The last few days we have really been burning the midnight oil processing the number of birds we have received this week. Wednesday we received 105 boxes and over 350 pigeons, yesterday about the same number of boxes but several drop offs from WA and OR breeders, today over 50 birds and one drop off. Add them all up and we took in over 800 pigeons this week!
Last night yours truly got out of the loft at 2 AM, woke up at 6 AM and was told by Olga this morning that we needed to drive across the state to WA State University to help our daughter pack up her stuff because they have to be out of the dorms next weekend. I have something going on next weekend and we have something going on Sunday, only time to head over to WSU is today. Game plan is to leave here shortly, drive 3 hrs to WSU and check in to the motel. Olga and Angelina can go do mother/daughter stuff, that means spend $$$, while yours truly sits in the motel playing catch up on entering all of the birds that arrived this week in to Wincompanion so the breeders who sent birds this week can see that they have been added.
Please be patient, I will have the birds entered tonight and if not all tonight at least by this weekend.
If you want to know if your birds arrived go to USPS.COM and click on tracking. If it shows they arrived in Moxee, WA then that means they are already vaccinated and are eating and drinking while looking out the front of the loft at their new temporary home before we ship them back to you the breeders this fall.
When we are processing birds we do not normally answer the phone as it rings about every 10 minutes, if I pick up every time it rings we just never make any progress. Everyone wants to know if their birds arrived, hey I get it, but please check your tracking first and you will get a faster response if you text instead of calling. Our number one priority is getting those birds out of the boxes, vaccinated and then drinking and eating and this is why the phone sits on the charger on processing days.
ANY BIRDS THAT ARRIVE NEXT WEEK WILL BE RETURNED AT THE POST OFFICE, NO EXCEPTIONS!
I will now text everyone who has texted me the last 2 days and direct them to this update. If you are in our race, or following our race, this is the best source of information on all things relating to the Apple Cup.
Rick & Olga
Yesterday Wednesday 27th we received 105 boxes and 356 birds. Just finished up a few minutes ago with removing all birds from their boxes, vaccinating and giving them an anti parasite drop on the back of the neck. It will take at least 3 hours to get these birds added in to Wincompanion so we are going to get a little shut eye and add the birds later on today after we process new birds that arrive today which is Thursday.
If you want to know if your birds arrived go to USPS.COM and click on Tracking, input your tracking number and if it says picked up at the Moxee PO then that means we have them.
Please be patient, we will have all of the birds that arrived on Wednesday and today Thursday entered in to Wincompanion by tomorrow evening.
We are officially over 3,000 pigeons now, we will probably get at least another 200 tomorrow and a few on Friday.
We ran a loft flying inventory today which was all birds except the last 2 weeks arrivals, 3 weeks if you count the birds that arrived today. Our loft assistant opened one of the traps before we started the clock so we missed a few, we will let the birds out of the loft again this morning and pick up the birds that were missed. Sorry about that.
Time to get a quick shower and a few hours of sleep before starting it all over again!
We have received no less than 15 calls this morning requesting birds being shipped next Monday. We absolutely are not going to bend our own rules with shipments this year. Health has been very, very good and at some point we need to shut our doors so that we can maintain a evenness insofar as health goes within the loft, impossible when you are continually adding birds on a weekly basis.
We also want to get a earlier start training this year so we can start racing earlier and if we have time, offer a optional 400 mile race. We will only offer the 400 mile optional race if we will have time to get all of the birds shipped back before Christmas.
The aforementioned are only some of the reasons we need to shut our doors this week. We posted in our advertisement what the ship dates were and have reiterated those dates several times here in these updates.
IF YOU SHIP NEXT WEEK, YOUR BIRDS WILL BE RETURNED AT THE POST OFFICE!
Please share this with your friends, today is the last day to ship birds to the Apple Cup.
We have a bird that we can not identify the breeder, if you are the breeder please let us know.
IF FSC 1238
This is the very last week to ship birds, any birds that arrive at our post office next week will be immediately returned from the post office.
Please follow these simple steps when shipping.
Register first
Put Loft Name on the shipping label
Ship ONLY today or tomorrow the 25th of April, too late after tomorrow.
Mail to:
Apple Cup
PO Box 313
Moxee, WA 98936
254-247-9504
There is no need to contact us letting us know you are shipping birds.
There is no money due when you ship the birds, only after the activation race.
Next Monday and Tuesday are the very last days to send birds for our race for 2023. The post office has instructions to return any birds that arrive in May.
We received 240 birds today that came out of 75 boxes. The birds are all entered in Wincompanion, click on your Loft Name under the Breeder List to see your birds.
Everyone have a nice evening.
We ran a inventory yesterday, a pair of Red Tail Hawks worked the pigeons over pretty hard and from the birds clocking in this morning it is obvious that some stayed out. We will keep the clock running all day so we can pick up any birds that were too spooked to come in before dark.
There is only 2 more weeks to ship birds to us, if you plan to ship please follow the instructions below.
Register before sending.
Put loft name on the shipping label, not inside the box, not on the side of the box, on the shipping label.
