Again errors and mistakes (25-08-23)
You wouldn't say it, but quite a few fanciers still start with pigeons. Especially in Belgium and in the north of the Netherlands, it seems.
Why wouldn't you say it?
Because of the alarming drop in the total number. So you can imagine how many drop out. I myself have regular contact with some of those, mostly younger people, who have not had pigeons that long. And sometimes it is scary. Because of no idea of sometimes the most obvious things.
PUTTE
A few years ago I went to pick up a lost pigeon in Putte. The very friendly fellow fancier recognized me as 'the man from the magazine' and asked if I wanted to see some pigeons. No problem, of course, but I told him clearly y that I did not know anything about pigeons. All I could say was whether a pigeon could POSSIBLY be a good one.
And sometimes whether it was rubbish. Well, we went to the loft where I saw a basket in the portal containing a pigeon with a wing hanging.
“Almost certainly paratyphoid,” I said. He: “Not almost certainly, but 100%. A few pigeons became much too skinny, I had them tested in a lab and yes, they got me.'
"But you don't put pigeons like that in a basket," I said.
He looked at me uncomprehendingly. Me again:
‘Look, like every living creature, such a pigeon poops, those faeces are infected, soon loft mates will step in it and you will soon not have half a loft of sick pigeons, but an entire loft. I myself always have some boxes in a storage loft for possibly sick pigeons and stray birds.
SELECTING
My selection is based almost exclusively on the flight results. I also know that there are pigeons that did not perform as youngsters to develop into supers, but don't let me be guided by exceptions.
I know that many think otherwise, but what's wrong with that? Something is not a fact because I think so. Back to that selection.
When I just updated my 'accounting' I looked at the lineage of some youngsters who had disappointed. And that was shocking. Some young of the best breeders seemed to be rubbish.It is reminiscent of that pigeon from Roger E. It is an excellent breeder, but his nest sister (!) is no more. She did not give one good young.
'I ALREADY HAVE'
That's why I didn't understand the younger fancier who comes here every year to get some youngsters. I always let him choose but once I heard: 'I don't need this, I already have one from the same parents'.
'I still have brothers or sisters' you sometimes hear when fanciers sell a good one. Or when a good breeder dies.
"There are still young from the same parents." So what?Are they good because that brother is a good one? Pigeon sport is really not that simple.
When de Bruijn goes to collect a pigeon somewhere for a voucher, he does the other way around. He tries to buy the nest mate. 'Because it very rarely happens that 2 nest mates are both supers. That way you play it safe when one of the two is good."
LEARNT
is one of those beginners with the same problem: He loses a lot of young every year when he goes tossing. And you don't even have to be a beginner to lose them.
I smelt what was wrong. He started at 5 km., then 10, 15, 20 and 30.Sounds logical, but is it supposed to be that way? No way! This year a younger fancier from my hometown had done a lot for me. In return, I would toss his babies a few times because he didn't have a car.When I had been out with them 7 times I was only at 9 km. Hardly a feather was lost.
Unfortunately, proper training seems more necessary nowadays than in the past. Concerning this you sometimes hear:
'My babies were hours away from road training today. I don't need to teach them anymore, they have learned enough."Learned enough?
In my opinion such youngsters have learned NOTHING.
BATH
Pigeons should have a bath regularly.
It is also a perfect way to control the condition. If the water is not covered with a thick layer of white powder after bathing, you may be concerned.
I don't know if the following makes sense, but five-star vet Dr. L once swore to me not to give pigeons a bath if there were some with a wet nose. They are infected and the infection would spread very quickly through the bath, he said.
Also giving a bath in the evening after work like some do is wrong. Just like you don't release pigeons in the rain late in the evening. Pigeons do not move at night, so do not dry and that can be detrimental to the condition.
Of course also be careful with giving a bath outside if you are bothered by birds of prey. You shouldn't make it too easy for those crooked beaks either.
MASSAGE
What some people do, massaging pigeons in lukewarm water after the flight, also seems to me to be a rather pointless affair.
The intention is good. It shows love and respect for the animal, but… If the plumes don't stand up spontaneously, as happens during bathing, it hardly reaches the place where it should be. So on the skin.
PURCHASE
And what mistakes are made when purchasing pigeons. It sometimes makes me sick.
If people are not very familiar with something these days, they have the internet and more specifically google.
Beginning pigeon fanciers want to learn from it and look for where they could improve their family. Enough choice! Finger-licking pedigree cards should give you the final push.There is nothing wrong with buying pigeons from a trusted address. But be careful with old pigeons from people you don't know. Even though the lineage is still so tempting. There's a reason those old pigeons have to get out.'
Too many good birds', as you sometimes read? An insult to the intelligence of the average fancier, if you ask me. Once upon a time, worthless grain eaters had the poulterer as their final destination. Since the Internet, the destination of proven junk has been an aviary in which they wait for naive foreign buyers. For some anyway.
When purchasing birds your main attention should not be the name and pedigrees.
That should be TRUST.
A page out of a pigeon magazine. It says Ad Schaerlaeckens won 1st and 2nd from 34.034 pigeons. To-day only 10 to 20% of such an entry in the races.