Many people are afraid of math and statistics. While I struggle with math and math concepts, I am comfortable in the world of statistics and have learned that statistics are really very user-friendly tool. Statistics are more like a foreign language that must be learned in order to use. Also, statistics are used to analyze data and data must be gathered or generated. That goes back to Record Keeping. Records are a written record of data that can be analyzed by statistics. And as I said in the recent blog on Record Keeping, many fanciers don't like to take the time to record data nor do they see the usefulness of keeping records. Record keeping is a little like keeping a current balance in your checkbook. It is always wise to know how much money is left in a checking account in order to know how much money is left to utilize. The same is true with racing pigeons. It is always best to know which pigeons are racing the best in order to know which pigeons to enter in a race and which pigeons to pool (if pooling is something that is important).

If the young birds have not been chipped, it is up to fanciers to record arrival times on training tosses by hand. Even if most of the young birds come home on the drop, knowing which pigeons did not come home on the drop is important and useful information. If young birds are single-tossed recording their arrival times is important if possible. By releasing the young birds into a wind - even for short distances - it is possible to drive home and record arrival times.

Keeping good records is a habit. It's a discipline. It must become an embedded part of each and every training toss. Records create data. Data can be analyzed by statistics. Statistics can help fanciers make tough decisions concerning which pigeons are the "best" pigeons on the team. Statistics help show a homing pigeon's consistency when trained or raced. The "best" racing pigeon is usually a pigeon that consistently performs in the top 10% or 20% of the race sheet or training toss records. The "best" pigeon is not an average pigeon that homes on the day of release. The "best" pigeon is an "uncommon" pigeon - a stand out - an "odd or unusual" pigeon. These birds do not come along in every hatch. As I have estimated throughout the blogs, the "uncommon" pigeon is one or two out of each 100 pigeons hatched - or perhaps less.

Over the past six years from 2004 to 2009, I have raised about 1,000 pigeons to race. I have recorded 14 AU Champions and a few other Champion pigeons. While racing, I have lost several of the AU Champions for various reasons. Perhaps although some of them recorded enough points for a Championship, they were not good enough to race the distances or the weather for the races in which they were lost. On the other hand, sometimes pigeons get hurt in the course of racing and are simply lost. Regardless, I would estimate that the Champion pigeons I have raised represent about 20 out of 1,000 pigeons raised or about 2%.

Creating distributions, calculating averages, and understanding the importance of the Bell-Shaped Curve are all useful tools in the decision-making process when fanciers are trying to make choices as to which pigeons to keep and which pigeons not to keep. If a racing loft only holds 12 nest boxes, it is difficult to race more than 24 pigeons - assuming that one keeps 12 males and 12 females. If a fancier has 50 pigeons at the beginning of the young bird race series and a racing loft with 12 nest boxes, how is the fancier to manage unless half of the team is eliminated from the team? Is the traditional answer to build more loft space? If so, more loft space means more food or grain, more water and drinking fountains, more vitamins, more medicines, more supplements, more money, scraping, and more work. Does this increase produce better results? I don't think so.

Those fanciers who consistently race at the top of the race sheet are the fanciers who race only the best and who make the tough decisions to determine which of their pigeons are in fact the very best before the races begin. For these fanciers, races confirm and validate their decisions. when their choices perform well, it is seldom a surprise. The real surprises come when choices don't perform well. In these cases, the surprise comes from the fact that the choices did not meet the expectations for the choices. On the average, when fanciers look back on their overall performance in a race series, only a few pigeons will have generated the best results for their loft. On many occasions, I have won or placed well in average speed over an 8 to 12 week race series with the results of only 4 to 6 pigeons on the race team. A Champion pigeon is an "uncommon" pigeon. It is not a "normal" or "average" pigeon. Average pigeons should not be tolerated. Even good pigeons should be eliminated from the race team. If pigeons have not raced well in two racing seasons, they will probably never perform well at all.

I have recently received several emails to which I would like to respond. I regret that it has been several weeks since I received them. But due to several family-related events, I have been away from the computer.

The first family-related event involved the death of a long-time friend due to brain cancer. A friend and family member sat with me at a hospice while John slowly slipped away over a period of weeks. As morbid as this might sound, the experience was incredibly moving, positive and uplifting for all of us.

The second family event involved the birth of a grandson on January 1st.

Arrio weighed 8.5 lbs and is 20 inches long. As you can tell from the picture, his brother Elijah was very pleased that he has a new little brother to play with. Arrio and his mother Jenni (our daughter) and father Joseph are doing very well.

I wanted your opinion on using the throat of a pigeon as an additional tool in grading for breeders and flyers. I know you have went into detail several times in your blogs on how you grade birds, but I don't recall you using the throat for grading purposes, correct me if I'm wrong. We know certain health issues are indicated by the throat and it's condition and appearance. There are some top notch flyers in the U.S. and Belgium that look for the birds that have the best throat possible. I have heard this for several years but just started looking into what they are referring to. My interpretation is they are looking at the 2 flaps on top in the back of the throat that has the little saw tooth edges across the bottom. They describe the 2 flaps as curtains that come together and they meet in the middle. The best throat would have the smallest hairline space between them and in a straight line with no creases or curves where these flaps meet in the middle. They call this the motor and the best flyers and breeders will have the best throats because the best throats are the most efficient in supplying oxygen to the bird while in flight. I wanted to see if you use this or look for this in grading your birds.

