News and Updates
Aug-01-2021
TWO WEEKS LEFT High Desert Breeders,

Happy Sunday. We have finally received some rain here in the high desert. Yesterday evening we received about a half-inch which is not common for us. Thunder and rain continue this afternoon. The rain is nice and so is not having smoke in the valley. The hills are clear for at least a few days. Birds were able to go outside this morning and play around before the next storm rolled in. Birds continue to go out each day weather allows. We are currently just doing a free choice for birds to go outside and fly. All birds but the last two weeks are outside. 

Just a friendly reminder, we are taking in birds for the next two weeks before we are done accepting birds for the 2022 series. If you would like to test your birds against the mountains and the heat of Nevada. This would be that race. Any questions, please get ahold of us. Thanks. 

Kenny and Corey
Jul-25-2021
ACCEPTING BIRDS UNTIL 8/15/2021 High Desert Breeders,

Hope this finds everyone well. Summer is flying by. After talking with several breeders, we are taking all birds until 8/15/2021, not just replacements. We will have an inventory of the birds in the first part of August. All birds have had the opportunity to go outside, except birds from the last two weeks. All breeders have been notified if they have lost a bird due to sickness. We have been very fortunate with overall very healthy birds with the heat this summer. USPS continues to get most boxes here in two days. 

We have had smoke from fires here in our valley the last two weeks. Air quality is still good enough to continue to open up the loft daily. It has hindered our ability to road train our personal team for club racing. We shall see what happens with fires and smoke over the next couple of months. 

That is all for now. Thanks. 

Kenny and Corey
Jul-03-2021
INTAKE UPDATE High Desert Breeders,

Happy 4th of July weekend to all! Intake of birds has gone very smoothly so far this year. USPS has done a great job of getting boxes here in two days. We have had a couple take 3 days. Birds have been in good shape coming out of the boxes. Always can be scary with the heat.

We currently have 288 birds in the loft. Once Wincompanion gets wiped out for the 2021 series we will input the 2022 birds that we have received. We have wrapped up 2021. All birds have been shipped out. All checks were put in the mail last week and Monday; unless we have talked. 

Your birds are doing well. All birds received before 6/12 have had free choice to go out every day. Some birds are grouping together nicely and flying 20+ minutes. Others are happy to just sit on the loft and others are even more excited to go peck at the rocks on the ground. Birds received 6/17-6/26 will start to have free choice of going out in the afternoons this weekend. 

Just to recap what happens when birds are received. They are put in quarantine pens for a week or so and if they look good, that week's worth of birds go into a section in the main loft. While in quarantine pens they are vaccinated, wormed, and dipped to be debugged. Then they enter the main loft. While in the main loft, we use lots of different canker medications through the hot summer months, as that is one thing that can easily pop up with all the stressors they encounter. We regularly put Primalac and Oregano in their drinkers. Drinkers are switched out every day and soak in 55 gallons of bleach water. Lofts are cleaned regularly and disinfected with Virkon S. Pretty much the same stuff many other OLR's do to help maintain the health of the birds. 

Just a friendly reminder that we will be done taking in new birds the first week of August. Any questions please get ahold of us. Thanks!

Kenny and Corey
Jun-17-2021
SHIPPING BIRDS OUT AND HIGH DESERT 2022 SERIES High Desert Breeders,

Thanks again to everyone who let us handle your birds this past year! It is always amazing to see such a small creation conquer such incredible feats. 

We will be shipping out the rest of the birds Monday and Tuesday (June 21 and 22). If you haven't heard from us about shipping, your bird is still at the loft. When we ship out birds we will contact you via text or email with the tracking number. Unless you have given us an address to use, please be sure that your Wincompanion information is current because that is what we will use for a shipping address. If you will be gone next week or need birds shipped on a certain day please contact us. If you want your bird back and have not contacted us please do so. All 2021 birds that are not claimed will be leaving our premises Thursday, June 24th. With the intake of 2022 birds already in process, it is time to move out with the old and in with the new. Once birds are shipped out we will start getting checks in the mail. Be sure to get us a W-9 if you won over $600. 

For the 2022 series, we are taking in birds until the first week of August, 7 more weeks. Then a week for replacements. We are just over 170 birds at the moment. Don't forget to include a bird list and what vaccines you have done when you ship your birds. If you want you can use the Perch Form. Printable and fillable. Any questions about the race look at the webpage or contact us.

Thanks!

Kenny and Corey
 
Jun-14-2021
FINAL WRAP UP AND SHIPPING BIRDS High Desert Breeders,

Congratulations to the breeders with birds on the 1st drop! And congrats to everyone who ended up with a day bird. It's a lot of miles to travel with tough terrain to navigate, limited water, and heat to boot. The birds that made it home are some tough puppies.

We have had some internet issues at the house. It went down yesterday at noon and hopefully will be resolved tomorrow. Likes to do this when it's needed the most. That's what happens when you live in the country and the only option you have is hillbilly internet. I was able to use a friend's phone tonight with a hotspot to get all the birds uploaded from the last day and a half. Wincompanion is current as of 9:00 pm on Sunday. 

I would like to take a second and brag about Sam Haslem's bird 158. This Blue Check Hen is flat-out a phenomenal racer. Winner of average speed (almost 2 hrs), on the drop from the 300 and 380-mile race. Not only that, this bird would go fly an extra 2 hours or so after a 40 mile or 60-mile toss once the races started and she was feeling good. You can go look at her trainers to verify. She would take a small group of hens with her and go tripping. There is only one other pigeon out of 11 yrs that I recall that compares to what this pigeon has done this year in this series. Finding those special birds is what makes running a race like this worth it. 

