blog4-09

Mike purchased several excellent pigeons at the final dispersal sale of Antoine Jacops last November 2008 including Antoine's 1st National winner and is offering children for sale on his website. Mike is calling the 1st National winner Antoine. He calls another key racer and breeder Breakaway (a super full sister to Breakaway has been quietly breeding in Tulsa for the past 5 years. Two of her sons are currently on the old bird widowhood race team while her granddaughter, Lady Godiva, was 1st Ace West Tulsa RPC in the 2008 Young Bird Race Series.) I bid on Breakaway at Antoine's sale; but my bid was mysteriously lost (all my bids were mysteriously lost). This makes the second time something odd has happened to me at a sale organized by Jan Hermans and family. I don't plan on purchasing pigeons at any sale organized by the Hermans in the future. While I have met Jan Hermans and do not know his son and family and have nothing against them personally, unusual circumstances have happened to me in both of the sales they organized. Conversely, I have never experienced anything but excellent service at a sale organized by the Herbots.

In any event, as Mike knows, the Jacops pigeons are the finest "family" of pigeons in the world. May I remind readers that Antoine purchased a super sister to the Kannibaal in 1996 and has bred her throughout his family of pigeons. I have several children of this incredible female and numerous grandchildren and great grandchildren of her directly from Antoine. While there are definitely individual pigeons that have amassed great racing records and Mike has purchased many of them, few individual fanciers have achieved so many awards with a "family" of pigeons racing in the very competitive Antwerp Union Belgium.

I wonder what effect Mike's pigeons will have on the popularity of the Jacops pigeons in the US? GFL is the gold standard in America and all over the world and it will be interesting to watch the market change as a result of Mike's new pigeons. While I have met many new people as a result of pigeon sales over the last two years, 2009 will be the last year that I sell children off of my Jacops imports and I will only offer a very few pigeons for sale after 2009 and possibly none at all. As I have said in earlier blogs, the process involved with selling pigeons is very intense and time consuming and I no longer have the physical stamina to try to do it. As I have also said before, due to injuries to both hands from two accidents involving cattle on the family ranch, I have little use of my right hand and declining use of my left hand. These injuries will result in the elimination of pigeon sales from my activities.

The 300 mile race originally scheduled for today was postponed until tomorrow because of rain in Texas and Oklahoma. This is our third weekend of racing our old birds. So far, we have competed in races of 150 and 200 miles. I am racing about 20 widowhood males. Last week a yearling blue male, AU 08 ARPU 44456, won the Club A race. The race was not the usual blow home and 44456 did very well. His father is an import male from Oliviers - Devos and his mother is a Sierens import that I purchased from Mike Ganus. Both of 44456's parents are considered long distance pigeons although 44456 won the 200 mile race. I call 44456, Einstein, because he is so very smart. I have heard fanciers say that it is hard to measure intelligence in racing pigeons in the loft. I do not believe this is true and this has not been my experience in pigeons. Smart pigeons show their intelligence every day. It is my belief that fanciers need to learn to see intelligence in the little things smart pigeons do every single day. While I do not have a picture of Einstein yet; below are pictures of his parents.

The following picture is Einstein's great grandfather - the 603 Steketee - winner of 6 prizes in the top 100 National in 6 different long distance races. A truly remarkable pigeon!!! I am breeding from three children of the 603 Steketee; two in Tulsa, Oklahoma and one in Hakendover, Belgium in addition to Einstein's father that is a grandson to the 603 Steketee.

Tomorrow is a race from 360 miles/576 kilometers. It is the fourth race of the season. Last week's race was a long one from 300 miles due to a strong headwind. Tony Smith and grandson Josh Cooley took 2nd and 3rd Federation against 601 birds with two Antoine Jacops pigeons: one that they raised and a yearling female, AU 08 BLUE SKIES 166, that I raised them last year. Steve King, Fast Lane Loft , was 5th Federation with an Antoine Jacops pigeon that has now earned an AU Championship and possibly an Elite Championship. The MAILMAN was 2nd club - 6th Federation while AU 06 LAMBERTON 183 was 10th Federation. My friend Bill Hill was first and second Federation.

Due to the record heat in Oklahoma this week, the widows were trained on the road. They did not want to exercise properly in the heat. They have also been receiving electrolytes in the water to combat the effects of the heat. Tomorrow's race looks like the race birds will compete with a 15 to 25 mile an hour tailwind. Because the widows will only spend one night in the crate, thy will see their females briefly this afternoon.

For you regular readers of the blog, I apologize for the recent lack of information. Recent health concerns have kept me from blogging on a regular basis. Since I enjoy writing very much, I hope to blog again on an almost daily routine.

Hello Dr. Lamberton, I noticed on your products page, you have a picture of the pigeon improver, have you try this product before? What is it for?... Plus, what does BMT stand for under the Herbots 4 oils product?...because I use brewer yeast with the wheat germ oil on my feed when I am feeding my birds but this Herbots 4 oils seem to have more oils in there...is that good?...thanks

MY RESPONSE:

The following description for the 4 in One oils can be found on the Herbots website. I like the product for its high-quality and the fact that its made specifically for racing pigeons. I prefer to use garlic and sunflower oils in addition to wheat germ oil.

4 Oils is a well-balanced mixture of 4 pure oils which are well absorbed by the pigeon's organism.

* wheat-germ oil : rich of vitamin E
* cod-liver oil : rich of vitamin B
* garlic oil : improves the condition of the intestinal flora
* sunflower oil : good digestible fats The correct amount of each specific oil is important, this for purpose of quality and to prevent intestinal disorders.

While I have not personally used the Pigeon Vitality Improver product, my partner in Belgium, Jef Cuypers has used it. I think it is a similar product to the Herbot' Prodigest or any other product designed to stimulate the pigeon's natural resistance to disease.

BMT is a product that contains high quality brewers yeast in addition to milk yeast and wheat germ. BMT is Flemish (Dutch) and stands for BIERGIST (Brewer's Yeast), MELKGIST (Milk Yeast) and TARWEKIEMEN (Wheat Germ).

I have found the Herbot products to be extremely effective supplements in combination with a rigorous exercise regiment, proper feeding and watering, and scrupulous loft management including loft cleaning and loft ventilation (air movement). Supplements will seldom, if ever, offset the effects from poor management practices like leaving birds in the loft, using feed as a primary motivator, untidy or unsanitary loft conditions, etc.

More revelations to follow......................................................Thank you......................................................Dr. John and Morgan Lamberton