Although I have met a number of fanciers who examine the throat of pigeons when they grade them, I have personally never studied under a Belgian fancier that used the structure of the throat as a primary criteria for selecting pigeons. Generally, when the fanciers under whom I have studied have examined a pigeon's throat, they were evaluating the pigeons health. Healthy pigeons have clean pink throats free from slime, visible signs of canker lesions, or any other internal malady that can be diagnosed via the condition of the throat. For me, if the throat is constructed properly with no obvious physical defects that would prevent the pigeons from breathing properly, then the throat is not a grading criteria.

If fanciers are able to select better pigeons by examining the flaps in the throat, then more power to them. I would never discourage someone from doing something just because I do not understand its importance or have no experience with it. Although this grading criteria is not one that I have used in the past, its omission from my selection process has not seemed to prevent the race birds from playing at the top of the race sheet.

In conclusion, the sport of racing pigeons is an inexact science. For instance, there are many fanciers who believe that eye-sign theory is totally absurd and they believe that those fanciers who subscribe to eye-sign theory are terribly misinformed or are crazy. Conversely, there are fanciers who totally subscribe to the benefits of evaluating eye-sign. Although I used to believe much more in the value of eye-sign theory some 25 years ago, over the years, the importance of eye-sign has diminished considerably. Although I still like to examine eyes with an 18 power loupe, I normally place little actual performance value in what I see. However, concerning the author's email question, if fanciers can obtain better racing and breeding results by examining the flaps and slit in the throat and extrapolating useful information from that examination, then by all means do it.

Once my birds have begun to sit eggs do you know if it is necessary to continue the artificial light? I thought you might have an opinion based on your experience.

This is a great question. My response is YES - it is absolutely necessary to continue using artificial light after breeders have laid their first round. The breeders are used to extended daylight by now. Their internal clocks are now regulated by the hours of artificial lighting. Their routine is now dependent upon an artificial light schedule rather than a natural light schedule. They are used to darkness coming at an artificial time much later than "normal" sunset. Their feeding schedules and nesting schedules are based upon a 16 to 17 hours of daylight schedule rather than the reduced lighting of natural daylight. Drastically and abruptly reducing the number of daylight hours is not good for the breeders, eggs and youngsters for many reasons.

First, by having longer hours to eat and drink, fewer eggs will chill and more youngsters will hatch from the first round. Without artificial lighting during the winter months, breeders sometimes trade sitting on the nest in the late afternoon close to dark. Especially for the males, this sometimes means a reduction in time to properly eat and drink while they are not sitting on the nest. Consequently during the daytime, males may leave the nest unattended in order to eat and drink. If unattended, even if for only a few moments, eggs can easily chill and kill the incubating youngsters. Also, if the males eat during the dark of natural lighting, it is possible for them to return to the wrong nest box. Such a tragedy usually precipitates a fight between the intruding male and the breeders whose nest box has been invaded. These fights often end up scattering eggs and killing new youngsters.

Second, by eating more during extended daylight, breeders eat more and feed their youngsters more food for more hours of the day. If the natural daylight is about ten hours during the winter months, breeders will have six hours less per day to feed their youngsters compared to a breeders with sixteen hours of artificial light. Over a period of days and weeks, the youngsters with natural daylight will consume far less food than youngsters with sixteen hours of artificial daylight.

Finally, like breeding a first round in the winter months, extended lightening will allow breeders to lay a faster second round with a higher fertilization rate than breeders without extended lighting.

As the daylight hours increase in the spring, gradually return the breeding loft to natural daylight. In Oklahoma, I use artificial lighting in the breeding loft until May. then, the artificial lighting is gradually reduced by about an hour per week until it approaches normal daylight hours. At this point, artificial lighting can be turned off completely in the breeding loft. In Oklahoma, because I prefer to use the light system for moulting youngsters rather than the dark system, the artificial light extends until the first of July in the young bird loft.

There are several benefits to wearing a loft coat.

First, because it pleasantly reminds me of many wonderful days spent enjoying the pigeon sport in Belgium, wearing a loft coat motivates me on a daily basis. Motivation is one of the most important factors in racing pigeons consistently at the top of the sheet. There are many distractions that prevent fanciers from spending the appropriate time with their birds. And, the appropriate time that fanciers should spend with their pigeons is always a function of the number of birds that a fancier keeps. The more birds - the more time it takes to care for them in such a way that the fancier's pigeons perform well race in and race out. In any event, the time commitments of family, i.e., spouses, children, parents, extended family, all are other important factors that naturally reduce the amount of time that fanciers are able to care for their pigeons. There are other distractions like caring for the house, the yard (or garden in Flemish), the cars, etc. Of course there is the huge distraction of work that really limits a fancier's time with the birds. All in all, fancier motivation is often and usually the reason why a fancier's pigeons fly at the top or in the middle or at the bottom of the race sheet.

Because of many positive life experiences in Belgium, a Belgian loft coat helps motivate me to cope with the daily problem of distractions and obligations. In past Blogs, I have also suggested that fanciers hang pictures or some other type of positive memory in order to buoy and support their daily motivation to spend as much time as possible in the loft. For those fanciers who spend time in the loft to get away from problems, maybe daily motivation isn't that much of a problem. There are many fanciers who hang trophies on the wall or use awards as a motivator. I do not use awards as a significant motivator because I believe that these type of motivators take away from the true focus of the sport. For me, that focus is the relationship that fanciers create and maintain with their pigeons rather than the relationships that fanciers create and maintain with other fanciers. I'm sure there are many fanciers who completely disagree with me. For many fanciers, the true essence of the sport may be the social relationship they have with other fanciers. That is probably one reason fanciers attend conventions and one-loft races. They may attend these social events in order to enjoy their time in relationships with other fanciers. However for me, relationships with other fanciers are important; but they are a secondary aspect of the sport. The primary aspect of the pigeon sport are the relationships with my pigeons and the satisfaction and enjoyment I receive from them.

