Entries close next month for Sun City 2026. Anyone here sending birds?
This will be my third year entering. Previous results were middle of the pack but learned a lot about what birds handle the South African conditions.
Looking at sending 6 birds this time. Mix of my own bred and a couple of auction birds from the PIPA yearling sale.
The prize money is insane but honestly I’m just hoping to get birds into the final. Would be a dream to have one in the top 100.
Entered every year since 2018. It’s addictive.
The SAMDPR system is well run and the birds get good care. My advice - send birds that have proven heat tolerance. European birds with no African blood often struggle with the conditions.
What bloodlines are you sending?
We’ve entered from Taiwan the past two years. Lost most of them to the longer races but had one hen make the final last year. Finished 847th out of 4000+ birds.
The shipping is the hardest part. Long journey and birds arrive stressed. We now send them a month earlier to acclimatize.
The PIPA yearlings you bought - which lines? Some of those auction birds are bred specifically for OLR and do well. Others are just expensive names with no OLR track record.
I’ve had better results with birds bred from actual OLR winners than from big-name racing lofts.
My uncle named all his birds. Found his notebook with names and notes on each one. Reading through it is like getting to know him better.
I’m keeping his names for the birds I have. Feels right.
My daughter has now named 6 birds. We have Sparkle, Diamond, Thunder, Lightning, Cookie, and Professor Fluffybottom.
Guess which one she named when she was being silly.