One more quick shout-out to Keyways 68, Blue Bar-Hen. 3rd average speed, 5th place on the 300-mile race (came in all by her lonesome), and on the drop from 380. Another gem that revealed herself through the race series. 

If you would like your birds back, please email or text and let us know ASAP. You can call too but having something in writing helps us out a lot. If you won money, we will take shipping out of your winnings. We will try and ship out some boxes of birds this Tuesday. And the goal will be to ship out everything else on June 21st and 22nd. If we don't hear from you by this Friday the assumption will be that you don't want your birds.

Also if you won more than $600, get us a W-9. You can email us a copy or mail it. We will try and get those checks out in the next couple of weeks as we get the needed forms. Any questions get ahold of us.

Once we get 2021 Wrapped up, we will close out Wincompanion for 2021 and start inputting the 2022 season birds into Wincompanion. We currently have around 160 in the loft for next year. 

Thanks again for letting us put your birds through a tough series that really tests their abilities. Another season is in the books!

Kenny and Corey
Jun-11-2021
BIRDS LIBERATED FOR FINAL! Good Morning,

Birds were released this morning at 7 am. They all circled up nicely and started to head toward Vegas but then decided they had better head home. Winds for the first 100 or so miles should be on their nose. Then over the rest of course it should switch to a slight tail wind. Temperatures should be in the high 70's as the weather heats up and a few spots will crest 80. It should be a good test for your birds. 

It could be an 8 hour flight or it could be a 9+ hour flight for the lead birds. So many unknowns of what they will run into in the rugged Nevada Terrain. 

Food will be ready around Noon if you plan on watching the birds come in. 

Best of luck to all and thanks for letting us care for your birds and test them. It was a very fun group of birds to work with!

Kenny and Corey
Jun-08-2021
380 MILE UPDATE High Desert Breeders,

As of right now, the plan is to do the last race Friday, June 11th. If the plans change we will let you know. If you plan on coming to watch the final race, food will be ready around noonish. 

Birds are looking more and more rejuvenated each day. Day 1-3 birds are looking good. Day 4-6 birds, some look good and some are in rough shape. Took everything they had to get home.

The previous four days we have had the birds out loft flying. And today they did well from their toss, all except the 2 that haven't arrived yet. Been asked several times about the group that traps an hour or two after everyone else. A majority of those birds are out exploring and then show up and trap in. SAM-158 is one of those birds that is out flying extra every toss and that bird came in on the drop from 300 miles. Birds will be resting the next two days before they go on the trailer for the finale. 

Kenny and Corey
Jun-04-2021
300 MILE RECAP AND 380 MILE PLANS High Desert Breeders,

Congratulations to the three breeders that had birds on the drop for the 300-mile race; 208Lofts, Sam Haslem, and PNWC! All the birds in the money earned it. With the heat, it ended up being a tough race for the birds. The first three came in nice and tired after their long journey. Most of the course for winds at ground level was pretty calm. The winds did start to pick up a little the last 60 miles are so. But you never know what the birds encounter at different elevations and especially with all the different mountains, they go across. The heat was the biggest factor in making this a tough day for the birds. But hopefully, that is what you have come to expect from the final two races. A good tough test for your birds. 

The 2nd-4th day birds that have made it back are tough pigeons. The temperatures from Wednesday - Friday have been mid to upper 90's for the birds. These birds have been flying in 60 degrees and occasionally 70-degree weather to put that into perspective. It starts cooking up about noon here and doesn't really cool down until nighttime. We couldn't believe all the 2nd-day birds that kept coming home during the heat of the day. 

After a tough race like that, we will make sure the late birds get the rest and feed they need to compete in the final. In the past, we have had multiple 2nd-day birds from the 300-mile race on the drop at the 380-mile race. We also have had 3rd-day birds on the drop from the 380 as well.  Don't count your late birds out! They received a good education this go around. 

As far as the final race goes we are shooting for perhaps next weekend. But we will take the best day available. Will keep you posted.

Remember we are currently taking in late hatches for next year. We are currently at about 80. The first few weeks of birds have started to be let out. Just a reminder that you won't see your birds on Wincompanion for next year until we close out this year's current race.  Please send the Perch Form when you ship birds. It makes it way easier on our end for keeping track of your birds.  

Thanks and best of luck to all on the final! 

Kenny and Corey
Jun-01-2021
BIRDS LIBERATED! Hello Breeders,

Birds were liberated at 6:40 am from Bristol Wells Junction. It could be a 6 hour race or it could be a 7+ hour race just depends on what they run into today. Today should be a good test for your birds. Best of luck to all!

Kenny and Corey
May-31-2021
300 MILE RACE AND PAYOUTS High Desert Breeders,

Tomorrow looks like it will be a good day to race. Should be a good test for your birds. Winds from all directions as they journey through the Nevada mountainous terrain. By afternoon the temperature through the course will be in the mid-'80s. Best of luck to all!

Payouts:
$62,400 total in prize money.

200 Miles - $100 to the top 20 through the trap.

300 Miles - $18,120 to the top 10% through the trap. 1st drop then trapping order.

380 Miles - $30,200 to the top 10% through the trap. 1st drop then trapping order. 

Average Speed:
1st - $3988
2nd - $2899
3rd - $2,174
4th - $1570
5th - $845
6th - $604

Kenny and Corey
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