A second important function of a loft coat is that a coat with several pockets is in essence a system of organization in the form of a piece of clothing. I keep a small tablet and pen or pencil in my upper left hand pocket. With easy access to this tablet, I am much more able and willing to write down important notes about the pigeons that might be very important information either at the moment or in the future. As I have tried to stress over and over again, the creation and archiving of information is one of the primary differences between fanciers who play the game well and fanciers who do not play the game very well. Many fanciers try to retain important daily information in their "heads" or "brains." However, again, more pigeons mean more information that is stored in fanciers' memories. And I am to the point in life that my memory is not that accurate anymore. Written and archived records are increasingly important as a reliable source of long term memory. Keeping a tablet and pencil consistently in my upper left hand pocket of my loft coat is extremely important almost every day. Later, I transfer the most important hand-written information in the tablet into my computer for permanent storage. For instance, how many times do fanciers forget to record the parents for a ring number of a young bird or other type of management mistake? Tablets kept in easy to reach pockets can significantly reduce the number of management mistakes.

I keep an eighteen power jeweler's loupe in my lower left hand pocket at all times. Although I may not use it every day or every week, it is still kept safely in that particular pocket of my loft coat. I also keep my cell phone in my loft coat when I am in the loft. I may keep a packet of Pegosan tablets or some other type of medication with me in case I observe an opportunity to use it and can treat a pigeon immediately "on the spot." There are many reasons why pockets that contain the tools of our craft in a predictable pocket make daily management and care of our pigeons much easier than if we constantly need to think to go get something to treat a pigeon immediately or to write down an important observation while we are managing our pigeons. In addition, when I visit another fancier's loft, a loft coat instantly contains anything I might need to enjoy an afternoon with another fancier. Of course, after visiting any other loft and using a loft coat, the loft coat is thoroughly washed and disinfected before it is used again.

Like football, basketball or other sports, athletes or fanciers perform at a higher level when they simply react to game situations rather than having to take the time to think about the implications of these situations. A great linebacker like Ray Lewis instantly reacts to what he sees. So should fanciers. One of the greatest barriers to performing at a high level is the word procrastination. A loft coat helps prevent procrastination by housing the necessary supplies and tools of our craft so that they are instantly available to us at a moments notice. The pigeons of fanciers who are managed very quickly on a daily basis will perform much better than the pigeons of fanciers whose management system is so cumbersome and complex that they habitually procrastinate or put off or totally forget necessary management decisions, activities and remedies in the loft. A loft coat can make the appropriate daily management of racing pigeons much easier because of its organizational benefits.

Another obvious benefit is that a loft coat helps keep clothes clean and absorbs most of the dust, dirt, and droppings from pigeon lofts. So clean loft coats help keep the messier side of general animal husbandry and the specific disadvantages of the pigeon sport away from good clothes and out of the house.

Finally, there are Belgian fanciers that believe that pigeons are less disturbed and maintain more daily calm if they are constantly exposed to the same appearance and dress of their caretakers and other humans in the loft. Since my pigeons know the sound of my voice and know the structure of my face, I am not as sensitive to this benefit of a loft coat, if in fact this benefit is that important at all.

If you haven't done so, try wearing a loft coat. Several of the supply houses sell them: including Siegel's --- Everythingforpets.com --- Foy's --- Taylor's among others. (Jedd's and Global may have them but I didn't quickly see them on their web sites) Keep important tools of the trade in various pockets to which they are regularly assigned. Learn to quickly react to your pigeon's needs rather than try to remember to address these needs later. I guarantee it will help the health and performance of the pigeons and reduce the stress and work upon you.

Those youngsters that were hatched on January 1st are now about two weeks old. Their eyes are open and they are very aware of their surroundings. Consequently, they are actively learning and absorbing everything they experience through their senses on a moment to moment basis. They are watching, hearing, smelling, tasting and feeling tactile sensations. Two week old youngsters watch their parents come and go in the next box. If breeders are fed in the nest box, two week old youngsters will learn how to behave by observing their parents eat and then modeling their behavior.

Creep feeding is a feeding procedure that has its roots primarily in the best management practices of feeding horses and cattle. when feeding creep, foals and calves will enter a small stall or small open pen with a horizontal bar across the opening of the stall or pen at a height that will allow the youngsters to go under it to eat; but prevents the mares or cows from entering the creep feeding area. If cows and mares were allowed to enter the feeding area; then they would eat all of the youngsters feed and the youngsters would get none. With pigeons however, it is not necessary to prevent the parents from eating the creep feed. Conversely, it is beneficial for breeders to eat the creep food in order for the youngsters to observe their parents eat and then model their behavior.

By feeding a high quality grain or pellet in a small bowl in the nest box, youngsters will model their parents behavior and also eat from the small bowl. Modeling the behavior of their parents, youngsters will leave their nest and eat from a nearby pot or bowl beginning at about two weeks of age. when youngsters eat a high quality feed at a very early age, whether they are calves or foals or squeakers, they will grow faster and stronger than youngsters that do not eat a high quality creep feed at an early age. In the case of pigeons, another benefit of creep feeding is that it reduces the stress of feeding youngsters upon the parents when youngsters are allowed to continuously eat a high quality feed in their nest box by themselves.

