Message Pages

News and Updates

Aug-04-2023

GOOD MORNING!

Good Morning Breeders!

Birds are out enjoying a rainy morning here in Central Oregon. This is the first rain we have seen in quite some time. Birds are loving it.

Training seems to be back on track. Yesterday's trainer showed a group getting themselves into trouble with some late birds returning this morning. The birds tend to range a bit more when I do a second release from the same training spot. They seem to know where they are at release and tend to go exploring a bit more.

Birds will be staying in the loft tomorrow and relaxing. I have a 62 mile race to run in the mountains tomorrow that will be taking me out of town for the day. Patrick will be holding down the fort while I am gone. I should be back late tomorrow evening and if the weather looks good the birds will train from the 25 mile release point on Sunday.

Fire season is here and I will continue to train as long as I have a clear view of Grizzly Mountain to the south, which is about 15 miles. Smoke has been blowing in and out most days but nothing that is preventing us from training at the moment.

I hope everyone has a great weekend.

Lucas

Jul-23-2023

GOOD AFTERNOON!

Good Afternoon Breeders!

Birds had a challenging toss from the 14 mile spot at Grizzly Mountain yesterday. Several of the birds returned late yesterday/early today and look like they have flown a long ways. I have a couple missing some tail feathers but most just look tired. All groups yesterday seemed to head off in the correct northerly direction with a couple small groups breaking off and heading around the other side of the mountain.

I have been racking my brain this year since road training has started. I tend to have very few losses, especially on these short tosses. The birds handle well, dropping look close to perfect and I don't see any signs of canker or cocci. Birds were treated with Doxy T at the end of May/early June. Ceres are perfectly white and birds in general are acting lively with the cocks displaying and making themselves known in the loft.

This morning was cool and the birds didn't give me much of a loft fly, which is abnormal. I am thinking I may have an underlying respiratory issue in some of the birds. I am not seeing usual signs of respiratory infection and don't usually have much issue due to climate and loft design. This week I will postpone road training and run them on some respiratory medication. I'm definitely not one to reach for medications right away but I need to rule this out before I get back to road training. This will put our schedule back a bit but is important to make sure the birds are as healthy as possible to train.

The Topigeon clock server has been giving me some issues this week with not uploading or uploading very slowly. I have been talking with Topigeon daily to get this fixed, so I am hopeful it will be resolved soon.

Have a great week.

Lucas

Jul-16-2023

TRAINING UPDATE

Good Morning Breeders!

Birds will go out and loft fly again this morning and enjoy a nice bath later today. I will be back on the road tomorrow. I wanted to give the late birds a chance to reset over the weekend and be ready to resume training. Heat has arrived and the birds have been loving hanging out in the aviaries and absorbing the sun.

The majority of the birds did return from the first short toss over the last couple days. I have handled over a 100 birds to make sure I haven't missed any health issues and I didn't see any red flags. The birds are flying great on their loft flights, so I'm hopeful we will have a much better toss tomorrow. I am sure the late birds have learned a lot on their first outing.

Have a great Sunday

Lucas

Jul-13-2023

FIRST TOSS UPDATE

Good Afternoon Breeders.

The birds had their first toss off property today at 2.5 miles. Unfortunately, as I write this I am still waiting on 139 birds or 13% to come home.

Birds were released in 4 separate groups with the birds voluntarily leaving the trailer. The first, second, and fourth group all circled and made their way home and once reaching home I could see small groups heading off to go route...which is very normal for us on these short tosses. The 3rd group however, circled and headed straight south, not that abnormal but they will usually turn before I lose sight and this group did not. I believe this is the group that got themselves into some trouble today.

Birds continue to trickle in from all directions, so I am hopeful to see a bunch more home today and tomorrow morning. The birds have been flying great on their morning loft flights and I know most have been over the release point on their flights. This morning while loading I handled several birds and they all felt in great condition. The birds are in good fitness, so fingers crossed the majority can make their way back.

Fire season has started with some smaller fires to the north of us, but nothing that is affecting our air quality as of yet. Moving forward I will loft fly the birds tomorrow and make sure I'm not missing anything in the birds. If all looks good...I will be back on the road Friday.

Take Care

Lucas

Jun-28-2023

GOOD EVENING!

Good Evening Breeders!

Birds enjoyed another beautiful summer day here at the loft. The weather had been beautiful with lows at night in the 50s and daytime highs in the upper 80s with plenty of sunshine. The majority of birds continue to fly well for me each morning, with many groups heading out in all directions. I am still not forcing the birds to fly but next week I will start pushing them off the loft to make sure everyone is getting up and giving me some air time.

