Part 1

An introduction to a new scientific way of breeding better racing pigeons

Joost de Jong wrote an article in "Neerlands Postduiven Orgaan", describing in a concise way my methods of breeding. This was after my victory in de National from Chateauroux in 1985 against 8500 birds with "De Goede Jaarling". In response the staff of that pigeon paper, and myself, received several reactions to this article. I was pleasantly surprised when Jos de Zeeuw(the editor of the N.P.O.-magazine) asked me to explain my breeding methods in detail to you. I‘m more than happy to grant him this request.

"Het Boerinneke" is a daughter of the foundation pair "Het Boerke"(heavily inbred on "De Oude Klaren ‘46 of Desmet-Matthijs) and "De 150 Duif"(inbred on "De 08 Duif" Janssen foundation hen). She produced a haost of winners over many generations. "Magic Mealy" her son won 3 times in the top 11 in National Dayraces and was 3rd Nat. Ace Dayraces 1994. His brother "De Vooruit" won as a yearling 5 weeks in a row the first prize. Her daughter "Gisele" too is a breeding hen in the extra category!

Before starting, however, I would like to make it clear that the sport of pigeon racing is a hobby in which we try to find some relief from our daily worries and responsibilities. There is no set of rules to tell anyone how to go about this hobby. Everyone should do what pleases him the most. It doesn‘t seem correct that there be laws to tell us how to get where we want to go. Never should we impose our opinions on someone else. If you would like to become a champion, however, you have to give the hobby all you‘ve got. For this reason you should learn as much as you can about the sport of racing pigeons whenever you have the opportunity. At the same time everyone has the right to take home with him whatever he considers to be the best ideas.

My intention is not to make up a set of rules but rather to provide you with some guidelines. These guidelines were given to me by the late Professor Alfons Anker from Kaposvar, Hungary. It was he who first got me interested in his life‘s work: population genetics, and subsequently is responsible for these articles. I would be more honest if we put his name, rather than mine, above every article. A second point I want to bring across is concerning the terminology of the different characteristics I have made, and here I am thankful for the use of certain passages from publications of Piet de Weerd. Often they provided me with that extra understanding into the essence of certain characteristics.

Even more light was shed on these matters when I was actually holding some of the prototypes Piet de Weerd had gathered. It‘s fair to conclude that Professor Anker‘s theories, combined with the practical work done by Piet de Weerd, supplemented by my own observations, from the foundation of my own breeding methods.

Finally, it is with all the pioneering done for the pigeon sport by Prof. Anker may put those fanciers on the road to success who are interested in the genetic approach to breeding techniques. This would have given him great pleasure. It was always the wish of Prof. Anker that he solve the "flying cross word puzzle"(this was his way of describing a pigeon as well as the title of his book). By way of these articles I hope to add an extra dimension to his labors. And to you readers, I wish a pleasant time solving the puzzles, and studying.

It is my intention to arouse the readers interest in genetic breeding techniques by way of this series of articles. Many are aware that my method is based on Prof. Anker‘s theory of population genetics. To start with let us define the words population genetics. Population genetics is a method of breeding which, by way of rigorous selection, followed by the use of rules according to which certain characteristics are transmitted within the population, tries to acquire a population improved in quality as well as quantity.

Example. Let‘s assume we‘re dealing with a constant population of 100, now as well as later (in our case it would involve a loft of pigeons). Next, we will set a goal such as top speed fliers, but we could also take fat birds or birds with red-coloured heads. After a few years of breeding, flying, selection, you have discovered what is your best stock and you have kept these. You keep building around this stock until you have reached your target of 100 birds. Percentage wise you will now have more good birds in your flock of 100 than you had in the original group. In the past I carefully considered which routes I should follow that I should be lead to success, and I did quite well. It was at this time that I first came in contact with Prof. Anker.

When circumstances prevented me from having my own pigeons, I decided that as soon as I had the opportunity, I would start a new and would do some extensive planning. What I mean by this is that I planned to breed according to a strictly drawn concept, without allowing any, or very few exceptions. And this I felt should bring me success. At that same time Prof. Anker invited me to spend the holidays with him, and I was more than happy to accept. Together with today‘s most famous "fond-matador" Ton Bollebakker, I stayed at Prof. Anker‘s for quite a while and both of us learned a great deal.

After returning to Holland I worked my notes into a system. I was so sure I was going to be successful(half of Hungary was breeding according to Prof. Anker‘s theories), I confidently re-wrote my notes into a few articles. After the publication of the first article I received a very enthusiastic review by the late Arie van den Hoek, author of the "Big Pigeon Book". In the second article I was probably too over-confident in predicting that as soon as I was ready for cross-breeding an "Ace Pigeon" of exception quality would be born in my loft.

It wasn‘t racing the products of my theories, and a remark like that was very much resented. As a result the rest of the articles were never published. Too bad, firstly, because even now I regularly receive communications from people who have had good success using the basic ideas found in that first article. And secondly, because a few years later I not only bred one, but a number of "Ace Pigeons", in fact good enough to be mentioned in the world pigeon Guinness Book of records.

Being able to support Prof. Anker‘s and my own theories with solid evidence, I now will present you with an updated version of the same articles. I say updated because also in our pigeon sport there is a need for revision at certain times.

Before I present you with my breeding methods I once more will lead you through the basic steps of population genetics. I‘ll come back to it again and again: we first have to become familiar with the elementary principles. For most fanciers this means some persistence in reading this duller material, although I have tried to put it before you in common, every day language. It‘s impossible to simply it any more which means that we have to do some studying, if we like it or not.

This is the only way to get ahead in our sport. The people who‘s hobbies are keeping Bantam chickens, canaries or rabbits, to mention only a few, also have to study a great deal to get to the top of the ladder in their respective hobbies or sports. The same goes for the racing pigeon sport. We should not only look to standards, but rather we should repeatedly study, one by one, the different characteristics which have an influence on the flying capabilities of a racing pigeon.

When our goal is the breeding of champion pigeons, what are the distinctive characteristics which should interest us the most??

Group One:
1. Vitality.
2. Talent in certain weather.
3. Signs to come into form.

Group one:
The characteristics you find in this group are influenced by only a few genes. That rate of transmitting from parent to off-spring is small. They are the first ones to react negatively to inbreeding, but when cross-bred they show definite signs of improvement. There is a clear evidence of the so-called heterozygous in this way of breeding.

Group two:
1. "Mordant"(character).
2. Intelligence.
3. Speed.
4. Talent at a certain distance.

Group two:
In this group we find the characteristics which are influenced by the combined efforts of hundreds of genes. The characteristics, in this case are transmitted intermediary, which means that the some of the characteristics each parent contributes are evenly averaged out in the off-spring. This intermediair transmission doesn‘t divide itself anymore in the following generations, as it is the case with qualitative transmission. From generation to generation the quality value of these characteristics always is the average of what both parents contributed.

For example: (100+90):2=95. When we pair 95 with 100 we‘ll get 97,5. These are just examples. Inbreeding in this case doesn‘t lead to degeneration but, and this is of the greatest importance, cross-breeding in this group gives a heterose effect. The consequences of this in the breeding are as follows:

The characteristics found in group one are most successfully improved by meaningful cross combinations. This can be done by temporarily bringing in pigeons who are suitable for such crossings. The characteristics found in group two generally can‘t be improved by cross-breeding. Since the characteristics in this group are transmitted intermediary, the only road is rigorous selection and well planned pairings. The higher both parents rate in all these characteristics, the higher the off-spring will rate. Important here is a very old law: pairing the best with the best.

There is something else we should still mention: when we are pairing pigeons it‘s by far not enough to simply conclude which bird is good and which isn‘t. We should know WHY a pigeon is rated good, and what it‘s strong and weak points are.

Often the strong point in a pigeon isn‘t determined by it‘s vitality, but is found in it‘s keen intellect or strong character(mordant). In this case we should pair it with a partner who has plenty of vitality. But this partner at the same time should be comparable to her concerning his keen intellect and strong character. If this is not the case, we would end up with an improvement in vitality but a loss in the other two most important characteristics.

What do you have to do is evaluate separately all the different characteristics and adapt your breeding plans whenever a certain characteristic appears to be transmitted exceptionally well.

This far the theory. Next we will proceed with a more practical explanation: inbreeding with a specific purpose in mind.

