A MATTER OF DEFINITION
by Jim Emerton
There are certain words used in pigeon terminology and via the pigeon media that I will attempt to clarify for the fancy at large. My definitions, as opinions are purely subjective and based on personal experience.
Distance in my mind’s eye refers to races of 5 to 700 miles and race birds that have actually flown those distances, ideally in race time. Marathon birds and races I associate with distances over 700 miles, and are my chosen ones. Sprint races will embrace races and birds up to 250 miles, and middle distance from 250 to 500 miles.
Inbreeding refers to the practice of pairing closely related birds e.g. generations of brother to sister matings, father to daughter etc. in a family colony in an attempt to produce birds with similar qualities, desired by the fancier, and expressed in the phenotype as feather quality, balance and racing capability etc. Inbreeding depression, via recessive genes may manifest itself in reduced size, fertility, vigour and susceptibility to disease. Outbreeding refers to the introduction in the breeding programme of relatively non closely related birds, into the population, and I favour experimenting with inbreds for this purpose.
We can go on and on to clarify exactly what we mean by all the terms in the sport, and in the final analysis, will yield an understanding, which will reflect a mere fraction of the full scope of knowledge available for our comprehension. In my experience of racing, a working understanding is needed so that you can create a winning system at your chosen distance, that you are contented with.
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Elimar - December 2013
