Novices Social Circle (part eighteen) If you novice pigeon fanciers have read this far - you will now know more about pigeons and mankind than any other member in your club and you will be winning prizes provided that you haven't wavered from the track! Champions followed this series and improved!	Search this Site for whatever you seek! Find this: SEARCH THIS SITE
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NOVICES SOCIAL CIRCLE. part 18

Right lads and lassies, you want to know how to become the "Seil Meister", the person to whom all mountaineers entrust their lives . Without the right quality rope one can quickly fall to ones doom on the mountain but, if one can produce ones own high quality rope to equal that of the "Meister" then so much the better! You will be asking yourselves - "Why are you waiting until now to tell us when, we have already paired our birds for 2000?" The answer is simple - firstly you must obtain the correct basic materials - the hemp & sisal of 1950 was all very well but, today we are looking for carbon fibre and polyester offering strength and flexibility plus less burdening weight. Or in plain English - the laboratory tested and proven better pigeons that have earned their perch with an honours degree! Some of you after a modicum of success will already think that you have swallowed the book and need no further instruction from anybody - indeed you have become the analogous Mary Baker Cake Mix; or in other words - just add water instant experts!

Now I am sorry if my remarks hurt your feelings but, remember you chose to come on this journey with me; so I set the ground rules and you promised to follow! I have no intentions of climbing Everest with a fool upon my back! The success that you have so far obtained is laudable but, it isn't totally down to yourself and believing that it is - is the greatest fatal mistake that any new mountaineer can make because he has forgotten that his life depended upon the "Seil Meister" (master rope maker). Your successful pigeons were bred or parents supplied by somebody else and it is to them whom you owe your life! One day those original ropes will wear or be lost and abandoned upon the mountain and unless you can produce your own of equal or better quality then you will fall quicker than you rose. That is of course unless you are wealthy enough to keep going back to the "Seil Meister" and have no further ambition than that!

At this point if you are all sitting comfortably I shall tell you a mountaineers camp fire story - a true story with a very potent moral! Once upon a time there lived a pigeon fancier, he wasn't any old pigeon fancier, he was also a thinker and philosopher. Added to this he had been something of an athlete in his time, not world ranking due to one fateful injury but nonetheless amongst the best of his era in his chosen dangerous sport. He was born to win although foolhardy and must have had a death wish judging by his increasingly risky actions and lack of concern for his trainers fears and warnings. His demise was inevitable but it taught him a lesson never to be forgotten - his previous success was not solely attributable to himself alone. When he raced his pigeons he bore this in mind and became a coach himself. For twenty long years he built a dynasty of top performing pigeons, based upon common ancestry, carrying pre potent genes - until one day he had to disperse the team. These were given to a new starter with certain instructions of how to manage and how to maintain the winning bloodlines. The new starter immediately began to win; every winner bred by the old fancier (not so old - he was only 30 plus years) or bred from the stock supplied and paired under instruction. This team began to win in increasing leaps and bounds until they eventually; within four seasons they became the top team of the area. The more they won then the less attention was paid to his mentor and all advice ignored.

Our new starter had swallowed the book; became a Mary Baker Instant Expert and his mentor washed his hands of him. The original pigeons grew older, continual racing led to eventual losses and new stock was introduced to pollute the bloodlines. Our new starter fell to his death upon the mountain and there was nothing that his mentor could do to save him, because our novice knew it all. It is good to win, it's a wonderful feeling but never lose sight of the fact that so much early success is because of someone else - the rope maker who kept you safe! Not until you yourself can equal his skill and knowledge can you truly be proud! Now if none of that has sunk in; then clear off this instant, because I am going through an elimination process far more severe than any might imagine. If it has sunk in then read on because you could have the "Right Stuff" to become a champion and you won't be held back by false ego or hollow pride - you will be an honest fancier and give credit wherever it may be due.

So to explain why I have waited until now, before commencing to help you to build that pre potent team of pigeons and give you strength in depth throughout your loft. In a nutshell; it is forward planning - to build a team of pigeons is not an overnight task. The minimum time in which a reasonable team may be built is three seasons, in the majority of cases it could be five years, nothing regarding pigeons is instantaneous or my name isn't Clark Kent. When learning your pigeons best characteristics, sorting the wheat from the chaff and moulding a team that is responsive to your methods. Pigeons in new lofts, locations, environments and different fanciers management take time to settle to these intangibles. Winning bloodlines do not simply leave one loft to immediately win all before them to another, unless of course a tremendous amount of luck is involved; they have to be road tested and reproduced or suffer the fate of the fancier above. Now I am not going to tell you how to breed a team that will win the National, living in the North of England it would take an act of God to do that. I am going to tell you how to build strength in depth within your team until each pigeon is the equal of its peer and maintain a successful line to compete at your chosen level within your club or Federation; unless of course one moves to Southampton and then the task becomes easy! (don't edit that statement) Okay then lads and lassies, from a start during 1999 we should be looking towards 2002 earliest; the hemp & sisal (old unsuccessful stock) should have been replaced by now with the carbon fibre & polyester (proven newer and younger stock) there is no room for rubbish or dead weight. From the two seasons '99-2000' one or two pigeons within your lofts should be standing out head and shoulders above the remainder. Ideally we are looking for three pairs and these must be either the best performers racing or the most consistent breeders of quality young. The remainder are only make-weights and no significance whatever, it is far better to use them as feeders only.