Further, when I place food into the small pot in the nest boxes, I use a soupspoon to gradually and gently add feed to the pot. when I add food, I verbally call the breeders and youngsters the exact same way that I call the race team into the loft after a training exercise. (I gently but firmly repeat come - come - come) In other words, if there are two week old youngsters currently in the nest, it is time to teach them to come to your call or whistle when you are feeding them. It is not necessary to wait until youngsters are weaned to teach them the skill of coming when called or signaled. In fact, waiting until youngsters are weaned is actually too late. By 25 to 30 days of age, youngsters have already learned behaviors that will have to be retrained and relearned upon weaning. Why? Because youngsters are continuously learning now. Waiting another two weeks to begin to teach them important commands and expectations is a waste of time and is ultimately much harder to teach than if these commands are learned when youngsters are old enough to waddle or walk. After youngsters know how to eat in the nest box from a small pot, try feeding them by hand. This process will tame and gentle your youngsters and initiate a healthy positive relationship between you and each youngster that will pay great dividends when the youngsters are old enough to take a nest box of their own and begin to learn the fundamentals of the widowhood motivational system.

In summary, creep feeding energizes youngsters and reduces the tremendous stress of feeding youngsters upon breeders by encouraging youngsters to begin eating at the earliest age possible. In fact, I know a very prominent Belgian fancier who begins force feeding his youngsters grain after they are about a week old. He believes that this feeding method strengthen the youngsters and saves the breeders. Personally, while it is very hard to argue with this fancier's phenomenal race results, I wait another week to begin creep feeding until the youngsters can walk and eat on their own.

In the last blog on CREEP FEEDING, I addressed the topic of feeding first round youngsters (or any youngsters). Beyond the subject of feeding, the over-riding message in the blog was that youngsters start learning immediately after hatching. Even when their eyes are closed, youngsters can learn about their environment through senses other than eye sight. Youngsters can hear, smell and sense touch; and they learn about their world through each of these senses. Because the learning process begins at hatching, it is very important that youngsters learn the type of "life system" that they will experience for the rest of their lives. I believe that is very important to realize and appreciate the fact that youngsters learn continuously. Youngsters continuously absorb and learn the elements and details of their surroundings. Please do not think that any animal, including humans, only learn when someone teaches them. Learning can have little, if anything, to do with teaching or formal education. Please do not assume that pigeons - especially very young pigeons - are stupid and you can wait to teach them until some time "later" when it is convenient or after they are weaned. Young pigeons are learning every moment after hatching. They do not magically start learning after weaning or when it is time to start training them for the young bird race series. If youngsters are weaned at 28 days of age, then these youngsters have been learning each and every moment for the previous 28 days.

In order to teach young pigeons a life-system, successful fanciers should first study, learn and then adopt and/or develop a life-system for their pigeons. The life-system that is at the core of my own personal life-system is the widowhood method of racing. Widowhood is much more then a motivational system that is only used during a race series when pigeons are raced. Widowhood is an entire life-system. In my loft, the beginning elements of the widowhood life-system are taught beginning in the first several weeks after hatching. For me, the widowhood system is much more than simply racing a celibate pigeon (male or female) to another celibate pigeon during a race series. For me, the widowhood motivational system is a life-style or life-system that is first learned after hatching, further taught during young bird training, formally experienced during the young bird race series, perfected during the old bird race series, and enjoyed during retirement in the breeding loft. In other words, it is a complete life-system.

One of the most important aspects of the widowhood system is the nest box. In general, widowhood nest boxes are larger more comfortable and spacious boxes that can be divided in half. Some fanciers that practice widowhood use nest fronts that divide the nest box from front to back.

These nest fronts (such as the nest front in the picture) are solid dividers with perches/doors in the middle of the nest fronts. when slid half way back in the nest box, the position of the nest front in the nest box will create a perch in the front portion of the nest box and a compartment in the back portion of the nest box. A race bird can sit on the perch area in front of the nest front while its mate can be locked behind the nest front in the back part of the nest box. (Click on picture to visit web site).

Other widowhood nest boxes use some type of wire nest dividers that divide the nest boxes side to side such as the following two dividers:

STANDARD FRONT DOOR COMPLETE SET PLASTIC

(Click on pictures to visit web site). My own next boxes are constructed with wire dividers and are divided side to side. One wire divider covers half of the front of the nest box while a second wire divider splits the nest box down the middle. A wire door is located in the middle of the divider in the middle of the nest box. Regardless of which type of nest front or wire divider is used, I believe that it is critically important to use one standard nest box design for breeding and for racing. Why? Because I think that it is critically important for elite homing pigeons to spend their entire lives in nest boxes constructed identically. when youngsters first open their eyes and begin to learn the construction and dynamics of their surroundings, I believe that it is important for them to learn the construction of the boxes from they will compete in the races and spend the rest of their lives in the breeding loft.

Think about it. Childhood memories are usually the most intense memories that people respond to in life. Even as adults, people are often more comfortable in environments that resemble the spaces they first experienced early childhood. I believe that it is the same with pigeons. I believe that pigeons feel most comfortable and intense in nest boxes that are identical to the boxes in which they were first raised. Consequently, my widowhood boxes are constructed identically to the breeding boxes.

when youngsters race in boxes that are significantly different from the nest boxes in which they were raised, they go through an adjustment period during which they learn the construction of the new boxes. I believe that this adjustment ever so slightly decreases the intensity to which they are attached to the nest boxes. Now we all probably know that pigeons can successfully nest anywhere in any type of nest box including the open floor. However, my race system is built upon the premise that youngsters are raised and spend the rest of their lives in identically constructed nest boxes. I have found that a pigeon's motivational intensity is increased by racing from a nest box that is identical to the box in which it was raised.

