A front went through Tulsa over the weekend cooling the temperatures and drying the air. Today's high was in the upper 80s. Due to a funeral I attended in the morning, I was unable to release the young birds to exercise until early afternoon. The females flew on their own for over three hours. While I have young birds that were hatched later in the year, albeit some that have even been weaned recently, none of these later young birds are as mature and have flown in the system for as long as the January hatches. There is an incredible difference in the temperament, aggression, and stamina between the January hatches and later hatches. It would be hard for me to race March through June hatches in the fall young bird series with the older young birds because the early race team has so much of an advantage over the later hatches. In the Antwerp Union, and at my loft in Tulsa and Hakendover, the young birds are currently road trained at least 100 kilometers or 60 miles on a weekly basis.

In Belgium, the first National Young Bird Race is from Bourges on July 26. The entire Belgian Race Schedule can be seen on Pigeonparadise's (pipa) website by clicking here. From the loft of Antoine Jacops, the distance to Bourges is 489 kilometers (306 miles). Hakendover (my loft in Belgium at Jef Cuypers home garden) is about 50 to 75 kilometers shorter than Vorselaar (Antoine's loft) to many of the race stations. The young birds in Antoine's loft will be racing a 306 mile race on July 26 while the young birds in Hakendover will be racing approximately 275 miles. It is difficult if not impossible to competitively race a young bird on widowhood 306 miles on July 26 that was hatched in March or later. Even January 1 hatches are barely 7 months old at the end of July. This is part of the reason middle distance fanciers look for pigeons that mature extremely early like to pigeons of the Janssen Brothers for instance. The National Races are held every two weeks starting July 26 for 6 weeks. After Bourges, the next young bird race is Argenton on August 9 - La Souterraine on August 23 - and Gueret on September 6. These distances for Antoine Jacops are Argenton 566 km (354 miles) , La Souterraine 603 km (377 miles), and Gueret still longer yet (I don't know the exact amount other than it's the longest National race - probably over 400 miles for Antoine).

In summary, the last National Young Bird Race of approximately 400 miles for Antoine Jacops and over 350 miles for the young birds in the loft in Hakendover will be held on the same day, September 6, as the first race of the Northeast Oklahoma Racing Pigeon Federation from 100 miles for the loft in Tulsa. The young birds will be finished racing in Belgium the same weekend as they start racing in Oklahoma.

In both countries, Jef and I play the game nearly the same way. We prepare the young birds to race the last week of July on widowhood by mating the young birds to old birds. The primary difference between lofts is that the races begin 6 weeks later in Oklahoma than in Belgium.

If the first young bird race was 250 or 300 miles at the end of July in your area, what would you need to do to get the young birds ready to race? How early would you be required to road train them to be ready to race 300 miles at the end of July. The answer in Belgium is that some young birds begin to compete in May while others start in early June. As I have said before, the first young bird races in Belgium are from 60 to 100 kilometers or 40 to 60 miles. After road training the young birds about 4 times, many Belgian fanciers begin to enter their young birds in races. Professional fanciers train weekly in a car or small truck like we do in the US; and this more intense training can make a positive difference on the race sheet. Antoine does not believe in a lot of road training for his race teams and is very successful. Over the years that I have studied Antoine's methods, I have significantly decreased the number of road tosses for young birds and old birds as I have learned more about the intriguing world of motivation and pigeon psychology. Motivated pigeons need far less road training that unmotivated pigeons. If you were to follow my monthly training regiment exactly, your young birds would be ready to easily race 150 miles by August 1. Because the races in Oklahoma start 6 weeks later, I don't push the young birds to race 250 miles by August 1 because there is no need to do so.

Now you may be able to appreciate why many Belgian fanciers use the darkening system rather than the light system to control the moult in young birds. It is almost impossible to stimulate young birds to finish the moult in time for the first National Young Bird Race. It makes much more sense to delay the moult until the young bird races are finished in early September.

Back to Tulsa, I still have about 21 young females mated to old males and about 15 young males mated to old females. They have been completely road trained around the clock and out to a distance of 80 miles. For the next 60 days, I want them to build nests and attach themselves intensely to the nest box. It is this attachment in that will help stimulate the young birds to race home rather than fly home on race day beginning September 6, 2008.

FYI: The International Barcelona race was basketed on Sunday night, June 29, and will be liberated on July 4. There were 23, 695 birds entered total and 11,705 birds entered from Belgium - 7,041 birds from Holland - 2,371 birds from Germany - 1,919 birds from France - 325 birds from the United Kingdom - 229 birds from Poland - 85 birds from Luxemburg - 17 birds from Tsjechie - and 6 birds from Bulgaria. And many of you may know, the Barcelona Race is generally considered to be the most prestigious race to win in the world. Watch for the results of this exciting race on pipa's website.

I received an email asking about the best way to race young birds considering the race loft is "off-line" from the race course. My response is as follows:

The best way to compete in young bird races regardless of the position of the race loft off is to race January 1 (early) hatches on widowhood. I have been discussing this subject on my blog; but as a quick summary:

In my opinion, the most important component of competitive pigeon racing is motivation. Consequently, I race old birds and young birds on classic widowhood. Currently, as I have been recounting in the blog over the past few weeks, I am bonding the young bird team to their mates, to their nest boxes, and to their loft. In my experience, it takes a minimum of 60 to 90 days to bond a young bird or an old bird to a new nest box. Bonding doesn't happen over night. Bonding is the deepening of a relationship between two entities; in this case, a pigeon with a mate and new environs, i.e., a new nest box. In order to more fully understand the process of bonding, let's make bonding a personal experience. Please answer the following question by putting yourself in the following context and cognitively examining your feelings. If you purchased a new house, would you feel as comfortable and familiar in the new house after one week, two weeks, or 30 days, the same way as you would feel after you lived in the home for three months, six months, or one year? Bonding is a process and takes time to develop and deepen. Quality bonding cannot be fully developed in one or two weeks. With my young bird team, I let the young birds choose a box, couple with an old bird mate, build a nest with pine needles, lay eggs, and raise one youngster, over a 60 days period. Young males choose a box for themselves while young females accept the nest box of the older mate they choose. After young males select a box, I introduce them to an old female. In the case of young females, I introduce them to an old male, and if they couple satisfactorily, the female accepts the old male's nest box simply because he occupies it. I believe that "nesting" is an important component of the bonding process. "Nesting" includes more than building a nest. It includes the courting and mating ritual, the laying of eggs, the "brooding" of eggs, the "pipping" of eggs, and the care and feeding of a youngster or youngsters. In addition, as I have said before, I feed the racers in their nest box twice a day.

The second most important component of competitive pigeon racing is proper exercise. The young birds need at least two hours of loft exercise per day; except the day before racing and the day after racing. I exercise the race team one hour per day in the morning and one hour per day in the evening. when the evening temperature is too hot for the young birds to properly exercise, I add extra time to the morning exercise period.

The third most important component is controlling the moult. I prefer to race young birds with a full wing via the light system and pulling the last flight or flights as an insurance precaution that all flights are moulted before the young bird race season begins.

The fourth most important component is health. Briefly, I like to use Pegosan tablets to control cocci and canker; a Tylan - Lincomysin maletail for respiratory; and Ivermec for worms.

Feeding and watering is the fifth most important component. I usually add barley, safflower, sunflower seeds, and hemp to a regular mixture of good pigeon grain. I add a vitamin and mineral supplement on the feed three or four days a week. Depending on the heat and physical exertion of the race team, I add electrolytes to the water several times a week including immediately after a race.

I want to also mention the physical requirements of a good racing loft. The birds should be physically able to land and trap quickly. then, they must be taught to land and trap quickly. This training should be taught before the young birds are 90 days of age. It's too late to teach them correctly a week or two before the first race. Nest boxes should be large enough to easily accommodate a comfortable place for the racers to stand, eat, and mate apart from the area around their nest bowl. Nest boxes should not be crowded. There are six nest boxes per section in my race loft. I don't always use all six nest boxes. Currently in the young bird loft, there are four young males per section using the top four boxes in each of four sections. Overcrowding is one of the greatest banes of successful young bird racing. If you do not feel comfortable in your racing loft, neither will your pigeons.

Lastly, the 2009 Young Bird Race Series will begin about November 1, 2008 in my lofts. I begin the Young Bird Race Series about 10 months before the first young bird race each and every year. I begin by thoroughly medicating all pigeons completely around November 1st of each year. Breeders are coupled around December 1st. Young birds begin to hatch about January 1. And, as I have said many times, I prefer to race January hatches in young birds. Why? Because they are sexually mature enough to motivate and race on widowhood.

I have offered for sale AU 06 TEAM 52 blue male on ipigeon. 52 is 66th National Marathon Distance.

A friend emailed last week to ask a question about my thoughts on a good widowhood loft. My friend has been an excellent fancier in his area for many years. The following is my response to him.

From my training under Antoine Jacops and others fanciers in the Antwerp Union, my concept of a proper widowhood loft is a duality. While a widowhood loft should include spacious nest boxes, it should contain only a few nest boxes per section. Portions of the loft should be spacious - and parts of the loft should be small. Nest boxes should be spacious; loft sections should be small. Widowhood lofts in the Antwerp Union tend to be divided into sections that are about 5 feet in width. The following picture was taken from an earlier blog.

Racing lofts in Belgium are usually 2 meters wide. Good racing lofts are supposed to "breathe" or "draft" like chimneys. A thin loft - a loft that is 2 meters or less in width, are designed to draft. That is, the configuration of the loft "draws" air into it simply by its design. Chimneys draw air because they are designed and built to draw air. Consequently, good racing lofts should function like a good chimney. In order to test their lofts for air flow, Belgian fanciers often sit in their lofts and follow the smoke rising from a cigarette. The smoke is a visual representation of the air flow in the loft. There must be the proper continuous flow of air in the loft in order for race birds to come into form. If adequate air movement is not properly constructed into the design of the loft, race birds will seldom come into form the way they should in order to race at the top of the sheet.

The wind or a breeze can also act as a method of air movement in a racing loft. In Oklahoma, the wind blows primarily out of the south. The racing loft faces south or into the wind. On the front of the loft, the bottom third is wire mesh; the remainder of the front is plywood and siding. The mesh should be very strong and small enough so that varmints and pets cannot enter the loft. In addition to the breathing capacity of the loft design, in Oklahoma, the southern breeze helps provide an additional "forced" air movement in the loft.

The importance of air movement has to do with the replenishment of stale and stagnant air with fresh healthy air. Air in the loft can become stale and contaminated with dirt, dust and residue from droppings as well as from other pigeons. Stale air should be continuously replenished with fresh air so that the residual effect of contaminated air is very negligible or as close of zero as possible. In order to minimize the contamination of the air in the loft, the racing loft is cleaned twice a day and race birds are bathed once or twice a week. Feeders and water fountains are cleaned daily. Rodents are eliminated from living, eating, or drinking in the loft. In summary, clean lofts, clean birds and continuous air flow create the most fertile environment for the growth and development of champion racing pigeons.

In Drawing A of a widowhood loft, the letter C represents an individual section. Therefore, Drawing A contains 6 sections in the loft. You should be able to raise your arms from your sides and control the entire interior of a loft section. The letter E represents nest boxes on the back wall of each loft section. In a loft section that is feet deep and 5 feet wide, there should be a maximum of 6 nest boxes. The floor of the bottom-most nest box should not be lower than the top of the wire mesh on the front of the loft. It is not good for race birds to sit in front of a draft of air. I prefer 4 widowhood nest boxes per loft section. In Drawing A, each of 6 sections should contain 4 large nest boxes. In the entire loft, 24 widowhood race birds can be housed. There is plenty of room for each widow in a loft section 6 feet deep and 5 feet wide. It is very easy and fast to clean. Widows can be controlled, tamed, and trained to perform exactly as required in a vibrant system of classic widowhood because chaos is eliminated. For instance, when fanciers enter each section of the loft, the race birds should remain calm and stay relatively motionless. If they respond to their fanciers, it should be a positive reaction of recognition and attachment rather than a negative reaction of fear and flight. The small size of each loft section allows fanciers to physically control each section and thereby control the pigeons in each section.

In summary, my idea of a good loft reflects a thin loft (no more than 2 meters deep or wide) that houses 4 widows per section. There can be as many sections as fanciers desire; keeping in mind that more then three or four sections in a row without an outside door creates a bit of a logistical hassle - especially when cleaning, feeding or watering the birds.

Nest boxes should be about 30 inches wide and 12 to 20 inches deep. Wire nest fronts from Belgium can be purchased at several of the larger pigeon suppliers. These fronts are designed for adequately-sized nest boxes. I prefer nest boxes that are deeper. The deeper the box, the more comfortable widows feel because they don't feel trapped or as claustrophobic when fanciers are in the loft section with them. Whereas it is not good for widows to run away from fanciers to the back of the nest box, widows should also not feel as though their personal space or territory has been taken away from them because fanciers are too close to them in their section of the loft.

If a race loft is not designed and built correctly, it is almost impossible to develop the level of form necessary to get the very most possible out of a widowhood race team in order to place at the top of the race sheet week in and week out.

