| Loft report Derek Rooney |
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| Written by Paul Derricott | |
| Sunday, 24 December 2006 | |
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DEREK ROONEY BURTONWOOD H.S. HIGHEST PRIZEWINNER MERSEYSIDE FEDERATION 2006 3X1STS, 3X2NDS, 2X3RDS, 1X4TH
During 2006 a new name came to the fore in The Merseyside Federation in 2006, 1st Merseyside Fed Ludlow (96 sent 1514 birds) old birds, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 6th & 9th Merseyside Fed Hereford (98 sent 1547 birds) old birds, 1st, 2nd, 4th, 6th, 7th & 9th Merseyside Fed Ludlow (79 sent 1785 birds) young birds, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 8th, 9th & 10th Merseyside Fed Swainswick (70 sent 1329 birds) young birds and 2nd Merseyside Fed Wincanton (70 sent 1329 birds) young birds, all top class performances as you can see. Derek’s first pigeons were local dock pigeons which he had when he lived in Liverpool aged 8 which was the usual thing for kids in those days in fact it was more unusual if you didn’t keep them back then. Derek’s first foray into the racing scene came when he was about 17 when he joined The Longview Club in Huyton, Liverpool and he can remember winning 1st Club, 6th Liverpool Amal from one race which was no mean feat in those days as there were large birdages in those days, at the age of 21 Derek moved into a terraced house and the pigeons were no more but Derek always knew that he would have pigeons again although he knew it would be much later in life when he would have the time to enjoy them. Moving on to present day and on Saturday 9th December I made my way to Penketh near Warrington to do this write up as tribute to the performances listed above and his finishing highest prize winner in The Merseyside Federation in 2006. I arrived at Derek’s with a picture in my mind of what his set up would be like a big house with a large garden and vast lofts, the house was there but as for the gardens and vast lofts, wrong in fact quite the opposite, the gardens very compact and surrounded by houses and the lofts no bigger than the average garden set up. First thing were an informal chat and a brew, and then we went out in to the garden where I took the photographs and then back in for the interview. First up was the lofts, starting off with the widowhood loft which was 26 feet long with 2 x 8ft sections containing 24 boxes for the widowhood cocks, although Derek has never been able to fill these yet as he only had 10 cocks in 2006 and will only have 12 for 2007, then the other 10 feet was for the youngsters. He has a 15-foot stock loft that is split into 3 sections and houses his stock birds with all his Vandanabeele stock being bred by Vandanabeele himself. During racing one of these sections is used to house the widowhood hens. The old birds are raced on the basic widowhood system, with no breakdown although the cocks are only given a light feed on return from racing on Saturday but are immediately put back on a widowhood mix on Sunday morning, the food used varies as Derek has changed it every year and intends to change it again in 2007 but to what he does not know yet, he has tried Gerry Plus and last year he used Buckton’s Ruby Gold, the only thing he will not change is the amount fed. The birds housed at Derek’s loft are as stated mainly Vandanabeele but he does have some Soontjens from his good friend Frank Strong from Sunderland and he does intend to bring in more from the same source and then build a family around these two families. The youngsters are flown on the darkness system. Derek races in Burtonwood H.S. which is affiliated to The Merseyside Federation and also Sankey Bridge H.S. although he only sent 3 times to Sankey Bridge in 2006, but he still won 1st, 2nd &5th twice and old bird of the year on land, not bad at all for 3 races, Derek would like to be able to have 24 widowhood cocks then he could race in both clubs, so that he could support both of them as when he sends in one at the moment he cannot send in the other. Some of the birds housed at Derek’s are a blue cock winner of 3 x 1sts and bird of the year in Sankey Bridge, then there is a yearling blue cock which has been 1st Merseyside Federation twice in 2006 and was also 4th Merseyside Fed as a youngster, Derek did have a pencil cock which did have a 1st Merseyside Federation and also a 2nd Federation and was a very consistent bird from racing and training but he lost him from one of the shorter races this year, Derek said he knew he was not going to come when he was not one of the first birds to the loft that day. I asked Derek what was his best Performance up to date and his reply was 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th &6th Burtonwood H.S. also being 1st, 2nd, 4th, 6th, 7th & 10th Merseyside Federation Ludlow with young birds although he enjoys all of them, as with being out of the game for so long he is like a kid with a new toy when clocking in. Derek believes that health is paramount to winning birds after the pigeon itself and admits he is in fact a bit obsessive on health, he treats for Canker, Cocci and Worms before racing and once racing starts, he uses a microscope and then treats necessary, although he does try to treat for respitary every week. With Derek’s belief in health he became friends with Dr Van Der Sluis who is vet to the Eijerkamps and this friendship has now developed to the point were Derek is now the U.K. agent for him On the subject of theories, Derek does not believe in eye sign or the wing theories but does believe in the light and dark theories. I asked Derek who did he admire in the sport and why? His reply was that with so many top fanciers about it was hard to pick one as each one was a good fancier in there own right, however without the officials and workers in every club there would be no racing and so no champions, so perhaps it was all these people who fanciers should admire and respect. Derek did say that John Schofield the Merseyside Federation secretary should be admired for the way over the last two years that he has driven the fed forward so that they now have their own transporter and new clubs are now asking to join the federation. I asked Derek what could be done to entice new members into the sport? In Derek’s opinion perhaps the wrong people were being targeted as its very hard to get kids interested so maybe it should be people like himself who had pigeons as a kid and were looking for a hobby later in life and people who have retired and have time on their hands, maybe fanciers could promote the sport by inviting these people round to their lofts to watch the birds come home and see what a great sport this can be. On the subject of ETS he says the sport must move forward and make progress, but he would miss the clocking part, especially since he has only just returned to the sport. On a final note Derek has just purchased a web site which is www.racingpigeon.com and if any club or fed would like free space on it please contact him for details at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Well that concludes this loft report on Derek Rooney and I would like to thank him for giving me the opportunity to do this and on seeing the class of birds and how keen Derek is, I am sure in 2007 he will again be one of the men to beat. That’s it for now, any news or views to P.Derricott, 245 City Road, Kitt Green, Wigan, Lancs WN5 0HP or phone 01942-205280 or e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it |
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| Last Updated ( Wednesday, 21 February 2007 ) |
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