Mail on Monday or Tuesday only.
No need to call or text us letting us know you are shipping.
We do not need a list of birds when you ship. The only time we need a note is if you are sending for another breeeder. If you are sending for another breeder make sure they register before sending.
Mail birds to:
All birds have been settled except last 3 weeks, the birds that arrived 3 weeks ago will go outside for the first time tomorrow and were part of the ongoing inventory as they did go through the traps.
Everyone have a great weekend!
Having problems with our internet today, will connect as a mobile hotspot when I get back from the post office picking up a late box of pigeons today.
(Second Update at 5 PM)
Still having internet issues, got home from picking up the late box I mentioned earlier and came out here to the loft to use the cell phone as a mobile hotspot and updated the inventory. Our helper has been here this afternoon looking after the pigeons while we were away taking care of business and said the hawks have been terrible after we left. We will keep the inventory running through at least tomorrow so we can pick up any birds that may of stayed out and not clocked.
Rick
Thank God it is Friday, I am sure all of you need a break as bad as we do here at the Apple Cup!
Like I mentioned in the last update, messed up my ankle on I think it was Monday and on Monday and Tuesday are the days we put chips on. Olga basically forced me to not go outside Tuesday and I still had about half of the birds left to put chips on. Wednesday came around and I got out here early and finished up putting chips on last week's birds, then started in on 60 boxes of pigeons. By time I was done for the day it was way too late to start adding them in to Wincompanion, which we have always done the day they arrive for 8 years without fail. Thursday, which was yesterday was also a long day with lots of new birds arriving, then we got in a few laggers this morning. Finally got all caught up on entering the birds that arrived this week, 355 pigeons in all which takes our numbers up to 2355. Looks like if we get 2 more weeks of bringing in 350-400 birds a week we will more than reach our goal of 3,000 pigeons. We contemplated extending at least in to the first week of May to try to reach 3,500 but with health being as good as it has been this year we do not want to push our luck!
Again, my appologies for not getting your birds entered the same day they arrived, in 8 years of doing this race we have never fallen behind. Olga keeps reminding me I am in my mid 50s now, so when she says take a day off I listen.
MOST OF YOU ARE FOLLOWING OUR INSTRUCTIONS ON SHIPPING!
PLEASE, DO THE FOLLOWING, IT MAKES THINGS RUN JUST SO MUCH SMOOTHER ON OUR END.
Register First
Mail ONLY on Monday or Tuesdays
Why is it so important to register first you might ask.....well let me tell you a little story.
Last year a breeder sent pigeons without registering first, I did a Wincompanion search which us OLR Managers have the ability to do. We can search by first name, last name, phone number, you get the idea. Since the breeder did not register before sending, I searched for him on Wincompanion by phone number when it came time to send birds back, and this goes for sending out checks as well. When it came time to ship his birds back I went to Wincompanion and used the Loft Name I had selected for him, which was the one he wanted, but the address was his old address in another state. When his pigeons arrived he had to drive several hundred miles to retrieve his birds.
It is absolutely imperitive that you register first to preclude this from happening to you!
There are only 2 more weeks we are accepting birds, if we get any birds past the deadline then the post office has instructions to ship the birds back. This is also why it is imperitive that you read Wincompanion updates, we put out all of our pertinent information right here.
LAST DAYS TO SHIP
17/18 April
24/25 April
Health is outstanding, other than a few wing injuries nothing to report. We have had a lot of visitors dropping off birds, they can attest to what is going on over here and what is going on here is nothing less a miracle! Temps are starting to rise and it is starting to get sunny, real easy to keep these birds healthy and happy when it is sunny and dry.
Thank you everyone for your incredible support this year!
Hey folks, very long day here at the Apple Cup, typing this at 12:30 PM on 4/13/23. I injured my ankle a few days ago so was not able to complete putting chips on the birds from last week that were in the quarantine cages which is always completed on Tuesday which was yesterday. Finally able to hobble around a bit so finally got the last birds chips on late this morning then started in on the new arrivals. I am going to head in to get a few hours of sleep before getting up early to input these 195 birds that we got today in to Wincompanion before the new batch arrives tomorrow morning. Please forgive the lateness, in 8 years of doing this race this is the first time we have not had the birds added on the day they arrived.
If you follow USPS.COM and your birds showed picked up in Moxee, WA then that means we have them.
We are currently sitting at right under 2,200 birds, we will probably get another 200 tomorrow.
Good night everyone, or should I say good early morning.
Happy Easter weekend everyone!
Remember, we are only accepting birds March and April this year, do not send birds in May.
Please only ship on Mondays, Tuesday at the latest, available shipping dates are listed below.
April 10/11
April 17/18
April 24-25
Register first and put your loft name on the shipping label when you mail out your birds to us, again ship on Monday or a Tuesday.
There are currently 2,000 birds in the loft, we will reach 3,000 this year.
DO NOT MISS OUT ON ONE OF THE BIGGEST ONE LOFT RACES IN THE USA in 2023!