Please remember my motto: It is more important to race one pigeon very well - than many pigeons poorly.

I was wondering if you had to start from scratch (like me) and didn't have thousands of dollars to spend on a batch of breeders, how would you go about it? Would you buy one foundation type male and several related females or introduce two different families together? I would like to keep my loft small to start and concentrate on quality youngsters and only breed out of my very best birds. Could you possibly advise me on this matter? Also, is there another family of pigeons that cross particularly well with the Jacobs birds?

I started with pigeons as a young teenager in 1961. I climbed up the inside of a grain elevator and caught several common pigeons. I kept these pigeons for several months before I bought my first pair of quality racing homers. I went to a successful local fancier in Tulsa, Keith Parrett, that flew the "north" course from Tulsa northeast up Interstate 44 to Chicago. The north course required tough, strong, and gritty pigeons, i.e., the old-time Wegges, Bricouxs, Sions, Stassarts, and Trentons, because the racers usually faced brisk headwinds on their way home. Originally, I purchased a beautiful blue male and a silver female that were a picture-perfect proven breeding couple.

Today, if I were a new fancier, I would purchase my first pigeons using the same formula as I used in 1961. I would purchase several breeding couples from a successful fancier "that had my best interests at heart." This last phrase is as important as the quality of the breeders. Too often I have seen fanciers sell their "seconds" or even "culls" to new fanciers. This is a very cruel action. The game of racing pigeons is a hard Sport in which to succeed with quality pigeons; let alone inferior pigeons. New fanciers often leave the Sport after several racing seasons because they have little success getting race birds - in or near race time - on race day.

If you realistically believe that you have the time to spend in the breeding loft, you may want to purchase one excellent male and several excellent females. Take the culls from other local fanciers, poly-breed the good pigeons, and foster the eggs under the culls. As long as they are very healthy, culls can foster and raise youngsters as well as your very best pigeons. And, while this sounds like a great idea, it takes a tremendous amount of work, attention to detail, and incredible record-keeping. You must coordinate the egg laying function of several pairs of pigeons in order to properly switch eggs. There is a way, however, to create more flexibility in a fostering program. If you purchase an egg-turner, eggs can be kept in an egg turner successfully for several weeks before being placed under a foster pair of pigeons. My friend Tony Smith of TNT Titans is one of the very best I have seen at using an egg-turner to match eggs layed with the eggs of future foster parents. If you don't have the time or motivation to use an egg-fostering program, simply purchase from 2 to 6 pairs of quality breeders over the first several years in the Sport.

In my opinion, a key trick to purchasing new breeders is to purchase a first cousin, or an aunt or uncle, or even a half brother or sister to the first breeder or breeders you buy. Why? Because of the breeding philosophy that I learned from Antoine Jacops. My best breeding couples tend to be first cousins, second cousins, aunt-nephew or uncle-niece matings, or half-brother and sister matings. Remember, Antoine ultimately wants racers and breeders that are 70% line-bred and 30% outcrossed pigeons - that possess both prepotency and hybrid vigor. My suggestion is to purchase quality pigeons that fit a breeding program; and resist the temptation to simply purchase pigeons helter-skelter.

In any animal, including humans, the overall genetic influence of the male is estimated at about 40% while the overall genetic influence of the female is estimated at about 60%. Therefore, over the long haul, it may be more important to purchase quality females that males. If you study Antoine's pedigrees, he has experienced much of his greatest breeding success when he outcrossed a female into his family of pigeons. Over the past 12 years, Antoine has crossed a full sister to the KANNIBAAL (the KANNIBAAL is one of the most famous pigeons in the world and the 1st National Ace in Belgium in 1996) into his "old" family of pigeons primarily based upon the "DIAMOND COUPLE.". Before that, he outcrossed a sister to a 1st National from Tom & Karel Hufkens into his family. While he has also experienced great success crossing males into his family, like the success he has experienced with the DONKERE ENGELS OR "710," the grandson of the OUDE LICHTEN from Flor Engels, the greatest contribution to the genetic pool of his super pigeons seems to have come from the females he chose to bring into his breeding loft.

There is a great diversity in quality breeding pigeons and breeding couples. For instance, there are pigeons that seem to breed better youngsters with one mate over another. There are breeders that seem to breed well with almost any pigeon. There are breeding males that tend to breed better females than males. There are breeding females that tend to breed better males than females. There are breeders that breed both good males and good females. Breeders are not simply breeders. Occasionally, sometimes racing ability skips a generation. Breeders may breed breeders and not racers; while the grandchildren of these same breeders race "lights-out." There are families of pigeons that mature early as young birds; like the Janssen pigeons from the Brothers. There are families of pigeons that take several years to mature into excellent racers; like some of the distance pigeons in Belgium. Breeding quality racing pigeons tends to be an art form that varies from pigeon family to pigeon family and from breeding couple to breeding couple; and it is often very hard to generalize about breeding quality homing pigeons in a way that makes much sense in many circumstances.

A second trick in purchasing quality breeders is to purchase pigeons from a fancier that races the same system that you think you may enjoy racing and that fits your lifestyle and social circumstances. For example, if you want to race your pigeons on the natural system, look for pigeons from an excellent fancier that also races the natural system (that also has your best interests at heart). If you want to race a system of celibacy or widowhood, you may want to purchase pigeons from a fancier that has performed successfully with a similar racing system. Why may this trick be important? Because over time, the pigeons that fit a particular racing system tend to race well in that system and are therefore kept as breeders, and pigeons that don't fit the system get weeded out or culled. I am not suggesting that pigeons that perform well in the natural racing system will not perform well in the widowhood racing system and visa versa. I am simply suggesting that new fanciers ought to increase the probability of their success and decrease the trial and error of random breeding by evaluating their purchases as rationally as possible in terms of an action plan based upon research in the field. Too often, fanciers follow impulse buying and simply purchase anything that catches their eye at the moment; rather than developing and following a successful action plan. Before new fanciers should purchase new pigeons or build a loft, they should read about various racing systems or visit other local fanciers in their area in order to determine what type of racing system fits their lifestyle and personal resources. Too often, fanciers are anxious to get their first pigeons and hurriedly construct a loft with little thought for what system they will ultimately fly with their pigeons. For example, in 1988, I introduced a new fancier to a fancier in his area. After meeting with the fancier in his area, the new fancier left with ninety pigeons. Yes, I wrote 90 pigeons! In my opinion, although the old fancier was trying to be helpful; he ultimately did the new fancier a disservice. With 90 new pigeons, the new fancier had no idea what to do with them other than put them in a large room with plenty of nest boxes and let random chance have its way.

New fanciers shouldn't expect the best fanciers in their area to stock their lofts for free with super breeders when they first enter the Sport. Why? Because there have been many occasions when new fanciers receive excellent breeders from older club mates; only to leave the Sport after one or two racing seasons because they underestimated the time, expense and commitment of the Sport upon their resources and lifestyle. And seldom do the gifts find their way back to the original benefactor. As a remedy to this situation, when I have been approached by a new fancier in my club, I will usually give them one or two excellent squeakers. I seldom, if ever, give breeders to a new fancier. I want fanciers to prove themselves for several years before I make a more generous gesture beyond my original kindness.

As an example, several years ago, I gave a married couple that had joined the club, the Websters, several quality youngsters. One of them has been one of their best racers and one of them has been one of their best breeders over the two years that have been in the Sport. A beautiful grizzle son of the LAUTERMANS male bred to MORNING DOVE has bred many of their best racers. It pleases me to see new fanciers enjoy success with quality pigeons.

Consider purchasing several high quality pairs of breeders. Take the best possible care of your pigeons that you can afford. Breed early youngsters. Select a small young bird team made up of the best, most vibrant, young birds that were raised. Race a few excellent young birds on a quality motivational system. Keep only those youngsters that performed reasonably well as young birds for the old bird team. Repeat the young bird program in old birds. Love your pigeons. Strive to be a quality fancier and a good competitor. Do not allow poor sportsmanship and simple-minded personal or social abuse get a foot-hold in your club. Have fun and enjoy this wonderful Sport.

Yesterday, a fancier asked me to discuss various aspects of loft design. In order to discuss loft design, the are several precursors or questions that must be answered before a proper loft can be designed to fit the needs and desires of any one fancier. First, a fancier should factor the climate and geographical area of the loft location into the design. A loft properly constructed for the northern US would probably not involve the same construction criteria as a loft located in the southern US. A loft erected in Canada may not be appropriate and functional in the Caribbean. Another way to put it is that the cold temperatures of northern areas may demand different design criteria than the warm or hot temperatures of another area. Wet regions may require different design criteria than dry areas. Windy areas may require different design criteria from areas with little wind. Elevation may be a factor. Sunlight may be a factor. Humidity may be a factor.

Other geographical considerations are rural versus urban. Urban environs often have an abundance of cats and dogs while rural areas are plagued with raccoons, possums, foxes, coyotes, snakes, etc. Predatory hawks seem to be almost everywhere however. Rural areas usually give rise to larger lofts with more birds while urban areas, bounded by neighborhoods, building codes, unfavorable neighbors, etc. require smaller lofts with fewer pigeons. I know of several local fanciers whose loft is constructed below the top of an 8 foot fence line in order to be somewhat hidden from neighbors and in order not to stick out like a sore thumb.

Loft design should fit the physical characteristics and needs of a fancier. For instance, a fancier in a wheel chair has different needs than a fancier who is mobile without the use of an artificial devise. Taller fanciers need higher doors and ceilings than shorter fanciers. Arm length can factor into where nest boxes, water fountains, feed containers, and aviaries are located. KEY POINT: Build your loft to fit you! Not someone else. Do not design your loft only for your pigeons. Animal husbandry is a marriage between animals and humans. Design their house to include yourself. Chances are, you will not spend much time in a loft that is not clean, sanitary, comfortable, and healthy.

Another precursor to loft construction is deciding how many pigeons you want to house and what race system you want to use to motivate your pigeons. Build your loft to house the number of pigeons you wish to keep; and only keep the maximum number of pigeons that can be properly housed in the loft that you build. A widowhood loft, a celibacy loft, a perch only loft, or a natural system loft usually require different design features. Design your loft to create the best opportunities to properly manage your pigeons on the motivational system you prefer. Remember, up to a point, the more space that is designed for each racer - the better. Overcrowding causes diseases, depression, and conflict in aggressive and vibrant racing pigeons.

Lastly, design your loft in a way that makes it easiest for you to care for your pigeons. Eliminate work, stress, and angst by designing your loft around your needs and the needs a few excellent breeders and racers. Make your loft efficient. The less work the better. The racing pigeon game is usually played as a hobby. Properly defined, hobbies are leisure and recreational activities that relieve stress and promote enjoyment. You can negatively impact the joy of your hobby by constructing a loft that requires more effort than you desire or are able to give. I am always puzzled by new fanciers who leave the Sport due to the amount of work that it takes to manage their pigeons when their loft is either something they threw up, or converted in ignorance and haste; and when they house hundreds of pigeons in such a loft. I usually advise exiting fanciers to rethink their management strategy and to consider building a smaller loft that houses only a few pigeons. Personally, I would rather experience the tremendous joy of breeding and racing one champion pigeon than leave the Sport because I couldn't or wouldn't breed and race tens or hundreds of pigeons.

A proper loft design can make you or break you. And equally as important, it can make or break the success of your pigeons. Before you build: read books, browse the internet, watch videos, visit local fanciers, talk on the telephone, email a veteran fancier; do whatever it takes to create a vision of what's best for you in your current and future social and financial situations. If you are not a new fancier - but instead are an unhappy older fancier - study your loft design and ask yourself: Could a new loft or a reconstructed loft improve the way you play the game and benefit you greatly? If so, develop an action plan to change your circumstances and change your loft. One of the primary reasons for the success of my race team is their pristine yet comfortable and functional environs! In evaluating your own loft, consider answering the following brief questions:

If the answer to any of these questions is yes, or maybe yes, then the living conditions inherent in the question(s) may negatively affect the racing success of your pigeons on a continual basis. Guaranteed.

My lofts are located on Lookout Mountain Ranch in a rural area near downtown Tulsa. I use a wire floor in the breeding loft and a solid wood floor in the racing loft. I like the openness of a breeding loft with a wire floor. In the breeding loft, I prefer using heavy gauge wire panels with a small mesh rather than a lighter gauge rolled wire for the floor. The breeding loft is raised about 3 feet off of the ground and the exterior of the area below the loft is fenced with a heavy gauge rolled wire. Bantam chickens are housed under the loft to eat spilled grain and to help control any potential mice problem. The chickens are also continuously scratching the droppings in such a way that the droppings are turned, they dry and become dust. There is little, if any, moisture in the droppings under the loft that could contribute to a negative health concern. I frequently mow a large area around the loft to eliminate the potential for snakes that like to hide in taller grass. The dogs and miniature donkeys control the varmint population around the office and lofts.

