| Speaking as a Breeder |
| First I wish to express that my thoughts surrounding one loft races in the USA coming from me as a breeder and supporter. I have sent birds all around the country and make decisions to enter them based on certain criteria. Win or lose the important factors of the race come into play after the series are over. For those who want to enter one loft races and need some fresh ideas about them; it is here that I share my thoughts on the subject at hand from a Breeders perspective. My experience leads me to have the following list of criteria questions before I even think of sending my pigeons to a race. This is my list and I base it on previous experiences and realize that there is no "perfect" races out there. All races are subject to certain conditions such as weather and 'event' type schedules (more on this later). So with each criteria I will attempt to explain the point behind them and how they can affect the outcome for you. Questions before entering * Who is in charge of the race? This means simply that there is a club, committee or a single person that takes the reigns of responsibility for the race in general. Decisions are important with regards to weather and release / rules and application of them. Races that have a delegated or titled ' leader ' who calls the shots is what I prefer. Then it boils down to his experience with pigeons and his history of ' time ' with the birds. Committes can be indecisive in the 11th hour and often lead to stalemates in the most delicate matters. As for the one person in charge of decisions, or running the race in general there are of course sub questions that are deemed to be very important as well to the aspiring breeder. The matter of the manager being on the premises at all times for the birds in inventory, or , being gone all day due to him having a ' day job ' is very important in the long haul. Bottom line is that you are better off with a race whereby the loft manager is present on site at all times. The race, "is his job". * We favor the one loft race whereby the manager is in charge and is there all the time enabling him to care for and be available to me via phone for any relative questions I may have. * We will not enter a race run by a club whereby there are many hands entering the loft at any given time with the possibility of any of those hands having birds banded for the races. Its just my personal preference here to enter races run by seasoned individuals who can be accountable. The key word here is accountability. I would rather donate birds to the club for an auction or trailer fund or help them out in other ways. LEVEL OF COMMITMENT Under this heading there are a ton of earmarks. So lets cover it as much as we can from a common sense approach. "Trust" is a huge issue at hand whenever there are thousands of dollars at stake. Lets start with? Show me the loft races state that they can take a certain amount of birds, or send ' all you want' at this price perch fee. Ok I say, so, show me pictures of the loft and from that I can almost tell if your dead serious about your desire to have a professional race or not. I can tell if your ' overcrowding ' the loft simply for perch fee money. I can tell if your planning to be around for awhile by the dollars you have spent or are spending to show that your level of commitment is for the breeders out there who are willing to send top pigeons and top dollar to you to run a race. We dislike races where the lofts are crammed. After all, for most pigeons to be able to show their value as racers, they need an environment that is condusive to staying healthy and happy. Its not good enough to have a great state of the art loft. What goes along with this is the correct stated capacity that the manager sets for the loft.........how many pigeons are crammed into it? Also, with all the good intentions management may have, loft ventilation and finally loft / bird transport management is a huge key. Many do not pay enough attention to the latter, but successful races can be determined simply by when the birds are shipped, if they are watered, and how much rest they get prior to release. We wont even begin to talk about Carbon Monoxide endured by the birds on the way to the race point..........the hidden race killer..... Most breeders want multiple races with common sense training for the birds. Another level of commitment is how the manager gives priority. I like races that give the birds high priority to ' race ' in weather situations that are navigable. Lets think about this seriously for a moment. Weather plays a huge role in the outcome of a race... With todays technology, the manager needs to be very computer friendly for many reasons. He needs to be able to check weather and make intelligent decisions as to when to ship the race or release or not. While on the computer subject, he also needs to be a good communicator whether it be by email or by website message board............because if there is not a good sense of communication.......then believe me you will be very frustrated and even angered by the lack of it once your birds are there and your money is there too.. In short......choose races that release in good weather. This means giving the birds a chance to compete evenly in conditions designed to promote "racing". what is "racing"? its the ability for the bird to fly at its ultimate God given genetic talent. It makes sense to hold up the release due to weather. It makes sense to realize that the birds can make it back easily even with delayed release as long as the DISTANCE is taken into full account by the manager. There is always the next day, or if its that bad, bring the birds back. Better yet, with todays computer technology and weather reporting, THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR