SELECTION 2

Translation: Michael Osmann

In this article I would like to again consider three significant details that are very important to selection .

These are the results of the racing season as the basis for selection, the Belgian method and the Hermes-Mazee method. These three methods have one thing in common - the precondition of good achievement in the pigeon to be selected.

Actual achievement does say much about the endurance of the pigeon: For success in racing is an important measure.

Pigeons must have success in races and come home. However, there are fanciers who count racing results as the only and infallible characteristic for selection. How often can we see pigeons that have achieved extraordinary and spectacular results in their birth year but fail in the next racing year? How often can we experience pigeons that conclude their racing with little success in their birth year and should be culled but then show dream results in the next year?

Why young pigeons equipped with all good qualities do not qualify is a mystery. Why they then fly tops as two-year-olds is even more of a mystery. One can highlight this experience with many examples, but it is certain that a pigeon can only win with the capabilities it is endowed with. We also know that short distances require different characteristics than medium distances and that daylong distances demand different preconditions than overnight flights. Pigeons that have great achievements on all distances are very rare. In my own loft I don't look so much at the results but at how they came home. I don't like seeing drained pigeons. Almost all my pigeons are entered at Orleans: That is 600 km, but it is also the only flight in which the results must be right. I apply a severe measure then. I like seeing pigeons that did not particularly shine in the preparatory flights but won a good prize there. They may become useful pigeons for the future. My recommendation is that one ought to be very strict with a two-year-old pigeon. The remaining pigeons must have flown better than the loft average. However, you have to be a bit more careful and patient with young birds and yearlings.

In the Belgian method a pigeon is put into a racing basket without feed and water for some time. After this somewhat difficult period for the pigeons, they are put back into the loft, fed and watered for the selection two hours later. Pigeons that endured this period poorly should be removed from the loft. In Belgium this method of selection was the rule in the 50's and 60's. A measure as hard as iron - but it says so much about the hardiness and endurance of the pigeon. How it manages its reserves says much about its ability to achieve later. Weak pigeons suffer visibly, and this is the first approach to separating the strong from the weak.

The Hermes-Mazee method or the so-called Saarland experiment of Raymund Hermes is known to many breeders and also separates the weak from the strong. The pigeons are kept in open aviaries in summer and winter where they are exposed to all weather. In this husbandry the pigeons with the greatest reserves also stand out. The Mazee method is based on the same experiential values. After the last flight - usually Etampes - the pigeons are left outside and the traps are closed.

The pigeons are not let back into the lofts for four weeks. Thus they are forced to adapt to natural conditions. Of course, in this time the fields must offer enough feed. They learn to forage for themselves, seek shelter against inclement weather and protect themselves from birds of prey and other predators during this time. The first few days one sees them trying to enter the loft by all means, attempting to spend the night unprotected on the roof, but after a few days they can already be seen looking behind high chimneys and on sills. When one opens the traps again, it may take as much as a week until they are all back.

But the strong and intelligent pigeons shine, and they have a feathering and bright eyes not seen before. The lesson to be drawn from this is that the pigeon has found its way back to nature and learned to survive. It will retain this experience for the rest of its life.

In particular those breeders who run in the overnight flights have an extraordinary selection method this way. The pigeons are hardened and know the natural elements. This can be an advantage.

A few tips:

• Evaluate young pigeons calmly by themselves to make the right decisions.
• Try to get as many ace pigeons into your hands as possible so that you can feel and touch the qualities I spoke of. Then you will separate the strong from the weak in no time and recognize the top and worthless classes of pigeons.
• It is a very difficult task to select from the middle class. There are pigeons that look perfect though they only win prizes on occasion but then with top honours. They are extremely challenging and demand many years of experience and knowledge in the matter. This middle class is an important factor in every loft because nine out of 10 have faltered and, therefore, nobody has a loft full of superpigeons and nobody has a loft full of junk. Those who can distinguish this are closer to success by a long stretch.