I also like the breeding loft at the World of Wings. That loft is raised high enough to allow a tractor under the loft to thoroughly remove droppings below the loft. While this may not be possible in your situation or in my situation, it is not wise to allow a buildup of wet or damp droppings to negatively impact the air quality of the breeding loft. In my circumstance, I let the chickens perform the same function as the tractor at the World of Wings.

The racing loft is a different matter. Although the temperature in the race loft is ambient, the loft is designed to minimize rapid temperature variations in the loft. I have been taught that it is not wise to construct a racing loft in which the temperature varies from very high to very low in a relatively short amount of time. A loft should be designed to promote a condition in racing pigeons called "form." A short-hand definition of "form" refers to the heightened state of physical health and conditioning necessary to allow a racer to perform at its very best on race day. Rapid temperature variation inside the race loft is perhaps the most influential negative factor in developing and maintaining form in racing pigeons. In my experience in Tulsa Oklahoma and much of Belgium, open wire floors tend to allow enough temperature variation to negatively impact the development, creation, and maintenance of proper "form" in racing pigeons. Consequently, I have been taught that solid wood floors are superior to wire floors in racing lofts. Having said that, let me also add, however, that wire floors in race lofts can be modified to reduce the problem of sudden temperature variation. First, rectangular wooden panels can be placed on top of the wire to create a temporary solid floor that fanciers use only during race season. The wooden panels can be removed after the race series is completed. An even cheaper way of creating a temporary solid floor is to use straw on top of the wire. I know Belgian fanciers who use straw in their race lofts - even on solid wood floors - especially in the winter. Wintertime use of straw on the floor can promote a more stable temperature in the loft by serving as an insulation from the cold. And, a relatively temperature in the loft is essential for the development of form in racing pigeons. The beauty of creating a temporary solid floor on a wire floor is that it can be removed when the race season is over; and replaced before the next race season begins. In these lofts, floors in the racing loft do not need to be scraped year round when the wire floor is uncovered.

Personally, I like a solid wood floor in the race loft during the entire year primarily because I repeat the same management practices every day whether the birds are racing or not. Usually, I feed race birds on the floor in the off-season; and feed them in the nest box during race season. In order to feed race birds on the floor, the floor is thoroughly scraped and swept every day. Scraping and sweeping the floor takes about 5 minutes. Because scraping and sweeping involves physical work, I minimize the process by keeping a small number of racers. These few widows generate a relatively small amount of droppings which allows me to thoroughly clean the floor in a very short amount of time. The widows experience the exact same management routine 90 to 95% of the time; only experiencing a variation in routine during times of vacation and illness, for example. This daily routine is easier for me and easier for the widows. No thinking is required. It doesn't matter whether or not it is 180 days before the race series, or two weeks before the race series, or half-way through the race series. The feeding routine is the same. I thoroughly scrape and sweep the loft floor and then slowly feed the racers their mixed grain on the floor one handful at a time - or feed them in a bowl in the nest box - until they've eaten the amount I want to feed them on that particular day.

If time is a critical factor for you, you may want to use a wire floor in the race loft and cover it during the race season. when it comes to my widows, however, time is seldom a factor. In order for me to ask them to perform at the highest levels of the game played in my area during the race season, I need to contribute the same effort and to follow the same management routine as much as possible 365 days a year. I have been taught that it is necessary to prepare throughout the year to win the races in the next race series. Today, I am preparing the widows to race in 2009 by following the same management routine that I practiced in 2008. In the NFL, for example, the very best professional football players are involved in some phase of game preparation the entire year. The competition at the top of the Sport is too intense to only take the games seriously when training camp opens in July or August. Professional football players can't gain a huge amount of weight, or completely lose their conditioning by overeating and refusing to exercise during the off-season, and not expect it to negatively affect their performance during the regular season. I believe the same is true for pigeons. While I am not referring to loft exercise, I am referring to the regiment of feeding elite racing pigeons consistently throughout the year. In Belgium, the old bird race season is usually twice as long as we play in Oklahoma: 16 weeks versus 8 weeks. It may be necessary to rest old birds more after a 16 week race series than an 8 week race series. In Oklahoma, it is not necessary to completely rest old birds after they have only competed in an 8 to 10 week race series. Except for the influences of the moult and temperature, I believe old birds can be raced 100 to 150 miles (160 to 240 kilometers) practically every weekend of the year.

Most importantly, I enjoy the widows everyday. My enjoyment of the widows is completely separate from racing the widows. I enjoy my pigeons whether I race them or not. Racing is not linked with enjoyment. Racing is not particularly important to me. In fact, if I never raced them again, it wouldn't particularly matter to me. Why? Because pigeons have always been magic for me. Since I saw my very first racing homer when I was 14 years old, pigeons have been a critically important part of my life. I don't know why. It just is. Pigeons have helped me in my life course as much or more than any other factor in my life. I'll blog about it some day. But for now, when I walk in the loft and see TRAVELER, for instance, I feel great. I'm happy. I enjoy caring for him. The intent of a hobby is working in my life. I'm relaxed. I'm having fun. I am enjoying myself and the pigeons. As you no doubt know, simply sitting outside in a comfortable chair or in a soft hammock with a good beverage watching the pigeons train around the loft is just about as relaxing as it gets - at least it is for me.

This reality is not as true, however, for those fanciers whose enjoyment comes solely from beating their competition. For these over-zealous fanciers, the off-season must be pure agony. Why? Because when they are not racing during the off-season, there's just no one to beat. This down time must seem like an eternity to them. What will they do for excitement and self- satisfaction? Luckily for these fanciers - the fanciers in the Sport whose primary enjoyment comes from competition, winning, and beating other fanciers - the offseason is what trophies are made for. Trophies are a permanent representation of a fleeting moment of accomplishment. Trophies remind us how great we were; and consequently, how great we still must be. By staring at their trophies, polishing their trophies, and coveting their trophies, these self-absorbed fanciers barely tolerate the off-season. Interestingly, I have found that trophy size is inversely proportionate to ego size. A very small ego requires a very large trophy; and visa versa. But that's the fodder for another blog. I always have a great time writing about fanciers who see the world so much differently than I do. And although I'm writing satirically, trophies are not all bad.

Although I haven't heard officially, it is my understanding that the 2009 Texas Center Convention will be held in Tulsa, Oklahoma. For those of you that may attend this convention, I offer you a personal invitation to visit Lookout Mountain Ranch, enjoy a glass of iced tea, and squeeze a few pigeons. The convention sponsor, the 75 Combine, is made up of fanciers who really know how to host a great convention; fanciers like Larry Dobelbower, Roland Gutierrez, Bill Hill, Jim Robinson, Stuart Child, and Steve Trotter, to name a few. I urge you to consider this convention in your 2009 summer travel plans. You can watch for information updates on the Texas Center's website.

In the next several weeks, I will post short film clips on YouTube about sale birds listed on drjohnlamerton.com, ipigeon.com, or other sites on the internet. My sons Jeremy and Jeff are videographers and photographers. To date, Jeremy has taken all of the photographs used on the website and the pictures of pigeons for sale. I will stack Jeremy's work up against any other pigeon photographer's work anywhere; especially in Belgium and Holland. Jeremy likes to experiment with different backgrounds. This week, he used a pigeon egg as a background as evidenced by the picture of LAMBERTON 173 featured below; and the pictures currently posted on ipigeon.

As Jeremy and I have been photographing birds for the internet, we have observed that every pigeon does not necessarily take a good picture. There are excellent pigeons that take lousy pictures; pictures that don't resemble the beauty of the pigeon, particularly in young birds. Several months ago, a checker female, LAMBERTON 65 (pictured below) was posted on ipigeon. She is an excellent female with an excellent pedigree. I really like her and reluctantly offered 65 for sale. As you can see by her picture, when we photographed 65, she was very curious about the picture box and kept extending her head to look around. Consequently, her picture is not particularly photogenic, or representative of her true beauty. Nevertheless, her picture was posted. I thought that she might not sell because of the questionable quality of her picture. Although she didn't sell the first week, she was purchased after she was re-posted the second week. I received an email from the buyer who wrote that he was very surprised by her beauty given the way 65 looked in her picture. He was very pleased and pleasantly surprised by her.

If a great pigeon takes a poor picture, its marketability can be greatly affected. Rightly or wrongly, buyers tend to rely heavily on what they perceive about a bird for sale from the bird's picture. I have many excellent pigeons that have taken very average pictures. It takes alot of time and energy, and it's very tedious, to photograph each pigeon well, and to create an excellent visual presentation for the buyer. I believe that Jeremy has been a pioneer in this field. Excellent photography is expensive. As an estimate, maybe 10% or more of the price you pay for a pigeon for sale online is the cost of taking a picture and creating an outstanding visual product for the buyer to evaluate a purchase. It concerns me that so much emphasis is placed upon the quality of a picture of a pigeon for sale. My concern has led us to a new innovation. As I said when today's blog began, beginning in the next several weeks, short video clips of pigeons for sale will be posted on YouTube. Jeremy, Jeff and I have been working on the production of the video clips for several months now.

In these clips, you will be able to see each pigeon in action and close-up. You can see its size, its wing, its flights, its feathering, i.e., its true beauty. Half of each clip features the pigeon in my hands as I breakdown its pfemaleotype in terms of wing, feathering, flights, balance, back, eye, etc. The other half of the clip features the pigeon in the photography box as I discuss its genotype and gently walk the pigeon around the box. These video clips will give buyers a more accurate and dynamic presentation of each bird for sale than pictures can yield.

In addition, we will start posting short video clips on the website covering many of the subjects discussed in the blog. In fact, I have been slowly re-organizing the blog into a book-like form with a index so that the reader can quickly and easily find information on particular subjects. Video clips will support the information on the blog.

Fellow fanciers, our American culture and economic system is solidly in the midst of the information age. Generating, packaging, storing, presenting and retrieving information is the name of the game. 100 years ago our country was agrarian or based upon agriculture. After World Wars I and II, our country became industrialized or based on industry. Since the late 1970s, our country has evolved into the information age. Why do I bring this up? Because a large part of the future of the racing pigeon game is going to be web-based. In addition to the standard parts of the game, like the pigeons and the loft, more and more of my time will be devoted to drjohnlamberton.com.

Just like other forms of media like radio, television, and film, the internet can be an exciting place to visit or a boring place to be. Websites are like radio and televisions stations. If they do not quickly captivate and hold the attention of the web surfer, the viewer will flick the mouse and leave the site as fast as he or she can punch a station button on the car radio or click the television remote. What are the characteristics of an effective website? Here are a few thoughts:

These are a few thoughts on the future of the internet. At drjohnlamberton.com, we want to be a significant player in providing the Sport relevant information so that fanciers will attain their goals and enjoy playing this wonderful game.

Today I received an email from a fellow fancier who now uses a web cam. Please read his email and click on his links. He recorded his training flights and posted them to YouTube. He writes:

Dr John,

I read your blog today regarding your recommendations of a good websites. I just want to share with you my webcam on my loft. I purchased this wireless cam last Thanksgiving on sale for about $50 and just got the chance to install it 2 months ago. With this device I am able to view my loft from work or wherever I am. You may share it to your readers as a sample if you desire.

http://myracingpigeons.mypets.ws:81/jview.htm

The web cam is able to record the arrivals of my birds too. I can set an area of the screen to be sensitive to motion like the roof and the aviary. The recording can be sent via email or stored in local or FTP drive for later viewing. It doesn't need another PC to be on to save wattage and I can sill view it via web. when I train my birds I am able to view it's arrival wherever I am live or thru recording. I very much like it's features. Here are some samples of the recordings:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4xWSrGtSko

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMsGH3nBto8&feature=user

BTW, most breeders in my loft came from you thru Ipigeon.

Last night, my sons Jeremy and Jeff Lamberton uploaded two videos showing AU 08 LAMBERTON 119 pencil male and AU 08 ARPU 44437 blue female. While 119 has been sold, 44437 and her nestmate, 44436 are still available. As I blogged before, there are many excellent pigeons whose pictures do not properly show their beauty, balance, or temperament. These new videos are our attempt to give a buyer more quality information than a picture can show about a future breeding prospect. Obviously, there is nothing better than squeezing a breeding prospect in person. But since personally visiting Tulsa is not a realistic possibility for most fanciers, videos may be the next best venue in order obtain enough information to make an informed decision. While I do not want to ever turn the blog into a repetitive sales pitch, I do want to introduce these new videos and talk about the reasons why we think they may revolutionize the way pigeons are sold online. Historically, we enjoy operating on the cutting edge and pushing the envelope. This management strategy has been our hallmark in the industries in which we have competed over the years. For instance, the Environmental Management Graduate Program at Oklahoma State University may have been one of the most cutting-edge graduate programs in the country during the time I was involved with the program. A class on globalization in 2001 anticipated the events on 9 - 11; the radical increase in the cost of oil; radical changes in the economy; and many other riveting issues. Now, in the pigeon Sport, we want to accomplish the same goals through drjohnlamberton.com. In the spirit of innovation, we offer the following video as an introductory example of our new advertising concepts.

