The breeding loft of Jacops pigeons in Tulsa, Oklahoma is practically a mirror of Antoine's breeding loft in Vorselaar, Belgium. The picture of Antoine on page 9 of Tom Smith's article shows Antoine holding a pencil male, BELG 00 6143114, a grandson of one of Antoine's best breeders from 1984, the PECHVOGEL. "114" has been a sensational breeder. For instance, "114" bred the JENNY ASS, the 14th Ace, that was sold to an Asian fancier. In Tulsa, a son of "114," BELG 02 6507806, has bred excellent youngsters. Antoine is currently breeding from "807," the nest brother to "806." A daughter of the JENNY ASS, also named JENNI after one my daughters, is also breeding in Tulsa and is one of the best females there. Tony Smith won the prestigious 600 mile State Race several years ago with a grandson of JENNI.

There are three full brothers to the NUDIST breeding in Tulsa. The nest brother to the MINIEM and two additional full brothers are breeding in Tulsa. Breeding in Tulsa: there are brothers and sisters to the 1st Ace Pigeon in the Antwerp Union in 2004 - a daughter of the 1st Ace pigeon in the Antwerp Union in 2004 - brothers and sisters to the 4th Ace Pigeon in the Antwerp Union in 2004 - sons and daughters of the KLEINE CAHORS, SUPER ACE, DIAMOND ACE, WITPEN ACE, the FIJNE CAHORS, the full sister to the KANNIBAAL, the Engels pigeons, Janssen pigeons, and the list goes on and on.

The following pictures are of two sons of the DIAMOND ACE, the Long Distance 1st Ace. The DIAMOND ACE is one of my favorite Jacops breeders. The WHITE DIAMOND is pictured on the left and the LAST DIAMOND is pictured on the right. Both of these magnificent breeders were purchased directly from Antoine's breeding loft. They both are breeding wonders. Yesterday, Steve Trotter, a life-long friend and competitor (since we were 14 years old) in the Tulsa area purchased a beautiful white daughter of the LAST DIAMOND bred to a granddaughter of the DIAMOND ACE. Like Antoine's great white female, I believe this white female will breed many excellent racers for Steve. Steve is one of the best fanciers in the Federation, if not the best fancier, and is always in the hunt for top national ARPU awards. This past race season was no different.

Tragically, a number of years ago, Antoine was diagnosed with maniere' disease - a debilitating and virtually incurable disease of the inner ears. The only successful treatment is in the form of special eye-glasses which features a prism in the lenses that tricks the eyes not to respond to the debilitating messages the eyes receive from the inner ears. The inner ears are constantly telling the body in general and the eyes in particular that they are out of balance. The pupils constantly dilate and constrict attempting to satisfy the needs and commands of the inner ears that the body is out of balance and may fall. Of course, since the inner ears don't function correctly, and the body is not in fact out of balance, the eyes can never satisfy the misguided demands of the inner ears. Consequently, the body becomes ill as a result of the continual dilation and constriction of the eyes. The illness is in the form of sweating, nausea, dizziness, headache and light-headedness. Those with maniere' frequently are required to lay flat and still with their eyes closed and covered until the symptoms pass. This process might require minutes, hours or days in order to fully recuperate the body. Frequently and multiple times per day, these spells can suddenly come over Antoine without warning rendering him completely helpless. Most of his racing life, Antoine was a healthy regimented man who followed the exact same schedule at the exact same times every day. Since Antoine has been ill, all of that philosophy has changed. Antoine and the pigeons have been required to adapt to the new changes. There have been many instances when I was staying at the Jacops that I took care of the birds totally by myself because Antoine was ill. I even took the pigeons to the club house with Maria because Antoine was too ill to sit up. Incredibly, in spite of his illness, Antoine has continued to race better than ever. In the last years, his victories have been more a function of the quality of the birds than the actions of the fancier. Several years ago, Antoine ended up 4th in the "Kingship" competition of the Antwerp Union when he had actually flown half of the races as everyone else in due to his illness. This statistic is staggering!!! Can you imagine how fantastic his pigeons must have raced to accumulate this statistic? Unbelievable. This statistic, and all of the statistics in Tom Smith's article, document Antoine's incredible prowess racing in the toughest area in the world - the Antwerp Union. For many years I have been touting Antoine's incredible pigeons and pfemaleomenal race results - much of which has gone unnoticed by the general American fancy. Perhaps I just didn't try hard enough or well enough.

Today, Antoine cannot drive a car or ride a bike. Frequently, when he is ill, he cannot ride in a car. Even so, for years Antoine has competed in the very tough Hafo Lier middle distance club with over 200 members. Years ago, there were many more members than 200. But as I said, the sport has declined drastically in Belgium since I took my first trip in 1986. As Tom Smith states in his article, " The Antwerp Union offers a prolific schedule of races to compete in: 49 a year, from 220 miles to 680 miles." I have blogged several times that I believe that the major difference between Belgian racing pigeons and American racing pigeons can be found in the rigors of the respective race schedules. Antoine's racing pigeons compete in a much more difficult race series than I do in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Belgium has many more races from more challenging distances than we have in Oklahoma. Consequently, it is much harder to evaluate good racing pigeons in Oklahoma than in Belgium because the racing pigeons are not tested as well. In Oklahoma, if we raced a combined young bird and old bird race series from May until September, we could evaluate the real quality of our racing pigeons much easier than we can now. In our area, some fanciers end up with 50 to 80 pigeons, or more, after the old bird race series is over. Consequently, the fancy in Oklahoma probably breeds from many pigeons that would end up in Antoine's "soup pot." Inferior pigeons will breed more inferior pigeons - and so on and so on. More races equal better selection. Better selection means higher quality youngsters. It's that simple.

The club of my good friend Bubba Wilson in Arkansas plays with another club near their area. In 2008 young birds, Bubba's club will voluntarily haul 5 races and the neighboring club will haul 5 races. For the cost of 5 races, Bubba's club can race in 10 races. Bubba will be able to evaluate his racers and eventual breeders much better because his club doubled their race schedule through partnering with another club. Congratulations Bubba!!!

