here at the loft with another 83 prepaid...making 833 total confirmed perches. There are 1146 reserved, so please remember that I will be accepting 1000 birds and will close entries once that number is reached. USPS continues to ship to us and this week everything arrived on time. I picked up the new trailer this week and I am looking forward to using it. The new trailer is much the same design as my old one with a few improvements...double axle with breaks(for smoother travel), extra level for added space, and all steel accept for the roof which is wood to help insulate from the summer heat. My old trailer is available if anyone is interested. I hope everyone is staying safe and getting some time to enjoy their family and birds. Take Care Lucas -- Lucas Cramer 503-510-2661 CrookedRiverChallenge.com Crooked River Challenge is a proud user of Primalac, *Topigeon clocking system, and Ropa B*
	Mar-29-2020
Good Afternoon Flyers, Windy with off and on showers today at the loft. I just got done handling 402 birds in the main group. Overall, the birds are doing really well. No visible signs of canker in the birds and many of them are molting like crazy. I pulled 4 birds for observation...one is underweight, one has an eye cold/respiratory issue, and 2 others are a bit congested with respiratory issues. Birds continue to have great appetites and get too eat as much as they want. Temperatures at night are still getting below freezing and I want the birds to have extra weight on them at this point to get them through the cold temperatures. I also like them to be a bit heavy while they are getting introduced to so many other birds and building their immune systems. Birds continue to get Primalac and Ropa B in their water and Kastle YB developer on their food. The peregrine paid us a visit this last week and unfortunately caused havoc on the flock. The main group is flocking up nicely and enjoying their freedom. Videos on the facebook page. Reminders... Only accepting birds until May 1st. For every 6 paid perches you may send one bird as a backup/replacement. I hope this finds everyone well! Take Care Lucas Crooked River Challenge is a proud user of Primalac, *Topigeon clocking system, and Ropa B*
	Mar-23-2020
Good Morning Flyers, Breezy beautiful morning here at the loft. The birds will be staying in today and will get to have a nice bath. I have had some issues with clocking the last couple days. Topigeon has had issues transferring data to wincompanion but should be fixed soon. There are currently 525 birds here at the loft and another 200 prepaid perches and 1100 reserved perches. Overall, birds are doing well and figuring out my system. I have pulled a few birds for observation and will be contacting breeding as soon as I have a prognosis. In general if I have to pull your bird from the main group for any reason, I recommend replacement. If they aren't healthy at this point then they will never be 100 percent. Please keep an eye on the loft fly inventory and if you see a bird missing please let me know. I try to stay on top of missing birds, but some days I run out of time to sort through the inventory. Once all the birds are here it is easy to run a missing report but until then it takes me some time. USPS is still shipping at this point and I have heard that they will continue. With that said...make sure you DO NOT OVERCROWD your boxes. Last week I had several boxes get delayed and spent more days in transit than is good for them. I hope everyone is staying healthy. If you have any questions please give me a shout. Take Care and thank you all for the support. Lucas -- Lucas Cramer 503-510-2661 CrookedRiverChallenge.com Crooked River Challenge is a proud user of Primalac, *Topigeon clocking system, and Ropa B*
	Mar-12-2020
Good Afternoon Flyers, Beautiful sunny day here in the high desert. Just finished processing my morning arrivals and I have a few minutes to send a quick update. The first group of birds has settled well with one bird missing...there were two that flew off the other day and spent the night out but made it back the next. The second group is trap trained and have been introduced to the first group. They will all go out again once the heavy equipment leaves the property...we are finishing up some landscaping and I don't want the birds to get spooked. They have been spending their days enjoying the sun in the large aviaries. Winter will be back for a few days starting tomorrow. Looks like we are going to get a few inches of snow and temperatures will be in the teens at night. I have had a few birds arrive with canker, so be sure to look your birds over thoroughly before putting them in the box. I have also had a couple birds arrive deceased in modified boxes. Thank you all for sending quality birds. Should be an exciting season! Take Care Lucas -- Lucas Cramer 503-510-2661 1522 SE Grizzly RD Madras OR 97741 CrookedRiverChallenge.com Crooked River Challenge is a proud user of Primalac, *Topigeon clocking system, and Ropa B*
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