If you have ever wondered what the inside of the Hoosier Classic Million Dollar Race Loft looks like now is your chance to see. A video has been posted on our YouTube Channel with tour of the loft. The footage was filmed in the summer of the 2018 Hoosier Classic Season by David Stephenson from Kastle Pigeon. It gives you an in-depth look at the interior of the loft, our cleaning process and what goes on at the Hoosier on a day to day basis. There was also a shorter video posted yesterday which details what our process is during intake of birds at the beginning of the season. If you have a few minutes check out the videos and get a better idea of how the Hoosier Classic operates and how we do our best to care for your birds.
There is still plenty of time to sign up for the 2019 season. We are fast approaching 3700 perches reserved. These do not include international entries. Remember you will be competing in the Biggest One Loft Race in North America with the BIGGEST GUARANTEED 1ST PLACE PRIZE in the world. Don't forget that there is a list of breeders on our website that are willing to send youngsters for you. If you are interested in having birds shipped from one of these breeders please contact the breeder directly to make arrangements. The 2018 1st Place Winner was bred by Frank McLaughlin and flown under Tigre Loft! The 2019 season has officially started as we received almost 100 birds this past week. All have been vaccinated and run through our intake protocol. These youngsters were then placed in quarantine and will be moved to the main loft after seven days. With our first week of accepting birds over we want to remind everyone of some important steps to take when shipping birds. Please use the appropriate boxes. Do not put 4 birds in a 2 bird box. Do not put 6 birds in a 4 bird box. These boxes have recommendations for the quantity of birds for a reason. You are not doing your birds any favors by putting more then recommended. When you do ship please put information in or on the box so we know what loft they belong to. Your loft name on the box saves a lot of time when trying to enter the birds into the system. And as always please include your payment or pre pay for the birds. Any birds that are shipped without payment will not be entered into the system and they will not go into the main loft until the payment has been received.
We have received several calls and emails asking for us to accept birds earlier. Hoosier Classic will start accepting birds February 18th. This is almost 2 weeks earlier then planned. We are fully staffed and ready for your champions.
We are officially less then 30 days away from accepting birds for the 2019 Hoosier Classic One Loft Race! We currently have over 3200 perches reserved. Competition will be at an all time high with the Hoosier Classic paying out the largest 1st Place Prize of $500,000 Guaranteed, $40,000 for 1st Ace Pigeon, a total $1,272,000 Guaranteed Overall!Every season we are asked what fanciers should do to their youngsters before shipping them. As well as what we do to the birds before intake. We have listed some things that we feel are important especially for shipping to one loft races.1. We have always believed in vaccinating. We vaccinate youngsters for PMV & Paratyphoid at 24 days old. 2. Treat your youngsters for Canker when weaning. We use Canker Max or Spartrix for individual treatment. Canker Max is 25% stronger and works great. 3. Make sure your youngsters are eating and drinking independently. You would be surprised how many youngsters have a hard time finding the drinker or eating large seeds when they arrive. We use two types of drinkers in quarantine for when the birds arrive. The 2-Gallon plastic bullet shape and the old fashion wire guard cone drinker are what works best for ensuring the birds drink. I honestly can not stress enough how important this is. Remember, when flying in a One Loft Race your birds are competing for everything. It is always best for your birds to be confident in their ability to eat and drink from the moment they arrive.4. Send youngsters around 40-45 days old. This helps you set your youngsters up better at home before shipping them. It allows more time to teach them the things mentioned above as well as it allows a fancier more time for selection as well.5. When shipping your youngsters hydrate them. Use a syringe to fill them up with water before putting them in the box. We also give a Top Pill before they are boxed up. Top Pills are very effective in reducing stress and maintaining condition during transport. We also recommend using straw in the shipping boxes instead of shavings which tend to have to much dust and can be harmful. Once youngsters arrive at the Hoosier Classic you can expect the following from our team:1. All youngsters are allowed to eat and drink immediately for 3 hours2. All youngsters are then treated for Canker using Canker Max.3. All Youngsters are vaccinated for PMV4. All youngsters are dewormed and sprayed for external parasites.5. All youngsters are given a chip ring and a color coded snap ring which indicates the week that the bird arrived. They are then placed in quarantine for 7 days. The quarantine loft is 12x48 with front aviaries attached.6. Four days after being placed in quarantine they are vaccinated for Paratyphoid.7. Four weeks after arrival the birds are revaccinated for PMV. This is the most important vaccine as it will bring the birds closest to 100% coverage as possible.As always the best minerals and feed are used for the Hoosier Classic Birds including Jovati Grit from Vita King Products and Verse-Laga Feed. When it comes to your champions we leave nothing to chance. We use the services of Dr. Kevin Zollars DVM on a regular basis. Fanciers can expect monthly dropping analysis results from Dr. Zollars. We hope that the above information is helpful to those who are flying the race and also to those who are contemplating flying the race.Don't forget to sign up for the 2019 Season if you haven't already!
