Hamid Laakvand   
Press
Solent South Road Federation Press Report
Falaise 2 - 2008 by Claire Mills.

Just when you think this easterly wind can't get any worse, it turns North-East! Please! We expect a bit of east in the wind early. The Solent members pride themselves as having birds brave enough to face the channel every week (alright, without the curse of the DEFRA interference). We have a race controlling/conveying team with such experience that many feds are envious. But we can't change the weather! There may have been only177 members send this week. There may have only been 1731 birds sent. But nothing should take away the tough performance that it took this week for Hamid Laakvand of Parade FC to take the top prize with his red cheq widowhood cock. This bird, a De Klak was bred by Hamid from two late bred youngsters purchased for stock from Brian Wall of Havant. He has always been a consistent performer, 'Hercules', as he is known, was last year 83rd Open (3473 Birds), BICC Falaise, and 43rd Solent Fed (2445 Birds) Yelverton.

This year he started the season with a 6th Club (141 Birds), 32nd Fed (1635 Birds) and was then 6th Club (246 Birds) 73rd Fed (4006 Birds). He is certainly no stranger to the much coveted fed result sheet is he? This is the first Solent South Road Federation win for Hamid after many years trying and he is absolutely delighted, and feels that this result is the culmination of much studying. Yes? That's right. STUDYING? Perhaps a foreign language to most fanciers, but Hamid suffered a disappointing season last year when his team of birds, flown naturally, all came well, but were frustratingly, constantly poor trappers. He decided that radical changes were needed and he spent much of the winter off season either with his head buried in books, or on the internet, really investigating the widowhood methods of top fanciers, both in this country and in Europe. It wasn't just the way in which these fanciers kept their birds, but why? What were the benefits/ disadvantages etc, very much a theoretical study.

He now keeps his birds in a fashion that he feels suits his needs as a working fancier, and yet produces a team of pigeons that are highly motivated and have the physical attributes that will see them right through the season. The method Hamid has chosen is dry widowhood. The 40 old birds are paired up 1st February, then separated when still sitting eggs. Hamid does not allow his racing team to rear any youngsters. It is the rearing of young that instigates the start of the moult and as he likes to race his team through to the end of the season, this is important in helping the birds to keep a full wing and to keep form.

He then trains the team back to the hens, in order to teach, particularly the yearlings that the hens will always be waiting for them on their return to the loft. He stops allowing them to see the hens about one week before racing. On basketing nights he allows the cocks to see the hens until they are calling from the nest bowl, which is his indication to start catching the cocks, and then on the return from the race. The cocks have just been repaired after six weeks to start the cycle again which he hopes will renew their enthusiasm. A normal daily routine is for the cocks to be flown 1 hr in the morning, although Hamid admits that there are times when they are flying well that he has to go to work, and really doesn't know how long they do fly, but leaves the trap open, and then 1 hour in the evening. They are fed depurative until Tuesday am and then a sports mixture. One slight worry for him was that by Friday morning he has a job to encourage to cocks to eat. They don't seem bothered at all. His remedy for this is to feed a few peanuts.

Hamid likes the 40-50 young birds that he either breeds from his ex racers now in the stock loft, or having bought them in to race, to cross the channel at least three times. He feels that whilst a win with young birds is a bonus, he doesn't take too much notice of young bird performances as an indication of future potential .He brings in young birds each year, mainly Janssen based strains, and preferably likes a pigeon to be of a medium or larger size. Didn't he worry, I asked about sending big pigeons to the further distance races, but he was confident that they can be as successful as smaller birds. In 2003 Hamid was 2nd Solent Fed Saintes with a large bird, and then two weeks later was 2nd Fed Bergerac, the Solent's longest race, with an even bigger pigeon! Universities now have all kinds of daft courses, including 'golf course management'. When the first one has a degree in 'pigeon fancying and loft management', I'd put my money that Hamid will be the first to enrol!