The birds are molting heavy at the moment, which is good and normal for this time of year. The 9th flight is completely in and the 10th is about an inch long. The trailer is connected to the loft and the birds have full access to go in and out as they wish. Earlier this week there were a couple falcons harassing the birds that caused a couple injuries with birds panicking and hitting each other. There have been some birds that have gone missing on these loft flights and I think some of these groups are getting themselves into the high tension lines and/or being hit by falcons when out away from the loft.

The garden has been producing some delicious kale that the birds and myself have been enjoying. The birds enjoyed a nice salt water bath this afternoon after they had a quick nap post loft fly.

Road training will start in a couple week and the birds are looking like they will be ready to roll.

Have a great week.

Lucas

Lucas Cramer

503-510-2661

CrookedRiverChallenge.com

Crooked River Challenge is a proud user of Primalac, Topigeon clocking system, and Ropa B

Jun-16-2023

GOOD MORNING!

Good Morning Breeders!

Birds were happy to go out and enjoy themselves this morning. I pulled the 10th flight on Wednesday and was very happy with how the birds looked. All erings were correct and I didn't find any non functioning bands. I did pull one bird for a possible pox lesion on his eyelid, so I will keep a close eye on that bird. All the others I didn't find any issues. The 9th flight is about 3/4 of the way in on most birds and many of the birds were more than happy to give me some wing time this morning.

Wednesday was a nice cool day with a high of around 72. I was able to get through all the birds in about 9 hours from the time the first bird was scanned to the last. I have made the process as stress free as possible for the birds. Birds are locked inside the loft the night before and then are moved through the loading chute and into a small catch pen in groups of about 50. Then I scan each and pull flights and they are released out into the aviaries. Any one bird may stay 20 minutes in the catch pen.

We have been having some cooler night time temperatures down into the low 40s, so appetites have definitely increased. Birds will continue to loft fly at will until the 1st of July and then I will make sure they are all up and moving. Road training will start around the second week of July.

Have a great weekend.

Lucas

Lucas Cramer

503-510-2661

CrookedRiverChallenge.com

Crooked River Challenge is a proud user of Primalac, Topigeon clocking system, and Ropa B

Jun-06-2023

GOOD MORNING BREEDERS!

Good Morning Breeders!

Birds enjoyed another beautiful morning out and about stretching their wings. Birds are continuing to do great on their morning loft flying. The majority of them will head out and fly well first thing and then they tend to come back and hang out on the roof. As the morning progresses, the red tail hawk usually makes an appearance and then the majority go back up and fly some more. All morning there are small groups that get up and head out and then come back.

Birds have the option to bathe a couple times week and are moltng steady. The 9th flight looks to be coming in well. The 10th will be pulled around June 15th. Road training will start around the second week of July. I like to wait until that 10th is the majority of the way in before I start short tosses.

Everyone that sent birds should have received a hat this year...if you haven't received one and would like one please let me know, so I can check my shipping list and get one on the way.

Appettites continue to be good and the birds seem to be content in the loft. We have had a couple days of 90 degrees and the birds have been enjoying baking in the aviaries. Primalac and Ropa B continue to be in rotated in the water.

Everything is going well here at the loft. I hope this finds everyone well.

Have a great week!

Lucas

503-510-2661

CrookedRiverChallenge.com

Crooked River Challenge is a proud user of Primalac, Topigeon clocking system, and Ropa B

May-27-2023

GOOD AFTERNOON BREEDERS!

Good Afternoon Breeders!

Beautiful day here in Central Oregon. Birds are doing great. Each morning they are let out around 7 and locked out until about 10 or 11. Birds are up and down off the loft all morning, with groups heading out in all directions. We have had a couple visits from the prairie falcon this week scattering the birds but the birds are getting used to dealing with all the raptors. The red tailed hawk pair makes a visit daily but the birds got them figured out.

Each day I run a "missing/lost" report so any bird missing from that particular day will be marked "missing" and if missing a second time it is marked "lost". There have been a few injuries from birds running into things or raptors. Overall, the birds are flying great. Pulling the 9th hasn't seemed to affect them much, which is great to see.

This next week the trailer will be going in for some minor repairs and maintenance. Once back, I will connect the trailer to the loft and let the birds have free access to loading and unloading. The flock started their first respiratory treatment yesterday with Doxycycline/Tylosin.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

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

May-18-2023

GOOD EVENING!

