News and Updates
Jun-17-2023
WINCOMPANION UPDATED High Desert Breeders,

Thanks again for letting us fly your birds this past season! We were able to fly some excellent racers. 2023 is in the books and we are looking forward to another year. 

Wincompanion is up to date with all birds currently in the loft. If you see a mistake on a bird number let me know. Or  we will find it in the next few days as we start to assign ebands. Going to be yearlings and 2 year olds will all be housed in the same Wincompanion page. Or whatever  you would like to call it. Yearlings and 2 year olds will be separated by Team 1 and Team 2 designations. So if you have both ages, go over to the Team column and the going to be yearlings will have Team 1 and the 2 year olds will have Team 2 in the same column. In the coming weeks we will start running some inventories and get the kinks worked out for having Wincompanion filter the 2022 and 2023 birds correctly. 

We currently have 161 youngsters in the loft. Birds who have been here for at least two weeks are going out on every possible day. The youngsters are doing great.

We do have eight yearling birds for sale, for the 2 year old series. Those can be found on under our Breeder name, High Desert Yearling Classic. Reach out if you would like to add one to your team. We currently have 101 birds for the 2 year old series. 

Some food for thought. We normally have about a 50/50 split of the sexes but some years it leans more towards the cocks. A lot of people assume that yearling cocks are better flyers and depending on the handler they can be. In the past 3 years the average speed bird winner has been a hen. This year 5 of the top 6 for average speed were hens. 2 of the 3 on the drop on the final were hens. 

Until the next update. 

Kenny and Corey
Jun-09-2023
BIRDS SHIPPED AND CHECKS MAILED High Desert Breeders,

Happy Friday to all. Birds were shipped out Monday. 34/35 boxes made it to their destinations on Wednesday. The other box was delivered first thing Thursday morning. We used Pirate Ship this year and saved everyone approximately $5 - $20 for every box that was shipped. 

All checks went out yesterday. So those should be getting to most of you early next week. Or perhaps Saturday if you are lucky enough. 

For the 2 year old series we have 100 birds participating so far. The following 8 birds are for sale: 

For Sale Birds
2267-AU22-FARRGriz H
2251-AU22-SWWRBCPD H
0753-IF22-PGCBBWF H
22831-AU22-RMRBC SP C
22834-AU22-RMRBB H
22819-AU22-RMRBB C
22823-AU22-RMRBB C
2230-AU22-KFLYBB C
99885-AU22-ARPUBB H

You pay $100 and the bird is yours. Please email or text 208-420-4085 before you pay. So I can confirm the bird isn't sold. I will send out an updated list once they start selling. 

We are working on getting the logistics figured out for how to run two races simultaneously on Wincompanion. The yearlings will be released first, followed by the 2 year old's. Just like a club race. Should have that figured out next week. We are holding off on clearing out the 2023 data on Wincompanion until we have that piece figured out. We ended up with more birds than expected. Thank you for participating. 

We currently have 99 birds in for next years yearling race. We are taking birds until the 1st of  August. The weather is looking to stay cool for the next bit around these parts. 

Hoping next week we can get all the birds for next years races entered into Wincompanion for you. Thanks for your patience. 

Until the next update. 

Kenny and Corey
Jun-01-2023
W9'S AND 2 YEAR OLD NUMBERS Good Morning Breeders,

Don't forget to mail us your W9's if you won more than $600. We would like to have all birds mailed out June 5th and 6th. And we would also like to get all your checks mailed out as well next week too. 

We currently have 71 signed up for the 2 year old series. Another dozen or so are on the fence waiting to hear about the numbers. 8 of the top 20 birds from the final are being left to fly the series again. 2 of the top 6 average speed birds are being left as well. So there will be some excellent competition! We still have about 30 birds that we haven't heard from the breeders about. Thanks breeders for reaching out and responding. 

Also we have been open for business the past month for next years series. Currently around 45 are in the loft. And lots of breeders have been reaching out the last few days about getting their late crop to us. 

Reminder once we get this years series wrapped up, then we will input your birds for next year on Wincompanion. Hoping we can get that done in the next week or two. 

Until the next update.

Kenny and Corey
May-29-2023
FINAL RECAP AND 2 YEAR OLD SERIES
High Desert Breeders,

Congratulations to the first drop, 2nd Chance Loft, New Year Loft, and Mile High! Those birds came in about 10 minutes after a very big thunderstorm hit our valley. Here is a little background on how the day progressed. First 260 miles were great conditions. Head, sidewinds, clear to partly cloudy. Then around noon I get a message on the phone, thunderstorms and rain heading  up from the Nevada border into Southern Idaho late this afternoon. There was always a slight chance of some rain and thunderstorms but that message made it clear the birds were going to have some obstacles the last 100 miles that we were originally hoping would not happen. The drivers for the race were home around three and they had gotten through the last 100 miles when it was still partly cloudy and good weather. Our valley was clear and beautiful until 4:00 pm. The high desert is highly unpredictable and we have had a large amount of thunderstorms this year and it looks like it will continue for the next week.