EVEN SHIPPING IF ONE KNOWS THE WEATHER IS GOING TO BE BAD... JUST WAIT. EVENT BASED RACES There are many races such as this that use the even as a "draw" for entries. Some of the races held , have festivities to compliment the race at hand. Those festivities are in the control of the management and coincide with the release of the race................and do not dictate the release of the race. Race managers may tend to release the race in inclement weather if there are entertainment type events at hand that are scheduled. Is this good for the race? Am I there for the entertainment or am I there for a great race in decent weather? The A.U. race is a great example of a scheduled event race. WHO IS IN THE RACE? The criteria for this is broad but meant to be once again a part of the race that plays to be important. First and foremost is that a race that is committed for the long haul will not allow their sponsors to enter the race. So it is, I prefer races that have sponsors that do not breed and fly races. Club type races that make allowance for people close to the loft, even with access to the loft, to band and enter birds? Not for me. After all......the most important issue in races is that of the "trust" issue. If there is smoke, then, there can be fire there too... Simply put........birds should not be entered from ANYONE who is attached to the race. But I see and hear of this happening and so I steer clear of races that either show this or do it on a hidden agenda. Money is the root of the evil that makes people do strange things. " Races can easily be manipulated and the out come can be easily be designed". Hate to say this, but its true. Birds / Course / Race dates Course and wind make the difference when sending birds. If you have birds that fly and win at any situation, then you are the lucky one. Most of us know the limits of our birds and where they best excel. Speeds are important so we take into account the average type speeds of the races in the area and also the winds there and the direction they blow in relation to our pigeons. The late Bob Kinney wrote when he was first developiong his family of Silverado birds, that choosing pigeons from California (for example) with the sea on one side and the mountains on the other meant to him that these pigeons raced in conditions that made it easier NOT to get lost. He felt that birds in the Midwest, an area that has a topography where landmarks were few, provided the races with the better homing instinct..... Carey Tilson on the other hand comes up with another interesting theory in that different races have different training techniques and schedules. That some birds in his family do better in certain races that do not POUND the birds too hard. That some birds in his family go to races where the manager trains VERY HEAVILY. He is aware and observant...a key asset. Stands to reason though, that birds raced in an area frequently and have good success ; performance bred through generations, will continue to fly well in THAT area. I know of certain fanciers who will purchase California birds from an area and breed and enter them just for the races in that state.......(area). WHEN DO THE RACES BEGIN ? question is the dates for the races? Races held very late in the year, getting close to Thanksgiving and Christmas are ok...........but...........it really depends on where those races are geographically..... California has good weather that time of the year...........but weather in the rest of the country? hmmm...that can be huge in terms of conditions. Remember, conditions equal good bird returns. Good returns mean a better chance for you to win some money. Just do your homework and ask questions.......ask the manager about speeds, conditions and he if he worth his salt........he will be knowledgable about it and convey to you. Don't forget to ask the manager " if he waters the birds". Its also important as to "when" the birds are given water. Races that wait to water until 200 miles or more can be dicey since its a learning experience for the birds to drink in the baskets..... Water at hand is even more important when races are begun in August as opposed to October when its cooler...... HORSES FOR COURSES ?? wow, what a debatable issue this one is. I can only speak about my own observations on the issue. Having flown in CA. for many years, alot is said about the "tough" sierras, high mountains, etec. etec. Crossing Nevada, Alkaline ponds etec. and yes, its all true. But what is "tough"? Ask Warren Sessink how tough CA. is compared to lets say....Michigan. He can tell you first hand how easy California was to fly.......all the way to 600 miles. And how tough it is in the midwest and in his region in particular to get birds home. East coast guys say California is tough for them to win. Lets talk the difference from what I know from my experience. Oklahoma......easy? flatlands, no huge obstacles, but there is an element here that suprises you. This area with its variable wind conditions favors pigeons that are medium to small in size. When a big bird wins, its the exception to the rule. In 4 yrs. of running Winnerscup......I get to see it all. Birds from across the nation, all sizes, all colors and strains. If you were to ask me what to send to the Cup? I would tell you to send medium to small hens from your family. My birds do fairly well in California. But I have yet to crack the code for consistancy here in OK. So with that said? Its my belief that one can accelerate their program by fusing in birds from that particular area, or from birds that have proven to be strong in one loft races in the region. There is something to be said about purchasing birds that have been successful in a one loft race..............if you keep in mind where that race is being held... FAST SPEEDS / BETTER PIGEON? I used to hate fast races.....thinking that they were just too easy. Heck, we call working races ( I am guilty of this myself, even recently saying it) 1200 ypm...yes 'a good working race' folks.... Lets discern this for a moment. If a race is 1700 yards per minute from 200 miles for example. The birds come in droves, big drops and the majority of the birds get home in two hours or so lets say. Then I classify that as pretty much a (and I hate to say it) "blow home" race. But lets take a glance at a race page for example, online at one of Winnerscups races in 2010. 