In our area, we race 8 to 10 weekends per year in Old Birds. That means we house our old bird teams 42 to 44 weeks a year with absolutely nothing to do with them. What is the discrepancy between Oklahoma's modest race schedule and Belgium's robust race schedule? The discrepancy lies in our form of national government. The Northeast Oklahoma Racing Pigeon Federation is a local organization governed by volunteers who are willing and able to give only so much free time to the sport. In Belgium, the national organization, the KBDB, organizes and supports the local races financially by compensating the race officers for their time. America is a little bigger than Belgium and our national government is fractured between two organizations, the AU and the IF. I am saddened that we can't find a way to race our pigeons more in America and in Oklahoma. Certainly the electronic timer has enabled fanciers with families or work or other obligations to race pigeons and attend other functions at the same time. The next critical step is to lobby Deister or our national organizations to create a technical way that the results from our base units could be electronically sent via a modem to a central computer that will tabulate the results in real time and automatically post the results to a web page. Just imagine, you could be sitting in the stands watching your child's soccer game and view the real time race results on a lap top, Blackberry or Iphone, etc. If and when the American sport becomes more sophisticated, maybe we can attract a whole new breed of high-tech fancier, and increase our membership exponentially.

Enough daydreaming. Back to Antoine. Page 13 of Tom Smith's article features the following picture of BELG 04 6073020, the 5th Ace Pigeon Antwerp Union 2004.

A full brother, BELG 04 6073159 is breeding in Tulsa. "159" bred the MIDNIGHT RIDER,

featured to the right, that won 1st 77 miles 157 birds - 1st 195 miles - 199 birds - 2nd 119 miles - 156 birds - 2nd 131 miles 45 birds - 5th 303 miles 131 birds - 7th 151 miles 65 birds - 8th 77 miles 91 birds - 8th 212 miles 46 birds - 10th 309 miles 46 birds - 12th 131 miles 135 birds - 12th 303 miles 175 birds - 12th 303 miles 153 birds - 16th 317 miles 145 birds - 16th 488 miles 39 birds - plus other prizes.

These are only a few examples of the similarities of the breeding lofts between Tulsa, Oklahoma and Vorselaar, Belgium. In the early 1990s before Antoine was ill, he and Maria visited Tulsa several times. On one particular visit, after looking at the young birds, he smiled and said, "I think you breed better Jacops pigeons than Jacops!" I was incredibly flattered; but took the complement with a huge grain of salt. After all, there is only one Antoine Jacops!

In his latest Methods of the Masters article in the Racing Pigeon Digest, Tom Smith points out that Antoine began the game of racing pigeons with a white male whose blood goes back to the fabulous pigeons of Emiel Verhaert. Antoine then found a female from the excellent pigeons of Warre De Schutter to couple with the white male. This pair became the basis of his loft; or as Tom Smiths states, Antoine's STAM COUPLE. As Smith points out in his article, most American fanciers probably have not heard of Verhaert and De Schutter; however, these fanciers were "geniuses" in the history of Belgian racing. The same could be said of Jacops who has been a "genius" in the Antwerp Union over the past 40 years. There are fantastic fanciers in Belgium who are not known very well in America. Unless certain fanciers are promoted by an agent, chances are they won't be known in America.

The last several years, I have been racing the pigeons of Denis Sapin, Olivieres-Devos, Danny Van Avondt, and Achiel Vangilbergen. Of the four lofts, perhaps you have heard of the Van Avondts. But I'd be willing to bet that you haven't heard of the other three lofts. I have also been racing pigeons that I purchased at the final dispersal auctions of Romain Loozen and Emile Fourmanoir. Have you heard of these fanciers before or know anything about their pigeons? Loozen raced a male he called HERO 19; a male who won 19 1st prizes. The Herbots bought this pigeon and bred from him. Mike Ganus bred from a daughter of HERO 19. I purchased several excellent pigeons in this auction and have bred very nice pigeons from them. I am breeding from two youngsters that I bred in Belgium from Emiel Fourmanoir's best breeders that I purchased in his final auction. They are all excellent pigeons. But have you heard of these fanciers? Probably not.

There are many excellent fanciers in Belgium that you probably don't know, have never heard about and don't anything about their pigeons. Does that mean that their pigeons are worthless? Of course not. With 50 or 60,000 pigeon fanciers in Belgium, no one agent can know the birds in every fancier's loft. Mike Ganus cannot know the best breeding pairs for each of 60,000 fanciers in Belgium. The Herbots cannot know the best breeding pairs for each of 60,000 fanciers in Belgium. Let me give you another example. My partner's father-in-law, Roger Lautermans, breeds from a hit pair if grizzles whose children and grandchildren race very well. These birds are very competitive when they shouldn't be. Rogers health has not been good the past years and he cannot manage his birds like he wishes he could. There are seasons and races in which he doesn't ship. His health won't permit it. Yet the children and grandchildren of the grizzle pair race very well. Mike Ganus or the Herbots will probably never hear about the Lautermans grizzles; or care about promoting them. The only reason I know about them is obviously by chance. If Jef were not my partner, I would never have met Roger and known about his grizzles.

A large part of the American pigeon fancy is programmed to follow the breeding preferences of Mike Ganus; and that's good. Mike is one of my mentors and has changed my life in the sport. He is one of the best pigeon graders that I have ever known and he is a master breeder. But there are many excellent fanciers and pigeons in Belgium that Mike doesn't reach. I have found it very interesting that if I post six pigeons for sale on ipigeon, the buying public will respond first and best to the pigeons that have GFL pigeons in their pedigree or that have GFL bands on them. There are also fanciers on the internet who sell nothing but Ganus-bred pigeons. And that's okay. Probably half of my breeding loft came from Mike; even if they came from another fancier like the "Hercules" pigeons from Willy Ceulemans, the Hofkens from Louis Van Hove, the Vandenabeeles, and many others. Mike will continue to be a source for me to purchase high quality breeders. Antoine Jacops will continue to be a source for me to purchase high quality breeders. Even if I don't purchase all of my breeding pigeons directly from either of them; their opinions will continue to impact my decision-making. Why wouldn't they? These Masters are two of the very best fanciers in the game. But I will also continue to "try out" high quality pigeons from fanciers that I meet in Belgium, and other countries, in the course of racing and breeding in Hakendover, Belgium. then, I will introduce these pigeons to the American fancy from my loft in Tulsa, Oklahoma. As I have written about extensively in the past, there are two primary criteria upon which I base selections for the breeding loft: prepotency and hybrid vigor - genotype and pfemaleotype. Racing pigeons with these attributes breed a high percentage of quality pigeons that will race:

These discoveries are at the core of the enjoyment of the game. Great breeding pigeons comprise a sizable portion of the "theoretical" base of playing the game. Based upon these pigeons and their matings, racers are tested through rigorous methods, and the results of these tests either prove or disprove the theoretical basis of the way each of us plays the game. This process is known as the scientific method and has been the basis of how humans think and act since science began. I will continue to utilize the scientific method to play the racing pigeon game at the highest levels possible.