If homing pigeons are not "in pigeon school," then they are in the wild - even in a pigeon loft. If homing pigeons do not continually interact with fanciers on a daily basis (at a minimum), then they are growing up in a "natural" or "wild" psychological environment. As with all animals, pigeons are born with genetic codes that control psychological predispositions. Most pigeons' psychological predispositions are not particularly compatible with the domesticated environments found in typical homing pigeon lofts. The psychological predispositions of all pigeons, including domesticated homing pigeons, are naturally bent towards "the wild." Homing pigeons are "naturally" suspicious, timid and afraid of anything other than other homing pigeons. People are strangers that should be naturally feared. It takes a great deal of time, dedication, patience, and positive reinforcement by knowledgeable and caring fanciers for pigeons to over come these "natural" genetic tendencies and psychological predispositions.

Every day after young birds are hatched, and certainly after they open their eyes, they should experience some type of "pigeon school." Without experiencing the pfemaleomenon of human interaction through a formal pigeon school, young birds will develop and mature solely in response to their natural genetic tendencies and natural psychological predispositions. Domesticating, teaching and training homing pigeons to play the racing pigeon game is a process that is in direct contradiction to their "natural" tendencies and predispositions. Pigeons do not hatch automatically or naturally knowing anything at all about the socially constructed racing pigeon game as it is practiced by fanciers around the world. Pigeon are hatched with natural tendencies for self preservation only. These tendencies include the basic components of survival, i.e., eating, drinking, finding shelter, using fear and procreating the species. Fear is a very important part of the successful survival of wild animals and domesticated animals. Successfully reacting to fear is the epitome of success for most pigeons. Fear is a survival tool. For wild pigeons, exhibiting fear is the primary measure of success. For champion racing pigeons, exhibiting trust is the primary measure of success.

One of the primary goals of "pigeon school" is to overcome and neutralize the "natural" fear that occurs in the survival mentality of both wild and domesticated pigeons. Pigeons must be taught and trained to trust their fanciers. Consequently, a primary goal of "pigeon school" is to reduce and eliminate fear and to replace natural fear with learned trust. What is "pigeon school?" Pigeon school is a daily process during which fanciers teach and train their pigeons to play the racing pigeon game at the top of the race sheet. Pigeon school should begin immediately after hatching. Hatchlings should be gently handled. Gently handling hatchlings will allow them to smell and touch their fanciers. They should also hear their fanciers' voices. when their parents are fed in their nest boxes, fanciers should signal feeding times through voice commands or some other type of artificial instrument like a whistle. In the rural west, chuck wagon cooks or ranch cooks would use a ringing or clanging signal to communicate to the ranch hands that it was time to eat. when the dinner or supper signal rang, cowhands briskly headed for the dining table. It is the same with racing pigeons. Pigeons learn "to come" during the feeding process. The natural tendency of pigeons is to move away from fanciers as they encounter them inside or outside the loft. Using feed as an enticement, pigeons can be taught to move toward their fanciers because they trust them rather than move away because of fear.

Pigeon school varies from fancier to fancier. Pigeon school varies based upon the likes and dislikes of each and every fancier. That is one of the great beauties and enticements of the pigeon racing sport. All fanciers can develop their own management system based upon the social circumstances in which they find themselves, i.e., living alone, family requirements, money constraints, time constraints, work requirements, building codes, city regulations, neighborhood covenants, etc. Regardless of the pigeon school that a fancier develops and practices, pigeons should experience pigeon school every day of their lives. Animals and pigeons learn optimally through daily repetition. Repeating the same routine day after day will constantly reinforce the basic components of a fancier's pigeon school. Consistency and repetition develop trust. Pigeons will learn to trust if their expectations are consistently met day after day.

Regrettably, many fanciers will try to teach or train their pigeons on an inconsistent basis - only during specific critical periods. Many fanciers will ignore their youngsters until they encounter the following critical periods: (1) banding or ringing; (2) weaning; and (3) training just prior to the beginning of the young bird race series if the young birds are trained at all. There are those fanciers who state that they use the races to train their young birds how to return home and how to play the game.

One of the purposes of today's blog is to suggest that a more proactive and thoughtful "pigeon school" during which young birds learn the fundamentals of a sophisticated loft management system each and every day of their lives is a far superior teaching method than waiting to domesticate or teach young birds anything until they reach one or two critical periods during the first year of their lives. Many fanciers postpone education and training because they drastically underestimate the true intelligence of their pigeons. These fanciers do not see a danger or disadvantage in waiting to train their young birds until some future point in time. However, good homing pigeons are incredibly smart birds. They understand and absorb far more information than many fancier realize. One negative act can undue weeks or months of positive training. Why? Again, because pigeons are wild creatures by nature. They expect to be scared. Consequently, when they are frightened, their natural fears are validated and reinforced. Undoing negative acts by retraining pigeons to trust takes a tremendous amount of time and patience.

For those fanciers who have bred winter youngsters, pigeon school is now in session. Please do not wait until your young birds are weaned to first handle them; to teach them to come when called; to teach them to eat on their own; to let them sense you through smell and touch as well as sight and sound. By the time your young birds are weaned, they should already know how to eat on their own. They should already know how to come when called; although they might not respond correctly at each and every feeding because they are babies - not adults. Weanlings should know who you are. They should have experienced your management and care through as many of their senses as possible: sight, sound, touch and smell. They are wonderful intelligent birds that should be taught and trained through a formal pigeon school that you have developed based upon best management practices in order to neutralize their natural tendencies that fostered by fear.

Pigeon School is a twelve month/365 day per year program. Pigeon School begins each year on November 1st. Here are a few of the key dates each year for Pigeon School:

Pigeon School has no recess during the summer. It has no recess for Fall Break, Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Spring Break. Pigeon School is a 365 day a year job. Having made this statement, I am not advocating that fanciers never take vacations or take breaks from the birds. What I am trying to demonstrate is that in theory, Pigeon School is an annual program that never ceases. There is something important to do every day of the year. At a minimum, the pigeons require clean lofts, clean food, clean water, fresh supplements, and regular medication.