250 mile race. High upper level tailwinds had everyone thinking that this could be a very easy race. A bird dropped all by itself and it was 33 minutes before another pigeon hit the loft. The winds can be doing tricks all the way home and we as breeders can only speculate just how much it affects the birds while they maneuver through it. Well, in this particular race, the birds came many minutes apart with only about 25 daybirds or so. The birds looked like they had flown 500 miles while recovering in the loft......It was extremely tough on them to navigate this race in these winds. Do we classify this race as a blow home based on the arrival speed of the first bird? Running Winnerscup has taught me to view things now with more of an open mind. Having had birds for many years means nothing if you don't take into count the variables and keep an open mind to thoughts that you have had in your hard drive for all those years. We have to remove that floppy disc from our brains since alot of our thoughts are "jaded" from the past. We need to reload a new empty floppy disc and when we do that we begin to see some of the more meaningful reasons why birds perform the way they do. What was it that Ad Scharlaeckens, an icon in the sporT , say about racing speed? I believe what he said was that it takes a "better pigeon" to maneuver a high speed race than it does to fly the average speed races.....? Why is that? Heck, the birds got the wind at his back, he works less right? or does he? What Ad meant by that statement I have to say, is that in that fast race......the top pigeons have to 'compute' their orientation much more rapidly or risk being blown way off course or past home.. Along with this rapid orientation is the physical ability to react and maintain all faculties while moving at this high speed. I had never really given this much thought. Choosing only to not give credit to high speed winners under the excuse that it was "just a blow home". Boy was I jaded big time. So do I not respect the bird that wins in front on a 1200 yard race? Yes I do big time. But now with my new floppy disc in my brain, I am giving equal respect to pigeons that win in any situation......fast and slow or at 1250 ypm.... So my point here is that I will always keep an open mind regarding the birds and performance statistics. That in the end game, the real deal at the end of the day......is the developement of the birds orientation skills. The fastest way home is the straight line. FOOD FOR THOUGHT From the time when we first get pigeons, to the present day. We are often taught things pertaining to the birds either from books, word of mouth, or in general chatting at the clubhouse.... Some of these things in particular, regard our judging of the bird "in the hand". I am just as jaded as anyone out there with what we perceive to be the perfect pigeon..........we like good balance, great feather, apple bodies with supple muscles, a great eye. Vented Primaries, medium in size etec. etec. Then we like the strong back and finally we all talk about the '' ONE PIN TAIL''. I have used this term more than once. I even was proud of my family for having it. Ok fine, but I ask "show me some scientific evidence that this one pin tail trait has any merit in winning races??? If anyone is an expert on it out there in pigeon land, please let me know so I can ascertain the merits of it. why? Heres the Story Moving from California whereby the birds flew the East course over the Sierras; relocating here to the Heartland of the USA........Oklahoma. I entered some local races here, one in particular that I so badly want to do well in. 3 years of it and I am convinced that I am spinning my wheels. That of course means with my particular selection of birds from my loft. Believe me, I hate to admit the fact that these high windy flatlands of Oklahoma, texas, and Kansas demand something extra in racing birds. I had decided to stop trying to reinvent the wheel and move onward to find a family of birds that I could tap into for entering a race in Oklahoma City. Since coming here, I had heard some good things about a local guy who flew in Texas that seemed to win out in front on tough days AND FAST days. Weather was not even an issue. This sounded too good to be true. After a phone call, I was invited over to view the birds.. After an hour of handling the pigeons and chatting, we struck a deal to split babies on some matings of our birds. I had stated my reasoning for the need to use acclimated pigeons that had a winning record in this area. He concurred and so I left. In the interim I had mentioned my idea to a couple of out of area friends of mine. They quickly dispatched me back to these birds to search out and buy a few for them........right now. I did that and shipped them off. Another flyer back East even told me that he would pay for an entry into a one loft race for these birds if the owner agreed to breed and send them........they struck a deal. Back at my place, preparing to mate up and viewing my birds again, I would constantly handle (lets call these brand X birds) these pigeons. Back when I first handled the birds at his loft.......I honestly