I have been ill the past week and have been unable to blog. Sorry about that. I will gradually finish last week's writings and post them later. when I do, I will let you know.

Just to finish a point in an earlier blog, I mentioned that there was an important "sign" in the video on YouTube featuring the Antoine Jacops female - 44437. I asked readers to view the video and to see if they could find the "sign." A sign was defined as something observable that could give fanciers "extra" insight into their pigeons and/or their race management system. In the case of 44437, when I placed her in the box, she displayed to me. The "sign" was her display. Her display consisted of silently cooing to me by swelling and constricting her throat. Watch the video to see her display. I had never handled this young female before. Yet, when I placed her in a photography box (which she defined as a nest box), she reacted to the confines of the box by courting me. This very strong maternal instinct is an attribute of the Jacops pigeons and one of the attributes that make the Jacops pigeons far superior to most other strains of racing pigeons.

Let's conduct an independent experiment. In your loft, try placing a young female that you have never handled alone in a strange nest box. Does she react? If so, what is her reaction? Does she court you as if she is responding to you and the box? Go through all of your young females. The females that settle instantly in the box by reacting to their new environs in a "maternal" or responsive manner are usually very special. Why? Because they will also react strongly to key motivational elements of the widowhood race system. Motivation requires a strong and instant recognition and reaction to mates, nest bowls, nesting material, nest boxes, intruders, and rivals in order to make racers passionate about racing home quickly. Remember: Theory - Methods - Results. 44437's courting display is the result of excellent theory (genetic breeding) and methods (introduction of a nest box to ignite motivation).

It is my belief that in order to race pigeons consistently at the top of the race sheet, fanciers should utilize the benefits of the scientific method on a daily basis in the loft. Winning races is far more than breeding a whole bunch of birds, putting them in a big room with perches, letting them out several times a week, and hoping they will race home. Many of these pigeons may fly home; but they will seldom race home. Speed is the result of passionate pigeons responding to a consistent well-planned management system. In the YouTube video, 44437 displays her passion. Perhaps I should have rated the video "R." Whatdoyouthink?

I received a number of very nice emails about the blog. Thank you. These emails help me keep motivated to write as often as possible. I enjoy writing and hope the blog stimulates thought. As a teacher, I defined my job as stimulating thought and discussion rather than imparting knowledge. There may be many parts of what I do that doesn't fit your life circumstances or geographical area. That's okay. But I do hope the blog is a medium that stimulates thought for a global fancy.

QUESTION: I give my birds the pego tablet like you do for treatment/prevention of canker and cocci...I have been having the problem of the birds throwing up after taking the tab...what would cause that. The first day I gave it to them before they ate...then today about 4 hours after they ate...thanks for any help/advice you can be!

RESPONSE: There are a percentage of the pigeons that will vomit after swallowing a Pegosan pill. It has been my experience that pigeons react to the pills according to the amount of canker and cocci in their system. when the race birds are very healthy and each receives a pill, I usually observe no reaction to the pills. However, until birds are healthy, they may react to the drugs in the pills by vomiting. Vomiting doesn't hurt them and is part of the process of healing. I try not to let other pigeons eat the seeds that treated pigeons throw up. If you continue to treat regularly with Pegosan tablets, you should observe the number of birds that react to the treatment become fewer and fewer. I often like to administer pills late at night when the pigeons are dormant. I never administer pills when the birds have a full crop.

QUESTION: I just found your blogs several months ago, and enjoy very much. Your system makes a lot of sense and I have implemented some of your methods. Even though I don't have any yb's old enough to mate, I have been using some of your training methods from different directions and into the wind to help save on fuel cost. I have lost more birds than ever before but I agree that's also good. After many short tosses up to 30 miles they are finally orientating in the basket and starting off in the right direction with very little circling. I am primarily releasing in small groups of 4 to 8 birds when time permits. I try to confuse them and carry them 180 degrees from the last toss, at first they would head in the opposite direction from home with losses and late arrivals, but now the remaining birds are catching on fairly well.

RESPONSE: I hope that the blog stimulates thought. My desire is to help fanciers get to their destination - to accomplish their goals. Most of the time the goal is to win. But there are other important goals besides winning. In the case of this fancier, the goal is training young birds in order to race them.

If you start training young birds around the clock after they have been trained mostly on the line of flight, they will instinctively react upon release and head home in the wrong direction. For example, if young birds have been trained exclusively or mostly from the south, when they are trained from the north, they will head straight north away from home. At some point, most of them will figure out their error and turn back south. However, losses can come in several ways:

The brains of both animals and people are wired to search for common experiences and to "learn" from these common experiences. Learning leads to the creation of shortcuts. when people learn the meaning of something, they become more familiar with it, and can react faster to it the next time they encounter it. For example, the first time people learn to drive a car, they may need to read a manual to learn how to start the car and then to drive it. After several experiences, they remember how to operate the car and don't need to read the operator's manual every time they get in the car. The same is true in animals. Animals learn to react to expectations after they have experienced a common event several times. If pigeons are continually released south of their loft, they will learn to react upon release and automatically head north; regardless of where they are released. when they are released north of their loft, they will automatically head north, even though their loft is located south of the release.

I do not want my racers to react without thinking upon release. I want them to quickly orient at release based upon their thought processes. Normally, it is best to let racers sit in shipping crates for 15 or 20 minutes and settle before release. I want my racers to orient in the crate and head home at release because they reasoned the way home. I don't want them to simply react by heading home based upon a pre-conditioned response.

