blog10-09

I received an email the other day that was very gratifying.

EMAIL: Dear John. Last year you sold ARPU 44450 and Lamb 238 to me. This year one of their youngsters came in 1st drop 4th bird in the 184 mile Shasta Classic Crapshoot. Thanks again for the great birds. Michaele Luisi

RESPONSE: The pedigrees for Michaele's two pigeons are as follows: AU 08 ARPU 44450 blue splash male and AU 08 LAMBERTON 238 blue white flight pied female. Both of these pigeons are Antoine Jacops - PHANTOM Hofkens crosses which has been a very good match for myself and other fanciers. As many of you may know, the PHANTOM is a Flor Vervoort Hofkens bred pigeon imported into the US by Mike Ganus.

EMAIL: Hello Dr. Lamberton: I have enjoyed reading your blog, however I have several questions: What method do you use to cull birds? I have tried several methods, however I have not found a satisfactory method. Also, how do you manage the spring conflict of loft training OB males, females, and YB's. They need to be loft trained separately, yet there is only so much time in the day. It seems imposable to loft fly all these birds separately and hold a job.

RESPONSE: I am somewhat unclear about the question of culling birds. However, I will discuss how I evaluate birds in my response. On a scale from 1 to 10, I look for pigeons that are 8 - 10. That is, I only race young bird prospects that grade in the highest tiers. I grade pigeons on the following scale:

1. Color - a pigeon should have the coloring that I prefer: blue, schalie, pencil, light check, white and dark check. The only color that I have a hard time with is blue check or red check - I don't know why - it just is.

2. Appearance - a pigeon should be nice to look at with a bright eye, pretty head and body, and clean robust feathers. If I don't like a pigeon's appearance, I will discriminate against it unless the pigeon in question is a tremendous racer or breeder.

3. Balance - this is a deal-breaker for me. Any pigeon I keep must have tremendous balance. It should not be too long or too wide. It must fit together nicely in terms of its proportions.

4. Lift - one of the very most important criteria for me. I watch each young bird fly from the floor to its perch or how it takes off from my hand as I let it go from my hand on a training toss. A pigeon must lift powerfully and quickly in order to score an 8 - 9 or 10.

5. Nice in the hand - each young bird prospect that I keep must feel very nice in my hands. It must have

a flat and broad chest, i.e., its chest must not "v" from the middle of the chest back to its sides and its chest should not be "thin,"

nice wing with a short arm bone and long thin 8th, 9th, and 10th primary flights,

6. Plenty of feathers - a superior pigeon must have thick rich feathers on its wing and body,

7. Excellent pedigree - I prefer pigeons that are "line-bred." This genetic characteristic improves the probability that a pigeon will be a good breeder,

8. Maleness or femaleness - a pigeon should act like its sex. A male should be aggressive and territorial. A female must be amorous and territorial,

9. Intelligence - the number one criteria upon which I evaluate pigeons - a pigeon should act smart and demonstrate tremendous intelligence,

11. Alertness - a superior pigeon should always be vigilant, alert and very much aware of its surroundings,

12. Performance - finally, a great pigeon must consistently perform very well during training and in the races.

These are many of the most important characteristics upon which I evaluate my pigeons. I do not know that this list is exhaustive; but it should represent many of the most important criteria upon which I evaluate pigeons. Those pigeons that do not meet the highest tiers of evaluation can perform other useful functions in the loft which I will discuss next time.

I will also answer the second portion of the emailer's questions in the next blog.

Of the selection criteria previously discussed, I personally rank intelligence, lift, strength and beauty as the four most important selection criteria when grading racing pigeons.

In order to assess intelligence, pigeons need to be placed in behavioral and decision-making situations in which they can demonstrate their intelligence. For example, I will place 6 young males into a loft section with 6 nest boxes in it that they have never seen before. I assess each male on how long it takes to claim a nest box. I rank each young male on how it responds to the nest bowl and how fast it includes the nest bowl in its behavior and routine in the box. I assess each male in terms of how fast they respond positively to a potential mate. I assess each male on how fast it responds to new pine needles sprinkled on the loft floor after it has taken a new mate. As I have said in earlier blogs, I grade each male on the size of the nest that it builds and the amount of pine needles continuously added to the nest.

I prefer pigeons that learn my routine and respond very positively to me and to their routine as I have defined it and taught it to them. I do not like pigeons that are individually fearful and fly around the loft section crashing into walls and screens. I don't like pigeons that fly at me and slap me in the head or face with their inside wing in order to fly past my head to elude me. I eliminate pigeons that scratch my head, neck or face through their uncontrollable and fearful behavior. I prefer pigeons that calmly stand in the nest boxes like proud statues because they understand the rules of the game and my expectations of their behavior. There are a plethora of decision-making situations in which young pigeons can demonstrate their intelligence if fanciers are creative and observant. However, if young birds are kept in a large room with 40 other pigeons on perches, it is hard to single out and assess the behavior of any one pigeon except to note which pigeons claim and defend the top perches. Assessing a pigeon's intelligence takes a lot of work. Unless fanciers are willing to work very hard and keep good notes and records, it will be difficult to assess the intelligence of the race team except to inventory those pigeons that return home quickly from training tosses and races.

Observation is the best way to asses the intelligence and prospective racing ability of a young bird race team. The "basket" is the verification process during which a fancier's assessments of young pigeons made before, during and after training are tested. I personally to not abdicate my responsibility as a managing fancier to the "basket." A lot of fanciers do - however. A young bird's performance at the top of the race sheet should seldom, if ever, be a surprise to a fancier. Rather, a great performance or a head prize should be a confirmation of a fancier's judgment and ability to correctly assess the racing ability of a team of young birds.

Lift is a demonstration of a pigeon's power. I like pigeons that lift quickly and powerfully. As I have written earlier, I love a pigeon that can lift and hover like a hummingbird. Besides observing young birds fly from the floor to their box, I frequently hand toss the young bird team. As each young bird leaves my hand, I assess its lift. I prefer pigeons that rise from my hand as I gently toss them as opposed to pigeons that fall out of my hand. If you have never performed this assessment technique, please do so. However, it may take awhile before you fully grasp the importance and relevance of assessing a pigeons lift capacity as its relates to those pigeons that possess the ability to consistently race at the top of the sheet.

I assess strength in the hand. Although many of my friends in Belgium do not agree with me on its importance, I prefer pigeons that display strength in the hand. I prefer pigeons with tight vents and strong backs. I prefer pigeons that look like they have on tail pin. I like pigeons with broad chests and a ton of feathers all over their wings and body. I prefer wings that are slightly rounded on the sides due to the amount of feathering present on the wings.

I prefer to be very pleased when I look at my racers. I want to see beauty as I define it. For example, I like very clean-looking feathering and snow white wattles. I like a rounded head with a well-placed eye and robustly colored eye. I don't like pigeons with long noses whose wattles are too far away from their heads. Racing pigeons is my hobby. I prefer that my hobby is pleasing to me and fun for me. I prefer to look at pigeons that make me feel good because they are robustly healthy and very beautiful.

There are many uses for pigeons that receive lower assessments or what we might call "culls" for the purpose of this discussion. First, I often use culls as widowhood mates as long as they perform in the nest box to my specifications. Second, I often use culls as pumpers for breeders and the best racers. I only eliminate those pigeons that are unhealthy to the point that they endanger the other pigeons in the loft. There are people who will take unwanted pigeons to keep for their children or who may use them in other venues. In Belgium, there are often relatives of fanciers who love to dine on well-fed pigeons.

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