Part 2

What exactly is the meaning of inbreeding??

With inbreeding we are compiling genes, good ones as well as bad ones, from those special pigeons we are concentrating on in our breeding program. The chances of getting youngsters with identical genes increases as we step up the rate of inbreeding. The trouble is that on the one hand as we concentrate, we will at the same time lose ground in the areas of vitality and the ability to come into shape.

"De Fijnen" is heavily inbred on the lines of the golden Janssen foundation hen "De 08 Duif". After a successful racing carreer he bred many outstanding birds like "Magic Orleans" a cock to win within 1 year 3 provincial races and the nr. 1 hen of Mr. Willem de Bruijn of Reeuwijk mother of the 1th National Ace Young 1997.

Sure you may find an inbred pigeon with plenty of vitality. In a case as this it‘s safe to say that this pigeon has a geno-type not as concentrated as you hoped it would be. Still, it may win you many prizes. Concerning its offspring however, you may find that it won‘t pass on to them what could have been expected, judging by the pedigree.

Now you have done the inbreeding the right way and you end up with a degenerative looking bird, who lacks vitality and doesn‘t seem to get itself into shape well. There‘s not much hope for such a pigeon to fall into the prizes. But it is quite well possible that the off-spring will win big when she is cross-bred with the right bird.

That‘s where most fanciers go wrong. They get rid of what they consider to be the less successful results of inbreeding and they keep the liveliest ones. The idea behind inbreeding is concentrating of special genes. Those fanciers select incorrectly and keep the birds with very few of those special genes they are supposed to transmit to the next generation. Remember, a piling up of genes goes together with a loss in vitality!

What would be the right system for inbreeding? I once read in an article by the late John Lambrechts that a system of remote inbreeding was the only way to do it. I do not agree with this. At one time I had in my flock the best lines from the continuously bred stock of Desmet-Matthijs, and De Baere Brothers. Before I started to breed with them I first made sure that these lines were suitable for crossing. After that I drew up a plan how best to pair them. I used to have excellent results with this type of remote inbreeding. In the generation which followed however, I noticed that slowly, but surely, I was loosing in the quality of the breeding material, and in the quantity of good fliers. When I became aware of this my next question was: where do I go from here??

In 1974, I stayed at the home of Professor Alfons Anker for quite some time. After the lectures he gave me on his life time work: population genetics, I became obsessed with the subject. Together with him I have explored all that which can be applied to breeding. Since I was convinced by then that it is possible to breed good fliers as well as good breeders, following a set schedule, we proceeded putting together a theoretical concept and drew up plans for pairing. I have been breeding according to that schedule ever since and hardly ever have I strayed away from it.

In those years Prof. Anker had come to the conclusion that as far as he was concerned there was no better breeder than "Klaren 46". Our schedule was set up using him as a guideline. "Klaren 46" paired with different hens would transmit very well and his children proved to be able to do the same. In those same years I was the owner of several "Klaren 46" grandchildren and I tried the utmost to find as many of them as possible into my breeding schedule for the purpose of keeping a large variety in my flock. Which grandchildren did I select?

Table one the percentage of "Klaren 46" genes:

Pair: Klaren 46 paired with Hen X

Gives children: 50% Klaren 46 and 50% "X"

Grandchildren:
a. Races and breeds reasonable: 10-15%
b. Races and breeds well: 25%
c. Races and breeds super: 30-50%

I would advise you to memorize Table 1. It shows clearly the reduction you get when the chromosomes are divided.

Naturally, the grandchildren under "C" are the most suitable birds to continue breeding with. They evidently show most of the signs of their value and inherited the largest percentage of "Klaren 46"-genes.

Table Two the mating schedule of "Klaren 46" grandchildren.

Parents: 5 grandchildren of "Klaren 46": A,B,C,D and E.

Matings: A x B and C x D. Grandchild E is not used yet.

1st Generation pair A x B: children nrs 1,2,3 and 4.
1st Generation pair C x D: children nrs 5,6,7 and 8.
Then a combination of the children of both the pairings from the pairs A x B and C x D:

2nd Generation mating:
a. 1x5 give the youngsters: 9 and 10.
b. 2x6 give the youngsters: 11 and 12.
c. 3x7 give the youngsters: 13 and 14.
d. 4x8 give the youngsters: 15 and 16.

3rd Generation mating:
9 x grandchild E.

My breeding schedule above starts with 5 grandchildren, who all had "Klaren 46" as the ONLY common ancestor. The second generation was paired with an A,B,C,D or, what might even been better, with the remaining grandchild E.

The inbreeding with "Klaren 46" is completed with the third generation.

As you can see, quite a bit of inbreeding. This is even more so since the Desmet-Matthijs flock itself has also been inbred. What about the dreaded degeneration problem? When working according to such a concentrated schedule of inbreeding, as I did for several years, you logically would expect to notice signs of degeneration. But so far so good. As a matter of fact, the opposite seems to be true: the eyes improved in color and have more pigmentation, with pupils as small as pin-heads. There was no noticeable change in the muscle quality while the build stayed the same as well: the cocks being on the big side and the hens quite fine. I observed no external signs of degeneration at all. The offspring became much better, as breeding stock, as we concentrated more on "Klaren 46". It was also very nice to notice that the pigeons at the same time performed well.

However I‘m not about to tell you that my experience is the only gospel. It is important, when practicing inbreeding to keep a close eye on the following:

1. With inbreeding some characteristics, such as vitality, endurance and getting into form, slowly deteriorate. The reason for this is that only a few genes are involved in transmitting these characteristics and therefore they are the first ones to backslide. It is possible to counteract this by cross-breeding with the right bird after inbreeding. You may get some very positive results with this.

2. There are other very important characteristics which are indispensable in the pigeon sport and they also positively are influenced by inbreeding. Cross-breeding however, doesn‘t improve them. Again, these characteristics are determined by hundreds of genes and they all are transmitted intermediary, which means that the end product is half of the sum of what both parents contribute, no matter if we practice inbreeding or cross-breeding. It becomes quite evident then that the only road to take is the one involving rigorous selection together with a well planned breeding schedule.

Let us not forget the primary reasons for inbreeding! In the first place we‘re after valuable genes of an extra-ordinary pigeon. Secondly, we try to collect a high concentration of a certain pedigree. When we concentrate in our breeding schedule on a special pigeon, and as the concentration rises, we may expect that the results will be as follows:

1. Many more pigeons in this pedigree will be carrying genes from the special bird on which we concentrated our schedule.

2. The transmitting power of the birds obtained from this breeding program increases in value if the common ancestor was indeed very special.

3. These pigeons will slowly loose in appearance. At the same time they will become less successful racers, even more so on long and difficult races which puts an extra burden on their bodies.

Conclusion: while they loose in body strength, they gain as breeders. Inbred pigeons are best suited as breeders(the first generation can be cross-bred very successfully) but they are not very successful as racers, especially not in the category of hard day & long distance races. This appears to be a general rule. Now what?

Part 3

The most important characteristics in relation to inbreeding and cross-breeding

The characteristics which have an influence on the performance of our racing pigeons are transmitted according to what is called: population genetics.

"De Gebroken Slag" is daughter of "De 151"(old inbred line of "De Oude Rosten" halfbrother of the worldfamous "Oude Klaren ‘46 of Desmet-Matthijs) and "Het Schoon Blauw". She, her brothers, sisters, halfbrothers and halfsisters all produced top ten National winners or National Ace pigeons! Who else can put such records on the table?? Watch therefore closely the guidelines for the breeding in this book!

These characteristics can be divided into two groups:

Group One:
Characteristics which react in a positive way to cross-breeding. These are also the characteristics that may have a degenerative effect on a pigeon when a system of heavy inbreeding is used. These characteristics are: vitality, ability to get into racing form, ability to recuperate, resistance to disease, etc.

Group Two:
These are the so called "additive" characteristics. In contrast with those in Group One, here selection is of the utmost importance. The result of cross-breeding, in itself, will not have an effect on these characteristics. Plus, inbreeding does not have a degenerative effect. Characteristics in this group are: intelligence, mordant/character, speed, and having a talent to race a certain distance. In Group Two, we find the most important characteristics.