Good Evening Breeders!

Full day of pulling flights for me today! I am extremely happy with how the birds feel. They are chunky and have put on a lot of muscle since arrival...perfect for this time of year. They all had baths yesterday in preparation. I saw birds just dropping their 1st flight to birds that have already dropped their 8th...which is crazy fast molting in my opinion. I did pull two birds for being underweight and I am hopeful that they will make a full recovery with a bit of TLC. I also pulled one bird with an eye issue that I will be keeping an eye on. I did individually treat 6 birds for mild respiratory issues.

The last group of birds have been trap trained and are now with the main flock of birds. Birds will have free loft tomorrow and will not be forced out...I will not run the clock. Friday should be back to normal with birds all being forced out and clock running. Weather has been warm and sunny with an occasional thunderstorm. We are all loving the summer weather.

I had planned on doing a chip check today, along with pulling flights, but I messed up the clock first thing this morning and scrapped that plan. I will do a chip check when I pull the 10th flight in about a month to make sure they are all working correctly.

Thank you all for sending great quality birds this year!

Lucas

Lucas Cramer

503-510-2661

CrookedRiverChallenge.com

Crooked River Challenge is a proud user of Primalac, Topigeon clocking system, and Ropa B

May-04-2023

GOOD AFTERNOON!

Good Afternoon Breeders!

Birds enjoyed a rainy morning out in the aviaries today and the sun is just starting to peak out. Last night and into this morning we had a good thunderstorm come through and bring a bunch of moisture with it. Everything is beautiful green today. Spring has finally arrived.

Race is now closed for 2023.

There are 3 groups that still need to be settled into the main flock of birds and that will happen over the next couple of weeks. The 9th flight will be pulled on all birds around May 15th. The main group of birds have been enjoying themselves on their loft flights and the majority of them are flocking up well. They are learning a lot on each outing and many of them are not in a hurry to come back into the loft.

Looks like we may have rain through the weekend, so birds may not get a chance to go out again until next week.

Thank you all for the support this year!

Lucas

Lucas Cramer

503-510-2661

CrookedRiverChallenge.com

Crooked River Challenge is a proud user of Primalac, Topigeon clocking system, and Ropa B

« Previous 1 2 3 [4]5 6 7 8 9 Next »

