Health Tips to prevent problems with birds?
Everyone needs to watch their birds closely for health problems.  

1.
Vaccinate for PMV, every bird every year.  (and also young birds right out of the nest)
2. Do NOT over crowd your lofts.  (50% of all lofts I have seen do NOT have enough fresh air in them)
3. Disinfect watering system OFTEN.  (I alternate them and soak them in a 5 gal bucket with bleach in it.
4. Quarantine any new birds coming into your loft for at least a week.
5. Do not let sparrows or other birds enter your loft and keep mouse poison around 24/7/365.
6. Worm, dust and give 2 drops of Ivomec to each bird at least twice per year.
Protect your birds, their health, and the sport by keeping on top of the situation.  It is better to destroy a few young birds now than to
infect your entire flock.  No one is exempt from this even if you don't buy or acquire other birds.  Isolate them if their droppings are
not right!  
7. Birds should ALWAYS have a white nose (the whiter the better) and solid roundish droppings and a clear throat.
8. Get rid of birds that do not seem "right" or healthy or junk birds that have not produced birds that compete for you.
One loft races and our success.  
One loft races are one of the best ways to test your birds against others.   Treated (fed watered, medicated) and trained all the
same in the same loft puts all birds on an equal bases.  This is more of a true test and true competition of birds and breeders of the
birds than even flying against your neighbor across the street.  One loft races are FUN!  People gather for food, drink and much
pigeon talk while waiting for the birds to return.  It is even fun if you don't have a bird in the race just meeting and talking birds as
well as all the great food etc.  However, it definitely more fun if you have birds in the race!
And, it is even MORE fun to win a money position in the race.   As far as getting in races with someone (some individual loft) as
your handler is VERY risky at the least.  You must know and choose a GOOD handler then you have to luck out with the winds on
race day.  I don't want to go into this any further but after being in a good number of races with handlers I can say that part of my life
is over with as I will not do this anymore.  

The Goldstars and One Loft Races:
In 1987 was my first One Loft race experience and it was as good as it gets as we took FIRST place and won over a grand!  This
was in the Belleville RPC One loft race.  It was a 300-mile race and there were 2 birds on the drop and my cock trapped in first.  
Over the next 3 or 4 years we placed in the money EVERY year as one or more of our birds were on the drop (equal first).  Then,
for some reason the club changed the race to a 250 (instead of a 300-mi race).  This caused many birds on the drop and our
success was not so good (when you get 35 birds on the drop you need birds that can run fast - to the trap - and not so much of a
quality racing pigeon.  None the less we still won some money positions quite often.
In almost every One Loft race our club has hosted (all but one I think) I have had birds in the money.   The bottom line is these
Goldstars are excellent One loft birds as long as the race is over 250-miles (other wise it is just a trapping contest and not a true
test of the birds).   The Goldstars have been tested on 400-mile Young bird races and WON the race, in fact one was the only day
bird in the entire Concourse in race A and the other was 2nd Concourse in Race B.  Remember, a Concourse is made up of 2 or
more Combines and a Combine is 2 or more clubs!   
Important message about buying birds
Whether you are just starting out in the sport of racing pigeons or you have been in it a while the object is to win races correct?  To
do this consistently you need quality birds and that is what most pigeon race men are looking to acquire or breed.  Well, you can’t
breed quality out of so-so birds in any amount of time you can afford to waste.   The best way to acquire good birds may be to get
them from a local loft, and older flier, that has been around for years and is always there on clock out day no matter how hard a race
it was.  