Pigeon School is one of the primary reasons that I advocate playing the game with small race teams. Just as with people, class size is an issue in quality education. It is a general policy that one teacher cannot successfully manage and teach more than 20 to 25 students in a class. In graduate school where learning is supposed to be much more intense and rigorous, the number of students in one class drops to 10 to 12 students. I believe that the same ratios are true for pigeons. For the best in quality education, race teams should probably be capped at 20 to 25 pigeons unless fanciers have help from partners or other family members.

Pigeon school is a system. Pigeon school is goal oriented. Pigeon school involves high quality education - education during which capable, caring, and informed fanciers teach wild yet domesticated pigeons the basic tenets of a humanly constructed game of which they know nothing about. Racing pigeons are not typically hatched in the wild on a building ledge or under a bridge. They are hatched in lofts whose design was constructed by fanciers that they do not know, understand or naturally relate. Although young birds instantly bond with their parents, everything else in their world is learned. They learn where the floor is relative to their nest. They learn where food and water are located. After they leave the nest, they look for another spot (box or perch) to claim for their own territory. If there is nothing available, pigeons will claim a spot on the floor for their own.

If young birds are weaned in a different loft from the loft in which they were hatched, they will once again seek to discover the food, water, supplements and a place to claim for their own territory. when they can use their wings, they will look for a place to escape the loft in order to stretch their wings and learn to fly.

Rather than let young birds randomly try to discover the basic elements of their new world strictly by modeling the behavior of their parents or by trial and error, Pigeon School imposes an educational system that specifically teaches the young birds each of the critical tasks that they must learn during the first few weeks and months of their lives - and continues as long as the pigeon remains in the loft.

Pigeon School is a basic component of the racing pigeon game. Pigeon School requires teachers. Teachers posses certain personal attributes. Regretfully, many fanciers are not teachers nor do they have teaching skills. Many fanciers do not know how to teach nor do they want to learn how to teach. Even knowledgeable fanciers with years of experience playing the game often do not know how to teach their pigeons.

In addition, I often receive emails from new fanciers that lament that the established fanciers in their area will not teach them the fundamentals about the game. Sometimes they confide that they have developed an animosity between themselves and older fanciers over this problem. My answer to this problem is that many fanciers are not teachers and do not believe that education is important or even relevant to the racing pigeon game. If you have run into this problem with other fanciers, you might consider the possibility that older fanciers are not withholding information because they are trying to keep secrets and don't want you to reveal their vast knowledge to you. Perhaps the problem is that these fanciers don't know how to teach their pigeons the basic aspects of the racing pigeon game. Consequently, they can't communicate this information to you because they don't know it or understand its relevance in the game. Many fanciers do not know how to teach their young birds the fundamentals of the game because they do not have a system - they do not have goals - they do not have benchmarks for achieving their goals - they do not understand or appreciate the idea of Pigeon School. Pigeon School is a universal program in Belgium. Although fanciers have unique characteristics to each of their lofts, each fancier uses the same basic fundamental system to play the game. This system requires that fanciers teach a few well-bred racing pigeons how to compete in a game that is played according to the organization and rules of a national institution - the KBDB. Teaching is fundamental to the success of competitive Belgian fanciers. Did you know that Ad Schaerlaeckens and Filip Herbots are retired school teachers? Although he was a diamond cutter by trade, Antoine Jacops is one of the finest teachers that I have ever met. So is Mike Ganus.

Playing the game at the top of the race sheet involves teaching. Although I use the metaphor of Pigeon School to describe the educational process, one of the primary components of racing at the top of the sheet involves teaching and education. For those of you who currently have three week old youngsters or weanlings in the breeding loft, it is time to teach. In fact, it is past time to teach. If you want to play the game well, start teaching your young birds now. Repeat the same lessons day after day until they respond correctly and quickly.

In order for your race teams to perform well, the construction of your pigeon loft should reflect the type of race management system that you teach in Pigeon School. The following Basic Loft Design is based upon the widowhood system that I teach in my Pigeon School and represents the life cycle of my racing pigeons from hatching through retirement. Young birds are raised in the breeding loft from racers that are retired after they reach an AU championship or some other type of significant performance distinction or merit. At weaning, the young birds are moved into the Young males and Young females sections. The wire nest fronts in the widowhood nest boxes in these two lofts are folded to the back wall which divides the box in half in order to make two box perches out of one widowhood nest box. Twenty four widowhood nest boxes can become 48 box perches. when the final young bird team is selected on or about July 1st, the wire nest fronts are opened to make full widowhood nest boxes again. After the young bird season has concluded, the Young females are moved into the Old females section and the Young males are moved into the Old males section. These movements vacate the Young males and Young females sections for the next young bird season. Old males and Old females that achieve some type of champion or performance status are retired into the breeding loft.

A significant component of the loft is the trapping system. All of the pigeons trap into one common foyer or hallway for their entire lives. The breeding loft, the young bird loft and the old bird loft are not three separate buildings. These three lofts are integrated into one compact, efficient and extremely functional loft. Young Birds exercise and trap into their designated sections. Old Birds exercise and trap into their designated sections. Breeders exercise and trap into their designated sections of the loft. I find it cumbersome and inefficient to trap pigeons into three lofts spread all over the yard or garden; as well as retrain young birds to trap into an Old Bird loft and retrain Old Birds to trap into a Breeding loft.