AU 08 ARPU 44437 blue female is bred by two excellent breeders from Antoine Jacops: BELG 05 6046857 male and BELG 6046825. Please browse her video and her picture/pedigree.

These advertising concepts represent an introductory application of video on our website to make a significant contribution to the pigeon sport through innovations in education, promotion, and marketing. In the near future, we will begin to regularly introduce videos on our website concerning a wide array of subjects on the racing pigeon game. We hope you will enjoy them and find them applicable to your individual situation.

Have you seen the movie SIGNS? It is directed by M. Night Shyamalan and stars Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix. The plot focuses on a family living on a farm who finds mysterious crop circles in their fields which suggests something more frightening to come. While hiding in the basement from aliens who use the crop circles for navigation to visit Earth, Gibson tries to comfort Phoenix by relating his philosophy about SIGNS. Gibson says that there are two types of people in the world:

The first type of people are those who believe that life is totally random. These fanciers believe that there is no connection between life events since they are totally random by nature. Gibson states that these people have little hope in life because they are totally alone due to the randomness of their existence. The concept of SIGNS doesn't exist because the basis of randomness leaves no room for potential meaning or SIGNS.

The second type of people believe that life has an order to it. They believe that life events are connected. In an orderly world, life events contain SIGNS or clues about the meaning and nature of other life events due to the connectedness of their existence. This group of people have hope because they are not alone; they are tied to other life events that contain the SIGNS necessary to guide them in their life course.

In this movie, M. Night Shyamalan debates the dichotomy between randomness and order; and the importance of SIGNS. I believe that this movie is a teaching metaphor that can relate directly to the racing pigeon game. For the sake of today's discussion, let's agree that there are two types of fanciers: fanciers who believe in randomness and fanciers who believe in order. The fanciers who believe in randomness believe that there is little one can do to affect the outcome of pigeon races. No matter how they feed, no matter how they breed, no matter how they train, the outcome of pigeon races is random. These fanciers have little hope of success because they believe that they have little or no control over their fate. Consequently, they try to decrease the odds of losing and increase the odds of winning by racing a very large race team. The number of birds on their race team is directly proportional to their attempt to increase the odds that any one of their pigeons will make a great performance in a pigeon race. These fanciers believe that the more pigeons they fly in the race, the greater the odds of success in the race. The fewer the birds they fly in the race, the less odds that their pigeons will be successful. These fanciers essentially believe that winning is a function of luck rather than a function of hard work. Therefore, these fanciers attempt to manipulate the odds of the race by racing 50, 100, 150 or more pigeons on a race team.

The second type of fancier believes that life events are ordered. They believe that what they do or the effort they put in their management system, has a direct effect on the success of their birds in a pigeon race. These fanciers believe that how they feed, how they breed, and how they train their pigeons directly effects the outcomes of races. These fanciers have hope of success because they believe that they have an influence over their fate. Consequently, they try to win pigeon races by racing a smaller more well-managed race team. The number of birds on their race team is directly proportional to a fancier's time, resources, and ability to race well-managed pigeons that will be successful as a result of their preparation. These fanciers look for SIGNS that will give them insight into other life events in the loft that will enhance the success of the racers in the loft.

Are you a fancier who believes in randomness? Do you try to increase the odds that your race team will win races by increasing significantly the number of pigeons on your race team? Do you fly 50 pigeons in your name, and enter another 50 in your wife's name; and enter another 50 in your children's names?

Or, are you a fancier that believes in order? Do you try to increase the ability of your pigeons to win races by improving the effectiveness of your race management system?

I'm sure that many of you answered the questions by indicating that you believe that you are in the second group of fanciers. If you did, let's take a closer look at your belief. Another word for randomness is chaos. when you enter the race loft, do you see chaos or do you see order? when you enter the race loft, do you look for signs? If any one of the sections in your race loft are larger than 5 ft. by 5 ft., the section is too large to maintain order. Therefore, to some degree, the loft designed and built to promote chaos. Why do I say that a loft greater than 5 feet square promotes chaos and randomness ? I say this because any loft section that is larger than your ability to stand in the middle of the section and to touch all of the interior walls of the section as you turn 360 degrees in the section with your arms straight out from your side, is too big to effectively control the pigeons in it. Stand in your loft section or sections, raise your arms out from your side, turn completely around. If you cannot touch or nearly touch each interior wall, you have no ability to physically control your pigeons in the section with your arms and your body. If the ceiling in your loft is higher than several inches above your head, the ceiling is too high. If your racers can escape your control by flying over your head or around your arms, the loft is too large. In my race loft, I built eleven sections side by side that are 6 feet deep and slightly over 5 feet wide. There are widowhood boxes on the back walls of each loft section that range from 12 to 22 inches deep. Therefore, the interior of the loft from front to back is 6 feet minus 12 to 22 inches. This figure is 5 feet or less, depending on the depth of the widowhood box. All of the loft sections are about 5 feet by 5 feet square. In these sections, pigeons can not easily move from their widowhood boxes into another area of the loft because I can physically dominate the interior of the loft section with my body, arms and hands. As I have previously indicated, there are 4 to 6 widowhood boxes in each loft section. After I let the widows select their box, take ownership of their box, and become comfortable in their box, I require that each widow stay in their box when I enter the loft section, and as I work in the loft section. If a widow flies away from me to the floor when I enter the loft section, I tap my foot beside him or her and force the pigeon to fly back up to the box. I tap on the floor with my foot. I know a famous Belgian fancier who uses a walking stick or a cane to tap on the floor next to an errant widow to encourage the pigeon that it is safer to stay in their box than journey to other areas of the loft when he is present. Under no circumstances is a widow allowed to stay on the floor when I'm in the loft section. All of the race birds are required to stay in their boxes when am in their loft. No exceptions. Most pigeons learn quickly to remain in their box while I scrape and sweep the section floor, feed them and clean their boxes, medicate them, clean their water fountains, or simply "hang out." Staying calm in their boxes is my expectation for the widows reflecting my belief that I belong in the interior of the loft section and that I am their caretaker, custodian and friend. Our joint expectation, the widows and me, is that the widows remain calm and gentle in their box while I am present in the loft section.

Especially in young birds, there is a tremendous difference between (1) walking in an orderly widowhood loft whose young residents conform with the expectations of a management system and (2) walking in a chaotic loft that features a large room with many perches or boxes and 30, 40, 50, or 100 young birds flying around like crazy trying to get away from an "intruder." A calm widowhood loft reflects order. A chaotic widowhood loft reflects randomness.

As I said before, when I enter the widowhood loft sections on a daily basis to care for the race team, I do so with expectations. As I open the section door, I expect to see each widow (from 4 to 6) sitting quietly in their box, and remain quietly in their box the entire time I am in the loft section. when I look in the loft section, through my eyes, my brain forms a mental picture of exactly where each widow is their box in the loft section. After a time, blindfolded, I can point to the exact spot each bird is located in the side of the loft section housing the widowhood boxes. Over time, the mental picture I create of the interior of the loft section becomes virtually an exact replica of the actual loft interior. Each time I walk in the loft section, I expect to validate my mental picture. Upon entering the loft, if I don't see exactly what I expect to see based upon the mental picture I have created of the loft interior, my mind determines that a certain degree of chaos exists. In summary, I want to observe exactly what I expect to see when I enter a loft section.

In a large room filled with many pigeons that have no expectation of proper loft decorum other than a randomness produced by the fear of self-preservation, a constant mental picture cannot be developed over time. Why? Because every time a fancier enters such a loft, the picture observed is always different. A constant mental picture, or an expectation, cannot be developed in a loft dominated by pigeons that act randomly because they haven't been taught the expectations of a fancier. For instance, when you enter the loft over a five day span, on day one, Pigeon A may be sitting on a perch. The second day, Pigeon A may be sitting on the floor. On day three, Pigeon A might be laying in the grit bowl. On day four, Pigeon A might be trying to bathe in the water fountain. On day five, Pigeon A may be chasing a female on the other side of the large loft room away from the perch he constantly fights to keep. In addition to the randomness I just described, large rooms are often and usually overcrowded due to their lack of order. Consequently, large room are generally chaotic. In a large uncontrolled loft, the only mental picture than can be learned from repeated trips in the loft is a fluid and dynamic picture in which a fancier expects to see something different every time the loft is entered - or a random picture.

In an orderly loft, widows are taught to behave according to the expectations of the fancier. In an orderly loft, the expectations of the fancier are constantly reinforced by immediately and firmly correcting the deviant behavior of an errant widow. Because of this discipline, in an orderly loft, it is possible to see signs. It is possible to recognize and collect clues based upon what one sees in the loft. For example, when I enter the widowhood loft and a particular male or female displays for me, I believe that the display is a sign. when I enter the loft section and a particular pigeon is seldom in his box when I enter, I believe that the box vacancy is a sign. Outside the loft, when I see a particular widow clap his wings and constantly soar around the loft - frequently landing and taking off again from the loft roof - I believe that such behavior is a sign. In fact, I believe that everything that can be observed is valuable data that must be observed, recognized, recorded, and interpreted to understand the signs imbedded in the observations. I believe that there are far more signs than coincidences.

Inside and outside of your loft, do you see signs? when you enter the loft, can you predict the exact behavior of each racer on your race team? Do you have an exact mental picture of the interior of your race loft that can be observed and verified each time you enter the loft? Is there randomness in your loft or is there order? I believe that in more than 90% of most pigeon lofts, there is far more chaos than order. Why? Because most fanciers do not have a loft specifically constructed to create order and therefore, most fanciers keep too many pigeons. Most lofts are unintentionally designed to create chaos. In Belgium, 99% of all fanciers have lofts that create order. Such lofts are expected in the Belgian fancy. In my area in Oklahoma, I know of a number of fanciers who catch their pigeons with a small fishing net. Their loft rooms are so large and ill-designed that they manually whisk their pigeons out of the air or yank them off of the loft floor with a flick of the wrist. While I'm not criticizing this management technique, it seems adverse to my desire to develop quiet gentle widows.

when you care for your pigeons - when you are inside or outside your loft - are you continuously gathering observable data that includes the recognition of signs or clues to further help you manage your race team? Do signs exist? Are signs important? Can signs help your race team race well? I believe they can.

One way to define experience is to define it as the ability to recognize signs. Discipline, however, can be defined as the ability to act quickly and decisively based upon the recognition, meaning and interpretation of signs. Sometimes the recognition of signs and the interpretation of their meaning is not simply a function of experience; but a function of intuition. Intuition is an innate human characteristic. Intuition is what separates good fanciers from great fanciers. The gift of intuition either exists or it doesn't exist within a human being. It can't be learned. Great fanciers are intuitive. They can recognize and find meaning in signs based upon a "sixth sense."

In summary, I believe that fanciers with large teams of racing pigeons find hope in numbers. Their hope lies in their ability to beat the odds of randomness. While I believe that fanciers with small, well-managed teams of racing pigeons find hope in the teaching and discipline of order and recognition and interpretation of signs.

Yesterday's blog dealt with the concepts of order and randomness. I really enjoyed writing it and hope you enjoyed reading it. Although yesterday's blog was pocked with philosophy, I believe it reveals just how each of us builds the theoretical foundation of our race management system. The basic building blocks of our management philosophy are predictors of our ultimate success or ultimate failure as we play the pigeon racing game and enjoy our hobby.

I do not believe that life is totally random. I also do not believe that human beings completely control their destiny. I believe that the truth lies somewhere in between these two realities. I believe that life has a certain randomness embedded within an overall order. Let me give you an example. For instance, I can spend hours, days, and months teaching and preparing a young bird team to race very well on a widowhood motivational system. The teaching and preparation process can be perfectly laid out in an action plan whose schedule can be broken down to tasks of the day and to the hour. At the end of this process, shortly before the first young bird race, I can develop the young widows into almost perfect racers with almost perfect form. They are as ready to race as is humanly possible. Let's say that several days before the first young bird race, I let the youngsters out of the loft to routinely exercise. The youngsters exercise very well for an hour darting and flitting across the sky over the Ranch valley. As I watch them enjoying their freedom, I am mentally contemplating their winning performance on race day. I notice that a blue white flight splash looks particularly fit and ready to race. As he soars and dives around the loft, I imagine that he is the one! He will win the upcoming race! What a thrill! What a mountain top moment! With a smile that comes from believing that I have already won the race with the splash widow, I call the youngsters into the loft to eat. As they begin to descend towards the landing board, I walk into the loft calling my beautiful racers to come inside while I gently sprinkle a few grains on the floor of the loft. What a magic moment! I'm thinking that today is a very good day. Suddenly, the thunder of flapping wings echoes in the loft and I hear terrified widows claw the air with their flight feathers trying desperately to elude some sort of predator. As I run out on the loft deck, in the distance I see a Cooper's Hawk low to the ground flying away from the loft. The dogs are chasing her and are not too far behind and gaining. The hawk seems unusually heavy and unable to fly as normal. As she seeks to escape the terror of the dogs running on her tail, she desperately pumps her wings as hard as she can trying to gain speed and find the safety of elevation. As she finally turns upwards towards the sanctity of the sky, I can see the limp body of the wonderful splash gripped tightly in her talons.

