Thoughts on breeding by Les J Parkinson
We can talk about pigeons all day long, but do we ever get to the bottom of all aspects of our feathered friends. We all have our own ideas, some fanciers like big hens for breeding, does the size of the hen make any difference to the quality of youngsters that she breeds. A good big hen can help to put strength into the youngsters but no matter how big a hen or a cock is, if the constitution is right the youngster will be fine. They say size doesn’t matter, I think that depends on what you are talking about and to whom.
We have been to many lofts over the years and seen some of the best breeder’s in the country and believe me they come in all shapes and sizes. I also think that because some fanciers set their standard, they miss out with some hens that many would consider not suitable for breeding off. There is always the subject of line-breed or using a first cross or is it best to just pair winners to winners.
The best way to put strength into a pigeon is via the cross which is why the Busschaert’s have stood the test of time. Whenever Georges Busschaert brought a pigeon into his loft it was then called a Busschaert no matter who had bred the pigeon, it was then bred into his own, so they were mostly a cross. Over the years the Busschaert family has been very successful and even today they are still in fact crosses because there are so many lines of them.
With the Dordins that we used to have we were always looking at the performances of other fancier to bring in the odd pigeon and they are as good as a cross because they re-vitalise the strength in the pigeon. What you need are two inbred lines from the same family and cross them and you should produce winners, providing the lines are from a good winning loft to start with.
We have visited many top lofts over the years and then seen those fanciers have sales with a named family but when we have compiled a loft report it is obvious that they have a cross. Nothing wrong with that if you want to maintain a winning family, but it is better that the new owner knows of those crosses. If they don’t know then they are going down the wrong path in their breeding loft.
The Dream Breed Lofts (Vanneste-Rigole) pigeons are mostly crosses but crosses of the highest quality because if you study the pedigree, they are all bred around National and International winners and as they say, “The Apple does not fall far from the tree”.
One thing I am sure about is, fanciers change for the sake of changing and many bring in a considerable number of new stock without testing them against their current team. A lot of fanciers change because they see a new name on the results, but the problem is, there are many fanciers who start to win and then because of the sales they bring in more pigeons themselves from other lofts and they are not the same breeding. Just because someone else is winning with them it does not mean that you will also win with them. Some fanciers will win with anything because they are prepared to work on their pigeons and if some put more work in with their own pigeons, they would not need another family.
Many fanciers say that the basket is the only way to sort pigeons out, that is not strictly true because some of the best stock pigeons have never been in a basket. Many potential top stock birds are lost because of that reasoning, had we all known our pigeons a bit better we would be breeding more winners than we are, as the top boys do. However, there are also many good pigeons that have raced well then put to stock and have then turned out to be duffers in the stock loft, it happens with the best fanciers and their birds. It does not matter how good a pigeon races, if the qualities are not there for breeding then you will do no good with the offspring on the road. What we have done is bred off such pigeons and selected stock birds from them which has proven very useful for many fanciers. Eye sign is also a favourite with a few for selecting stock and is a subject that has previously mentioned is not taken seriously enough. It’s not that eye sign means nothing, it’s because most fanciers have not studied it enough in the first place and therefore know little about the subject.
One of the questions that I often ask is, “Did you find your best breeding pigeon by luck or judgment” Luck comes into a Champion breeder more than judgment because you can buy the best-bred pigeon in the world or the best racer in the world but it does not say that they are going to breed you winners. More often than not top breeders are dropped on by chance and to bring in the previous answer, if you buy the right pigeons that are close to the top winners then you are more likely to drop on that elusive breeder. There are some lofts that do have a pair of Champion breeders “The Golden Pair” and as soon as they have finished breeding the lofts go down again, it has happened on many occasions.
No matter what you are breeding, getting the best out of any pair is not always easy because there is no specific line to follow. All you can do is select all your pairings on what you believe to be correct. You can match 20prs of pigeons and to find that “Golden Pair” is not always guaranteed.
How many fanciers have let the pigeons select their own mate and jumped for joy when a naturally selected pair start to breed winners? On the other hand, how many times have we found a Champion racer and lost the pair or parted with them because for some reason we didn’t rate them. I have often had fancier’s chasing pigeons that they have sold on the website and a couple of years down the road they have turned out to be top breeders. Don’t think you are the only one who this happens too, you are not, it happens to most fanciers at some time in their pigeon lives.
To get the best out of any stock pair you should breed and race at least 6 young birds each year otherwise you will never get the best out of them it is a very rare occasion where you will find all from a pair will prize. As I say unfortunately, we do not have the luxury of being able to do that because of the limited space for the race loft. Plus I have always been of the opinion that you should bring in at least 10 young birds each year to try. It's no good saying quality not quantity; you need the quantity to find the quality in the first place, which is why the big team fanciers are better off, the more you breed and the more you can race in the early years and the better the chance of finding a champion.
I have written the above because after the racing season has finished it is always worth breeding a few late breds off the best racers. In the past I have had some really good pigeons through breeding at that time of the year. I have always felt that it has been an advantage to have a small section for these pigeons.
