SELECTION 1

Translation: Michael Osmann

This article is divided into three very important parts: vitality, weight, and health.

It should be the duty of all fanciers to select their pigeons at the end of the racing season. This should not be a problem with older pigeons, since achievements can be applied as a yardstick. However, it is much more difficult with yearlings and young birds. Many fanciers and especially the "great ones" make the mistake of keeping too much stock. Of course, the overcrowding of pens that results is not selection. The small fancier with little space is forced to select more severely. This explains why small fanciers are equal to large fanciers in large releases.

In my life I have held thousands of pigeons in my hands. For many years these were ace pigeons, winners of first prizes in national and international flights of 900 - 1200 km. When I got them into my hands on the same day or a day later, the winners were drained from the flights. These pigeons do not need to be evaluated for condition since they have selected themselves with their success. I noticed then that these winners showed much color and pigmentation on their wings.

You can judge for yourself in your own loft. If a pigeon shows much less pigmentation after the moult than before, one may assume for the future that the decline has begun and that peak performance has already passed. To my mind these animals are useless for racing and breeding. It may be thirty years since I snatched up Noel De Scheemaker's comment that the demise of a great loft begins when pigeons that were flying well, or very well, but now have no successes worth mentioning are put into the breeding loft. What he wanted to say was that one should only breed from pigeons with vitality - but he added that one can still rear successful broods from older breeding stock with vitality. Age should not be the sole determinant.

An example from my own loft. Our female pigeon 421 was a first class pigeon, good for 12 top prizes every year: as a yearling ace pigeon, as a two-year-old second ace pigeon and again a first ace pigeon as a three-year-old. When I took her into my hands after the racing season in her third year, I was startled by how much the pigmentation of her wings was reduced, surely by 20%. The next year she was found only twice on the last page of the list, and in the breeding loft she did not produce another useful offspring.

Another example. In 1997 I visited a well-known fancier in the region and handled his best female pigeon, four years old and always good for 10 chief prizes a year. It was good that I did not know the female. I immediately noticed the poor pigmentation on the wings. I was very enthusiastic about the bird's type since it fully met the expectations for a first class pigeon. I discussed the problem with the fancier and he agreed with me entirely. I pointed out to him that this female would not make the prizes anymore, never mind win a chief prize. In 1998 this pigeon was entered four times into speed flights and won one prize in the middle of the list.

On her fifth prize flight the female was entered into a 240 km prize flight - a simple, ordinary route - but she never came back again. That doesn't say much because she may have met with an accident on her way home, but four entries with one mediocre prize despite a superb body - that speaks for itself.

The weight of the pigeon is a big factor in selection. When I look at a pigeon, I already have an idea of its weight. If the pigeon is heaver than I thought, it is eliminated without a reprieve. Gravity is a major handicap. I would rather see pigeons that feel lighter than one would think. To be sure, if two equal pigeons have the same qualities, you will only find the lighter one in my loft. During a release a heavy pigeon must keep its excess weight in the air. That requires energy and does not get the pigeon into the prizes. It must be compared to other sports in which speed counts. You never see an overweight sprinter or marathon runner. A pigeon that gains too much weight with normal feeding does not stand a chance in my loft. Of course, there is the method of light feeding to get these pigeons into the prizes. I would rather see pigeons that are well-rounded and not too heavy, no matter what the circumstance.

The third important factor in selection is to give the pigeon what it needs to build up and prepare its condition. I like seeing a pigeon turn round as a ball with little or light feeding. After a flight these pigeons regenerate much faster and therefore their condition is rebuilt more quickly. Actually, this triggers a chain reaction and one should strive to properly maintain this condition.

In summary, one can say: vitality, weight and health are the three most important factors fixed by selection. Naturally, other things must be added to find a super pigeon among the good ones.

In one of my next articles I will try to go a bit deeper and explain how to overcome certain prejudices. If you put pigeons into a basket and judge them in the dark, you should have an idea in the morning of how you made your decisions.