This hypothetical vignette is meant to show the contrast between order and randomness. While the widow's preparation reflects the order I worked to create in the loft, the desires of the hawk depict the talons of randomness. In other words, no matter how hard we work to control our destiny, unforeseen random events can dramatically alter our life course.

Every time we exercise our pigeons - every time we race our pigeons - random events can alter our control of the situation. In fact, during the races, we actually have no control of the situation. During a race, all we have to rely on is the preparation that we worked so hard to create in our race team. If we can't rely on that effort; then the results of pigeon racing are totally random and we all might as well ignore the daily care of our pigeons and fly as many racers as we are able to race. The trouble is, however, that within the chaos and randomness of the general world and any specific pigeon race, the best prepared - most motivated pigeon usually wins. On race day, as I wait for the race birds to return from the race, and while I mentally weigh the dichotomy of randomness and order to explain why the race birds seem late, a tiny speck usually appears on the horizon. The tiny speck grows larger and larger. Finally, I recognize that the tiny speck is indeed a race pigeon pumping its wings back and forth in order to reach the comfort of his nest box and the companionship of a mate. when the tiny speck grows large enough, I recognize one of my favorite and best-performing widows diving towards the landing board. In the thrill of this moment, the doubt of randomness fades and I gleefully realize that my hard work did in fact pay off. My belief that the world is ordered and connected is verified; and my belief that what I do as the manager of my race team does indeed influence the ultimate success or failure of the racers.

Several days ago I received an email from a fancier that had seen several pigeons of mine advertised for sale on the internet. He asked me if two of them, a male and a female, would make a good breeding pair. After reviewing the pedigrees, I determined that the two pigeons would indeed make a great breeding pair. The fancier's email also indicated that he followed the blog every day and urged me to keep writing!!! As you may know, some time ago I blogged about the components of a good pedigree and a prepotent genotype with hybrid vigor. It thrills me that this fancier understood my message and was actually able to put that information into valuable use as he paired two pigeons for sale and estimated the genotype of their offspring. I believe that this fancier observed data (pedigrees), saw a sign embedded in the data, and acted on it! Fantastic!!! Congratulations Jason.

I believe that it is very difficult to observe data and see signs in a chaotic loft. If your loft is not built to adequately house a few high quality racers on a very specific motivational system, I believe that you will increase the work necessary to overcome these design handicaps. And truthfully, I don't think these design flaws can ever be totally overcome. I have a very good friend in my club that is building a new race loft after 3 years of racing because he is tired of the enormous amount of physical labor he endures to over come the design flaws of his first loft. Like most of us, he constructed his first loft with little or no understanding of the functionality in a proper pigeon loft.

The first step towards success in the racing pigeon game is a proper loft designed specifically to meet the needs of the pigeons and the needs of the pigeon fancier. A proper loft should feature excellent ventilation, complete dryness, indirect sunlight, and plenty of room for all pigeons cooped.

The second step towards success is to obtain the best pigeons that you are able to obtain within the confines of your personal situation. Buy quality and not quantity. Breed as many young birds as you can within a specific time period. If you raise 60 youngsters between January 1 and April 30, stop raising youngsters to race on May 1.

The third step towards success is to train your youngsters according to a predetermined schedule and constantly eliminate pigeons that do not conform to the qualities excellent young bird racers. As I have said in the past, on the average, the best racers will come from less than 10% of the youngsters that you raise. In order to verify this statistic, may I suggest that you start calculating the percentage of your best racers as a percentage of all of the pigeons that you raised that year.

The fourth step towards success is to resist the idea that you must race every youngster that you raise. Further, resist the idea of racing every youngster left after the initial training. Only race the number of youngsters for which a young bird loft was properly designed. Choose a reasonable number of pigeons to race based upon your time, your wallet, and your desire.

The fifth step towards success is to manage and care for a few high quality racers with all of your ability and passion. Feed them well with good, clean, grains. Give them fresh grit every day or two. Give them pickstone. Give them good water. My friend Tony Smith recommends letting the chlorine in municipal water distill before you administer it to your pigeons. Of course, this recommendation depends upon the quality of the water in your area. Give your pigeons vitamins. Periodically administer electrolytes during hot and humid periods of time and after races. Many of you may have "special" supplements and additives like garlic, teas, etc. Medicate your pigeons. Bathe your pigeons weekly with a safe medicated shampoo. Regularly clean the loft, the boxes and perches, water fountains, feeders, grit bowls, etc., so that droppings, feathers and dust are not an environmental problem in the loft. I recommend daily cleaning if possible; particularly in the racing lofts. Eliminate rodents, spiders, snakes, bugs, flies, and varmints. Create an environment in your loft in which you and your pigeons like to hang together and become as close as possible.

There are more very important steps towards success. I will continue discussing them in the future. Good luck.

I have been blogging about the topic of signs in a racing pigeon loft. I don't know if it seems to be a difficult subject about which to write or whether it's just me struggling with how to explain what I mean. But I believe that it's a very important topic to understand in order to be a successful fancier. Signs are discovered as a result of observation. Essentially, a sign is an observation evaluated against the backdrop of what's normal in the loft on a day to day basis. Let me give you an example. when I loft train the young widowhood females during the race series - if one particular female refuses to fly and instead finds her way over to a loft with a male in it - and if she displays in front of that male attempting to solicit a mate - I believe this behavior can be a sign of heightened form in this particular female. Another example of an important sign is in the video of AU 08 ARPU 44437. Can you observe it? I will identify the sign in several days after I first give readers an opportunity to study the video.

The greater the number of racers on the young and old bird race teams, the harder it is to make detailed observations of any one pigeon. I know I continually talk about the benefits of racing small race teams; but the advantages of racing a small number of pigeons are numerous and critical to racing success at the top of the race sheet.

The young bird race season in northeast Oklahoma will begin in about six weeks. Some of you may start racing much sooner. At this point in the calendar year, young birds should be trained to 90 miles/150 kilometers. Their flights should have been cut, pulled and re-grown. Their body molt should be such that the race team looks like old birds. My young males are currently sitting on eggs with their older mates. when their eggs hatch, they will raise one youngster for several weeks. After several weeks, the youngsters bred from the young males will be removed with the old females into a separate loft and the young males will begin widowhood. The old females will finish feeding their youngsters. If you believe that you have an outstanding young racing male, let him feed one youngster and place the other youngster under another young male and old female pair at hatching. If an outstanding young male is bred to the right old female, it is advantageous to breed two excellent late hatches out of an outstanding young male to race in old birds. The same strategy is possible with young females. By breeding young race males and young race females in July and/or August, it is possible to not only bond the young racers to their nest box; but also breed quality young birds out of the best young racers. The key to this benefit is to make absolutely sure that the best possible old female is coupled with a good young male that will produce an outstanding youngsters genotypically and pfemaleotypically. Each year on the young birds team there are usually several young birds (1) that are bred very well, (2) that look very well physically and (3) that perform very well during training. These characteristics often add up to an outstanding young bird. It can be a real advantage to racing a late hatch youngster(s) bred from an outstanding young bird racer during the next old bird race series.

Several weeks ago, my friends Tony Smith and Josh Cooley (grandfather-grandson), TNT Titans Loft, Sand Springs, Oklahoma, USA, took their young birds on a 35 mile training toss west of Tulsa. One particular silver male did not return from the training toss. About a week or ten days after the toss, Tony received a telephone call from a very kind person by the name of Mildred Smith. As fate would have it, the silver male had found his way to Mildred and Jerry Smith's home some 15 miles east the original training toss location. TNT's racers, young birds and old birds, are smart, tame and very well-trained. The silver male, tired, hungry, and thirsty, decided to seek refuge at Mildred's home. I guess he somehow sensed the goodness of the Smith's home. Maybe its pigeon ESP. In any event, Mildred, her husband Jerry, and their grandson Dakota, caught the silver male and retrieved his ring number. Using the AU website, Mildred found Tony and Josh's contact information from the "Lost Bird Info" link.

when Mildred called Tony, she had already fed and watered the silver male and turned him loose. During their phone conversation, Tony asked Mildred to try to catch the silver male again, if he stayed around the Smith's home. Tony gave Mildred some tips on how to re-catch the errant pigeon. Sure enough, the silver male was not ready to leave Mildred's home. She coaxed and called him into the garage using more grain and water; and caught him a second time. As soon as Mildred called Tony with the good news about the silver male's recapture, Tony basketed the TNT Titans young bird team, jumped in the truck, and headed for Mildred's house.

when Tony arrived at Mildred's, he met the Smith family with whom he had developed a long distance relationship over the telephone: Mildred and Jerry, and grandson Dakota. The Smiths were very interested in learning all they could about the wayward silver male, the other young birds Tony brought to release at their home, and the sport of racing pigeons in general. After several hours of very interesting conversation, Tony released the young birds, crated the silver male, and headed back home. Several times a week since, the Smith's have called Tony to ask about the silver male which Dakota calls the "Silver Bullet." After a brief medical recuperation, the silver male was returned to the TNT Titans young bird team. Although he had no exterior injury, trauma and scarring, after his return, the Silver Bullet arrived home extremely late from each subsequent training toss. At first, he was hours late. Gradually, his tardiness became less and less. Today, the Silver Bullet is usually one of the first young birds to arrive home and his racing future now looks very bright. Thanks to the kindness, persistence and dedication of strangers by the name of Mildred, Jerry, and Dakota, that he found in a foreign land, the Silver Bullet finally made it home; not with his wings, but in a crate in the bed of Tony's truck.

Mildred, Jerry and Dakota still contact Tony weekly to talk about racing pigeons in general, and of course, the Silver Bullet in particular. The Silver Bullet brought two families together; and maybe when Dakota is a little older, the influence of the magic and beauty of the Silver Bullet may produce a new young pigeon fancier. For himself, the Silver Bullet found a novel way to find home when he needed the help of angels on his journey. He has regained his place on the race team as one of the ones to watch in September. I'll keep you posted. What I hope this story reminds us is that there are many reasons for retrieving a lost bird; and all of them are good. It can lead to providing healthy information about this wonderful sport to members of the general public. It can lead to the formation of new friendships. It can lead to the cultivation of new fanciers. It can lead to the discovery of new champion racers or breeders. I ask you and I urge you. If you ever have the opportunity to retrieve a lost pigeon, please treat the opportunity with the respect and importance it deserves. Retrieving a lost pigeon is an opportunity. As fanciers, we can do with these opportunities what we wish. We can throw them away by telling the contact family to simply feed it a couple of days and let it go. Or, we can see this opportunity to advance the sport by giving of our time and energy. If a stranger phones you, I would like to suggest that all fanciers be extremely nice to those who have gone to the trouble of locating a lost pigeon's owner. In the development and fund raising field, "angels" are known as "donors" who give of themselves for a philanthropic purpose. Mentor these "angels" who are trying to help a lost or stray pigeon by thanking them and marketing the beauty of our sport. when the lost pigeons are home, show the patience to medically treat the traumatized and/or injured pigeon to a complete recovery, if possible. Lost pigeons have the potential to be very special pigeons. Many years ago, on a very hard race in Belgium, Antoine Jacops lost the two time 1st Ace in the elite Hafo Lier Middle Distance Club in the Antwerp Union, the SUPER ACE. A fancier in southern Belgium found the SUPER ACE in his loft. Antoine retrieved him and the SUPER ACE went on to become one of the most prolific breeders that Antoine ever bred; and the father, grandfather, and great grandfather of champions in Oklahoma, all over America, and all over the world.

I would like to thank Mildred and Jerry Smith, and Dakota, for saving the Silver Bullet's life and helping him find his way home. I would also like to thank the ARPU for creating and maintaining current information on the "Lost Bird Info" link on its website. And, I would like to thank Tony and Josh for the many seemingly insignificant acts of kindness and generosity they perform for the general sport of racing pigeons.

The Silver Bullet is bred from Lamberton pigeons out of Ganus breeders primarily from the stock of Gaby Vandenabeele via Ad Schaerlaeckens. The GOLDEN SISSI, a super son of the famous breeding female - the SISSI - appears three times in the SILVER BULLET'S pedigree along with Silvere Toye's RED ANGEL, Mike Ganus's GOLDEN MATTENS, and Roy Van Dyck's KANNIBAAL (1st National Ace Belgium 1996). From his pedigree, do you think the SILVER BULLET has the genotype to be a great racer? I certainly think so. Is he completely healed from the mental and physical trauma of his wayward training toss? We'll see. For me, I find that the tension that comes from not knowing the outcome of this unique opportunity is a large part of what the thrill of racing pigeons is all about. Come September - Fly Hard - SILVER BULLET - Fly Fast! Your fan club will be watching!

Figure 1 is a replica of the interior of a classic widowhood loft "section." Each section is about 5 feet wide and six feet deep. There can be as many sections side by side as the length of a pigeon loft will allow. I walk through the entire widowhood loft section by section using sliding interior doors. There are 6 nest boxes per loft section. The nest boxes begin about 3 feet from the loft floor and continue to the ceiling. Since I am 6 feet tall, the ceiling is about 6 feet 4 inches tall. I don't want a pigeon to be able to fly over my head and escape my reach.

