Circus
After a year of physical misery, I needed a break.
There was no laptop taken on the holiday address, I did not buy a newspaper and even not a TV on.
Because if there is any news that is usually only misery or is it something that you wonder "what is going on?"
I wanted to spared of that on a vacation.
CRISIS
Take my cousin.
The bank where her husband worked went bankrupt, he was among those who were discharged and now he had a problem.
The "solution" was a forced sale of his house.
A manager of the same bank that was partly responsible for the mismanagement was put on the streets as well.
But that was with 2 million for his failure.
Then there was that young football player.
He was not good enough for the team but he did not care.
He had a contract that said he earned 120,000 e PER MONTH and they paid him off anyway. A Jaguar of 150,000 euro before the dancing underlined his words.
Boys that become a millionaire when they are still teenager?
Mad world!
INTEREST
But not only in football, in pigeon sport collective madness begins to take dubious forms as well.
Take this famous Dutchman for argument's sake.
He had bought a round of youngsters for 100 e each from a famous Belgian name in 2009. .
He found it cheap enough to race them, but none of the birds was any good.
"Too bad your money" I said.
He looked at me quizzically.
Pity? Not really. A merchant had learned that he had pigeons from the Belgian (whose fame had meanwhile risen sharply) and had bought them all for 300 each.
"I should have taken more of that rubbish with a pedigree from here to Tokyo" said the Dutchman. 'The best investment I ever did.'
Some time later the pigeons were for sale on the Internet for e 500 each.
In no time they were sold. Almost all to the Far East, but still: Poor Buyers
INTERNET
Trading on the Internet is hot.
But things are really running out of hand.
The number of sellers and dealers that responds to the naivety of the lovers of good birds is increasing rapidly.
I refer in particular to "indirect" pigeons and name birds.
See what happened to me.
Two years ago the telephone rang day and night because on the Internet it said that I offered birds for sale.
My wife, who normally picks up the phone, knew nothing about it and I had no idea either.
What was going on?
There were indeed five 'A S birds', 4 years old and "offered by me."
My photo was added.
When I saw this I picked up the phone myself from then on and told all those callers that those birds with almost 100% certainty were bad.
"But haven't you bred them?" Asked me a few.
"Yes and so what?" I replied.
I advised to stay away from it.
Because what had happened?
The seller had once bought 7 birds from me.
Probably 2 were good, the others were worthless grain eaters.
And what do some people do nowadays with such birds?
Ups: on the internet with them and ...cash for proven stuff! .
FIVE PERCENT
I once suggested that even the greatest champion fails to breed one super bird for every 20 youngsters that he breeds.
With this I mean a REAL super and not birds like you find on the internet and in many pedigrees. There are almost all supers.
Sometimes you find the word 'Super' 5 times or more on one pedigree.
If I was serious when I said: "not one super in every 20 babies?'
Of course not.
"Not a super in every 40" will be closer to the truth.
Most champions breed about 100 young per year to-day.
In four years time that means 400.
And 5% of 400 is 20. So 20 Supers!
Who is them?
I know fanciers who breed 300 youngsters per year but I do ot know of any one who has 20 supers.
Those 'champions' who do not agree and feel insulted may react.
But they should include the results of their 21st best bird !!!
B
B is a top player in the Netherlands.
He breeds 300 babies each year and for 2012 he will keep 12 old birds.
Let's make 20, since also others have championbirds from him.
But even the he had to breed approximately 1,000 for those 12 supers.
The mistake many fanciers make is that they find too soon a bird is a super.
Currently there are 20 birds of X on the Internet.
They parents were all bought from the famous Y.
And of course those 20 again are all "supers".
But the same X asked Y if he could buy 2 super hens from him.
And more stupid questions than "do you have two super breeding hens for me?" do not exist.
If 90 percent of the birds (or more) that also champions breed what are we to think of those people from whom the cheapest bird on the internet is sold for 1.500 e or more.
Even if such champs sell their best and keep the rubbish it is just crazy.
Of course, also real good birds are offered on the Internet.
But if you believe everybody and everything all birds that are sold are good.
Unbelievable how na've many people can be.
Besides you would expect the champions would be after those birds.
Because they are ambitious and always looking for better.
But look at the names of the bidders.
Are those the great champions?
Far from it.
They're smarter.
Again, most people that are in charge of such a site are honest people who intercede for some commission, but there are others.
May those brokers of castles in the air perish in their own playful creativity.
Preferably as soon as possible.
I once got 20 young birds from Maurice Voets.
'Normally speaking there should be one or more good ones among them' he said. be a good intermediate to sit," said that.
That's another talk.
"The Sky's the limit" some say. But how then can they sell birds from another planet?