It is only January and we now have over 3000 perches reserved. Thank you to all those that have reserved perches early. We are very confident there will be many more signed up by March 1st. If you like competition this is the race to be in!
We have received many phone calls from fanciers wishing to use the service of the Breeders Connection Page. For those wishing to utilize these services please contact the breeder directly. Remember it is in your best interest to contact them early in the year to ensure they have enough youngsters and confirm they will be sent to the Hoosier Classic. There are 6 international birds that should be posted on IPigeon sometime on Thursday for sale. These birds were flown in the 2018 Race. The pedigrees will also be posted on IPigeon. The videos are also on our YouTube page if you wanted to take a look now. Have a great rest of the week
There are only 39 days until the Hoosier Classic opens to accepting birds for the 2019 season. With March 1st being on a Friday we will start accepting birds February 26th. We currently have over 2900 perches reserved. Around the loft... It has been very cold here the last 2 days which makes for a frustrating morning when cleaning the lofts. The new floor heat being installed in the loft will be beneficial to the early arrivals in March. All of our vaccines arrived this week as well as a new shipment of Jovati mineral grit and Canker Max, all of which will be used for the 2019 season. Canker Max is a new product we used last year from Vita King for the treatment of Canker. Every bird that arrives gets a Canker Max pill before entering the loft. We will be posting 6 birds on IPigeon this week. These 6 birds are from Europe and flew the 2018 series. Owners opted not to fly the old bird series so the birds will be auctioned off. All 6 birds have been vaccinated for PMV & Paratyphoid and their pedigrees will be posted as well. We are starting to hear from agents from other countries regarding the 2019 season. They are all in full swing promoting the race on an international level. One question that has come up this year is what can be done to shorten the quarantine time. Quarantine is always a concern when flying International races. Unfortunately these are the regulations put into place by those countries. When we ship to races in South Africa our pigeons have to go through quarantine the same as everyone else's. We have been in contact with all of the quarantine stations to ensure an easy and healthy transition for the pigeons. Quarantine dates have been moved to begin in March to help ensure the arrival of pigeons to the Hoosier Classic much earlier this year. Remember for those that wish to compete but can not send or may fall short in your breeding there is now a list of Breeders that are willing to send youngsters to the race for you. Please check the "Breeders Connection" page on our website. The list of breeders are some of the top breeders in North America with some of the best birds in the world.
2019 is Fast Approaching and that means we are getting closer to the start of the Hoosier Classic 2019 Season. We currently have almost 2100 birds signed up for what is sure to be the most competitive One Loft Race of 2019. With over $1,000,000.00 in guaranteed prizes for 2019 you don't want to miss out! The competition already looks to be outstanding with dozens of the top breeders from around the country signed up and several top breeders from around the world set to compete in North America's Largest One Loft Race!!Entry fees for 2019 are as follows:
Final Race is set for October 14th (weather permitting). Hotel accommodations will be available through Blue Chip Hotel & Casino again to come and enjoy a fun filled weekend with pigeon fanciers from not only around the country but from around the world. Our 2018 Season showed to be a great success and a lot of fun with many events throughout the weekend. Photos and article written by Brandon Brashears regarding the race were available in the Dec 15th issue of the Racing Pigeon Digest. The January 1st issue also features photos from the Final Race of 2018 along with the new rules for 2019. We have received many calls about Syndicates being put together to enter the 2019 Season. It is definitely a way to compete for the upcoming year and I'm sure will prove to be a lot of fun for breeders. If you plan to compete for 2019 make sure you Sign Up on the website. Remember also, if you do not have birds to send there are options available to enter. Three breeders here in the US have agreed to provide youngsters for the 2019 season to anyone wishing to fly. Please contact them in regards to sending youngsters and what the terms are. Remember...the 2018 1st Bird in the Clock was a bird bred by Frank McLaughlin and raced under Tigre Loft.