The Basic Loft Design allows champion racing pigeons to live in the same loft for their entire lives. There can be modifications to this basic design that includes a feed and mud room, a section for extra pigeons, etc. Each loft is divided into sections. The right wing of the racing loft is divided into six 5 foot sections. So is the left wing. The Breeding Loft is divided into four sections not including the two females sections. This design is meant to represent a basic loft design. This design can be modified in many functional ways. For instance, since the landing board is about six feet high, the area under the Landing Board can become an aviary, a feed room, a small office area to wait for the race birds to return or a section for extra pigeons.

The nest boxes are all designed exactly alike. As I stated before, in the Young Bird sections of the loft - from February to July 1st - the nest boxes are divided in half to create twice as many box perches as former nest boxes.

A proper loft should be built for the comfort of fanciers as well as the comfort of pigeons. No more than twelve pigeons should inhabit a 5 X 6 ft. loft section. That is usually 6 racers plus 6 widowhood mates or twelve young birds before July 1st.

A fancier's loft design and construction should reflect the race management system that he or she teaches in Pigeon School. A helter-skelter loft reflects a helter-skelter race management system. A loft that is scabbed together with little or no thought and planning generally reflects a very poor race management system and poor or sporadic race results. A well built well-organized loft usually reflects an organized well-planned race management system. There is a reason that most Belgian lofts are relatively nice looking and well organized. Most Belgian fanciers know how to properly teach and train their pigeons. While not all of them are wealthy enough to afford a picturesque loft built out of beautiful brick or stone; most of their lofts are very well-organized. Why? Because most Belgian fanciers know the basics of how to race pigeons motivated by a well executed race management system that is reflected in their loft design. It's the only way to successfully compete in the Antwerp Union or the entire country.

In the past several blogs this week I have tried to elaborate on several fundamental building blocks of the flight to the top of the race sheet. I have tried to demonstrate how Pigeon School and Loft Design are actually two sides of the same coin. One is a mirror reflection of the other. If your pigeons do not attend your own Pigeon School and do not live in a well-designed loft based upon the race management system that you teach your pigeons on a daily basis, then your pigeons' chances of racing at the top of the sheet are more a function of random luck than effective management. Some fanciers try to justify their total lack of organizational management and quality racing strategy by claiming that good pigeons will always perform under any circumstances - even poor management. However, these same fanciers are always the ones who ship several large baskets crammed full of pigeons in each race hoping that lightening will strike and one of their pigeons will accidentally and inexplicably compete at the top of the race sheet.

Except for the extreme long distance races, I believe the role of the fancier is crucially important to regular successes at the top of the race sheet. In basketball, it is not enough for five great athletes to play the game and win a championship. It is generally agreed upon that coaching is necessary in order to teach five great players how to play the game together as a team. Great basketball teams have "plays" which drastically increase the probability that they will score points and ultimately win games. Kentucky seems to be a great college basketball team in the 2009 - 2010 basketball season with what many insiders agree is the best physical talent of all of the college teams. Will they win the NCAA championship? I don't know. We'll have to wait a couple of months to see. But many prognosticators think that a team like Kansas or Syracuse may have a better chance to win the NCAA Championship because they currently play the game as a team better than Kentucky.

Sports is based on the concept of competing "teams." Sports can generally be divided into various types of games in which "teams" compete for championships. Although there are also individual awards in games, the primary goal in sports is to win championships via competing teams. During the formation of teams, there are athletes that are chosen for the team and athletes that are not chosen for the team. There is an inherent "selection process" to the formation of every team that competes in games. Therefore, selection is a critical component of "team."

In the January 15th 2010 edition of the Racing Pigeon Digest, the editor, Gene Yoes, advertises a new DVD that his magazine is selling that was filmed by Jim Jenner featuring Ad Schaerlaeckens from Holland. Mr. Yoes states that he met Ad Schaerlaeckens "years ago" and that Ad has "mellowed since I met him." (Reprint from 1.15.2010 RPB).

Ad is a very competitive man to say the least. For instance, we engaged in several ping pong competitions that included Ad, Mike Ganus, several other fanciers including Bob Brumagin, Dominic Rappucci and Dan Van Lake, and myself. Ad was not particularly pleased that he beat everyone in these tournaments but me. However, he didn't know that as part of my physical therapy when I severely injured my right arm and hand in a calf roping accident in high school was playing hundreds of games of ping pong against numerous opponents with varying degrees of personal skill. Although I can't play the game very well now, in mid 1980's in Holland, I played the game much better.

Ad is very typical of the European racing pigeon fancy in general and the Dutch racing pigeon fancy in particular. These fanciers have absolutely no professional respect for foreign fanciers in general and American fanciers in particular. Many Dutch fanciers are very jealous of their sport and do not want to give "outsiders" or anyone else any credit for the character, quality and development of the pigeon sport. In addition, there is a tremendous cultural jealousy between Dutch and Belgian fanciers. In terms of cultural respect, over the years Holland could be characterized as Belgium's little brother. Belgium has played the role of a more experienced older brother and Holland has been characterized as a less-capable "little brother." While the sport in Belgium has tended to stay relatively the same over the years due to the keen emphasis on tradition, the Dutch have tweaked the game and have made certain developmental strides ahead of Belgian fanciers; particularly in the area of long distance pigeons. Many fanciers contend that the best long distance pigeons are racing out of the lofts of Dutch fanciers.

Make no mistake, however, the primary focus of the pigeon sport in Belgium and Holland is on competition and the money that competition brings to the table. Most fanciers outside of these two countries can be characterized strictly in terms of their pocketbooks. Foreign fanciers are valued and respected in terms of the weight of their pocketbooks and the amount of money that they are willing to spend on purchasing pigeons. when your money is spent, your value is gone too. Friendship in Belgium and Holland is often spelled M-O-N-E-Y. Occasionally, foreign fanciers will push past this barrier and stereotype and establish genuine friendships just as did the Jacops and the Lambertons. Also, Ad's son Jurgen vacationed in Tulsa, Oklahoma USA in the late 1980s when he was young and stayed in our home and was friends with our sons Josh and Jeremy. We really enjoyed Jurgen who is a very fine young man. But, unfortunately, these type of relationships are in the minority rather than the majority.