The 360 degree training method will result in more initial losses than other more traditional training systems. However, the additional losses will be the same losses that occur during the race season for more conventional training methods. Once a race team has been fully established as a result of the 360 degree training method, losses during the race season are rare.

I have blogged about this many times - but just in case you may have forgotten - the Lamberton Rule states that a maximum of 10% of young birds will be excellent racers. Based upon 100 young birds raised, 10% or less will be your first clock birds that determine the outcome of the race season. Less than 10 young birds will race at the top of the sheet week after week.

I like the thought the emailer conveys: he tries to confuse his birds. Correct!!! Don't baby your pigeons. If you do, many of your pigeons will probably not return from the races. Multiple short, tough training tosses from all directions is the key to finding those young birds that comprise the best 10% of the race team. I guarantee it.

QUESTION: I have kept a daily pigeon journal for each year since I started flying in 1984. I reread them during the winter. Ed Topoleski encouraged me to write everything I change or do around the loft. These journals have been an invaluable asset in becoming a better flyer.

RESPONSE: This fancier documents the importance of keeping a daily or weekly log about events in the pigeon loft. Like I have written in the past, documentation is a key component of the scientific process. Like this fancier, I enjoy reading past observations kept in three-ring binders.

I have prepared a three ring binder for the 2008 young bird team which includes their ring number, color, sex, pedigree, and mate. Also, any other observations I think are important. The observable results of each training toss are entered including the Unikon results after the young birds are chipped. I include at least one page for every young bird on the race team to document important observations; especially interactive observations that involve the young bird's mate. I also include data for young birds that other fancier's race. This information will be especially helpful in November when the breeders are coupled.

I urge every reader to create multiple three-ring binders for various and diverse functions in the loft. May I suggest that you also consider placing a picture in the plastic protector on the covers.

I have the following picture of 101 on the cover of the 2008 young bird binder. Jeremy created the picture for me especially to place in the cover. The picture combines the beauty and the attitude of 101 with notes I have made in the past. It is Jeremy's artistic interpretation of the union between science and beauty. Visual metaphors make excellent motivators. Pictures often inspire and motivate people. I use pictures to motivate me by hanging them in the loft, or in the office, or placing them on a shelf or a desk. I prefer meaningful pictures to trophies; but those of you who have read the blog know my opinion on trophies. The picture of 101 motivates me to jot down notes about the 2008 young birds as often as possible. Consider using pictures to motivate you in the loft. It's fun and it can motivate you to work harder and smarter each and every day.

I have visited recently with several fanciers who are just now road training their young birds. In parts of the US, the 2008 young bird race series has already begun. In Belgium and other countries in Europe, the young bird race series began in May. My young birds were bred in January and were road trained in April and May. On the average, it has been my experience that young birds trained in August cannot adequately compete with young birds trained in April and May. There are many reasons to train young birds in the spring; even if the onset of the young bird race series is months away.

First, young birds should be road trained when they are 90 to 120 days old. The road training tosses do not need to be long. Multiple training tosses from 20 miles (32 kilometers) or less is quite sufficient. The purpose of road training at this age is to allow young pigeons to develop their homing and orienting ability. This development can occur on tosses of less than 20 miles. Upon release, after the young birds have oriented, the distance of the toss primarily builds stamina and endurance. The distance of the training toss has little to do with the development of orientation ability. Orientation development occurs at release. Once the young birds are released and have oriented, the toss should be relatively short while the young birds are still young. I know there are those readers who think that 90 to 120 days is too young to begin road training. I think this is because these fanciers equate road training with distance and longer tosses. Road training is not necessarily a function of distance and doesn't need to involve longer tosses. Many short tosses from every direction develops orientation ability. when I want to build stamina in the young birds at a later age, I will lengthen the training tosses beyond 20 miles. Normally, I increase the distance up to 100 miles at the end of May or beginning of June. At the end of May, January 1 hatches are 150 days old and can handle a few tosses from 50 to 100 miles.

Second, in Oklahoma, the weather temperature in April and May is not stressful on young birds in training; while the temperatures in July and August are scorching and very stressful. For instance, last week featured several days over 100 degrees in Oklahoma. Young pigeons often make mistakes during road training. I prefer they make their mistakes on days when the high temperature is 65 degrees F rather than 104 degrees F. The risk of loss due to the negative influence of extremely hot temperatures is another reason I train in the spring.

Finally, because so many fanciers train in August, and other clubs are racing young birds through the air corridors of northeast Oklahoma in August, young birds can be easily influenced by other young birds in training or on a race. In other words, the skies are more crowded with young birds in August than in other months. For this reason, the training risk seems higher in August than in the spring.

These past weeks, my young birds have been road trained twice a week, weather permitting, Wednesdays and Saturdays. Their older mates are waiting for them each time they are road trained. On Wednesdays, the young birds spend an hour or two with their mates. On Saturdays, the young birds spend the entire day with their mates. Wednesday tosses are shorter, i.e., 50 to 60 miles (80 to 96 kilometers). Saturday tosses are longer: 75 to 90 miles (120 to 144 kilometers). The young birds are exercised and fed exactly as they will be managed during the race series. On the first race, I want the young birds biological clocks to already be programmed to the daily and weekly requirements of the race management system which includes, feed, water, exercise, training and medication. I also want them to associate the shipping crate with the opportunity to spend time with their mate.

1. First, it is important that young birds learn to function well in a shipping crate. Young birds need to learn not to fear the confines of the crate. They need to learn to feel comfortable and relaxed while in a shipping crate. Young birds also need to learn how to eat and drink while in a shipping crate. In Belgium, depending upon the weather, young birds often spend several days and nights in shipping crates before a race. Young birds that stress in the crate will seldom have the energy to fly a great race. Instead, they spend their energy coping with the environs of the crate.

2. Second, young birds need to develop their natural orienting ability. This development comes from road training. Upon release in a strange place, young birds must use their orientation ability to find the comforts of home. By releasing racers from varied locations around the compass, they will be forced to use their orientation ability each and every toss. Otherwise, if they are released from a common "break point," they will react upon release rather than reason upon release. I have found that a reasoning pigeon will fly faster than a reacting pigeon. KEY POINT: The distance of the road toss has absolutely nothing to do with the development of the orientation ability.