Should these pairs also be the mainstay of your team in the races - forget the racing and have a little fun with the remainder amongst which there may be some pleasant surprises. For season 2000 this is a definite pre requisite course of action and a fallow year will reap bountiful crops in the immediate future. The best pigeons are the only pigeons to breed from regardless of relationship and it is from these that a family must be founded. These pigeons have proved that they are suited to your location and methods of management and by careful practice they will supply more of their kind and family improvement -- 2001 will be your third season i.e. young birds '99(1) old birds & young birds '2000 (2) 2001 (3) and any pigeon that has not proved itself by its third season must be eliminated from the team, it is never going to get any better! Keep it as a pet, give it away, don't chase rainbows in corners of your loft. The three pairs are the only pigeons upon which to concentrate; not their brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, in laws or outlaws unless of course they already have multiple prizes, in which case your family is already made and only requires maintaining.

In all breeding of livestock the are certain anomalies or intangibles and if you also read my Blackpool Notes this should be quite apparent. Taking for instance "Champion 147" the Moss Hen which although a supreme racer never bred her like and neither did her parents ever again. However that is a rare one off fluke, the majority of performance pigeons do reproduce their like within certain parameters - some almost as good, some equal and sometimes better as is the case with Mick Barlow's "Morston Magic" & "1065 Morston Crack"; Bert Hession' "Toy boy" and numerous other top performers within his loft; or based upon a "Matriarch" hen such as the late Johnny Brooker's "Dark 14". The common factor amongst each of those is the word FAMILY in capital letters and family means strength in depth where every pigeon is the equal or almost equal of its loft mate. When this situation arises pigeons arrive from races in kits not single file and this quality has mainly been attained in a similar fashion. It isn't new, it isn't secret, it is standard good practice in true champion fanciers hands as opposed to those who regularly purchase success. In my book a fancier is judged by his family of pre potent winners and not by a multitude of unrelated wining birds that may never reproduce their like with any consistency. Believe me there are more of that ilk than of the former! Family is the key word in the equation and it is that; which one must seek to produce for strength in depth!

Pedigree is important but, pigeons should make their own pedigree based upon performance and not upon paper showing fancy names. A pigeons pedigree is its family tree and this should show winners in abundance upon either side. With study it should also demonstrate the most influential pigeons whether they be cocks or hens. Before I go any further into breeding detail I will offer a little advice that may cost you nothing - Spend a day at Louella Pigeon World; study the pedigrees of the top pigeons on show, see how the stock has been produced and note it in your minds eye. There is more to be learned at Louella than within one thousand books; love them or hate them, they are masters at their craft and produce champion blood stock as well as champion livestock. This is attained by selective breeding to proven lines within a proven plan which may be adopted within any closed gene pool owned and raced by the smallest of fanciers. As a word of caution, no matter how impressive the pedigree, it is the pigeon that matters first and foremost not the piece of paper. The paper is only a guide; though it can be a very reliable guide when planning future matings after thorough road testing of the progeny. Now I haven't strayed from the path, this not intended as an advert for anyone and I retain copyright. It is a practical example to aid new starters in their quest for success whilst giving credit where it is due, because that is my way or my name isn't Superman!

So how do we go about replicating these winning genes within a small loft? It is quite simple, in fact it is really simple, providing that one does not fall into the fashion trap! Be happy with what one has, then build upon them by constant progeny testing. Any good fancier worth his salt can reproduce winners from a three pair base until the year 2008, a better fancier may extend this till 2018 and a Seil Meister 2038. It is done by line breeding and judicious crossing of bloodlines. A three pair base can create three family lines within the gene pool; sufficiently distant and yet suitably related to inter breed. Line breeding or inbreeding in themselves cannot produce better than the original due to the closing of the gene pool. Better is produced by severe selection after progeny testing which must be ongoing each season and only the best go forward each year. Occasionally and that means very occasionally, further improvement may be attained by a judicious cross via another winning family (key word Family). My own team of years gone by were line bred for twenty years, but, each year I brought in two hens from outside. These were bred from and all young were thoroughly tested, then either kept or rejected along with their mothers (the hen is the mother of the egg & father could be anything) Here the key word is Control - control over bloodlines.