Ad Schaerlaeckens is a school teacher by training. Ad is an excellent writer and has used his writing skills to create an important and significant niche in the fabric and culture of the global racing pigeon sport. As Ad states on his website, "I want to open eyes. So much bull is said and published about our sport that people are brainwashed especially in America and the Far East. Their belief in unimportant things such as ‘strain’ sometimes makes this sport look like a circus to the insider. One of my intentions is to reduce the amount of clowns in that circus."

Ad has a pet peeve for fanciers who want to purchase a "strain" of pigeons. Ad believes that there is very little creditability to the concept of strain and its importance in the sport. Ad believes that great pigeons bred together will breed other great pigeons. Its that simple. He places little value in the idea of "strain." And he seems to have an aversion for fanciers who offer strains" of pigeons for sale to the fancy. Ad's background that has led to his perspectives in the sport is as follows.

Ad's early entrance in the sport involved editing a Dutch pigeon racing magazine. As the editor, Ad would often receive one or more super pigeons to borrow or to keep from fanciers who wanted Ad to promote them in his magazine. Consequently, Ad had direct access to some of the very best homing pigeons in the world. In addition, he listened to the methods of the best fanciers in the world and was able to weave their stories into a superior racing pigeon system for himself. Regardless of what else one might say about Ad, I can personally attest that Ad is a very smart man. He may not admit it or see himself as such; but Ad is a classic American capitalist and very adept at the business of entrepreneurialism - that is, creating a very successful and unique career in the racing pigeon sport.

Part of Ad's niche over the years has been a passion for his place in the global racing pigeon sport; a passion that included a very sharp tongue and pen in his criticism of other fanciers and their activities and place in the sport. Ad has been very quick to criticize; and to criticize with a zeal that has made him a very controversial figure. Just consider Ad's statement on his website that he wants to "reduce the amount of clowns" in the pigeon circus. His words still sting; and are very cynical in spite of the fact that Mr. Yoes writes that "Schaerlaeckens has mellowed since I met him." (Reprint from 1.15.2010 RPB). While I have not talked with Ad in years, it is hard for me to believe that his passion for his role in the sport has waned very much. With all of this said, Ad's video is probably a valuable purchase.

One of the primary reasons for understanding Ad's methodology is that Ad stresses "selection" as a critical component to playing the game at the top of the race sheet. Mr. Yoes quotes Ad by writing that Ad advises fanciers to "breed many, race many, eliminate many using the race sheet as the factor in selection." (Reprint from 1.15.2010 RPB). While I totally agree with Ad's statement, the place at which I take his words further in terms of my own personal philosophy is that the race sheet does not necessarily mean the sheet of organized nationally-sponsored races. For me, the training basket can be as meaningful and powerful as the race basket. As you probably know by now if you have followed my blogs at all, I like to "select" a final race team after a very rigorous training regiment and before the official nationally-sponsored races begin; whether racing in the USA or Belgium. The rigor of the selection process critically defines one of the primary differences between very successful fanciers, average fanciers and poor fanciers. Very successful fanciers are passionately selective when picking racers for a race team or breeders for the breeding loft. However, I personally do not wait to select a race team until the official race season begins. Consequently, the average results of my entire race team are much higher than the average results of fanciers who race every pigeon they breed during the official race series. Typically, I lose a very small percentage of the race team after the official race season begins because all of those pigeons that were not physically or mentally ready to race when the race series began have already been eliminated. Because I do not use the official race series to eliminate poor young birds, their negative performances do not count against the official race results because they were not entered in the races.

Finally, Ad stresses the importance of a severe selection process in order to find high quality race pigeons in order to play the game at the top of the race sheet. He has always stressed selection just as have many of the best fanciers in the sport. However, a large part of Ad's historical problem is that he has allowed his passionate criticism to create unnecessary barriers which have alienated many fanciers from listening to his perspectives and writings. I have been careful to refer to Ad's problem as passionate criticism. Others might call it Ad's huge ego. Regardless, Ad has alienated a number of top fanciers in the course of his passionate activism. Mr. Yoes mentions the Janssen Brothers. If this is indeed the case, it is a tragedy since Ad's book on the Janssen Brothers' pigeons was a classic in the history of the sport. (P. S. I took a copy of Ad's book with me on numerous trips to Belgium and Holland and asked many legendary masters in the sport to sign various pages of it to record my own historical legacy. Several signatures that I enjoy in particular are the signatures of Joseph Van Limpt "De Klak" on the page that featured his picture in Janssen book as well as the signatures of both Louis and Charel Janssen.) Ad has also alienated such fanciers as Mike Ganus and Antoine Jacops. Since his alienation of Antoine, I have not continued my association with Ad; although I would enjoy visiting with him and his family again.

In summary, sports teams are selected through training camps or "try out" performances. Although the training baskets and race baskets are useful indicators of mental aptitude and physical racing quality, grading young birds in terms of their ability to master various important skills in pigeon school on a daily basis is also an excellent way to select race teams. However, the latter method requires much more experience and expertise on the part of fanciers. Consequently, in my opinion, the contribution of caring and knowledgeable fanciers towards the super performances of racing pigeons is just as important as any type of basket.

To be continued...........Thank you....................................Please come back again.................................................Dr. John & Morgan Lamberton