3. Third, young birds need to be physically conditioned in order to race many miles home. The distance of the toss determines the degree of physical stress required to fly home. Obviously, the longer the distance, the greater the physical stress upon the young birds. I give my young birds multiple tosses from 20 miles or less before they are tested at a longer distance. Once young birds are coming home quickly and consistently from 20 miles, when they are older, they can be tossed from longer distances. From 20 miles, I quickly lengthen the toss to 50, 75 and 100 miles. Remember to use the wind to increase the stress of the toss from short distances. I have blogged earlier that I prefer a 10 mile training toss into a 10 mile an hour headwind over a 30 or 40 mile toss with a 10 mile per hour tailwind. The pigeon's wing beat is much different flying into a headwind than flying with a tailwind.

4. Fourth, on the widowhood system, young birds need to learn to acquaint the shipping crate with the reward of seeing their mate. Remember, on the widowhood system, pigeons are celibate during the week. With proper training, young birds will associate the shipping crate with the opportunity to see their mate. Last year I blogged about developing expectations in racers. My racers expect to see their mates at home after they are released from the shipping crate.

5. Fifth, keep the early tosses short. While young birds are 90 to 150 days old, keep the distance of the toss at 20 miles or less. After they have been effectively road trained at this distance for several months, they can be tested on longer tosses. If they make orientation mistakes in training, I want them to make their mistakes within 20 miles from the loft.

6. Sixth, practice - practice - practice. Road tosses should be analogous to short practice races. The more practice young birds experience, the better they race. Try road training with other fanciers and group toss your young birds. Tony Smith and I each single toss a bird together in order to force the two strange birds to break away from their race partner and fly home. We do this while we are eating at one of the best hamburger joints in northeast Oklahoma. We eat, talk, and release - eat, talk, and release - eat, talk, and release, and so on until our baskets are empty of food and young birds.

I frequently read that fanciers start training young birds several weeks before the races begin in August or September. I start training January hatches in April. I believe that it is difficult to teach young birds in several weeks all they need to know to race at the top of the sheet. Fanciers that accomplish all I have just discussed in 2 or 3 weeks during the hottest time of the year are much better fanciers than I am. American fanciers: Remember that young bird racing begins in May in Belgium. The four prestigious Belgian National young bird races begin in late July or early August and are held every two weeks for 6 weeks. Belgian fanciers usually spend 2 to 3 months preparing for these races beginning in May.

My views on young bird training are far more complex than simply looking at road training as a few minimal road tosses in order to be able to race 100 miles on the first race day. In my opinion, fanciers who use races to train their young birds are seldom competing to win. Can you imagine the Dallas Cowboys using their games as practice? For me, races are not practice - practice is practice - races are races. I want each young bird to race at their very best in each and every race. In order to accomplish this goal, each young bird must be trained and have gone through enough practice so that they will perform their best on race day. My ultimate job as a fancier is to put each young bird in a position to do their very best on race day. It is my belief that race day is about pigeons; not fanciers.

The stress of the temperatures in August, particularly in Oklahoma, are hard on young birds; especially during intense training for the impending race season. Also, the stress of training is hard on young birds. Consequently, giving young birds in training the correct food and water are especially critical in August. I give the young bird race team electrolytes in the water several days every week, especially in August. As I have indicated in previous blogs, I administer an inexpensive brand of unflavored Pedialyte for children in the water.

Depending upon the stress level experienced by the young birds, mixtures of 25%, 50%, and 100% of pedialyte and/or water are administered (although Pedialyte recommends not adding water). If the birds have been mildly stressed, a 25% mixture is used. If the stress level is moderate, a 50% mixture is administered. If the stress level is major, pure pedialyte solution is administered. If you have never used an brand of pedialyte solution on your young birds, you won't believe the difference in your birds in a very short period of time. Pedialyte is an oral solution of electrolytes for children. Specifically, it is a carbohydrate and electrolytes combination used to treat or prevent dehydration (the loss of too much water from the body). It replaces the water and some important salts (electrolytes), such as sodium and potassium, that are lost from the body. Regular Pedialyte often costs more than $5 per bottle. However, Wal-Mart or other discount pharmacies carry cheaper brands that cost a little over $3 per bottle and seem to work as well as the more expensive Pedialyte brand.

It is also important to administer vitamins and minerals to young birds in August. I prefer to add Red Cell, Red Cell Vitamin, Iron & Mineral Supplement - 1 gal.

Red Cell Vitamin, Iron & Mineral Supplement - 1 gal.

a horse food supplement of vitamins and minerals on the grain rather than give vitamins in the water. While I administer liquid vitamins one day a week during the race season, I add Red Cell to the food about 3 days every week, especially during August. The birds will have to adjust to the sticky texture of the grain if you don't let the Red Cell dry on the grains before you feed it. But hungry birds will eat almost anything if you force them. I find that the additives in Red Cell added to the grain are digested well by the young birds and really give them a boost. The ingredients in Red Cell as follows:

Water, Ferric Sulfate, Ammonium Hydroxide, Citric Acid, Choline Chloride, Zinc Sulfate, Sorbitol, Magnesium Sulfate, Potassium Chloride, Vitamin E, Vitamin A Acetate, D-activated Animal Sterol irradiated (source of Vitamin D-3), Copper Sulfate, Xanthan Gum, Manganese Sulfate, Thiamine Hydrochloride, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Sodium Saccharin, Riboflavin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Folic Acid, Cobalt Sulfate, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K), Sodium Benzoate, Niacinamide, Sodium Bicarbonate, Biotin, Sodium Selenite, Kelp Extract, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Dried Meat Solubles, Liver Concentrate, Ethylenediamine Dihydriodide, Vitamin B-12 Supplement, Artificial Cherry Flavoring, FD&C Red #40 and Potassium Sorbate (as preservative).