Harsh, but imperative to future improvement and in those days I only ever introduced a pigeon for a specific reason, not because somebody offered me one, nor because I felt a need to follow fashion, it was because my sole objective was improvement. If I went to buy a pigeon, then I bought the one that I wanted, not a substitute; if the pigeon that I wanted was not for sale, then I would leave empty handed; which more often than not was the case. That is further advice to you! So we come to our three pairs of top performing pigeons - these must be numbered Cocks 1-2-3 and Hens 1-2-3 respectively in order of merit. From these we breed three rounds of youngsters - Cock 1 & Hen 1 (2) Cock 2 & Hen 2 (2) Cock 3 & Hen 3 (2) Two rounds from each pair - split for 1 week, then pair Cock 1 & Hen 2 (1) Cock 2 & Hen 1 (2) Cock 3 & Hen 3 (these are then used as feeders if required. This provides sixteen youngsters should all hatch and thrive from the main pigeons in the loft, more if the remaining team are used to rear the first round of eggs before racing. Now there are two are three problems that arise (1) having sufficient young birds of racing age - obviously the first two rounds must be the produced from an early mating in January. (2) The limited space in a 18' x 6' loft - sixteen to twenty young birds taken from the superior pigeons should be adequate and only the progeny tested survivors are required at seasons end. (3) The system of management will not lend itself to pure widowhood - obviously not but, it will lend itself to modified semi-widowhood and this fallow racing year is for a definite goal and purpose i.e. the upgrading of ones team! In subsequent years it is a simple matter of pairing the best yearling daughters from cocks 1-2-3 to their counterparts i.e. Cock (1) to best daughter of Cock (2) --- Cock (2) to best daughter of Cock (1) --- best son of Hen (2) to Hen (1) --- best son of Hen (2) to Hen (1) and next best to Cock and Hen (3) then so on through the loft best to best of yearlings, extending the breeding schedule of a single round only from the six main pairs.

This then allows a return to widowhood for that racing season and further strict progeny tested selection. It may be apparent that one original cock produces above average young with more than one mate and the same may apply with one of the original hens. In this case they may be re paired to each other; they could be a golden pair and keep you at the top for years to come. There is good reason for mating the older pigeons to yearlings in each subsequent year (unless of course a "Golden" pair has manifested) That is for a couple of reasons - (1) Y-O-U-T-H spells VIGOUR (2) It allows the fancier the opportunity to discover the breeding potential of the younger stock without breeding from every pair - you have the known factor X the potential factor - which in turn can become the proven factor! At the same time the fancier is setting up three distinct lines to which he may use for consanguineous matings within each line and also distant relationship for the purpose of inter-line crossing for hybrid vigour. There are also other factors i.e. no two offspring from any mating are exactly 100% identical in genetic material, not even twins! Offspring in changed seasons often carry seasonal changes - fact not fiction - in a wild state certain genetic patterns arise to combat changes in seasonal weather or environment. These may only be subtle changes i.e. size, coloration, speed of development or mental alertness. So subtle in some cases as to be barely noticed or unnoticeable but those genetic changes exist nonetheless! Which are on the wing quickest - early bred young; spring bred young or latebred young? Which develop at greatest speed? Why do these things happen more rapidly in one season or year compared to another? You think about it! Why were brothers born during 1938-44 smaller than their siblings born during periods 1928-34 or 1947-60? Rationing and living conditions had produced an imitative controlled seasonal change and environment - the genes responded accordingly! I rest my case.

Of course there are cases to disprove the rule but; statistically they prove a status quo. Now the next fallacy for you the new starter to clear from your brain is the statement- "Top Belgian fanciers do not inbreed or line breed but are confirmed out crossers." This is absolute nonsense - the majority of top Belgian fanciers practice all methods of breeding based upon pre-potent lines of winning genes; the most successful lines all have a common consanguineous base i.e. Janssens, Jan Aarden, Stichelbaut etc.; they are not the product of injudicious crossing. There will be occasions when a fancier purports to be a confirmed out- crosser; in fact he is a line breeder using only distant relationship within his programme. The methods used are very similar to those outlined above and all progeny fully tested before being retained! So my dear novice, if you have got this far but, forgotten already that which I said earlier - "Every year I brought in two hens etc." then my writing is over your head and you have just fallen off the mountain - don't call me; I'll call you; - but, if this little parable from the mount has sunk in then together we will conquer Everest, plant our flag and stand proud above the Sunday Fell Walkers or my name isn't Tensing!

The Novices SocialCircle

Originally I promised you all 15 weekly articles - I have now spun them out to 18 and there are more to come. If some of the dates jump it is because they were written over a three years period and actually ran to over 52 articles published every 3 weeks in the BHW. Included in the series was the Dictionary of Disease and also Losses, Possibilities and Probabilities. I am finding more in my database each week amongst many thousamds of articles - hopefully these will also be reproduced on the net. During the period of time when these articles were first published I received literally hundreds of telephone calls from fanciers who had gained major success. More surprisingly - some of these fanciers were already established top names. Numerous novices went to the top and the British Homing World still receive requests for photocopies from the paper. Those ran into many hundreds. Spinksy gives it all away for 'Free' and doesn't try to sell you his video, a loft, a book of debatable worth, nor any of the other crap that is purveyed before you in the hope of finding a mug a minute and then retiring to the sun! Spinksy gave all of his pigeons, which were worth many thousands of pounds to charity and you won't find young birds for sale on this site priced at £150 because when Spinksy has them in sufficient numbers - he gives them away and they are far better pigeons than any novice could hope to own! Spinksy is mad. Spinksy has often been used and abused; but do you know what lads and lasses? --- Spinksy couldn't give a shit! Now you go out and follow Spinksy's teaching because, if you do, then you will really kick some arse! Nobody has ever told you straighter and nobody else ever will - that is guaranteed!