What is the conclusion of what has just been said?? Inbreeding has resulted in a concentration of characteristics from Group Two, within my own flock. This is possible because hundreds of genes are responsible for these characteristics: cross-breeding doesn‘t result in improvement, while inbreeding hardly shows any signs of a negative effect. The characteristics found in Group One are influenced by only a few genes, they are improved by cross-breeding while inbreeding has a definite degenerative effect.

There is only one way to improve on the racing capacity of a flock: cross-breeding!

Which ones of the inbred pigeons of our own loft do we use for cross-breeding?? As has been explained in previous articles, when pairing, we are dealing with a reductive division of chromosomes. An ordinary pigeon cell contains 40 pairs, or 80 chromosomes. Sperm and egg cells each only have 40 chromosomes, half of what an ordinary cell has. Also, only half of the hereditary characteristics of each producing parent bird are found in either the sperm or the egg cell. This cell division(reductive division) is done at will, as the outcome of a lottery. It is quite well possible that one sperm may contain 10 chromosomes of the father and 30 of the mother of the pigeon producing the sperm. If this happens, the off-spring will have more of it‘s grandmother‘s chromosomes, on the fat-hers side. Consequently, the off-spring will resemble the grandmother more than the grandfather. Another sperm coming from the same pigeon may have a ratio of 20-20, 13-27, etc. The forty pairs of chromosomes are split at random during the re-reductive division and become 40 single chromosomes which, when fertilized, are pined together with the 40 chromosomes from the partner, to form a new 40 pairs of chromosomes.

Because every pigeon is born from a different sperm, and egg cell, it is not hard to understand why there can be so much difference between brothers and sisters.

Sub conclusion: with inbreeding we are concentrating on a certain group of genes. As a result, with inbreeding it is more likely to breed pigeons with more of the genes of the "Klaren 46", than would be likely with cross-breeding. In every day language this concentrating on genes is often called a "degenerative effect". The result birds are finer in build, the developing of the bone structure takes longer, have less resistance and physical strength, and are hard to get in racing form. But from these pigeons we chose our breeders. When selecting breeders there are two important factors we should look for: the muscles have to be supple and flexible, while we want colorful eyes with small pupils. If their brothers and sisters have more vitality they can be used for racing.

Which different ancestral pedigrees are we going to use for cross-breeding?? It is a well known fact that certain pedigrees cross well, and others don‘t. To increase our chance for success, it is very important to do a background study of different lofts, concentrating on the pedigree build-up, and the ability to transmit characteristics. Having done that we have 2 options. The first, is to cross-breed directly with a different pedigree. We may have a good chance of being successful this way since the origins of both pedigrees are genetically far apart. The second option is to increase the genetically distance even more by in-breeding both pedigrees before cross-breeding. It is harder to use the first option, because if you want to be successful you have to buy a super racer, and not everybody is in a position to do that. Instead, use the second option and get some who directly are bred off a super racer; securing from mother and son, or nephew and niece. They may be easier to get, and you increase your chances of success because the genes have been concentrated.

How do I do this?? For cross-breeding I‘ve chosen a few pedigrees which in the past, several times have proven to combine well with Desmet-Matthijs pigeons. From these pigeons I‘ve selected a pigeon who‘s one certain characteristics can improve my flock. On purpose, I made sure that the pedigrees I chose had talents in racing several distances. In this way I may be able to develop in my lines the ability to race with success any distance from 100 to 500 miles. From my own flock I select a pigeon which I‘ve obtained by using the schedule of inbreeding I described in a previous article. I cross her with a bird from another pedigree, if possible, also inbred. The offspring are used in the races. After a few years I‘ll select the best flyers from these crossbreeds and pair them back to pigeons from my old line. In this way it is possible to add a new characteristic(such as speed) to my own family.

This breeding back into the family is also inbreeding and the offspring here are suitable again for breeding. After this, we can start all over with another different pedigree. When, in this manner, we have integrated several pedigrees into our own family, we have improved our birds in several areas. It is possible to plan ahead for years to come, to know exactly when to inbreed, cross, or add something new. It is really all quite easy. All we have to do is reapply the basic concept of the breeding schedule we presented in an earlier article. Remember "Het Boerke" from the pedigree. In my loft he was crossed with "De 150 Duif", a Janssen hen, bred half brother x half sister on a fantastic basic breeding hen "De 08 Duif". The successful youngsters of this crossbred combination were later on brought back successfully into the own family. It was even so that the successful combination with both families was repeated over and over again and each time with great success.

Lately, I read often about how fanciers try to categorize everything under the heading "good". And as long as you pair "good" with "good" you‘re on the road to success. I wish it was that easy. Isn‘t it quite common that a super racer, even though he‘s being bred to partners better and better in standing, never manages to come up with something that is able to fly across the road?? While there are other cracks who are able to produce good offspring. "Good" with "good" doesn‘t always work. We can only apply that rule when we have properly evaluated the capacities of our best birds.

Important characteristics which should be passed on are: mordant, intelligence and speed. Vitality, resistance and the ability to get into racing form are other characteristics which are necessary for a bird to perform well. Professor Anker divided them into two groups. I have illustrated them extensively, still they can be sub-divided or others can be added to them which are also important. For your convenience I‘ve tabled them(see Table Four below).

Prof. Anker proved that his thesis is correct by experimenting with it on racing pigeons, pigs, sheep and horses. But how do we apply his theories to our daily life as a racing pigeon fancier?? First we should make a study of the most important characteristics and become familiar with them. Don‘t let yourself be side-tracked by some "Know-it-all" fanciers. In the following articles I will deal extensively with all the characteristics, one by one. Using this method I have bred numerous exclusive racing pigeons. The most famous is probably NL77-990312 who, for three years in a row, could be counted among the best four National Ace Pigeons Short Distance of Holland and was in 1980 1st National Ace Overall. Prof. Anker proved his theories in his own land. It worked for me in Holland as well. I wish you the best of success with your studies, studies which you can‘t do without in pigeon sport.

Table Four: Characteristics Transmission Based on Quality Transmission Based on Quantity Breeding methods
Color of Plumage Dom/Rec. Mendel principle
Amount of Feathers Interm. Mendel principle
Size Interm. Mendel principle
Weight Interm. Mendel principle
Width of Tail Dom/Rec. Mendel principle
Length of Neck Interm. Mendel principle
Pigmented Eye Dominant Mendel principle
Steal Eye Recessive Mendel principle
Muscle Quantity Interm. Mendel principle
Muscle Quality Group 2 Good x Good
Wing Length Interm. Mendel principle
Short Back Wing Recessive Mendel principle
Wing Ventilation Intermediary Mendel principle
Vitality Group 1 Crossing
Mordant Group 2 Good x Good
Come into Form Group 1 Crossing
Staying in Form Group 1 Crossing
Regeneration Factors Group 2 Good x Good
Intelligence Group 2 Good x Good
Speed Group 2 Good x Good
Talent for Certain Distance Group 2 Good x Good
Early/Late Maturing Group 2 good x Good

Part 4

Character & Intelligence make up the class pigeon

In this article I will deal with a pigeon‘s character, and review some of the characteristics which have a definite influence. It is very important for a pigeon to have plenty of character and it‘s my own personal opinion that a pigeon with plenty of character is able to better transmit his qualities to the next generation. I have become even more convinced of this after carefully studying many breeding lofts.

The two most important character traits are "mordant" and "intelligence/shrewdness". Together they determine the quality of a racing pigeon. All the other characteristics either enhance or suppress their development. You never will have enough pigeons with character in your loft. The character traits are transmitted intermediary, which means that we have to pair the strongest characters together. In this way we also make sure that we preserve this quality. When we introduce new breeding lines into our breeding schedule, to cross with our own, we should make sure that these pigeons exceed our own in this quality.

"La Creche" is a pure Aarden brought in for blood refreshment to bring in some extra power for the longer distances. He finished on top positions in many national races and so did his children. A son was 1th National Ace long distance. Direcg children finished 2nd, 3rd, 6th in National long distance races.

Allow me to quote from Piet de Weerd, who wrote the following about the characteristic "mordant": "the secret of class pigeons is found in their passion, their stubbornness and their vitality. What could be the reason for your perfectly healthy pigeons not coming home with the top prizes?? Most likely they are not willing, or able to do so, because they haven‘t got enough stubborn drive, or total confidence to fly, if necessary, their harts out. Believe me of all the ingredients a pigeon should have, these character ones are the greatest of importance. A class pigeon can be compared with a battery, filled to the brim with electricity. With such an ignition you can even start a frozen motor. And anyone who is able to breed this into his birds is one step ahead of his competitors."

