Ga direct naar de inhoud.

Fooled and be fooled (05-05-22)

When money is at stake, as has been the case in pigeon sport for a quarter of a century by selling, people become more and more resourceful. At the time, it was a reason for Klak to create a 'black list'. On it were the names of fanciers who could no longer buy pigeons from him.

 TAKING ADVANTAGE

He never asked top prizes for his pigeons and others would take advantage of that. For example, someone bought 10 youngsters, if he was lucky there were 2 or 3 useful to good ones among them and for the others they tried to find a customer. Much to Klak's annoyance, of course. If he found out, it meant a new name on the blacklist.

Later brokers knew who also had original ‘Klakpigeons’ and the owners were approached. They didn't care if the birds were worth anything, only that paper called pedigree mattered. The birds were moved abroad anyway. This is more like screwing than fooling.

 OWN PIGEONS

You can also be tricked by your own pigeons. That happened to me repeatedly.

- The sudden abundance of down is an example. There was a time when I read a lot about pigeons.

Throwing down indicated health, so we were often instilled. It probably will, but it shouldn't be as if it snowed in the bins. Several times I was tempted by it to poule extra money. A waste ! I learned that suddenly throwing down profusely is a sign that pigeons are recovering from something. The shape isn't there, but it's probably coming.

- Pigeons that do not leave the loft is another such thing, I wrote earlier how I was misled by it several times. “Because of attachment to the box,” I told myself. “Perhaps afraid of an intruder.” Racing such pigeons only led to disappointment.

 VERY IMPORTANT
Of course, attachment to one's own territory is a very good quality. That's how I like to see babies that you don't have to go looking for in the evening because you know where they are.
Usually on the same 'shelf'.Babies who then sit here and then sit there I do not like.Take champion H. for example. He doesn't believe in tossing, but he does it anyway, sometimes in the wrong direction. He owes a championship to it. How's that? When the pigeons come back from the almost daily toss, their behavior is carefully studied. He puts pigeons that rush in head over heels at the top of the polling paper.
So also turn on the 'clock' for training flights. The pigeons normally arrive together, but arriving two or three seconds earlier can be a perfect indication of the result in the next flight.

 FUCKED
The following may sound strange. It concerns young pigeons that are always home first from a toss. It pays to take hold of such a pigeon. There is a chance that he is injured and will be so bothered by it that he wants to be home, and as soon as possible.

 ANTWERP
In 2020 I received compliments from Antwerp fanciers about the prize percentage that was achieved weekly. A fellow fancier knew someone who was doing equally well and showed a newspaper article detailing his achievements.
Very impressive, I must say. So much so that I took a closer look. A 92nd prize against 232 pigeons aroused suspicion and then it became clear. There they raced 1 on 2. So 200 birds in the race meant 100 prizes.

And results achieved per four or per two makes a huge difference. Playing one per two has advantages (more names on the result sheet) but it can lead to less quality if you do not take this into account in the selection.
Pigeons that never miss are really not exceptional with a prize ratio of 1 to 2. And 'pigeons that never miss?' For some, the temptation may be great to breed from such. As a result, people are falling further and further behind. You only breed from top pigeons and pigeons that do not miss out at a prize ratio of 1 to 2 are not top pigeons.

 AT THE LATEST
Once KBDB advised not to release pigeons later than 12.00 noon. Fortunately that was reversed, because every fancier with even a little experience knew how absurd that was. Until what time can pigeons be released, especially fanciers with a full day's work may wonder. Of course it depends on what month you live in. Long way back, in the middle of summer, I had to repeatedly visit my brother-in-law who in hospital in Brussels.
When I visited him in the evening I took birds with me to be released there, because it was the right direction. I started carefully, released the birds at 6 p.m. but they got home so smoothly that I became more and more bold and ended up releasing them at 7.30 p.m. I wanted to write 'took risks', but releasing pigeons later in the day in good weather in July is no risk, so I learned.

 NAIVE
An acquaintance is charmed by great long distance. Now he was allowed to go get a youngster from a Barcelona winner from a friend of a friend. He was in heaven, I was somewhat skeptical. And that didn't improve when he mentioned the name of that Barcelona winner. 'Never heard of him.' Google also didn't make me any wiser.
What turned out? The man had indeed won Barcelona. But that was in his club. The pigeon was clocked at a time when the competition elsewhere was almost or completely closed. Similar things can also happen at Middle and Short Distance.

What you need to do when looking for reinforcements is not only to pay attention to the ‘champ’,  but also to the competition. It is best to get pigeons in an area where people specialize. So get ‘vitesse pigeons’ in an area where sprint is central. It is often the same ones who succeed or fail when they import birds. It has nothing to do with luck or bad luck.

 DUMB DUTCH
Beginning of this century. A Belgian intermediary (broker) wanted to see some pigeons and pedigree cards for his trade. The agent; 'Are you actually Dutch or Belgian?' "Dutchman," I said. “Dutchman?” He clicked his tongue several times. “I thought the Dutch were smarter.”
When I looked at him questioningly, he pointed to a pedigree. More specifically after the name of Gust Jansen. "You have to leave out that word 'Gust'," said the broker. “We will both benefit from that.” How disgusting!