Just because there are 6 nest boxes per section doesn't mean that each nest box must be used. Frequently, there are unused nest boxes in the widowhood loft. Only excellent racers or racing prospects should deserve a nest box in the loft. Don't fill each nest box. In my loft, nest boxes in the racing loft must be earned either through genotype (pedigree), pfemaleotype (in the hand evaluation), or performance (general observation or training tosses). KEY POINT: The number of pigeons in a loft section is determined by the quality of the racers and not by the number of boxes available. Frequently, the bottom two boxes in a loft section are unoccupied.

Novice fanciers, let me suggest that you build one widowhood section in your loft similar to Figure 1. Or if space is a problem, build half of what you see in Figure 1. Build two or three nest boxes. If you can build nest fronts or know someone who can, the nest boxes can be any size. I suggest a minimum of 30 inches wide, 12 inches deep and 15 inches tall. 20 inches deep is better. I purchased Belgian nest fronts from a racing pigeon supply business. Consequently, the width and height of the boxes are predetermined by the size of the nest front. But as I said, if you can build your own nest fronts, the size of the nest box can vary. In my experience, within reason, bigger is better. The nest boxes should be large enough for the racing couples to be able to mate easily. I have seen blocks of wood used in the open area of a widowhood nest box that were 4 inches by 4 inches or even bigger. The widows will quickly learn to stand and rest on the block in the nest box. Nest boxes should accommodate a small bowl for grain and a second bowl or a small area of the box to place grit; in addition to a nest bowl at least 8 inches in diameter.

After the loft section has been completed, select young males for each box. Let me suggest that you start with a maximum of four widowhood males. Over time, you will find that young racers who learn to reside in highly functional widowhood boxes are much more disciplined racers that older males that don't understand the widowhood system. Older males will almost never bond with a widowhood box the way 4 to 6 month old young males will bond to a box. Therefore, when you start a widowhood system, try to start with young birds. Re-training older pigeons will be very frustrating. Seldom, if ever, will older males, i.e., yearlings or older, make very good widows. Start racing widowhood with young birds rather than old birds. The experience will be much easier and the results will be much more profound.

Mate young males with old females. The young males will actually model the behavior of old females in the box, if the old females understand the widowhood process. You will be amazed at how much fun you have with just a few racers and you will be amazed at their response to you. This fall, the more young birds you keep on your race team, the harder it is to race at the top of the sheet week after week. Constantly entering 50 or 60 untrained pigeons (or more) week after week is not what I consider to be the essence of competitive pigeon racing. Motivation is the key to winning pigeon races. Motivation is the key if you live off-line or on the long-end or the short-end. Unmotivated pigeons will not break. Unmotivated pigeons will not race home like a motivated pigeon. But, motivation requires a race management system and a physical plant, i.e., a loft constructed to support the motivational system.

If you can't race one pigeon correctly, adding more pigeons to the race team will only increase your angst and lack of success on the race sheet. I urge you to learn to race one pigeon very well before you race more pigeons. After you learn to race one pigeon very well, add one more pigeon to the race team. Continue adding racers until you reach a maximum of 12 males and 12 females. Most race courses can be managed with 24 racers or less. My favorite race team is comprised of 12 pigeons or less.

I am always interested when pigeon graders become a topic of interest. From what I understand, for a fee, pigeon graders will handle pigeons and estimate their quality. I realize that one of the most difficult skills for novice to develop is determining what a "quality" pigeon feels like. To a certain degree, the pfemaleotype of "quality" pigeons varies from fancier to fancier. With that said, however, there seem to be common physical qualities among quality racing pigeons. For instance, quality racing pigeons are balanced. However, there are all sizes of balanced pigeons ranging from small (kleine) to large (grote) pigeons. Quality pigeons have plenty of feathers and their feathers should be soft and supple. Quality pigeons have a relatively short arm bone that allows their wing to beat very quickly like the wings of humming birds. Their last three flight feathers should be long and thin. They should not show a gap between the primary flights and the secondary flights. Quality pigeons have very strong backs and tights vents. I prefer pigeons whose tail goes down when their backs are touched or gently pressed. when their tail goes down, it should look like one single pin rather than looking splayed (There are very successful Belgian fanciers who are good friends of mine who strongly disagree that a pigeon's tail must go down when handled). Quality pigeons often have certain features in the construction and color of their eyes; although quality eyes come in many colors and designs. I believe that most quality breeders have a full and wide circle of correlation around their pupil with a serrated prominent inner muscle on the inside of the pupil (I use an 18 power jeweler's loupe to evaluate pigeons' eyes in the bright sunlight). Quality pigeons have a relatively flat chest that is not pointed or veed towards the middle of their front. A pigeon grader can see all of these qualities; and these qualities are important to breeding quality racing pigeons.

In my experience, however, these qualities do not make racing pigeons fast. The attributes that make racing pigeons fast is their intelligence and their passion. And these qualities cannot be identified by the best pigeon grader, cannot be felt by the best pair of hands, and cannot be seen through the strongest eye loupe. Glimpses of these attributes can only be observed in the daily management of the loft and the race results of race day. As I have stated countless times, they key that unlocks the intelligence and passion of champion racing pigeons is motivation. Intense motivation triggers the intelligence of champion racing pigeons and ignites their passion. The other qualities mentioned in the last paragraph simply allow champion racing pigeons to perform well time after time from farther distances. But the other qualities mentioned in the last paragraph do not make pigeons fast; they make pigeons strong. In my opinion, the first attribute that should be sought in quality racing pigeons is intelligence.

It seems as if the weather in different parts of the country and the world has become more extreme. Whether this is an effect of global warming or simply a normal unrecorded cycle of Mother Nature, weather is a prominent variable in the racing pigeon game. Usually we think of weather affecting the flight path of racing pigeons during a race. But weather can also play an important role at home in the loft as well. Brown outs seem to be happening more frequently as electric companies struggle to keep pace with the increasing electrical consumption of growing and expanding urban areas. And more frequent catastrophic storms are forcing the electric company in Tulsa Oklahoma to rebuild their overhead electric lines - underground.

If you haven't done so already, may I suggest that you should consider backing up the electricity source in your loft if you use an electric clock. In our area, we primarily use Unikon clocks. It would be catastrophic for the electricity to go out - even for a few minutes - on race day. Consequently, I use a backup system modeled after my friend Tony Smith's backup system at his loft. Tony is retired from the electrical supply business and is my electrical guru. Especially on race day, we use a 12 volt battery as a power pack in case of an electric interruption at the loft. Unikon timers have two electrical ports on the back of the clock: (1) a port for a conventional electricity source via a wall outlet and (2) a port for a backup battery. In the case of the battery port, a short cable can be plugged into the back of the clock and hooked to the poles of a 12 volt battery. Unikon agents sell these cables (I order Unikon products from Steve Mardis at CBS in Moore, Oklahoma). I have no experience with other electrical brands of clocks. Tony and I use a smaller battery for riding mowers rather than a large cumbersome automobile battery. Batteries need to be recharged even when they haven't been used. This can be accomplished in several ways. The easiest way we have found is to purchase a "trickle charger" that is used for boat motors for example. A trickle charger plugs into a wall outlet and hooks onto the battery; and only charges the battery when the battery's charge becomes low. It "trickles" an electrical charge to a battery over time depending upon the electrical needs of a battery (Example).

A manual battery charger can be used to recharge the battery; but it becomes the task of the fancier to recharge the battery on a regular basis. The trickle charger removes the discipline of remembering to regularly charge a backup battery.

Tony and I use the clock almost on a daily basis during the off season to record the performances of our race teams during training tosses. This information accumulated over time becomes extremely valuable as we evaluate our potential racers for a place on the race team. Especially on race day, when fanciers know they are going to be away from the loft, I believe it is imperative to utilize a backup electrical source for electric clocks. On the Ranch, I can be present and mowing the pasture with a tractor, and not know that the electricity has been interrupted in the loft. There are countless reasons why a backup battery should become a regular part of a complete loft management and maintenance program. Perhaps you use other backup procedures. If you do, congratulations! I believe you are way ahead of the game in today's world of frequent electrical interruptions.

A few days ago, I was advised by Bubba Wilson, a good friend and excellent fancier in northwest Arkansas, that I should repeat the information that I currently race in Hakendover, Belgium with partner, Jef Cuypers.

Several days ago, Bubba was talking about my blog with some other fanciers in Mississippi. Although these fanciers knew about the Daily Blog, they were not aware that I currently race in Belgium. So, at Bubba's suggestion, today's blog will briefly outline the partnership in Hakendover. For those of you who may already know some of this information, hopefully today's blog will contain something new and beneficial that you haven't heard before.

Jef Cuypers is now in his early to mid 40s. He is married to a wonderful wife: Christine. He has two lovely children: Sophie and Tom. Jef's father, Gustaaf, raced pigeons when he was alive. While Jef helped his father around the loft, he never officially raced pigeons with his father. Jef grew up with Raf Herbots since he was a very young child. Consequently, Jef is almost like a member of the Herbots family. Jef helps the Herbots at conventions and racing pigeon events in Belgium and other countries as well. In Hakendover, we use Herbots products and Raf is our pigeon vet.

Jef has a small but very nice loft in his garden (backyard); but I had a new state-of-the-art loft built in 2005 when we began our official partnership. In the picture to the left, Jef is holding a bottle of Herbots race conditioner, Vita Duif, in front of our new loft. Besides building a new loft, I purchased a number of super breeders to stock the breeding section of the new loft.

With the advice and assistance of Filip Herbots and the bidding expertise of my partner, Jef Cuypers who attended the sale, I purchased six of the top pigeons in the final dispersal sale after Roger Florizoone's death. Roger Florizoone was considered the great Barcelona Master who raced from Oostende Belgium. I decided not to make a play for Florizoone's great Barcelona winner because of his age - he was ten at the time of the sale. He was purchased for about 25,000 Euros by Gommaire Verbruggen. Instead, I purchased a full sister to the 1st National Barcelona winner, Barcelona Lady, and what many considered to be the best son of the Barcelona winner, the Barcelona Star. I also purchased a son of Ronaldo, the Silver Barcelona, in addition to three other superstars. Three of these supers are pictured below.

The Florizoone birds are considered to be the very best long distance racing pigeons in the world! Purchasing these six Florizoone supers gives Jef and me the ability to competitively race the long distance races - including the prestigious and challenging Barcelona Race! In fact, the great long distance ace Jos Deno approached us about breeding our Florizoone birds to six of his elite champions and splitting the youngsters. After the first round, we were all so pleased with the youngsters that we kept our breeders together for four rounds!

I also purchased supers at the final sales of Romaine Loozen and Emile Fourmanoir. Fourmanoir had a beautiful hit pair of breeders that have produced very fast (vitesse) youngsters. The female of this click pair is the Vos Queen and is pictured on the right. Further, I purchased a fantastic Engels female that scored 49th National. I purchased a son and two daughters of the 603 Steketee from the partnership of Olivier-Devos.

In 2006, I purchased ten squeakers from the Van Avondt's, ten squeakers from Denis Sapin, and 20 youngsters from the long distance fanciers Oliviers-Devos. We raced these forty youngsters along with about forty young birds that we raised from our breeders. Before our partnership was formed, Jef bred from a small colony of excellent racers from his father's old line and awesome breeders from the Herbots. These breeders, and the breeders I purchased, give us the potential to compete very competitively in short, medium, and long distance races.

In 2006, I traveled to Belgium and took care of the birds while Jef and his family were on holiday. I quickly culled the young birds and ended up with about 40 racers. I selected about twenty young males that I coupled with twenty old females and twenty young females that I coupled with twenty old males. I immediately began to train them with my rented hatch-back automobile in every direction. I tried to lose every youngster possible. Unfortunately, I only lost about five young birds. After only two weeks of training, I entered the race team in their first young bird race. My friend and fellow Hakendover fancier Achiel Vangilbergen helped me enter the birds at the club house; although everyone there was extremely polite and helpful to me (I had only entered race birds totally by myself once before. The Belgian system of pooling is extremely complicated.). The race was about 100 kilometers or about 60 miles. We won the first four positions in the race and many head prizes. Jef's father-in-law Roger Lautermans, also a good fancier, was amazed when he saw the condition of the race team at the clubhouse. Each young bird looked fantastic and appeared in mid-season form. The second week at the clubhouse, the fanciers stared at me; but would not say much about the previous week's results. In the second week's races, the young birds raced with yearlings and old birds. Again, we won the first prize and our young bird was in the top ten of the regional (combine) results with the yearlings and old birds - a fantastic result! After the second week, many club members came over to shake my hand. One fancier leaned over and said in a low voice that I must be the "Lance Armstrong" of pigeon racing. What a thrill!!! The third week Jef came back from his holiday; and I had to return to the States due to my health. I have had tremendous problems with my lower GI tract ever since I nearly died in 2002 due to a nearly fatal bout of Ischemic Colitis (a heart attack of the colon). Because of my illness, during the first fourteen days in Belgium in 2006, I lost seventeen pounds. In spite of the effects of the illness, winning the first two young bird races of the season in the Brabant Province was a once in a lifetime experience.

