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"There's the magic, the bond between man and bird that brings this tiny fifteen ounces of feather, muscle and intelligence, back from continents over the seas, as far as 1000 miles away. Such independent creatures, which can turn their back on man and exist quite happily without him, yet which will almost kill themselves to get back to his side - if they love him enough - and some of them do." From the book PIGEON GAS by Bilco (Bill Cowell).
I raise and race pigeons. They are mostly white racing pigeons and others that fly well for me. Your success as a Pigeon racer is in your hands.
Proper use of breeding methods (inbreeding/linebreeding) is mandatory to produce quality pigeons. Useful breeding combinations include father/daughter; brother/sister; cousins; 1/2 brother/sister; father/granddaughter, etc. Also cross different inbred/linebred strains for hybrid vigor. In all breeding, mate only the highest quality pigeons together.
Since I have a limited amount of white breeders, I need to introduce a cross now and then to strengthen the genes. To do this, I use one of my non-white birds which is also a good racer/breeder. I cross this in and then mate father/daughter or mother/son as the case may be, to breed the color back out. I always fly the young birds to see which ones I will mate back to the father or mother. The mating of f/d or m/s will produce some all white birds which can be used to mate back to the other white racers and strenghen their genes. This breeding process can be used over and over again whenever neccesary. If you also mate the white offsring from the f/d or m/s mating, you should get all white birds. This mating of brother/sister is intense breeding and the progeny should be severely evaluated before using in any breeding program. This same breeding process can be used to uncover/recover recessive genes as in the case of recessive red and other recessive colors.
NOTES:
Happy pigeons are winning pigeons. The fancier must know his pigeons and the pigeons must know the fancier; use barley; use rice, especially for hot weather as it holds moisture - also high in carbohydrates; use wine, apple cider vinegar, honey, safflower; be consistent in the loft; be happy around your pigeons -never go into the loft when you are angry; your pigeons can sense your mood and react accordingly; pigeons are small, a little of anything causes a reaction, maybe good - maybe bad; feed according to what you want them to do; fat contains moisture; protein absorbs/robs a bird of moisture, birds race on carbohydrates and fat; only one egg slows production of crop milk. If you want to win young bird races and specials - breed out of pigeons that produce good, fast maturing young birds. Mate youngsters of brothers and sisters together (cousins); put yourself in the place of your pigeons and see if you would race home like they do.
All writing is rewriting. I quite often update this site, so come back soon...Thanks
Keep humor with you at all times - be able to laugh at yourself and laugh at my pages if you want to.
Make your own music as you go through life - if you can't, listen to rock 'n roll.
Feeding - 1st installment (2/25/99).
Some edits and additions (08/30/99).
I have quit the sport of racing pigeons (10/08/99).
*CORRECTION* I should have said I quit racing pigeons at the club and combine level. I plan to enter some young birds in classic races, futurities, one loft races, etc. (11/17/99)
Two new pages of pictures (12/01/99).
Hi there. I am in the process of reorganizing my pages to make them more enjoyable for you (12/06/99).
phil.bateman@pf.ucsb.edu
6033 Paseo Palmilla
Santa Barbara, CA 93117-1716
United States