Iron (Fe)300 mg
Copper (Cu)36 mg
Cobalt (Co)2 mg
Potassium (K)100 mg
Sulfur (S)250 mg
Magnesium (Mg)20 mg
Manganese (Mn)39 mg
Zinc (Zn)110 mg
Iodine (I)0.25 mg
Selenium (Se)0.65 mg
Vitamin A 25,000 I.U.
Vitamin D-3 3,500 I.U.
Vitamin E 35 I.U.
Vitamin B12 120 mcg
Thiamine 30 mg
Riboflavin 25 mg
Vitamin B68 mg
Menadione 2.5 mg
Folic Acid 7 mg
Biotin 0.020 mg
Choline 200 mg
d-Pantothenic Acid 48 mg

I mix about a teaspoon of Red Cell per level one pound coffee can of grain. I place a one-pound coffee can of grain in a small bucket and mix in the Red Cell with a soupspoon. I like the grain just barely moist so that each grain is completely covered with Red Cell. I feed the grain on the wooden loft floor that I have scraped clean for eating. I feed a handful of grain at a time so that every bird gets a healthy intake of all of the grains in the mixture.

Food: Although I recommend purchasing the most affordable brand of mixed grain during the calendar year for your pigeons, August is a month to splurge on feed. Quality racing pigeons need excellent grain mixtures during the pre-race season and the actual race season. Before I start training again in August, I buy a 50# bag of high quality grain for the race team. Because I only race a few pigeons, one bag generally last a complete race season of 8 to 10 weeks. Here is an example of how racing a large team will hurt your pocketbook and your race results. If you are racing 40, 50, 60 young birds or more, it will be very expensive to feed an excellent brand of pigeon grain. Most people can't afford it. So they sacrifice grain quality for a large race team. I usually order one 50# bag of feed from the Moore Company in Pennsylvania who sells Browns Feed. Although the bag of grain may be $25 or $30 per bag, shipping is also $50 or more. Thus, the total cost of a bag of feed shipped to Oklahoma from the east coast may be $100 per bag. While I don't want to pay these prices in order to feed this grain all year long to the racers, I can afford to feed it for young bird and old bird race series only. In addition to a high quality very clean race mix, safflower and hemp are added. I also order these products from the east and west coasts if I can't find a quality grain locally. Because I race 25 birds or less, I can justify feeding them the very best mixtures I can find in order to get the best results out of their performances.

Pickstone is absolutely critical for young bird growth and development, especially during training and racing.

products available at most of the supply houses. I have pictures of several of them. I prefer a cake pickstone that I place in an 8" bowl on the floor of the loft. But I also purchase pick pots.

I take a dinner knife and purge the bowl of product and transfer it to an 8" bowl, I can then use the pots as food cups in the nest boxes. The pots are heavy and the birds can't flip them over or around in the nest boxes. "Pickstones are baked clay mixes that have been specially composed for all pigeons, to keep them away from the fields. They consist exclusively of natural raw materials. They contain the essential minerals and salts which are otherwise not available in their regular diet. They are all very well savored by the pigeons, and are indispensable to the pigeon's digestive system." (everything for pets.com)

Birds who have not eaten pickstone as a regular part of their diet will usually devour a block in 15 or 20 minutes like a horde of locusts. If your young birds eat the pickstone quickly, give them more. They will eventually quit eating it quickly and start picking at it regularly during the week. Feeding pickstone makes a significant difference in the robustness and overall health of the young race team.

There are other types of additives that can be administered based upon a fancier's personal preference. For instance, there are teas and their benefits, or garlic and its benefits. While there are many types of important additives, the ones I have mentioned above cover the basics. While these products are important year-round, they are indispensable during the stress of training rigors in August and during the entirety of the race season.

Saturday, Morgan and I took 21 young females about 85 miles south down the line of flight for the impending race course. It was cloudy, misty and foggy early in the morning; so we waited until the sun came out and cleared the air. There was a light headwind. About 1 pm, we tossed 21 females near downtown McAlester, Oklahoma. We then traveled a few miles east to Krebs, Oklahoma, an Italian community with great restaurants. We ate at Roseanna's Italian Restaurant and gorged ourselves on spaghetti, ravioli, lasagna, Caesar salad and garlic bread. Pete's Place is another outstanding Italian Restaurant in Krebs. We then drove home to take care of the arriving females.

At about 4 pm, our first female hit the landing board after 3 hours on the wing. A second female arrived at 4:15 pm and a third female at 5:45 pm. There were only 3 females home on the day. By 9 am on Sunday, 8 more females were home. In all, 17 females returned by Sunday night. Four females did not return. In retrospect, I believe that a weather front lay around the McAlester area and may have confused the females. A front is a dangerous weather pfemaleomenon for pigeons. If pigeons are released on one side or the other of a front, they seem to orient and find their way home as normal. However, if they are released inside the zone of influence in a front, the electrical instability and barometric pressure interface can really confuse the best of pigeons.

The first female home is one of the most beautiful females on the young bird team bred from the super pigeons of Antoine Jacops, AU 08 BLUE SKIES 163. In 2003, I selected her father at Antoine's loft in Vorselaar. when I purchase pigeons at Antoine's loft, we both evaluate his young birds for sale and try to pick the very best pigeons available. "473" is a tremendous breeder and is absolutely one of my favorite breeders. 163's mother is a very strong female that Antoine sent me in 2004. The reason I paired these two breeders together is the fact that 163's grandfathers are full brothers. Further, 163's paternal grandmother is bred down from a full brother to 163's grandfathers. Therefore, 163 is bred from first cousins - one of my favorite types of pairings to produce racers and breeders. 163 is very tight genetically; although her genes come from a combination of Antoine's old family, the full sister to the KANNIBAAL, and a full sister to Karl Hufkens 1st National Ace. 163 is absolutely perfect in the hand. She has a beautiful rich dual purpose eye. And, she has proven herself during road training. 163 represents what I consider to be a perfect female for racing and breeding.

Another line-bred female that is training very well is AU 08 Blue Skies 103 blue female. 103's father is BLAZEN, a fantastic son of Gaby Vandenabeele's BLIKSEM. 103's mother is the famous NATIONAALTJE, the nest sister to Mike Ganus's famous GOLD DUST. In 2005, Gommaire Verbruggen won his first 1st National race with a grandson of BLIKSEM bred from one of Jos Deno's four sons of BLIKSEM. I have carefully handled all four of these BLIKSEM sons. The father of Verbruggen's 1st National winner is an exact replica of BLAZEN, the BLIKSEM male breeding in Tulsa, Oklahoma! I was totally amazed and pleased by this similarity.