After my preparation of the birds and sudden departure from Belgium in 2006, Jef continued to race very well. At the end of the race season, our best female won 3rd Ace Pigeon in the Brabant Province. We also won 1st Champion Loft in one Club and 2nd Champion Loft in another Club - only losing to the Herbots. We flew one of the Van Avondt females very well and were cited on the Herbots Race Results Report on their website for the female's performance. In 2007 and 2008, my health would once again keep me from traveling to Belgium. Consequently, we haven't raced as well as we would have liked. Jef works in Brussels, about 50 kilometers west of Hakendover. He leaves very early in the morning and returns home late at night. Without my help culling, selecting, training, and coupling the young birds, it is difficult for Jef to have enough time to adequately train the young birds in order to dominate the race sheet. On his own, Jef races well. But the competition in Belgium is so tough that the young birds have to be molded into racing demons in order to compete with even an average fancier in Belgium.

It will take Jef and I several more years to adequately establish highly competitive old and young bird race teams. It will take several years for us to completely evaluate our breeders and to couple them in the best possible pairings possible. It takes time to consistently race at the top of the race sheet in any European country, let alone Belgium. I believe that my wife, Morgan, is going to help me with my health issues through better diet and exercise; and in the very near future, I will be strong enough to play the game in Belgium with the personal vigor, passion and aggression that is required to play at the top of the race sheet.

As I mentioned earlier, Jef's father-in-law, Roger Lautermans, has a fantastic clique or "hit" pair of grizzle breeders that produce beautiful grizzles and spectacular blues that race extremely well. In 2006, Roger gave me a grizzle male and a grizzle female out of this hit pair to breed from in the States. The Lautermans male has already produced children and grandchildren that have raced very well in northeast Oklahoma. The Lautermans male is featured on the left. A son, AU 08 BLUE SKIES 101 grizzle male, is featured below on the right. In order to produce 101, the Lautermans male was coupled with an excellent grizzle female that raced very well in 2005 and features a power-packed pedigree that includes the super grizzle breeders from Mike Ganus: the Golden Witten, White Horse and Magnum. Follow 101's performance in the 2008 Young Bird Race Series beginning September 6th. I think he's fantastic!!!

In the future in Belgium, Jef and I may concentrate primarily on the National Young Bird Races and the Long Distance (fond) Races. But for now, each year, I import top young breeding prospects bred by our excellent breeders in Belgium.

Only a few foreigners and/or Americans have raced or currently race in Belgium. There are many inherent problems in such a venture. Mike Ganus partnered with several fanciers before he found a partnership that would finally work. If it was easy to race in a foreign country, every one would do it. But even with the numerous obstacles that deter foreigners from diluting the purity of the sport with their outside presence, it is worth it. One of the key elements of success is to realize and understand that the Belgian and Dutch racing pigeon game is based almost solely upon money. Fanciers may say they are "good" friends with a foreigner; but money is usually the real engine that defines social relationships and drives the game. Often, when foreign fanciers run out of money, they will be quickly abandoned and forgotten by the industry. Many Belgian fanciers are looking for the next good pigeon for their loft; but they are also looking for the next pigeon buyer for their pocket book. Pigeon racing in Belgium and Holland is an industry. Most relationships are defined through the auspices of money. Fortunately, I have true friends in Antoine and Maria Jacops; and in my partner, Jef Cuypers, who is a man possessed with incredible integrity. Jef is a very honest and noble man. Without his patience, hard work and character, my dreams of winning a National Race in Belgium will never happen. His family, including his in-laws, and brother and sister-in-law, are also wonderful people. Even with all of our cooperation and hard work in Hakendover, our goals are illusive and difficult to attain. And even if we never accomplish our goals, the "ride" will be more than worth the effort!!! Primarily because of bad luck, it took Antoine over 40 years to win a National Race; and he lives in the country! It is foolish to think that I can do the same. But with Jef's help, we are trying to create magic and strike gold.

In the new issue of the Racing Pigeon Digest hitting fancier's homes this week, Tom Smith is reviving his Methods of the Masters Series that he used to write in the old Racing Pigeon Bulletin. His first new article features my mentor, Antoine Jacops and his wonderful wife Maria. There are 15 scintillating pages featuring Antoine, Maria, the lofts, the garden, the birds, the history, the methods and the results. What makes this article particularly poignant is that Antoine told me several days ago that he just contracted with Jan Hermans and the De Duif magazine to sell his entire loft of pigeons at the end of the year. All of the champion pigeons that are featured in Tom's article will be sold at this incredible sale. As you should know by now if you have followed my blog at all, Mike Ganus and Antoine Jacops are my mentors in the sport. Mike introduced me to Antoine in 1986 when Mike and I went to Belgium on a trip that became Mike's first European VHS tape.

Antoine had just become the "King of the Antwerp Union," one of the most prestigious awards in Belgium since the Antwerp Union is considered to be perhaps the toughest area in the world in which to race pigeons! Antoine and Maria are very unique people. They are very American in the way they look at the world. They are old fashioned and could have easily been baby boomers in America coming right out of the 1950s. In some ways, they remind me of the European version of Ozzie and Harriet. They are extremely family oriented. They are devoted to each other and devoted to the pigeons. The Jacops have one child, a son Jan. Jan's wife is also Maria and they have two beautiful children: Segrid and Danny. Antoine and Maria are retired diamond cutters. Jan is an electrician that installs security systems and other electrical features of multi-million dollar houses and buildings. He now manages design and building teams in Belgium and several foreign countries.

The article in the Digest pretty accurately recounts the last 40 years of Antoine's career as a racing pigeon fancier. During these past 40 years, Maria has supported Antoine every step of the way. Usually, behind every great pigeon fancier there is a great spouse or partner. Maria certainly qualifies as the gold standard as an incredibly devoted wife who has supported Antoine and the game he has enjoyed playing very successfully for these many years.

I commend Tom Smith on his superb choice of Antoine Jacops as the best example of a true "Master" of the Sport and as the first issue his Methods of the Masters series. As I have said many times, I believe that Mike Ganus and Antoine Jacops are the two best pigeon fanciers in the world!!! Since 1986, I have had the great honor and privilege of frequently traveling to Vorselaar, staying in the Jacop's home in "my room" at the top of the stairs, and helping Antoine manage the pigeons on a daily basis. During these visits, I learned most of what I now blog about regarding Antoine's simple yet effective race management strategy. In addition, frequently, Maria and I would shop in interesting stores in neighboring villages that sold fabulous clothes and gifts that I took home to my family. The three of us would dine at incredible restaurants located in exotic secluded areas of the country that served wonderful food whose aroma and flavor defied description. On occasion, the Jacops would take me to social dinners and events with many of the top fanciers in the country. Sitting there among these legends caused me to pinch myself on more than one occasion. These evenings were always somewhat surreal for me.

I have often said that Antoine Jacops is the best breeder of all-distance, all-weather, all-age, racing and breeding pigeons in Belgium. He is incredibly well-respected in his country. when Mike Ganus was growing his business in the early years, he imported many great breeders from Antoine to sell to an American market. The success of Antoine's pigeons in the US helped build Mike's business and helped catapult him into the fame and fortune that Mike so generously has deserved. This same success was extended to Mike Schmidt, Speed Shop Loft, who sold high quality Jacops pigeons in the 1980s. The Jacops pigeons that entered the US in the 1980s were some of the best pigeons that have ever entered this country. In 1982, Antoine had purchased three Meuleman-based full brothers from Willy Van Berendonk that he crossed into his old family of pigeons. These three brothers were the Playboy, the Geschifte, and the Wrong Willy. This cross was explosive and helped Antoine become King of the Antwerp Union in 1985. These Jacops are the first Jacops' pigeons that I bought from Mike Ganus. when Mike quit importing Antoine's pigeons, I started buying pigeons directly from Antoine. Over the years, I have purchased hundreds of Antoine's pigeons that are the brothers and sisters, and sometimes even the nest mates, to most of his great Champions.

For instance, the article discusses a great racer that Antoine eventually lost on an ordinary pigeon race: the Nudist, a multiple 1st prize winner. As I reported in an earlier blog, the Nudist received his name after returning home with many of his feathers gone from what was probably an encounter with high wire. Currently, three full brothers to the Nudist are breeding in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Another excellent racer mentioned in the article is the Miniem. Currently, three brothers to the Miniem, including the Miniem's nest mate, are breeding in Tulsa, Oklahoma. A brother and a sister to the Super Ace have bred in Tulsa. Currently, three sons of the Diamond Ace are breeding in Tulsa. One son of the Diamond Ace, the White Diamond, purchased out of Antoine's breeding loft several years ago, sired the 1st Ace Old Bird in the 2006 Old Bird Race Series of the Northeast Oklahoma Racing Pigeon Federation, AU 05 LAMBERTON 45 Blue male. Children of the Super Ace have bred in Tulsa. Children of the Fine Cahors have bred in Tulsa. Children of the Playboy, the Geschifte, and the Wrong Willy, have bred in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Currently, a superb daughter of the Jenny Ass, the 14th Ace in the Antwerp Union, is breeding in Tulsa. The Jenny Ass was sold to an Asian fancier. Too bad, she is an incredible breeder. Her daughter has bred nothing but gold from 100 to 600 miles in all types of weather. In 2006, Tony Smith won the State of Oklahoma 600 mile race with a grandson of the daughter of the Jenny Ass.

This blog doesn't have the room to adequately document the immense influence of the pigeons of Antoine Jacops - in Tulsa, Oklahoma - in Vorselaar, Belgium - and the rest of the world! The picture on the left features Antoine's pigeon vet, Antoine and Maria, and me in the 1990s. Also featured is the Jacops guard dog, Nikki. Because of Nikki's increasing aggression, he eventually had to be returned to the breeder where he bred many exceptional protective dogs. Because I knew him well as a puppy and young dog, I was one of the very few adults that could interact with Nikki without fear of attack.

Perhaps because Antoine Jacops has never prostituted himself in the pigeon market, he remains relatively unknown in America. On several occasions, editors of popular pigeon magazines, pigeon agents, and pigeon merchants have gone to Antoine asking to sell his fabulous pigeons and taking a "cut of the action." Remember what I told you in yesterday's blog? The actual basis of the racing pigeon game in Belgium is money. Pigeon racing in Belgium is not a hobby; like in the USA. In Belgium, the sport is an economic industry. As an example, if you are Flemish, and you work for the government for 24,000 Euro a year, and you can double or triple your annual salary by racing pigeons very well, then guess what? You will race pigeons as competitively as possible. It can mean money in your pocket. Let's say your mother or married brother lives next door. If you can earn enough money through the racing pigeon game, then your mother, your brother, your sister-in-law, your wife, and your children will all work in some capacity in the loft in order to bring more money into the extended household. Families often race pigeons together and divide the labor. In this way, the entire family can make a contribution to the overall income of the family.

Antoine has found his share of antagonists over the years. He has refused to give the control of the sale of his birds to feather merchants. As soon as Antoine says no to merchants, they often ignore him or speak badly of him. In Belgium, many feather merchants try to control what they perceive to be their share of the racing pigeon industry. After Mike Ganus began importing Antoine's pigeons in the mid-1980s, Ad Schaerlaeckens became angry at Antoine for the very reason I just mentioned. Antoine would not play Ad's game and Ad became angry at Antoine. Since Mike was a friend of Antoine's and had a business relationship with Ad, Mike was pressured by Ad to terminate his relationship with Antoine. Fortunately, Mike refused to honor Ad's desires. The entire incident ended up being stressful on Mike's and Ad's relationship. Lest anyone who reads this think that I don't know what I'm talking about or have my facts wrong, let me answer by saying that I was in Belgium and Holland when some of this intrigue was happening. In fact, when I was staying with the Jacops one year, I went to visit Ad and his family. Ad drove me back to Antoine's house after our visit. when we neared Antoine's house, Ad slowed the automobile and parked several streets away from Antoine's house to let me out. Ad said that he didn't want to drive near Antoine's home. Why? Several months before I arrived in Belgium, Ad lied about Antoine in his magazine. After the lies appeared in print, Antoine warned Ad, in terms that anyone would understand, not to print the lies again or approach Antoine again. I guess Ad believed Antoine; because he wouldn't drive near Antoine's house. I walked the last few blocks home to Antoine's. when I arrived home, I told Antoine the story of my short walk. We both had a good laugh.

Throughout Belgium, Antoine is very well-respected and known as a man of great character. As the Digest article accurately points out, in 2005 when Antoine and Maria finally won the first 1st National from Souillac, offers poured in from all over the world to purchase the 1st National winner. However, Antoine and Maria had already decided not to sell their winner. After 40 years of regimented daily effort, the thrill of seeing the winner in their loft everyday simply couldn't be purchased. As I said, the Jacops are unique people. They have very high moral standards that don't bend; even a little. One time when Antoine and were watching the widowhood males exercise by dipping and darting all over the Belgian blue sky, Antoine said, "John, why should I sell my pigeons to an agent when I can sell all that I can raise by myself?" He was right. Feather merchants could add nothing to Antoine's game. Actually, it was Antoine who could add much to the pocket book of feather merchants who simply wanted a piece of his exquisite performance pie.