Thus the words according to Piet de Weerd, the man who taught me the most about evaluating pigeons. Although he and I don‘t always agree, however, the above statement, so well expressed, emphasizes again that he knows what is essential in the world of pigeon breeding. I‘ll try to explain in more detail what this special kind of ignition is all about.

A pigeon of character in the loft sticks out from that of the other birds. Try to hold such a youngster by the beak. He won‘t accept this. He‘ll try with all his might to shake himself loose. Many of the older birds will do the same thing whenever you try to open their beaks, or hold them. Then there are those birds who will try one way or another to wriggle themselves free from your hands. Your assurance that you‘re handling a thoroughbred may well lay in the determination of the bird to free itself. Don‘t get them mixed up with a shy bird who tries to escape because of fear. Those real wringers aren‘t afraid, their character demands of them to try and get away.

My "411" was such a bird. It was almost impossible to hold him and if you tried it, in no time at all you would end up with loose feathers in your hands and no bird. Whenever he realizes that he‘s free again, he‘ll remain sitting on my hands for a few more seconds. This proves to me he‘s not afraid. It‘s as if he‘s telling me that he really doesn‘t appreciate that I‘m holding him all the time. But such birds you better check up very carefully!

I‘m convinced that the top class pigeons distinguish themselves from other pigeons by their strong personalities. They mind their own business both in and around the loft, as well in the races. Look at the relatives and the descendants of the "411". For 25 years at a stretch they have been the best birds in an area were 3500 fanciers are racing pigeons. Especially they have dominated the day races in the last 10 years. On these difficult races they made me Semi-National Champion (N.A.B.v.P.) in a field of 20.000 fanciers in a series of 7 races in the years 1993, 1994 and 1996. No fancier has ever been twice the champion in the hundred years the N.A.B.v.P. exists as an organization in Holland. Do I need to state more??

The generations which have come from my Janssen foundation hen "De 08 Duif, are still as energetic as ever. It is important that once you possess these character qualities you don‘t let them slip from between your fingers again.

Once in a while I have visitors in my loft who immediately notice the many wringers and then ask me if I select them that way. Some of them may add that they don‘t care for this type of pigeon at all. Every man to his own taste, as the saying goes. As far as I‘m concerned, especially in my breeders, this wriggling is a must. The more mordant or fighting spirit is shown by a pigeon, the better she will do on the day races.

I even believe that there is a relationship between this characteristic and the speed one. On the other hand, I‘m of the opinion that this type of pigeon won‘t be able to come up with such an excellent performance on the overnight long distance races. They simply don‘t have the patience for this. Their determination to go on often exceeds their physical strength. Sometimes they‘ll land only a few miles away from home because they are unable to go on. They are totally exhausted. Still, these are the kind of pigeons I‘m devoted to, because at the day races they‘re able to compete and they will win for us the most beautiful prizes!

Most of the time this character trait is passed on by the parents to the offspring. At the same time almost never will a parent who doesn‘t have it be able to produce children who do. When there are two pigeons, who in quality are very close, and I‘m given the choice, I‘ll pick the wringers. In Piet de Weerd‘s opinion this wriggling is more connected with super vitality in a pigeon. This is one of those occasions where I differ from the opinion with this "Old Master".

Pigeons who, the minute you hold them, show you the mold they‘ve been cast from, don‘t do this because of vitality. No. I believe it‘s more a sign of willpower. This characteristic is also transmitted differently. You can check that on Table Four of the previous article. I believe that it is possible for a pigeon with plenty of character, but no vitality to rate high in the races, while a pigeon who only has vitality, but no trace of character will end up much, much lower in results.

You can only make this comparison on a distance which suits the birds. The most famous pigeons, and you all know them by name, all were birds who excelled in character traits. The same holds for horse racing. There the emphasis is also on performance, and there are many examples to prove my point. Often you can‘t even come close to a top horse(perhaps only the trainer may) and such high-spirited horses can never be tamed down completely. People are still remembering some of these horses from centuries ago, because they were able to pass on this characteristic so well from generation to generation. Often this characteristic isn‘t liked in cows or pigs, and although I don‘t know much about greyhounds, I would assume they like to find it there.

The traits-of-character, are of the utmost importance when it comes to transmitting qualities. I even believe that character is able to make all the other characteristics work better than they in reality are. And that‘s the reason why the trait of character to me is the most important of all.

Part 5

, Faces and Eyes

This part in our series about breeding techniques deals with two very important characteristics which are very closely related to character: intelligence and speed.

A fancier tries to determine the degree of intelligence in a pigeon by observing its behavior in the loft and expression in its eyes. The shrewdness and ingenuity with which a pigeon is able to find independently its way back home, or with which it is able to adapt to changes in the weather are the signs of intelligence. When you look a pigeon in the face and you not only see the nose, but rather the whole face(this is also referred to as an "owl face") you are looking at a smart pigeon. It takes a bit of training before you get the hang of this, but after a while you notice how much you are able to tell about your feathered friends, by just looking at their faces and eyes.

"De Klaren II" is the son of the golden pair "De Goede Jaarling" and "Het Schoon Blauw". He is the grandfather of "Arne" the national Altona winner in Denmark for John Engel & Arne Porsmose. In 1989 "De Klaren II" was a member of the Dreamteam. The Dreamteam won in a hard race the first 11 positions from Orleans against 3000 birds. In the National all 11 birds finished in the top 22 prizes in a field of over 25.000 birds. In 1989 the Dreamteam won 4 weeks in a row the 1th prize in a provincial race against thousands!

The geneticist Prof. Alfons Anker once wrote a whole article on the subject. In condensed form this is what he said: if you mix ten class pigeons with a flock of ordinary birds and you line them up, sticking their heads through a hole in the wall, you very likely will be able to pick out most of the ten. But these class pigeons have to have real class! As I remembered Jan Aerts thought this to be exaggerated. Still there is a lot of truth in that story and I believe in it because it does deal with fundamental aspects.

There is something in the facial expressions of a class pigeon, which although unexplainable, is a definite character trade-mark; it is glowing with intelligence, fighting spirit, experience and mordant. It is next to impossible to try and explain the differences in expression. Every class pigeon represents his own unique qualities. In one bird, intelligence dominates in such a way that time after time he is able to find the shortest way home. In another pigeon something else dominates, like the amount of endurance, the willpower or the drive to fight on till the last breath to get back home. What I‘m trying to explain here is that every class pigeon is in ‘a class in itself‘, different from all others.

Continuing with this line of thought makes me realize that a high degree of intelligence and a large amount of perseverance is needed to turn an average pigeon into a class pigeon. Other qualities, such as muscles, body weight, vitality, etc. only promote the unfolding of a pigeon‘s class.

This last statement is an important one. Vitality can be discovered by close observation. The quality of the muscles can be determined by careful touch. But mordant and intelligence can only be detected from the facial expression of a pigeon or by its achievements. To be able to read the facial expression is something I‘m not able to teach you. But there are many text books around: for example all the class pigeons themselves. Whenever possible take the opportunity to visit them and compare their facial expressions with those of ordinary pigeons. After a while you will get the hang of it.

Speed.

This quality presents itself in a wide range of variations: form a super fast pigeon way ahead of the rest, to the slow but consistent prize-winner. This quality is also transmitted intermediary (see previous article of meaning of this expression). The Janssen-type of pigeon is a very famous line that excels in speed. This quality is solidly grounded in the Janssen-type by inbreeding, and by qualitative-intermediary inheritance.

When cross-breeding with these types of pigeons the off-spring are always faster, or as fast, as the parents used for breeding. Plenty of evidence to prove this can be found in the international pigeon press. When we cross-breed two slow types of birds, we get pigeons who eventually show signs of exceptional vitality or the ability of ‘being in shape‘ qualities, but they will never fly any faster.

In case we need to add speed tot the overall condition of our flock, we have to purchase birds who are faster than our own. But don‘t forget to take into account that the speed of pigeons is also influenced by other factors such as the shape of the wings and the disposition of the bird. But alone without the quality of speed, these will not suffice.