Other than that, or if you prefer to beat your competitors with your “own” type of birds, or something different then you will have to go
find the quality elsewhere.   Most of the “Feather Merchants” have some excellent birds, however they are among hundreds of
poorer quality birds.   By Feather Merchants I mean pigeon houses that sell pigeons to make a living.  These people must sell birds
to survive and are responsible for maintaining employees and all the other expenses involved.  Their goal is to move bird’s period.  
Yes, they do go to Europe, they do import birds, and they do try to find quality and maintain a reputation.  However, I have known
many a flier who have bought birds from them and seldom ever got a bird worth the money he paid for them.  One fellow, new at the
sport, in two to three years purchased over $10,000.00 worth of birds (and this was 20 years ago) and maybe got 6 birds out of all
of them that where worth the money he paid for them.    In fact 90% of them were of no value at all as they were lost as young birds
almost immediately.  Although they had fancy pedigrees and they looked good the quality was disgusting and a waste of time and
money .

There are also fellows that have worked their way to the top.  They won awards for many accomplishments, then decided to sell
bad birds on their “good name”.   Whether this happened by accident (the winning) or their GOOD location, or not so swift
competition I am not sure.  Perhaps, along with the fact he was a super handler he was able to win these races.  I have witnessed
such men locally where no one else could win with their birds.  

The bottom line is that in buying pigeons
you don’t always get what you pay for from SOME people or merchants.  You might get a
good looking bird with a fancy pedigree but that does not mean it is of any quality.  Believe me as I have witnessed it over and over
that
paper (fancy pedigrees) does not win races.  Birds that are out of birds that are out of other bird’s years ago, from Europe,
don’t get it here!  Perhaps they are diluted or inbred too much are not even out of who they are supposed to be out of I don’t know.

What I do know is that these Goldstar birds that I have bred for 35 years win for most everyone and in any part of the country and in
YB races as well as OB races.  Their pedigrees are out of birds that have done it themselves (won races and or bred winners) here
and now in the United States of America.   We breed for quality NOT quantity!  
I guarantee if you put an equal amount of
Goldstars against an equal amount of ANY other family of birds these Goldstar's will out fly and out breed them ALL!
   
If you want to win races plus have some birds no one else has then try these.  
You won’t be sorry!         
Goldstar Lofts & Birds
More about the Birds + Message
Our 600-mile champions! (note: we fly over 619-miles)
(We are listing only the winners and day birds and not the other many consistent top Combine diploma
winners we have)
Band #                                     Position
AU 85 LSL 7573 BC H        1st Club, 8th Combine 1987
AU 89 LSLC 0919 BB C     1st Club, 8th Combine 1993
AU 93 LSL 5374 DCWF C  
1st Club, 7th Combine 1995
AU 93 LSL 5369 BC Cock
1st Club  &  1st Combine 1995 ("Broken Arrow" qualifies as an AU registered champion) related to
5374, 1716, & 4203 as well as many 500-mi winners.
AU 96 LSL 0644 DC Cock  1st Club, 4th Combine 1998
AU 97 LSL 1719 BC Hen    
1st Club   &  1st Combine 1999
AU 97 LSL 1716 BC Hen    
1st Club, 8th Combine 1999
AU 98 LSL 2855 BC Cock  
1st Club, 4th Combine 2000 (also 5th Combine 2002)
AU 98 LSL 2850 BC Hen    
1st Club, 2nd Combine 2000
AU 99 ILL   0068 BC Hen    
1st Club, 4th Combine 2001
IF   00 IIF    0243 BC Cock  
1st Club  &  1st Combine DAY BIRD 2003 Race A Speed of 1375 YPM
(also 5th Combine 2004)
IF 00 ILL 2011 BC Hen        
1st Club  & 1st Combine ONLY DAY Bird in Combine 2003 Race B
AU 99 ILL 0058 BC Hen      3rd club & 4th Combine  DAY BIRD 2003 Race A
IF 02 ILL 4203 BC Hen        1st Club  & 1st Combine 2006 (also 5th Combine 2005)
AU 06 STAR 1679 BC C      3rd Club & Combine        
DAY BIRD 2008 Race A

These type of birds make up our entire loft of Goldstar racing pigeons.   99% of all birds we sell will have some (if not
many) of these birds in their pedigree.   These are quality pigeons and they prove it!  They Perform in the races and the
longer or harder the race the better they do!