	News and Updates
	Aug-04-2023
GOOD MORNING! Good Morning Breeders! Birds are out enjoying a rainy morning here in Central Oregon. This is the first rain we have seen in quite some time. Birds are loving it. Training seems to be back on track. Yesterday's trainer showed a group getting themselves into trouble with some late birds returning this morning. The birds tend to range a bit more when I do a second release from the same training spot. They seem to know where they are at release and tend to go exploring a bit more. Birds will be staying in the loft tomorrow and relaxing. I have a 62 mile race to run in the mountains tomorrow that will be taking me out of town for the day. Patrick will be holding down the fort while I am gone. I should be back late tomorrow evening and if the weather looks good the birds will train from the 25 mile release point on Sunday. Fire season is here and I will continue to train as long as I have a clear view of Grizzly Mountain to the south, which is about 15 miles. Smoke has been blowing in and out most days but nothing that is preventing us from training at the moment. I hope everyone has a great weekend. Lucas
	Jul-23-2023
GOOD AFTERNOON! Good Afternoon Breeders! Birds had a challenging toss from the 14 mile spot at Grizzly Mountain yesterday. Several of the birds returned late yesterday/early today and look like they have flown a long ways. I have a couple missing some tail feathers but most just look tired. All groups yesterday seemed to head off in the correct northerly direction with a couple small groups breaking off and heading around the other side of the mountain. I have been racking my brain this year since road training has started. I tend to have very few losses, especially on these short tosses. The birds handle well, dropping look close to perfect and I don't see any signs of canker or cocci. Birds were treated with Doxy T at the end of May/early June. Ceres are perfectly white and birds in general are acting lively with the cocks displaying and making themselves known in the loft. This morning was cool and the birds didn't give me much of a loft fly, which is abnormal. I am thinking I may have an underlying respiratory issue in some of the birds. I am not seeing usual signs of respiratory infection and don't usually have much issue due to climate and loft design. This week I will postpone road training and run them on some respiratory medication. I'm definitely not one to reach for medications right away but I need to rule this out before I get back to road training. This will put our schedule back a bit but is important to make sure the birds are as healthy as possible to train. The Topigeon clock server has been giving me some issues this week with not uploading or uploading very slowly. I have been talking with Topigeon daily to get this fixed, so I am hopeful it will be resolved soon. Have a great week. Lucas
	Jul-16-2023
TRAINING UPDATE Good Morning Breeders! Birds will go out and loft fly again this morning and enjoy a nice bath later today. I will be back on the road tomorrow. I wanted to give the late birds a chance to reset over the weekend and be ready to resume training. Heat has arrived and the birds have been loving hanging out in the aviaries and absorbing the sun. The majority of the birds did return from the first short toss over the last couple days. I have handled over a 100 birds to make sure I haven't missed any health issues and I didn't see any red flags. The birds are flying great on their loft flights, so I'm hopeful we will have a much better toss tomorrow. I am sure the late birds have learned a lot on their first outing. Have a great Sunday Lucas
	Jul-13-2023
FIRST TOSS UPDATE Good Afternoon Breeders. The birds had their first toss off property today at 2.5 miles. Unfortunately, as I write this I am still waiting on 139 birds or 13% to come home. Birds were released in 4 separate groups with the birds voluntarily leaving the trailer. The first, second, and fourth group all circled and made their way home and once reaching home I could see small groups heading off to go route...which is very normal for us on these short tosses. The 3rd group however, circled and headed straight south, not that abnormal but they will usually turn before I lose sight and this group did not. I believe this is the group that got themselves into some trouble today. Birds continue to trickle in from all directions, so I am hopeful to see a bunch more home today and tomorrow morning. The birds have been flying great on their morning loft flights and I know most have been over the release point on their flights. This morning while loading I handled several birds and they all felt in great condition. The birds are in good fitness, so fingers crossed the majority can make their way back. Fire season has started with some smaller fires to the north of us, but nothing that is affecting our air quality as of yet. Moving forward I will loft fly the birds tomorrow and make sure I'm not missing anything in the birds. If all looks good...I will be back on the road Friday. Take Care Lucas --
	Jun-28-2023
GOOD EVENING! Good Evening Breeders! Birds enjoyed another beautiful summer day here at the loft. The weather had been beautiful with lows at night in the 50s and daytime highs in the upper 80s with plenty of sunshine. The majority of birds continue to fly well for me each morning, with many groups heading out in all directions. I am still not forcing the birds to fly but next week I will start pushing them off the loft to make sure everyone is getting up and giving me some air time. The birds are molting heavy at the moment, which is good and normal for this time of year. The 9th flight is completely in and the 10th is about an inch long. The trailer is connected to the loft and the birds have full access to go in and out as they wish. Earlier this week there were a couple falcons harassing the birds that caused a couple injuries with birds panicking and hitting each other. There have been some birds that have gone missing on these loft flights and I think some of these groups are getting themselves into the high tension lines and/or being hit by falcons when out away from the loft. The garden has been producing some delicious kale that the birds and myself have been enjoying. The birds enjoyed a nice salt water bath this afternoon after they had a quick nap post loft fly. Road training will start in a couple week and the birds are looking like they will be ready to roll. Have a great week. Lucas Lucas Cramer 503-510-2661 CrookedRiverChallenge.com Crooked River Challenge is a proud user of Primalac, *Topigeon clocking system, and Ropa B*
	Jun-16-2023