Talent for a certain distance.

This is a quality(which I almost forgot to mention although it certainly belongs to this chapter) is a typical representative again of Group Two and in many ways is tied to the quality of the muscles. The talent for a certain distance is a quality which is transmitted to the off-spring intermediary and inbreeding does have some influence on it.

In the next article we will talk about the muscles of a pigeon. Muscles can tell us to what degree a pigeon is able to perform, which makes this quality a very interesting one.

Part 6
The muscle quality

How do we recognize what to breed for?

This part of our series on breeding techniques deals with the pigeon‘s muscles. The quality of the muscles in a pigeon is of enormous importance, especially when you want to do well on the long distance races. This, of course, doesn‘t mean that excellent chest muscles in a pigeon turn the bird into a favorite automatically. On the other hand, when this quality is absent, it will have a surpressing effect on many other well functioning characteristics.

"De Jonge Baron" won the 1th National Etampes in a field over almost 12.000 birds. He arrived together with his nephew "De Jonge Sturen". Both birds finished 9 minutes before the 3rd bird! "De Jonge Baron" was bred out of "De Zwarte Baron"(grandson "Het Boerke") and "Yearlings Blue Lady" daughter of "De Goede Jaarling". Get good birds and concentrate the blood well is the hidden message after "The Art of Breeding". Make good use of the lessons of Prof. Alfons Anker they may help you also!

A well experienced judge of pigeons has to be able to interpret the quality of the muscles by touch, and by doing so he can determine the degree of competitive endurance for individual pigeons. On top of that, it enables him to tell the distance this bird can bridge completely. It is possible to guess the distance accurately with only a variance of 125 miles. Of course, it takes an awful lot of time to be able to assess the different qualities. The more fighting spirit and drive are present in a pigeon, the higher the need for supple and springy muscles to unfold these qualities.

If in a pigeon the muscle quality will only be sufficient for competitiveness up to 250 miles, she‘ll be very reliable on distances as far as 220 miles. However, because of her character, a class pigeon always manages to fly a few more hours than a pigeon is really able to, considering its‘ condition. In this case where the pigeon is judged to be able to competitively handle 250 miles, he will manage bout 300 miles. The consequences of putting these extra strains the pigeon?? Early wear and tear! Therefore, it doesn‘t make sense to put too much pressure on your birds. By limiting such a bird to 220 miles, we spare the pigeon from having to use energy reserves when he‘s confronted with strong head winds or very high temperatures. Everyone knows that on a race of 300 miles, with the winds on the tail, a pigeon uses less energy than on a 220 mile race under normal circumstances. We have to consider all these factors very carefully every week.

The ability to stay in the air for many hours increases according to the pliability and elasticity of the muscles. To start with, muscles are a collection of fine fibrils, which you can study quite easily by making use of a special microscope. Many fibrils together form the muscle fibers. In a cross section their diameter measures no more than a few microns. From fifty to a hundred fibers, join in forming a muscle bundle, which is covered with connecting tissue. Finally the muscle as such is made up of many bundles. From small to large we can categorize it like this: fibril, muscle fiber, muscle bundle, muscle.

The exact number of muscle bundles is determined in the egg. On the academic level they are still arguing about the question of muscle fibers; are they formed after birth?? As far as I know, up to this point, a satisfactory answer hasn‘t been found yet, although it seems that the most accepted answer is that there is no increase in the amount of fibers. By providing and adequate feed supply to our pigeons they will never form bigger sized muscles, but on the other hand, feeding them the best meals possible will not trick the pigeon system into growing bigger sized muscles than the size which was determined by its genotype.

All this is of the greatest importance when we consider that the muscles of our pigeons, who play such a prominent role in the achievement capacity of the birds for a major part, can‘t be formed anymore in the course of the pigeons later years. When fanciers, before entering an exhibition, feed them a special diet, to give their birds the "full muscle" look they‘re only adding extra fat to their bodies. You add extra muscle to a pigeon by breeding, not by feeding.

It may be of some importance here to mention that with an increase in the length of the bones, the made to measure muscles don‘t become shorter but thicker. Consequently, it looks as if the bird is muscled heavier, but this is misleading. Both birds have the same amount of muscle.

As we all know, the most significant group of muscles are those found on the chest, attached to the breast bone. The curvature of the breast bone may be flat and in such a situation the bird seems to be built with less depth. When, however, the breast bone curvature is deep, when holding the bird in your hand, it feels as if the bird is built to deep. Birds which aren‘t deep create the impression of having a generous supply of muscles, while those who are considered too deep, appear to be on the skinny side, with very little muscles. In reality, the amount of muscles in both types is equal. The difference is that in the one type the muscles are growing lengthwise, while in the other, they grow in width, all in according with the length of the bones.

It appears that there are more of the ‘deep‘ type of pigeons around and they are endowed with just as much muscles as the other birds. The amount of muscle fibers can‘t be increased by either feeding or training. Still training plays an important role. Just like all organs used from the very start, so the muscles will adjust to the jobs given to them, with the result there is less energy loss. There isn‘t going to be a difference in the amount of cells in the muscle tissue, but with exercise the tissue gains in volume.

Those of you who have examined a butchered pigeon are aware of the fact that the entire chest muscle is formed by two muscles. The one on the outside, which surrounds the entire thorax , is known as the large chest muscle. The one laying underneath, is the small chest muscle. When a bird is flying, the small chest muscle lifts the wings and the large one pulls them down again, thus making the pigeon fly.

It is possible to compare this movement with the breast stroke in swimming. You need less energy and force to stretch out the arms, which determines the pace, than you need for pulling them back under the water, which makes the swimmer move forwards. Flying is a rhythmical movement which consists of the small chest muscle dictating the speed of movement while the large chest muscle retracts the wings. Researchers claims that during a race the pigeon moves its wings 300 times every minute. On a race of 360 miles this amounts to 180.000 wing beats. Mentioning this number, in my opinion, puts enough emphasis on the most important significance of the quality of the muscles. When the small chest muscle is active, the large one rests. It‘s called a rest period. During this period it takes fresh oxygen from the blood circulation and in this way feeds itself. After this, when the large chest muscle is at work, the small one enters the rest period. For fuel the muscles use fat and glycogen.

From a biological point of view the difference between the supple and springy muscles, compared to stiff and massive ones, lies in the amount of blood vessels which, in the first group, are present in much greater numbers. The advantage of this is that the blood is better able to supply the muscle cells with fuel. The nutriment reserve is much higher, the ability to store food is better and less energy is used when both muscles rub together. This is easy to explain. During the rhythmical, changing activity of both chest muscles, one is always in its rest period. The better it is able to relax in this position, the less it will hinder the other muscles in its activity. This saves a lot of energy, which, on a race of 300 to 400 miles, may become the deciding factor. We will never spend enough time on the improvement of the quality of the muscles. The quality of the muscles is genetically transmitted intermediary, which means, that the offspring inherit half of the combined qualities of both parents.

Notice, that in connection with the muscles, there is no ideal example either showing how it should be, or how it shouldn‘t be. The size of the muscles is very important; a dry, stringy pigeon is able to achieve much more than a pigeon with a heavy load of muscles, when those muscles are very rigid. The deciding factor isn‘t the amount, but the quality. Under the pressure of our fingers those parts of the muscles, which we are able to feel, should give the impression of being loose and capable of shifting around. When we remove our fingers, or we release some of the pressure we‘re applying, the shifted muscle bundles should spring back immediately. This movability of the muscles has to create in us a definite impression of super elasticity, never an impression of soft flabbiness without any resistance. The best is when our fined tuned finger tips not only discover a compact mass of meat under the skin, but that within the muscle itself the separate muscle bundles can be distinguished and we are able to trace them entirely lengthwise with our fingers.

Fingers? No, not with long nails, or with brute force. If we want to examine a pigeon with our fingers, we have to put all our concentration behind it. We don‘t hear anything anymore, we don‘t see, we withdraw ourselves and only our fingertips are alive. In no other way is it possible to discover anything under the skin, and will we be able to notice any differences.