Because Antoine has relied strictly own his own abilities, and has never been "promoted" by any of the Flemish feather merchant's magazines that tend to influence world perception, especially in America, there are probably areas of the world, especially in America, in which Antoine may not be well known. Certainly these areas do not include the Antwerp Union, much of Europe, much of Asia, parts of North America, and Tulsa, Oklahoma, to name only a few. You might find it interesting that Antoine has standing orders every year from Asian fanciers who race for millions of dollars. Antoine's pigeons consistently perform so well that Asian fanciers can buy 25 to 50 young birds each year per fancier and win back their investment many times over. For Asian fanciers, purchasing Antoine's pigeons each year is just good business. Jacops pigeons perform consistently well. Jacops pigeons win dollars. It's really that simple! Even though a very high percentage of Antoine' birds race and breed very well, Antoine culls a tremendous number of young birds every year. He refuses to sell anything but the very best pigeons and he refuses to keep anything but the very best pigeons.

I took the following picture of Antoine holding the Vooruit. The Vooruit was a great racer and even better breeder. He won the super pool 12 times in his racing career. The super pool is worth 1,000 Euros. You do the math. As a racer, the Vooruit was a money machine! As a breeder, his children, grandchildren, etc. were extremely valuable as racers and breeders. My feather foot male is a two-time descendent of the Vooruit. He was a very good racer and his best son has earned over 200 AU points.

I can remember one year when Antoine picked out a yearling male that had been exercising and brought it over to the quaint bench upon which we were sitting in Maria's beautiful garden across from the Koi pond. Antoine remarked that he had never really liked the pigeon. Although he thought the pigeon had raced fairly well, there was just something about the bird he didn't like. After thoroughly going over the bird with a certain procedure that Antoine always follows, he handed the male to me. Like a son does to a respected father or a student does to a great mentor, I tried to evaluate the male by handling it with the exact same motions that Antoine had just performed. Although I tried, I remember thinking how clumsy I felt after watching the Master manually put the young racer through the visual and tactile test. Nevertheless, I spoke up, "Antoine, I really like this pigeon." Antoine smiled. I asked him what he was going to do with it. Antoine's standard answer about a pigeon he didn't like was, "Soup pot!" Antoine wasn't kidding. He had an older brother who loved to dine on fine squab from the loft of his younger brother. I begged Antoine to let me buy the pigeon. I really wanted it. I begged him to allow the pigeon come to Oklahoma. Antoine kindly ignored my pleadings and strolled toward the house with the yearling widowhood male in his hand. He returned a few minutes later empty-handed. While he was in the house, Antoine happened to check the race record of the bird now well on his way to the soup pot. I asked how the bird had raced. Antoine grinned and simply stated that the bird had raced much better than he remembered. I have never forgotten that story. Winning a race or scoring well in several races was not a good enough excuse to keep a good pigeon out of the soup pot. There was just something Antoine didn't like about the bird. And the pigeon was gone. One of the primary reasons that Antoine is a true Master in the Sport is that he has no trouble holding his pigeons - even his best racers and breeders - to very high standards. If a quality racer or breeder does not perform up to Antoine's incredibly high standards, the bird is destined for the soup pot. So there it is. One of the great lessons from a true Master. A pigeon has two destinies at the Jacops Loft in Vorselaar: Either (1) A Great Pigeon, or (2) The Soup Pot. It's really that simple!

The 4th paragraph of Tom Smith's article discusses the fact that Antoine competes in the halve-fond (middle distance) and the fond (one-day long distance) races in the Antwerp Union. Smith lists several of the Jacops pigeon's accomplishments: 2nd National Brive, 5th National Cahors, 7th National Bourges, and 31st, 36th and 72nd and 85th National Barcelona. Wait just a minute.!!!!! What was that? Brive, Cahors and Bourges are middle-distance races. But did he also list four top 100 prizes for Barcelona? The Barcelona? The most prestigious race in the world Barcelona? That Barcelona Yes, my friends, the real Barcelona. Antoine races the same pigeons from 100 to 1200 kilometers or from 100 to 600 miles. I always have to bite my tongue when people ask me what distances the Jacops pigeons fly. Why? Because the more accurate question is - what distances don't they fly? The answer is - none! It's really that simple!

The Feather Foot male - a descendent of the Vooruit on both sides of his pedigree - is pictured on the left. A few of Antoine's pigeons are born with feathers on the legs and feet.

There are many great fanciers in Belgium. Some of them are known in America. Some of them are not. Why is this? How does it happen?

Unless American fanciers visit Belgium firsthand to observe the true fabric of the Flemish fancy and the fanciers who are actually competitive in today's game, they are left with no other alternative than to see the Belgian racing pigeon fancy through the perceptions and opinions of other people. Other fanciers relate their perceptions and opinions of the sport through diverse methods of communication. Some perceptions and opinions can be read in Belgian racing pigeon magazines and American magazines, i.e., the old Racing Pigeon Bulletin, the former Thoroughbred Magazine, and the Racing Pigeon Digest. There are articles like Tom Smith's recent article on Antoine Jacops in the latest Digest. Some perceptions and opinions can be seen or heard. There are movies, VHS tapes and DVDs that document various travels to Europe and interviews with champion fanciers. Mike Ganus and Rick Mardis have tapes about Belgian fanciers and Jim Jenner has made several very interesting movies covering all aspects of the sport. There are internet web sites like drjohnlamberton.com. There is the internet blog you are reading. There are breeding catalogues. There are newsletters and updates. There are many ways to absorb the perceptions and opinions of other fanciers about the racing pigeon sport in Belgium.

Over the last 30 years, the perceptions and opinions of Mike Ganus have arguably been the most important and powerful force in the American racing pigeon fancy about the Dutch and Belgian racing pigeon fancy. And thank goodness for Mike. I would not have met Antoine Jacops or traveled to Belgium if it were not for my friendship with Mike. The power of Mike's perceptions and opinions is amazing. Mike has the power to buy a beautiful pigeon with a great racing or breeding record, give it a clever name, create a flashy well-designed ad, and a portion of the American racing pigeon fancy will stampede to buy youngsters out of the beautiful pigeon at any price. The very sight of a GFL band makes certain fanciers sweat with anticipation and excitement. Historically, I have been one of those fanciers. Remember, Mike was my mentor and currently is still one of my best friends. In today's blog, I am not criticizing; but am simply analyzing the current American market by telling it like it is.

My first memorable introduction to Belgium was reading articles in the old Racing Pigeon Bulletin. These articles were very stimulating for me and fostered visions of visiting the most exciting place in the world to race pigeons. My next introduction to Belgium was meeting Mike Ganus and purchasing a kit of Rene Truyen-bred Janssens. These were excellent racing pigeons and helped me play at the top of the race sheet on a much more consistent basis. My most powerful introduction to Belgium was in 1986 when five of us traveled to Belgium to see the way the sport is really played and to meet many top fanciers first-hand. Our picture appears below on the right. On the trip, I met a number of high profile fanciers. I met the Janssen Brothers. I met Jos Van Limpt "De Klak," I met Karel Meuleman. I met a number of other famous fanciers including William Geerts; and I also met Antoine and Maria Jacops. That meeting changed my life forever. It allowed me the opportunity to be mentored by the man I consider to be the "Master" racer and breeder in all Belgium for the past 30 years or more.

As I said yesterday, Antoine Jacops has never used agents to sell his pigeons. Because his pigeons perform at such a high level, he doesn't need to utilize the services of feather merchants. The tremendous success of his racing pigeons has created Antoine's market. In the mid 1980s, Mike Ganus understood the quality of Antoine and Maria's character and realized the quality of Antoine's pigeons. Mike built a sizable part of his early business by selling Antoine's pigeons. Did you know that? I bought my first Jacops pigeons from Mike Ganus in South Bend, Indiana during Mike's annual summer young bird futurities. Mike used to host a summer party every year at his loft that included a young bird futurity. I would attend the summer party every year to squeeze and buy Jacops racing pigeons. It was like Christmas in the summer. Over the years, I got to know Mike's family very well; especially his mother and father. I would always place my futurity entrees in Hank Ganus's loft (Mike's father) because Mike's mother was an awesome cook and would prepare incredible foods for me to eat when we were waiting for the futurity birds to arrive. There were years that Hank's birds didn't come home in race time. But I didn't care. My stomach was full and I was content - thanks to the cooking skills of Mike's mom. Her cherry creme pie was the best I've ever eaten.

I also bought a number of quality Jacops breeders when Mike Schmidt, Speed Shop Loft sold his Jacops breeders. After Mike Ganus quit importing Antoine's pigeons, I started purchasing them directly from Antoine. Today, I believe that I have one of the best and most complete lofts of Antoine's pigeons in the world. I currently house about 75 pairs of super breeders imported from Antoine. Many of these pigeons were selected by both of Antoine and me in Belgium; and all of these pigeons were selected by Antoine especially for the loft in Tulsa. I am also racing Antoine's birds in Belgium that he selected especially for the loft in Hakendover.

If Mike hadn't first imported the Jacops pigeons in the 1980s, the American pigeon fancy would have never known about Antoine Jacops. If I hadn't met Antoine and Maria on the trip to Belgium with Mike in 1986, I wouldn't be the passionate fancier I am today enjoying the incredible pigeons of my mentor. Since the 1980s, however, Antoine has not appeared prominently in the general media that Americans use to gather information and form opinions about the fancy in Belgium. Possibly if Antoine had engaged the services of the feather merchants, he might be more well known in America today. But simply put, that's not Antoine's style. Antoine let's his pigeons do his talking. Their performance usually appears at the top of the weekly race sheet. Their value is manifested in head prizes. Perhaps Tom Smith's article will change all that. The trouble is, like I said earlier, Antoine is selling 98% of his pigeons in an auction organized by Jan Hermans and his De Duif racing pigeon magazine by the end of the year. Antoine will retain about 6 pairs of 2008 youngsters to race in the short distance strictly for fun. My suggestion to American fanciers: if you want to know who is winning in Belgium, read the weekly race results on the web. Don't trust Belgian feather merchants for a totally unbiased opinions. They tend to promote those fanciers who have given them a financial piece of the action.

FACT: Based strictly upon the race results of his pigeons, and the respect he enjoys from the most knowledgeable, informed and competitive fanciers in the game, Antoine Jacops is at the top of the worldwide racing pigeon fancy. The results of Antoine's pigeons and Antoine's methods have appeared in many publications - prominent publications - publications in Belgium and other parts of the world - just not in American publications.

So, like Tom Smith wrote in the latest Digest issue, Antoine has raced incredibly well for over 40 years. Antoine Jacop's unbelievable exploits are not new news. It's just that much of America was simply unaware of his incredible success because he has never sought the limelight or he has never sought to sell his pigeons in America in order to become famous. Antoine and Maria don't particularly care about fame. They just want to win the next pigeon race. Remember, because of the success of his pigeons, Antoine sells all of the quality pigeons he can raise. Tom Smith's article is old news at a new time in the history of the American racing pigeon fancy. Again, I congratulate Tom on his choice of Antoine Jacops in his inaugural article of his new Methods of the Masters series. He couldn't have made a better choice!!!

If you do not know about the success of the elite Master of the Antwerp Union and the country of Belgium, don't feel behind the curve. First, read Tom Smith's article in the Racing Pigeon Digest. Second, peruse Antoine's website (Click Here). Third, continue reading my blog. I am going to continue to write about the pfemaleomenal results of Belgium's "Master" fancier - Antoine Jacops.

It took over 40 years for Antoine to win a 1st National. He accomplished this feat in 2005 on the race from Souillac. Tom Smith tells the story in his article. Actually, Maria clocked the race winner while Antoine was entering birds at another club race from Dourdan. Antoine readily admits that the winner wasn't even one of his very best widows. It was just the best prepared pigeon on that day. Antoine only shipped 2 pigeons and he won 1st and 49th National. Pretty good results for sending two pigeons! The race winner was featured on the cover of a magazine pictured on the left. As a side note, if you have been reading my blog, I have consistently talked about the benefits of racing small teams. By viewing the results from Souillac, you see where I learned this secret. I learned the secret of racing small teams of high-quality, well-prepared pigeons from the Master himself - Antoine Jacops.

So there we have it. Antoine does not promote himself and market his pigeons through feather merchants in Belgium. Because he won't "play the game" and pay agents to promote his results through their publications, Antoine has probably not appeared in certain magazines that have influenced the American racing pigeon culture. But that doesn't change his accomplishments, the quality of his pigeons, or the value of his methods. Antoine changed my life and took my pigeons to the top the race sheet in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Hakendover, Belgium. Thank you Mike and thank you Antoine.

More to come tomorrow.................................please stay tuned........................................Thank you, Dr. John & Morgan Lamberton

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