did not care for them because they were "gangly"....long tailed and not like my birds.......not perfect "in the hand one pin tail" birds.......at all. Now I realize that my brain has been 'washed' from years of having birds and developing a one track mind as to what is good and what is bad. But as I had mentioned before, since coming to Oklahoma and witnessing thing first hand with regards to races won and weather......I have slowly begun to change my outlook. I realized that the ''floppy disc'' in my brain, filled with files from 40 years of pigeons......may have had a virus in it!!! Lets get to the Point The Heartland......is a huge area encompassing many states and here the "wind" is a huge factor. Weather fronts come and go, wind conditions during changes from high pressure to a barometric drop are almost reverse to what I was used to on the West Coast. Lets stop and consider something here. WITH ALL THINGS BEING EQUAL.... pigeons in a race to one loft........the winners are the birds that get from point A to point B the fastest by going in the straightest line. Winds, weather its here in Oklahoma, or Michigan, Florida, California.....no matter.....play a huge role in the racing pigeons inability to........win the race. Remember, hypothetically to show a point, we have lets say 10 birds that are all the same, good health, good form, trained, top blood and lets just say its only a 200 mi race.... They all have equal orientation capability, all have strong homing instinct, all equal. In this race the winds are strong and from either the left side or right side or very strong and variable even.....windy!!!! maybe a weak rudder ? Out of these 10 pigeons.....the best pigeon on the day, will be the bird that (again with all things equal) has the ability to Tac the course from A to B in these windy conditions, staying "on course" creating the straigtest possible line home to point B. The others that cannot stay the course, are fatigued, blown off course, taking the scenic route, working twice as hard and have fallen behind. 5 minutes? 15 minutes? 30 minutes? even an hour and more.... Oh, they had strong homing, they had the perfect orientation....but the problem was staying on the right course......the straightest course. What is it that smacked me in the face handling these X birds? Imagine if you will a bird that has a tail that is Longer than average. Up to and more than an inch longer. It was the first thing I noticed that turned me "off" about the birds.... Another thing that bothered me was that if you can imagine for one moment here, having a bird in hand.......taking the entire tail off the bird.....installing a nice ball bearing on his back an then reinstalling the tail......I know thats hard to fathom but try it. When these birds are in the hand....they are super buoyant....thats a "good" right? They dont carry alot of muscle......meaning they can fly all day folks....so that must be a "good" right? Then we move back to the tail........and what do we have? With these birds in hand......I rotate my hands up and down noticing the reaction in the tail as it rises and falls to compensate for my motion. Then I keep my the bird once again in front of me and just swivel it with both hands. Sometimes though if you swivel too fast, slow down a little and rotate him left to right with your two arms. You should see the tail "spread" as well as move to left and right compensating for the swivel. What I mean now to imply is that the spreading of the tail is not a 'bad' thing........ These pigeons have a an incredible amount of "tail control". They can swivel the tail quickly left or right, up and down.....and they do it with great speed in their reaction to my movement. I have to call this an "Athletic Tail". To top it off, the tail is slightly extended or longer than usual. After thinking about it, I thought that perhaps this trait gives the bird more "leverage" to turn in super variable wind conditions. Richard Reddick claims that it also adds "lift'' when flying. We all know that cross winds are toughest on the birds, creating fatigue quickly since its quite an acrobatic trick requiring huge energy just to stay on course.reating fatigue quickly since The tail plays a HUGE role in that it acts as the rudder. Now this sounds a little "out there" I know and I can just about hear what your saying to yourself as your reading this. But the proof is in the pudding. Check your own birds. See just how atheletic their tails are. Some birds I checked don't even move the tails left to right, some do, but with limited range. Range is the key here.... quickness to move the tail in response to your swivelling move is important too since if its slow......here we go, off course again. After you check your pigeons, send me an email.... tell me now what you think. Of course, if you have never seen an extreme athletic tail, search your flock and see which ones have it......Maybe we shouldnt just say "atheletic tail'', maybe we should just label these birds as "athletic"...... I want to pursue this further, so I welcome any calls or emails...no matter what your opinion.........I would like to hear from you. update 3-10-11 Since this article was recently in the Digest, I have received some great e-mails regarding the subject of the ''tail''. These were from people across the country who already had knowledge and even bred for the traits talked about above. No one in my past has ever mentioned or hinted at breeding for the ''flex'' tail and longer cast tail. Yet many of the emails concur with my findings and even go further in their description and specifics as to the importance of it. wow! hens or cocks? Most of us know what flys best in ybs. from our family. Maybe both sexes are as equal so it seems when we see results from the one loft sheets. With regars to sexes to send? My personal criteria is dependent on the race and when it STARTS. During the breeding season, I try to target certain races where I send my cockbirds early.......as early as possible. I want my cocks to be the first birds in the loft......to "own the loft".......dominate it when puberty comes. Even if the races are in November......