We should hold the pigeon in a very relaxed way. A squeezed bird will not be able to show its muscle quality. Neither will a bird which is held the wrong way. When you let a pigeon slide forward in your hand, so you can hold onto its back end, you have to realize that you have a firmer grip on it than you would normally have, to compensate for the shift in balance towards the front. Next you put pressure on the end of the breastbone and in that way the pigeon can‘t get away from your hands anymore. You should always hold a pigeon in such a way that your grip is like a caress to the bird. Firm, so it can‘t escape, but loving, to make the bird feel completely at ease. Only under those conditions will you be able to estimate the muscle quality. Never torture your birds, make them feel that you care for them.

First we let the fingers trace the muscles which are found up front, at the beginning of the breast bone. Here the circumference is the biggest and at this spot we first find the different bundles, many of them together forming the large chest muscle. We finger them lengthwise, applying a bit of pressure while we prove their suppleness and elasticity. Carefully we encircle them with our fingers and perceive the activity underneath. We may find a tenseness or not, a fibrillation in the separate bundles and/or a feeling as if the bundle is made up of several air filled bicycle inner tubes. It is not a good sign when our fingers are unable to comprehend much of what is going on underneath that skin. Let‘s, for example, compare a pigeon from a good loft with a pigeon who is stiff muscled. We finger both ten times in turn and immediately we will have learned to detect the big differences.

Over the years, I have noticed that the quality of the muscles in hens always is better than that in cocks. For that reason, a cock who has excellent muscles doubles its value in this respect. On the difficult long distance races very often a hen will out race a cock, a fact which in my opinion also has to do with the superior muscle quality in hens. They can keep it up just a bit longer. The elasticity of their muscles is able to withstand the extra burden.

Part 7

The eye

The most appealing part of a pigeon‘s face is the eye. From the time people started to breed pigeons, much has been said and written about the subject of the eye. And the opinions have differed widely, often contradicting each other. Today there is still a wide range of views around. We find them in our own country as well as in foreign magazines.

Quite a few authors hold onto the opinion that all that‘s to be read in a pigeon‘s eye is it‘s physical condition. Others, (especially English) claim that by looking at a pigeon‘s eye they are able to discover the most incredible things. In this article I‘m going to describe for you those factors which are most essential when judging the eye. My knowledge comes from studying the international pigeon literature, as well as from 20 years of intensive, personal observations during my career as a fancier, and I believe it to be accurate.

"Magic Blue Turbo" won as a yearling the 1th National from Chateauroux 650 km with 8 minutes ahead in a field of 5523 birds. He is the son of the golden pair "De Goede Jaarling"(also won 1th National Chateauroux but against 8500 birds and 18 minutes ahead) and "Het Schoon Blauw". This pair produces worldwide National winners and Ace pigeons in 5 generations. This is real breeding power!

When you are evaluating a pigeon‘s eye, of importance are: the size of the pupil, the richness in color, the surface area of the iris and it‘s pigmentation, the overall expression in the eye, and the "Vermeyen-ring."

The size of the pupil is related to the nervous system and to the bird‘s willpower. Watch out for those pigeons who have large pupils. An increase in the size of the pupil means a decrease in the ability of such a bird to finish difficult, non-stop races, races in which much is being asked of the birds. They haven‘t got enough "fighting spirit" and without that they aren‘t able to achieve much. As long as I‘ve been keeping pigeons, I‘ve never seen champion birds with large pupils. On the shorter distance pigeon stock the size of the pupil is not of as much importance because here the pigeons aren‘t forced to use up the last bit of reserve strength left in their bodies.

Piet de Weerd once made the following, very truthful observation: "we aren‘t interested in small pupils as such, but in the factors coursing them to be small. As these are closely related to willpower."

I‘ve never held a pigeon in my hand and not looked it deep and intense in the eye. This long standing experience has taught me to be cautious of pigeons who‘s pupils react fast to changes in light. I‘m looking for pigeons with pupils that, even in semi darkness, are smaller than those of other birds. I don‘t agree with the much published opinion that in good quality pigeons the pupils react quite noticeable to light and dark. On the other hand, pigeons with pupils that do not change at all under different lighting conditions, but always stay the same size, to me are absolutely useless for breeding as well as for racing. I‘m not going so far as to say that exceptions aren‘t possible, once in a while they do happen, but the ratio is less than 1 of 500, so gambling on that is not something I would recommend.

Race after race, the birds with no expression in their eyes disappear until finally in the biggest races only the birds with the richly colored, clear eyes are left. Also, when you visit the nation wide exhibitions you‘ll find birds with non-descript eyes among the speed pigeons, but never will you find them among the matadors!

When asking some of the big names in the pigeon sport their opinion; men as Jan Aerts, Piet de Weerd and John Lambrechts, the response is always that they like full color. That‘s also what I look for in pigeons, because I share their opinion, an opinion which is based on years of intensive research.

When judging the quality of a pigeon, the next important measuring scale is the color of the iris. The iris is the colored ring between the pupil and the cornea. Sometimes you may notice a thin, black ring which separates the iris from the cornea. The ring has been named after Louis Vermeyen: the Vermeyen ring, and it is very noticeable in the younger birds. It has never been sufficiently proven if a pallid or a vividly colored eye is either good or bad. But I‘ve never disguised my opinion: I prefer a richly colored eye. The color of the eye and the richness of that color depend upon pigmentation. Of course, I‘m not saying that everything is subject to eye color, but good color is a positive sign.

The German author W. Scheer writes: "It is always of considerable interest to observe the pigeons in their baskets. At the first race you‘ll find all types of eyes. But slowly as the races get more difficult the less colored eyes disappear." For years I‘ve always taken every opportunity offered to examine the very best pigeons and I‘ve concluded, contrary to what others say or write; good quality pigeons always have eyes that are exceptionally rich in color. It doesn‘t matter if within the iris different colors are well divided or not. Neither is it important, or is it desired that the colors are present in regular rings. The iris may show all different color variations as long as the colors are deep, starting from the very inner circumference up to the outside border. What I really appreciate are eyes with many colors blended together as if an artist took all the leftover paint on his palette and painted the iris with it. I read this illustration somewhere and thought it to be very fitting.

A few of my pigeons who looked as this were "De Oude Kapoen"(son of "De Kapoen" of Desmet-Matthijs) and "De 08 Duif" of Jan van Erp. Both of them produced such wonderful off-spring, even when mated together; I‘m sure that for many years to come these will bring me much satisfaction.

Pigeons who have white eyes, speckled with colorless grains of pigment can be just as valuable as those who have yellow or brown eyes. Then there are those pigeons who‘s eyes have little pigment or none at all. They appear to be completely black. Eyes like that belonged to the world famous "Jonge Stier", a pigeon who made his boss André Van Bruane a legend in a very short time. As I have stated before, the color of the eye is mostly the result of pigmentation. To have plenty of pigment is a positive characteristic. We prefer our pigeons to have full, deep colored eyes.

Besides the color of the eye, an even more valuable tool for judging the performance possibilities in a pigeon is the blood supply to the eye. This is because it is closely related to the components which determine the abilities to achieve and this again allows you to draw certain conclusions which are relative to the general characteristics of a certain pigeon.

The first one to do research on this subject were Dorn and Cohrs. By way of tissue analysis, they concluded that small grains of pigment, laying closely together, and filmy thin supple cell tissue, are characteristic for the outside surface of the iris. An uncountable amount of microscopic size capillaries are found among those and the usually seem to conglome-rate in the outer zone of the iris. Laying closely together they find themselves a way to the surface between the grains of pigment making the surface of the iris appear a little granular.

When you inspect a pigeon‘s eye in direct sunlight, pointing the beak towards the sun, it is possible to detect this phenomenon with your bare eyes. The rougher the surface of this iris appears, the more capillaries will be present in the eye, which again points to a pigeon with a better blood supply.

The granulation of the surface of the iris should be of an even thickness, starting at the inner edge beside the pupil, up to the outer edge.

For years, I‘ve noticed this to be the case in the majority of my own superstars and I‘ve detected it also in the favorites in the other lofts. Without any hesitation I would say that at least 80% of all the top class pigeons have completely granulated eyes, while no more than 20% of very good pigeons have eyes with a lesser granular surface.

I feel urged to add a cautious note to the previous paragraph: in the pigeon sport you will never find absolute truths. A pigeon will never become a first class bird if wonderful eyes are his only feature, or willpower, or muscle quality. Rather, a good pigeon has to rate exceptionally high on at least five or six of the most important characteristics.

