Just some pigeon talk (21-08-24)
A letter in the mail? That was a long time ago!
From an older person? 'An older person' is someone who has seen a milkman, he has seen a farmer plough with a horse, who was paid his wages in cash, initially had to make do with a black and white TV, who pooped on a shelf, had to go to school on Saturdays from the time when café owners fought for a pigeon club and were sometimes willing to pay quite a bit for it. Because a pigeon club meant several times a week customers of easily 30 to 40 people. Or much more.
CORRECT
My suspicion turned out to be correct. Letter writer was older and in the 80's I had been with him once. He said. But, I didn't remember anything. Not his name and not his place of residence. Of course, it could also be my fault.
On the other hand, I can sometimes even remember a fancier whom I had only visited once. Then I must have seen or heard something there that meant something...
CATAPULT
Behind Klak's lofts was a factory building that had made him very discouraged. Both during the week and after the races. That building had a flat roof and flat roofs near your pigeon loft is usually misery.
Especially in warm weather this attracts pigeons.
We could live with that if the pigeons sipped it for a while and then flew up and then trapped right away.
But that's not how pigeons are. Once they have had a drink, they continue to 'sip'. Even if it's just drops from a gutter. I never had a flat roof in the neighborhood, but I did have neighbors' roofs on which my young birds sometimes sat down.
How I hated that. Then Klak told me how he had taught the pigeons not to fly to that roof with water. Someone had given him a mini catapult with which fishermen 'shoot' bait. Klak shot pieces of potatoes at his pigeons when they were somewhere where they didn't belong. Afterwards I did too.
OIL
You have people who will never put anything in the drinking water. Medicines, brewer's yeast, mineral powder and so on, it's all on the food.
Some kind of oil for pigeons serves as an adhesive.
A scientist/pigeon fancier from Flanders once told me that was wrong. I just had to pay attention to how the inside of the feed buckets had thickened with that shit.
I knew what he meant. These were the remnants of mineral powder, brewer's yeast or worse, medicines. 'Logical', according to ‘the white coat’. Oil is not a good adhesive, it actually loosens. He liked Rose Vicee or plain water with some sugar or honey in it better. Me too now.
BREEDING
We all experience it, eggs or youngsters that are fought to pieces because a pigeon flies into the wrong box. And you fool yourself that it's your favorite couple. Boxes alternately half open/close makes a big difference, boxes in different colors is even more, but you have the least fights with the bowl on an elevation.
Preferably alternately, so in one box on the left and in the other on the right. While we're on the subject of incubators, if you have the chance (your coop is deep enough) you should try to place the boxes in an L.
Or even better, opposite each other. As with de Bruijn, Verkerk, van Oeckel and others. It is very motivating when pigeons have a view of each other.
Meirlaen, and being a connoisseur, has his boxes in a semicircle. Nowadays you also see more and more ‘breeding boxes.’ Every couple in a special box.
Most of them are not good. Two couples in a loft is wrong, but so is one in a box. Pigeons are herd animals. Like horses. A horse alone in the pasture doesn't feel ok.
These breeding boxes can easily be improved by making the wall between the lofts out of wire mesh. So that they can see other ‘communicate’ as well.
LOFT Meirlaen
SELECTION
Most fanciers base their annual selection on natural health and performance. ...
What is the minimum performance of a pigeon to be allowed to stay, people sometimes ask. Depends, of course, on where you are in the sport. And of the momentum. A champion has higher standards than the non-champion.
"Of the momentum." A few years ago I wrote that we had no choice but to remove youngsters with 8 prizes, since we had so many good ones.
But that there would certainly come a time when we would be happy with birds with such prizes. Pigeons, especially youngsters in shape, can surpass themselves. Without form, they keep on failing. This is evident from their performance as old pigeons.
Last year we were forced to keep youngsters that I would not want in that top year.
About 'minimum performance': For many (with many exceptions) the lower limit is: 50% prizes per ten. So hypothetically: Win 10 times entered against an average of 1,000 pigeons? Then 5 prizes in the first 100 is the GLOBAL minimum standard.
WHEN IN DOUBT, DON'T CROSS
We all wonder sometimes if a pigeon has recovered. So if they are fit enough to basket after an illness (e.g. Adeno), injury or late homecoming. Of course, the pigeon has to regain weight and it is best to pay attention to the color of the flesh.
That dark blue has to be gone. I also pay attention to the behavior when training. Those who are the last to fly out of the loft and land first after training, keep them at home.
I sometimes let them fly out of my hands outside. If they go up in the air and you don't see them for a while, it's usually fine.
If they sit on the roof and quietly too, you may have doubts. Pigeons in shape never collectively sit still.
ALSO THAT
If you toss (train) your EXPERIENCED youngsters in groups, they will be in super shape when they arrive in groups. In the right order, of course. There is no form when you see many minutes later that they have latched on to each other. That the 3 groups have become one. Although sometimes you experience weird things with this.
Ed had gone to train, had released the hens 5 minutes before the cocks but the ens were home 10 minutes later. That didn't look good for the weekend. Or so we thought. After the flight we knew better. Contrary to expectations, it was the hens that did it.
With pigeons there are always suprises.