GOOD MORNING! Good Morning Breeders! Birds were happy to go out and enjoy themselves this morning. I pulled the 10th flight on Wednesday and was very happy with how the birds looked. All erings were correct and I didn't find any non functioning bands. I did pull one bird for a possible pox lesion on his eyelid, so I will keep a close eye on that bird. All the others I didn't find any issues. The 9th flight is about 3/4 of the way in on most birds and many of the birds were more than happy to give me some wing time this morning. Wednesday was a nice cool day with a high of around 72. I was able to get through all the birds in about 9 hours from the time the first bird was scanned to the last. I have made the process as stress free as possible for the birds. Birds are locked inside the loft the night before and then are moved through the loading chute and into a small catch pen in groups of about 50. Then I scan each and pull flights and they are released out into the aviaries. Any one bird may stay 20 minutes in the catch pen. We have been having some cooler night time temperatures down into the low 40s, so appetites have definitely increased. Birds will continue to loft fly at will until the 1st of July and then I will make sure they are all up and moving. Road training will start around the second week of July. Have a great weekend. Lucas -- Lucas Cramer 503-510-2661 CrookedRiverChallenge.com Crooked River Challenge is a proud user of Primalac, *Topigeon clocking system, and Ropa B*
	Jun-06-2023
GOOD MORNING BREEDERS! Good Morning Breeders! Birds enjoyed another beautiful morning out and about stretching their wings. Birds are continuing to do great on their morning loft flying. The majority of them will head out and fly well first thing and then they tend to come back and hang out on the roof. As the morning progresses, the red tail hawk usually makes an appearance and then the majority go back up and fly some more. All morning there are small groups that get up and head out and then come back. Birds have the option to bathe a couple times week and are moltng steady. The 9th flight looks to be coming in well. The 10th will be pulled around June 15th. Road training will start around the second week of July. I like to wait until that 10th is the majority of the way in before I start short tosses. Everyone that sent birds should have received a hat this year...if you haven't received one and would like one please let me know, so I can check my shipping list and get one on the way. Appettites continue to be good and the birds seem to be content in the loft. We have had a couple days of 90 degrees and the birds have been enjoying baking in the aviaries. Primalac and Ropa B continue to be in rotated in the water. Everything is going well here at the loft. I hope this finds everyone well. Have a great week! Lucas 503-510-2661 CrookedRiverChallenge.com Crooked River Challenge is a proud user of Primalac, *Topigeon clocking system, and Ropa B*
	May-27-2023
GOOD AFTERNOON BREEDERS! Good Afternoon Breeders! Beautiful day here in Central Oregon. Birds are doing great. Each morning they are let out around 7 and locked out until about 10 or 11. Birds are up and down off the loft all morning, with groups heading out in all directions. We have had a couple visits from the prairie falcon this week scattering the birds but the birds are getting used to dealing with all the raptors. The red tailed hawk pair makes a visit daily but the birds got them figured out. Each day I run a "missing/lost" report so any bird missing from that particular day will be marked "missing" and if missing a second time it is marked "lost". There have been a few injuries from birds running into things or raptors. Overall, the birds are flying great. Pulling the 9th hasn't seemed to affect them much, which is great to see. This next week the trailer will be going in for some minor repairs and maintenance. Once back, I will connect the trailer to the loft and let the birds have free access to loading and unloading. The flock started their first respiratory treatment yesterday with Doxycycline/Tylosin. I hope everyone has a great weekend! 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*
	May-18-2023
GOOD EVENING! Good Evening Breeders! Full day of pulling flights for me today! I am extremely happy with how the birds feel. They are chunky and have put on a lot of muscle since arrival...perfect for this time of year. They all had baths yesterday in preparation. I saw birds just dropping their 1st flight to birds that have already dropped their 8th...which is crazy fast molting in my opinion. I did pull two birds for being underweight and I am hopeful that they will make a full recovery with a bit of TLC. I also pulled one bird with an eye issue that I will be keeping an eye on. I did individually treat 6 birds for mild respiratory issues. The last group of birds have been trap trained and are now with the main flock of birds. Birds will have free loft tomorrow and will not be forced out...I will not run the clock. Friday should be back to normal with birds all being forced out and clock running. Weather has been warm and sunny with an occasional thunderstorm. We are all loving the summer weather. I had planned on doing a chip check today, along with pulling flights, but I messed up the clock first thing this morning and scrapped that plan. I will do a chip check when I pull the 10th flight in about a month to make sure they are all working correctly. Thank you all for sending great quality birds this year! Lucas -- Lucas Cramer 503-510-2661 CrookedRiverChallenge.com Crooked River Challenge is a proud user of Primalac, *Topigeon clocking system, and Ropa B*
	May-04-2023
GOOD AFTERNOON! Good Afternoon Breeders! Birds enjoyed a rainy morning out in the aviaries today and the sun is just starting to peak out. Last night and into this morning we had a good thunderstorm come through and bring a bunch of moisture with it. Everything is beautiful green today. Spring has finally arrived. Race is now closed for 2023. There are 3 groups that still need to be settled into the main flock of birds and that will happen over the next couple of weeks. The 9th flight will be pulled on all birds around May 15th. The main group of birds have been enjoying themselves on their loft flights and the majority of them are flocking up well. They are learning a lot on each outing and many of them are not in a hurry to come back into the loft. Looks like we may have rain through the weekend, so birds may not get a chance to go out again until next week. Thank you all for the support this year! Lucas -- Lucas Cramer 503-510-2661 CrookedRiverChallenge.com Crooked River Challenge is a proud user of Primalac, *Topigeon clocking system, and Ropa B*
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