You may use certain percentages as a guideline to the importance of a specific characteristic. These percentages are based on the frequency such a characteristic is found in top class pigeons. Finding a fully granulated iris in about 80% of the high quality pigeons then means that this factor is an important link in the chain of ‘achievement characteristics‘. The other extra qualities may also be present without this factor, but the probability of that is only 20%

While selecting his birds, a realistic fancier prefers to make sure of a sign that offers him a four times larger chance of success. Only in exceptional cases will he trust signs which are less promising. One of the reasons for this is that often there is not enough room in the loft.

When considering pigeons with large pupils, you only have, a one half of one percent, chance of success. While eyes without color, or not enough granulation give you no more than a 20% chance. We are always bound by the limited amount of space available in our lofts, which means we can‘t keep every pigeon. Common sense tells us that to have the best possible chance of being successful in the future, we should only keep pigeons with characteristics that have a positive effect on the ability to achieve.

Besides the granular surface of the iris, the red color in the eye is another indication of an ample blood supply to the eye. The red color in the eye isn‘t caused by pigmentation, but comes from the very thin capillaries that force themselves to the surface of the iris by pushing aside the grains of pigment and giving the yellow ones a reddish tint. It‘s no more than logical, that the coloring of the eye, the granulation and the blood supply, shouldn‘t only be found in the thin layer on the outer surface of the eye. They should be present throughout the entire colored section of the eye.

The rate of blood supply to the eyes, which we measure by looking at the granulation and the amount of red color, is extremely important because it gives us a clear indication of how the blood supply is to the rest of the body. When the blood supply to the eye is excellent, it is very unlikely that it is inadequate to the other parts of the body.

One of the basic elements needed for the ability to achieve is: vitality. Vitality in a pigeon, in a way, is similar to the bird being in top form. Pigeons, with much vitality, will year after year, day after day, look the same as an ordinary racing pigeon does when it is in top condition. To obtain high ratings in vitality and general condition a pigeon‘s body needs a blood supply that is consistently higher than that of the average bird.

An increase in blood supply improves the form, a decrease does the opposite. Therefore, it is safe to state that the important ingredient in pigeons which are consistently high in vitality, is their excellent blood supply system. When we are able to conclude from granulation and the color of the eyes that an above average blood supply is present, we can at the same time assume that this is true for the rest of the bird‘s body. Such pigeons give us a much better than average chance to succeed. It sometimes happens, for a certain period of time, the color of the eyes may fade significantly in pigeons who either are under stress, or who recently had to perform a strenuous task. The sparkle disappears, showing that the entire organism is over tired, and as a consequence, the blood supply has dwindled down to the bare minimum. Pigeons, who have as a characteristic a poor blood supply system, are unable to perform well, except when they race the easy, short distance races. These are races in which they don‘t have to draw from their reserves.

Many pigeons, with poorly colored eyes, are found among one of the world most famous, strongly inbred ‘speediness‘ the Janssen-pigeons. This is possible because in general, fanciers in the Janssen pigeons home ground, Europe, basked these birds only for races of 100 to 200 miles. The important factors for these distances are speed, the mordant or fighting spirit, and intelligence. Since these races usually last no longer than two to four hours, the characteristics of endurance and long term performance capacity, matters which are closely connected to the blood supply, play no significant role.

Something we haven‘t discussed, as of earlier is the ‘servile-lance‘ ring. The ‘surveillance‘, or circle of correlation(eye-sign) is a colorless, or black, semi or whole circle, located directly between the iris and the pupil. In the past, as well as in the present, there are fanciers who consider the size, and the shape, of this circle to be of the utmost importance.

These same fanciers claim to be able to draw the most fantastic conclusions from this circle of correlation. At the same time, there are also fanciers who consider this circle to be of no importance at all. There is a general consensus among the most re-renowned fanciers in Belgium and Holland that pigeons with a complete correlation or ‘surveillance‘ circle are better suited for breeding than for racing, and it would be advisable for every fancier to have a few of these birds in their loft.

For over 25 years, I have kept records of all the important features of my pigeons. I‘ve made a list of the names of all my pigeons who had a complete correlation ring. I‘ve kept up-to-date with the breeding- and racing values of these birds over a long period of time, and have come to the conclusion that many of my better racers and breeders are in the possession of a complete and wide correlation circle. However, among my favorites there are also many who show only a partial correlation circle, or none at all. Among those with a complete circle are many good racers, but they are less convincing as breeders. And there were even those who were completely useless. From all this I‘ve come to the conclusion that the correlation circle isn‘t that important, neither for racing, nor for breeding.

And that makes sense! Because you wouldn‘t expect that something as important as the ability to achieve, which in itself again depends on so many different factors, would make itself known in such a small and insignificant sign as this circle. Maybe, all this will be of some consolation to all the fanciers who have but a limited knowledge of how important characteristics are genetically transmitted.

Another, characteristic of a racing pigeon‘s eye is the so-called ‘Vermeyen ring‘. Vermeyen of Antwerp, was one of the Belgium grand masters of the pigeon sport, and he was the first one to call attention to the ring. The Vermeyen ring is a small black ring, separating the colored part of the eye from the cornea, which has no color. The best way to observe this ring is by looking at the eyes of young, dark eyed pigeons, while holding them in the light. In mature pigeons the intensity of the ring‘s color is one of the best measuring tools for determine form.

A close to perfect system of blood supply results in birds that easily reach top form. At the same time this perfect blood supply system makes the Vermeyen ring change from it‘s normal gray color to a deeper black. The color of the ring becomes a reliable aid in evaluating the overall condition of the pigeon during the entire racing season.

In conclusion, here is one more feature of the eyes: when we look a pigeon straight in the face with our eye level, parallel to the bird‘s beak, we can see both eyes fully. When the eyes and the face together give you the impression of an owl‘s face, most often you‘re dealing with some of the smartest pigeons in the loft. And I challenge you to test this feature for accuracy in your own loft.

Part 8

The bone structure

The conformation of the skeleton is, in addition, a segment of the pigeon to which, in the past, too much consideration has been paid. Selecting according to skeleton meant a negative decision in relation to speed. Nevertheless, there is a congregation of fanciers who keep the faith insisting that to fly the difficult races you need a pigeon with a powerful bone structure and strong, tight fitting vent bones. This isn‘t factual.

"Orleans Star" is the nestsister of "De Jonge Baron" out of "De Zwarte Baron"(Grandson "Het Boerke") and "Yearlings Blue Lady" out of "De Goede Jaarling". She won 1th Provincial St. Ghislain 6751 birds and 2nd Provincial Orleans 3383 birds as a youngster. She also proved to be an excellent breeder.

Pigeons with thick bones, so abundant that you have to cut off the rings when they get old, are pigeons from the 1930‘s: heavy duty, but slow pigeons. Today‘s leading racing pigeons has a much finer bone structure than the earlier breeds. It is incorrect, simply, to assume that there‘s an intimate relationship between a fine built bird and the capacity to race well. At the same time, you‘re misdirected, as well, when you believe that with a strapping bone structure the capacity to win diminishes. When examining a very finely built bird, don‘t automatically imagine you‘re occupying yourself with a first class pigeon.

In our opinion, there is absolutely no linkage between the thickness of the bone structure and the capacity to race. Except it does happen that a very heavy bone structure become an extra burden on difficult races.

Yes, I do conceive so!!

Part 9

The feathers

The Feathers. There is not an easy set of guidelines which you can follow to determine the quality of the feathers. Especially when you want to relate this characteristics to a pigeon‘s ability to achieve. We all prefer our pigeons to have soft and shining feathers.

Among the bloodlines you will have no trouble pointing out the pigeons belonging to Delbar, Fabry, Bricoux, Van Bruane, etc. This sometimes because of their shining feathers. Contrary to these, the pigeons of Devriendt, Cattrysse and the almost indestructible Stichelbauts have a much looking plumage.

Again it is Piet de Weerd who comes up with a fitting description: "First we were of the opinion that these birds were poorly dressed, but after closer inspection we had to correct ourselves. These birds costumes are made from the indestructible ‘worsted‘ cloth."