A granddaughter of BLAZEN, AU 07 TEAM 461, GLIMMER GIRL, was one of the two best young females racing in Oklahoma in 2007. Her pedigree and race record on pictured on the left.

I am so impressed by 103's training so far that I have removed her nest brother, 104, from the 2008 race team. Part of this logic is that the NATIONAALTJE is a 1997 female and therefore may quit laying eggs at any time.

Due to the exceptional training of the young females, I have decided to remove the young males from the race team; and race them as yearlings in 2009.

I now have 17 females to race - which is still far too many to properly manage. Their next major toss will be another tough one in order to reduce the team to 12 or fewer.

when the young females returned from their 85 mile toss on Saturday, they were given a 50%

solution of electrolytes and water along with a light mixture of pigeon "candy" consisting of white and red millet, canary grass seed, oat groats, flax seed, carrot granules, hemp seed, spinach flakes, and safflower. FACT: when you race a very small team of young birds, it is cost effective to feed them the very best seeds available.

when the young females are tossed, their older widowhood mates are locked in 1/2 of the nest boxes waiting on the females. After the females have adequately had their fill of grain and water and rested for a few minutes, when ready, they are locked in their nest box with their mates. At dusk, the males are removed from the nest boxes and placed in their separate loft away from the young females. (The females are now eating in their nest boxes rather than eating on the scraped floor as a group.)

I do not regard "smash" training tosses as necessarily bad events. As I have said before, if no birds return home, then I have been a bad manager and a poor fancier. But once the first bird comes home, then in essence, any or all of the birds could have returned. when young birds are late returning from a toss as they were on Saturday, I anxiously wait until the first bird arrives. After the first bird arrives, I quit worrying. Why? Because the arrival of the first bird lets me off the managerial hook. If one bird returns, then any or all of the birds could have returned with the first one. when 163 arrived at 4 pm after a 1 pm release, all of the birds could have arrived if they had performed as well as 163.

Depending upon your definition of a "champion" racer, you will find that champions comprise an incredibly small percentage of the total number of young birds raised in a calendar year. The infamous Gerard Koopman of the Netherlands has stated that it takes at least 200 young birds raised every year in order to produce just one champion. And if there is one champion in 200 young birds, the fancier is very very lucky. What is your definition of a champion racer? Is it an AU Champion? An Elite Champion? A top ten National Ace? A race winner? A multiple race winner? A Diploma winner? A bird that arrives within a few minutes of the winner? A bird that arrives within one hour of the first bird? A bird that arrives within 4 hours of the first bird? A bird that returns home regardless of the time?

As I have also said before, I have found that about 10% of the young birds raised in a calendar year will comprise the "pool" of top quality racers. If there are 100 young birds raised, then the Lamberton Rule (as it is known in our club) states that 10 young birds will comprise the pool of racers that will race very well in young birds. However, the Lamberton Rule goes further. Only a few of the young birds in the pool will come close to the definition of a "champion" racer. I initially raised about 175 young birds to race. 10% of this number is about 17. Of the 17 females still in training, I believe that a number of them will not make the first race. In addition, there are several young males that will be very nice racers which will reduce the number of females in the 10% pool.

Today, my job now is to continue to ready the race team mentally and physically. Several more hard tosses will cull a few more females and massage the remaining females into top physical form for the first race. I want the females to perform well in the first race and race very well up until the last race. For the females, each toss further reinforces the mental association between the shipping crate and the opportunity to see their mates upon return.

There are several females that are not rebounding as quickly as necessary to race week after week when the 2008 race series begins. It has been two days since the females returned from Saturday's hard toss and they should look much better than they currently do. Rather than eliminate them from the team today by hand, I will wait until the next toss to see what happens. Right now I believe that several of these females will not return from another hard toss. Time of recovery is a key attribute of champion racing pigeons. Champion racers should be able to quickly recuperate from races in order to race each week. Today, I have evaluated the females in terms of their recovery condition from Saturday's toss. There are several very nice females that are still somewhat ruffled. The feathers on the sides of their head are ruffled away from their head. Their body feathers are ruffled. They do not fly up to their nest boxes crisply. They flap their wings rather than pop their wings when they fly up to their box. They seem a little "humped" as they walk around the loft floor. They waddle slightly when they walk. Their general deportment is slightly drooped from normal. After 48 hours, they should be more robust than they currently appear. Especially with the amount of electrolytes they have received in the last two days.

Conversely, the majority of the race team looks like they have never been on a toss. Their feathers lay down flat against their body and their head. They poop their wings as they gracefully ascend to their nest box. They look better after the toss than they looked before the toss. They look more chiseled - more robust, cleaner, brighter - more mature. During the day, I leave the females closed in their section. Therefore, they spend a significant amount of time in their box. They coo and lightly display when I approach them in their boxes. They are becoming more territorial and defensive. They quickly defend their box from an errant female that accidentally finds their box when I enter the loft. If they do not fly up to their box when I enter their loft section, I tap my foot until they do. when I am in the loft section, each female or male must sit quietly in their box.

Currently, the female race loft has 5 sections that are 5 ft by 6 ft. There are from one to four females per section. Each section has water, grit and pickstone. The picture below demonstrates the racing loft for the females with 5 sections and 6 nest boxes per section. The bottom set of two nest boxes is not currently used. The picture shows the nest boxes for twelve of the young females.

There is a nest bowl in each box. The clay nest bowl is imported from Belgium. The same bowls are used in the loft in Hakendover, Belgium. This week, the females were fed in the nest box rather than the floor.

These females were initially trained in April and May. They were paired in June. The built nests and laid eggs in July. Now in August, the females are learning to associate the shipping crate and racing with returning home to mates and nest boxes. The weekly regiment and rotation is comprised of the following components:

Recuperation and recovery are two critical physical attributes for champion racing pigeons. Eliminate any racers that don't fully recover and recuperate in several days. If they are not eliminated, the performance of the entire race team will be negatively affected. Although culling should be a daily consideration in the loft, August is the month for reducing the race team. Weaker pigeons will coerce the entire race team to exercise fewer minutes and to seek refuge when tired in trees, on light poles, on the ground, or in the loft. Weak pigeons will do as much damage to the quality of the race team's performance from now until the final race as any other single factor in the loft. Consequently, eliminate weak pigeons quickly. They are a scourge to the loft. Retain only the strongest racers that recover quickly from each race. Don't be surprised if you only find a few of these gems on your race team. That's very normal.