The first 7 birds tried to get in front of the storm and then had to fly through it to get to loft. It always amazes me what these birds can do. Watching those birds come home in the storm was fun to watch. The storm lasted about 45 minutes and then it was back to good flying weather in our valley. Congratulations to all 60 day birds! Just another good pigeon race. 

Congratulations to Tim Farr for winning 3 of the top 6 average speed spots. 6375 and 6374 (not nestmates), flew incredible winning average speed by 50 minutes. Rory Smith, 2444, and Sam Haslem, 362, beat the next birds by 1 hour 20 minutes. Some special birds. 

Also a shout out to Dave Harrett, 18780. That bird placed 11th on the final, after it was a 4th day bird on the 300 mile race. We pride ourselves in making sure all birds have a chance to compete at every race no matter how late they are. One wrong turn in the mountains can lead to a multiday journey home. 

Two races over 8 hours on the wing. Some incredible birds have shown themselves. As a handler our goal is find out which bird or birds has the most heart and grit. Thank you breeders for another year of selecting those birds. We were able to fly some incredible birds this year. 

Some housekeeping business. Please text or email if you want your bird shipped back. Plan is to ship birds back June 5th and 6th. We might try and ship out a few tomorrow but we will see. We have had slower delivery times when trying to ship after a Holiday. A bonus is we just charge you the rate of actual shipping! If you won money we will just deduct your shipping from your winnings. If we do not here from you by June 5th we assume you are giving up your rights to your bird and it will become High Desert owned. 

Also, please let us know if you want to leave your birds here for the 2 year old series (email or text, please include Loft Name and which birds). $100 perch fee per bird due by June 15th. If you won money, we can take out the perch from your winnings. We will determine the Entry Fee once we talk more with the breeders who leave their birds here. There has been lots of interest. Please start confirming those and I will keep you updated on how many are staying. We all know you have too many birds at home. Keep them here and fly them for another year to see what they got. All birds left here and not wanted back we will offer for auction for the 2 year old series. 

I am sure I am forgetting some information.

Thanks again for another year breeders! Onward to 2024! 

Kenny and Corey
May-27-2023
FINAL UNDERWAY! High Desert Breeders,

Birds were liberated at 6:55 am. They took off very well out of the Del Mar Dry Lake. Should be a great day for the final. Some head winds coupled with crosswinds. With clear to partly cloudy skies. The last 50 miles depending on when they come in, they could be navigating some storms. We feel very fortunate that today has turned out weather wise how it has. Everything the past week and for the next 10 days is forecasted to have all tailwinds throughout the majority of the course. Which in the Spring is usually not the case. 

Here are the payouts. 

Best of luck to all! Thanks for letting us test your birds for another year. This group has been fun to train. It is always a little bittersweet for us once you get to the last race. 

Kenny and Corey
May-20-2023
UPDATED RACE PLANS High Desert Breeders,

Birds are coming back to form. Been loft flying everyday. Gives us an idea of how many are ready to go down the road vs how many are still recovering. You have to let the birds tell you when they are ready to start up again after an all out grueler.

We have also had a good amount of smoke settle in the valley a couple of days ago. We can see the hills today after they were covered in smoke yesterday. Hoping it leaves here soon. Something we have never had to deal with in the spring before. Air quality is 81 AQI today. 

Depending on the smoke the plan is to go 50 miles Monday, followed by a 75 mile toss. Currently all of next week and the following week the course is projected to have all tailwinds throughout the course. If this holds we plan on doing 100 mile toss. We will be patient and wait for the right day to test the birds. 

Once we have a date in mind we will let you know. Until the next update.

Kenny and Corey
May-17-2023
FINAL RACE PLANS High Desert Breeders,

Plans are to have the final race in the next 7-10 days. Birds and weather dependent. 

In our book, that was just a good old fashion excellent pigeon race. Every mile flown was not easy and the best birds made it home. Again congratulations to all the money winners, day birds, and the multi-day birds that had the heart to make it home. 

Kenny and Corey
May-14-2023
300 MILE RACE High Desert Breeders,

Congratulations to G.S.P. Loft for having the lone first bird home! Just over 8 hours on the wing. Another grinder of a 300 mile race. Congratulations to all the day birds. We enjoy finding out which birds have what it takes to get home. Not all birds are created equal and these types of races separate the wheat from the chaff. The day birds had to work hard to get home. 

We knew it was going to be a tough day with head winds projected the whole way. But a couple factors made yesterday especially hard and really broke up the birds. First being, by the time they were 100 miles out, they ended up having (originally not in the forecast) thunderstorms to navigate through. Thunderstorms for 100 miles is never great. And second, the winds in our valley (last 40 miles) were much higher than originally projected. It was a constant 20-25 mph NE. All birds came from the west and who knows who far west they were blown. 

Today in our valley we have some rain this morning and also high East winds again. Not favorable for the birds. They should continue to trickle in over the next couple of days. 

Kenny and Corey
May-13-2023
RACE UNDERWAY Good morning,

Birds went up at 6:55 am. Beautiful sunny skies with light head/shoulder winds to begin the journey. Best of luck to all!

Kenny and Corey 
May-12-2023
PAYOUTS
Please click Here for the 2023 Payouts (contingent on all checks clearing). Payouts can be found on our webpage under Race Info, Payouts 2023. 
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