(thanksgiving). I have no fear of sending cockbirds early to any race actually..... They can do nothing but mature.....and be the masters of the loft and all perches. As for hens? ahhh, well thats another story. My preference is to have the hens begin the races at an earlier age than the cocks. I dont like to have my hens aged enough to be amorous during the money races whereby they may get ''eggy''. So I try to schedule my hens to be sent to races later. For example, we have had good success with the Triple Crown in San Diego sending very early cocks. Ron used to take them April 15th. (earlier this year, March)... when I do send hens there its usually the latter part of May, even early June. Caliana won everything and she was send end of May early June. And so it goes for other races, simply to know the start dates and to count back. A big contrast is the Sierra Race (sterchi) which begins racing in September.....We send hens and cocks at the same time to this race.....early as possible. THE BIG ''SET BACK'' Like most competitive breeders, we do everything we can for our breeders and subsequent babies in the nest to prepare. We go so far as to begin loading raw spanish peanuts (10) each nite in each baby we are sending to a specific race at 3 weeks of age. Its kind of cold during this time period. We do this each night for every baby destined to be shipped even after it is weaned into the weaning cages. Oh sure they eat regular feed........no problem......the peanuts and the labor that goes with it is a combination of A) being anal B) insurance and finally C) peace of mind. Does it help? We think so. Whatever little edge you can get in the health and strength department is a plus. So now we come to the time when we are getting ready to remove from the nest and take to the weaning pen or cages. We inspect the birds before this carefully but do a more stringent inspection at this time. We like to inspect the throat for color, the breast for color and transparency. We like to look at the feathers around the anus area for cleanliness. But the huge deficit is when we engage the wings. The feathers must NEVER SHOW A FRET. Most frets are on primary 1 and 2. They can be very slight quill frets or full blown quill/feather frets.. When we spot a fret, we remove the bird from the one loft race list........period. If there is a fret on the nest mate, we make note of the parents, the mating and the date of hatch and how severe the weather was. In short, we dont like frets for the mere fact that they are a "setback" in the growth and health of the pigeon. Whether it was without feed (no lights on all night?) for whatever reason, or worst yet, a health issue stemming from severe cold and a possible secondary related infection to the system. Either way, he is probably recovered from it, probably going to be alright in the long run.....But we don't ever use "probably'' when it comes to the wallet and the disappointment associated with it all when the races are over..................its a long hard winter. We highly recommend each and every breeder pay particular attention to the feather. Sometimes, one can be fooled and not see the obvious quill/feather cut fret. But in the good lighting, one can see the wing flights at an angle and see some strange "shadowing" fretting going on. Again, we dont chance it either way.......the bird stays home and trains or races from homebase...........period. TAKING NOTICE OF THE WING We have in more recent times taken notice of our birds that have come back from races. We send them out as babies, they come back as adults pretty much. So there are big changes when we open the box, its always a surprise when we do get them back. We have noticed that the width of the primaries has played a role in how our birds have flown in certain races and their locations. To go further, in the general scheme, this also means the time of the year, of that race. Another step further is the elevation of the race loft location and the ambient temperatures and humidity during the races. Oh I know it sounds nutzoid and we could be accused of "over thinking". But on the other hand, its kind of enlightening to think about these differences and take notes to see if there is something to it?? We noticed for example that our wide flighted birds have done better than our think 'air gap' flighted birds in high elevation and 'thin summer air' locations. We wont mention the races here for obvious reasons, so use your imagination. On the other side of the coin, we have done very well with our well ventilated primary flighted birds in races that are closer to the end of fall and near the sea. or "thick air" situations. So in essence, we have ''thin air'' and '' heavy air''. We all know the wide primary birds are more of the ''sprinter'' than the birds with well ventilated flights which seem to be longer distance birds. With most races now these days leaning towards "speed" or higher ypm.....we need to consider some things. How about the forearm and the ''tight wing''? Are you taking note of the wing stretch resistance and the length of the forearm in your birds??? I could go all day on this, so lets end it now that we opened this can of worms. Just take note next season.....in short....all things considered equal, the wing and flights are the tools and we cant win with the wrong tool for the job at hand. Hope to have gotten you to think about it....... |