I believe there are still several weaker females on the race team. They will be tested again with another hard toss later in the week.

Today is Friday, August 29. The young females were taken about 80 miles south today. They were released about 10 am. The high temperature today is forecasted at about 96 degrees Fahrenheit. The young birds were released later than normal in order to make the training toss much harder than it might have been if the females had been released shortly after dawn. My last blog discussed the fact that I wanted the next training exercise to be a fairly tough toss in order to reveal those young birds who are the best racers on the team. The temperature at release was in the upper 80's. The humidity was also very high. The young females were tossed two at a time with the young birds of Tony Smith who released four of his young birds at a time. Therefore, we released six pigeons at a time: two of mine and four of Tony's. I wanted my young birds to be in the minority on each toss. I wanted them to learn to break from a larger group. Tony and I recorded the ring numbers of the young birds in each toss to compare with the arrival times recorded on our Unikon timers. All of our young birds are chipped so that we can record the arrival times. It took about 2 hours for the young birds to arrive home. There was a weather front below Tulsa to the south. Consequently, the young birds experienced a light tailwind for part of the toss and a light headwind at the end of the toss. The weather conditions were absolutely perfect for the type of toss I wanted the young females to navigate.

The first two females to arrive home were AU 08 BLUE SKIES 163 Blue White Flight Pied female, the best female on the team, and

AU 08 BLUE SKIES 169 Blue Check female, a beautiful well-bred female that has not really performed as well as expected until this toss; but a female for which I still have very high expectations along with her nest mate, "170." "163" was the first female on the last toss; and has experienced an outstanding training. Her pedigree is pictured in the last blog. "169's" pedigree is featured on the right. She is primarily a Hofkens bred female from the super pigeons of Flor Vervoort outcrossed on the outstanding pigeons of Antoine Jacops. "169" and "170's" grandfather, DIAMOND RIO (see pedigree), has bred many outstanding racers including DIAMOND JACK, the 4th National ARPU Ace pigeon in the 2006 Old Bird Race Series. DIAMOND RIO'S mate is FLICKER, a daughter of Flor Vervoort's PHANTOM that was imported to the USA by Mike Ganus. when Mike sent FLICKER to me, he said that she would be the finest female that I ever purchased from him. Since I have purchased many pigeons from Mike since the early 1980s, that was quite a statement from Mike. However, his words have been prophetic since FLICKER is the mother and grandmother to super racers and breeders. AU 08 BLUE SKIES 129 (shown on the video) is a double-bred granddaughter of FLICKER.

All fifteen females were home about four hours after release. My son Jeremy has filmed a video depicting the females after they arrived home. Click on the picture of the nest boxes below to view the video. Once you are on the YouTube page, click on "Watch in High Quality" to view the sharpest version of the video.

One of the primary purposes for filming the video was to show viewers what a classic Belgian young bird loft (in Tulsa, Oklahoma) looks like on the inside after a rigorous young bird training toss in August. Concerning the loft structure, the primary feature of a Belgian racing pigeon loft is the ability to control the pigeons in the loft. A Belgian young bird loft is not a large room with many perches in which the young birds are able to fly wildly around the room. A Belgian fancier does not need a net to handle the pigeons. A Belgian young bird loft does not have 30, 40 or more young birds in it. A classic Belgian young bird loft is small, compact, and very well organized. It is usually designed just like an old bird loft and comprised of small easy-to-manage sections with several young birds per section ( less than eight or ten - I prefer a maximum of four!). The loft is very well ventilated with plenty of room for each racer in the loft. Overcrowding is one of the most destructive practices in many lofts in America where fanciers often follow the cultural ethos that more is better than less and bigger is better than smaller. Overcrowding can quickly ruin the health of a race team which will result in both the loss of good birds and the poor performance of those racers that make it home. Each loft section is no taller than I can comfortably reach up and no wider or deeper than I can comfortably reach out. In other words, pigeons cannot fly over my head or around my outstretched arms. Because of these dimensions, I can physically control the air space in each loft section with my body.

Concerning the pigeons, the young females in the video are tame and gentle, well-trained and focused. They are attached and invested in their nest boxes. They understand their maintenance and motivational systems. Concerning motivation, they are coupled with passionate mates that are able to excite them to race home quickly rather than fly home casually. The loft can be kept very clean because such a small number females are nested in each section that the volume of droppings is minimized. Each loft section has a clean 2-liter water fountain in which electrolytes are frequently added. The females are fed (grain, grit, and pick stone) in their nest box.

Compare the structure, organization and ambiance of the young bird loft in the video to your young bird loft. Do your young birds look and act like the young birds in the video? Do your old racing males act like the ones in the video? If your young birds are not racing consistently and quickly home like old birds, perhaps you should consider re-thinking your loft management system. I use the same motivational system racing young birds that I follow racing old birds. I learned it over the past 25 years from Antoine Jacops. Not only have I frequently visited the Jacops in Vorselaar, Belgium in the past, but Antoine and Maria have visited Tulsa, Oklahoma several times. I believe that the young bird racing system practiced by Antoine Jacops is one of the most competitive pigeon racing systems in the world. In 40 years of competitive racing in the Antwerp Union, Antoine has proven his system's effectiveness; and, his management system seems to work very nicely in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

A fantastic female, AU 08 BLUE SKIES 103, is featured on the video.

Her father, BLAZEN, is a beautiful son of Gaby Vandenabeele's BLIKSEM (pictured on the left). BLAZEN was purchased from Mike Ganus. Although BLAZEN is only a 2004, he has already bred several excellent racers and breeders. A granddaughter, "461," was one of the best young females in the 2007 young bird race series. "103's" mother is the NATIONAALTJE. In Holland, the NATIONAALTJE produced SHINING STAR who won 4th National Orleans against over 14,000 pigeons. The NATIONAALTJE produced great pigeons for Mike Ganus and is still producing fantastic pigeons in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

More to come later.........................................Thank you for reading this blog...................Dr. John & Morgan Lamberton

2467		163		103	108	155	129
44435	2468	2483			44449	44411		2471

5	4		3		2		1