"Riis" is the winner of the 1th National Orleans 1996 against 11.439 birds. In the total field of all 50.000 released birds he was way the fastest: 8 minutes ahead! "Riis" is the son of "The Blue Diamant"(Inbred Janssen line of "De 08 Duif) and "Het Asgrauw" a direct daughter of the miracle pair "De Goede Jaarling" and "Het Schoon Blauw". The 1999 Provincial Ace pigeon Dayraces is a full son of "Riss" and "Orleans Lady", the result of a mating of 2 National winners!

What kind of appearance may we expect from the champion pigeons? Is very soft and thick plumage an important requirement in champion pigeons? Not at all!!! This is nice, but not necessary.

I read somewhere that when the feathers feel dry, this in the first place is caused by a problem in the digestive tract and, secondly, by a diet this is low in proteins and minerals during the moulting. But it is my opinion that dry plumage is found in certain families. Secondly, we know that it is a question of inheritance. I‘m able to prove this because I have different pedigrees in my lofts with the one line having dry feathers while another line excels in very rich plumage(remember all in the same loft with the same care).

It has happened more than once that the poor feathered birds did much better in the races than those endowed with the perfect plumage. The only reason why I mention this is to indicate that there is hardly any connection between the quality of the feathers and the ability to achieve in the races.

We all love to have birds with a silken plumage. From a practical point of view, however, soft silky feathers complement a pigeon‘s appearance, they do not necessarily enhance it‘s performing qualities.

The feeling of silky softness of the feathers is the result of a generous supply of powder. This powder helps the feathers to better withstand rainy weather. In most cases, however, we have to conclude that pigeons with extra thick plumage, especially when its around the tail end, are a bit slower. You‘ll find very few extra fast race birds in this group. It‘s more likely that these birds will end up with an occasional prize at the bottom of the list. The excess amount of feathers becomes an additional burden.

At home I‘ve tried to judge the quality of the feathers in a different way: I allow the birds to bath and afterwards watch for the ones who‘s feathers dry up the fastest. They have the best plumage. You don have to catch pigeons in order to draw your conclusions.

Again, the pigeons who, according to this list, ended up with the best plumage, aren‘t necessarily also the best racers. These are two unrelated factors.

Having the best possible plumage may have an influence on achievement, just as poor plumage may have a negative effect. But the overall quality of a pigeon is not related to the plumage. Many other factors play a more domineering role.

Part 10

The vitality

A high vitality makes it possible for a pigeon to have greater energy reserves during races than his competitors in general. The in-flight energy losses fatigues the constitution of such pigeons less. They need to mobilize less power to get home on the same races or, when everything is needed, to fly the soul out of their body.

In that case, the average pigeon is already far behind. Pigeons with excellent vitality recuperate faster, they are quicker able to form new reserve in kidneys and liver, and as a result of this, also get faster back in shape. I don‘t think that I need to say more to my sport friends who raced good how much this means in practice. More classification results, more prizes. It is therefore wise to keep only those pigeons in the racing loft who possess an excellent vitality. I shall elaborate on the heredity cycle of vitality later.

"De Grote Jaarling" was 7th Nat. Ace Dayraces as a yearling. He is son of "De Etampes"(out of "De Goede Jaarling") with "Gisele"(out of "De Zwarte Baron"(grandson "Het Boerke") and "Het Boerinneke"(out of "Het Boerke". Note: "Het Boerke" and "De Goede Jaarling" are halfbrothers). Brothers of "De Grote Jaarling" finished 2nd Nat. Bourges, 5th National Orleans, 7th National Chateauroux. Plus 4th, 9th & 11th in National Dayraces competitions!

Here I‘ll only describe the exterior characteristics. A pigeon with a great vitality blinks at you every day like a normal pigeon would do in his best form. An example:

All pigeons blink in winter like spit polished shoes. However, when they are going to mate, and fight somewhat, a part of them becomes mat, their shine evaporates like snow in the sun. Then the eggs come, and they breed. During this period they recuperate and they look better again. When the young arrive, we suddenly notice that the majority of our pigeons‘ condition regresses. They become colorless so that we hardly recognize our pigeons who shined like a mirror in the winter! We don‘t find vitality here! A pigeon with a great vitality doesn‘t lose his shine during mating, breeding and the upbringing of the youngsters. One doesn‘t notice change. Their nose tips are white as snow, their muscles don‘t lose body, elasticity and shine of wings remain unchanged. Such pigeons possess an above average vitality. Such a constitution can also cope with a lot in the basket while other pigeons only show something on those competition races which are lighter and demand less power.

They also can form considerably less reserves. We dream the whole winter that we have wonderful pigeons in our loft for the next season. But when the first efforts must be made, the mating, the training races during cold weather, suspicions emerge already that perhaps our glorified birds are no swans but ordinary turkeys. And the suspicion becomes reality later on.

It is nor foolish to try out an advice from Wilhelm Scheer. He suggested once to feed only a half portion for 3-4 days during winter and not to let them out. Then one must enter the loft at night in the dark together with someone who writes down all remarks and who gives us the pigeons in hand one by one without knowing which pigeon it is. Perhaps we get a more realistic evaluation this way regarding the taxation capacity of our pigeons.

How quick they use their reserves tells us something what to expect of our pigeons on long and hard races. And he is right! Pigeons who badly bridge the period of upbringing of offspring have not much value because they possess a bad vitality. Also pigeons who become fat easily and quickly gain weight are not recommended. Real class pigeons never become fat, even when the feed is ready for them day and night. It is a good sign when a pigeon doesn‘t attack the feed bowl immediately, but behaves as if the feed is not the least bit of interest to him.

When the rest of the gang has eaten about half, they walk slowly to the bowl with a bored expression and pick up a few grain corns. There is nothing wrong with the vitality and taxation capacity of such pigeons. Their organism needs little feed because their capacity to digest is much more perfect than that of pigeons who can only keep going with a lot of food. Good pigeons don‘t suffer as much from hunger in the basket even when they have to stay in them for days. They are fit at the starting point, and of course, their better organism is to their advantage during the flight. Beware of pigeons who eat a lot, and also for pigeons whose eye color fades as a result of taxation. This character trait reveals the weakness of constitution.

The latter only must be taken seriously when it happens more often. I have noticed this once with my good pigeons "Goed Jaarling" etc. But these pigeons, as soon as the had recuperated, flew later just as excellent again as before. Actually the fading of eyes is closely related to the general blood supply of the organism. The status of blood supply with a pigeon can only be determined from the eye. The shinier the eyes, the more noticeable and deep black the border of the iris, the better the blood supply is regulated and because of this, also the condition and the vitality. One can safely conclude that there is a close connection between the vitality, the blood supply and the condition.

Summarizing the vitality:

A good blood supply is expressed in shining eyes, a black "Vermeyen-ring", and an active metabolism. You don‘t notice anything when they have a nest. They are always in good condi-tion and need little feed. (The Vermeyen-ring is the black ring at the outer border of the iris, especially noticeable with young pigeons.) The metabolism of older pigeons slowly regresses of course. Their blood supply is becoming less in a regression of vitality. Some Belgian writers feel that a powdery and silky plumage also belong in the chapter of vitality. For some time now, I‘m less inclined to consider this a vitality sign. In first place, my Stichelbouts had generally dry plumes without powdering.

Yet, a whole series of my best pigeons out of this line, among them the "117" that was provincial Ace pigeon, provided their extraordinary vitality despite their non silky plumage. I‘m of the opinion that a great vitality can also be present where the plumage is not remarkably soft and the latter has no close connection with vitality, it is an independent sign of this. I consider the main sign of vitality to be a good metabolism which again is a result of an excellent blood supply.

Jan Aerts, the well known writer of "De Duif", always wrote: "Vitality is a long life". Indeed but not only that! A long life is almost impossible without a good vitality.

But a good vitality must not be immediately construed as an entry ticket for the club of 20 year olds. But when one devel-ops one‘s loft out of descendants of very old pigeons, it indicates to have made a good choice when it concerns vitality. Adding his race results to his passing on power "The Klaren ‘46", the best pigeon in the world, became 22 years old. His last daughter laid 10 eggs when she was 15 years old. However only one was fertilized but that could have been the mistake of her partner who was also a very old son of "The Klaren". Incidentally the only son out of this pair was a prize specimen!

Part 11

General balance

This is the last of the listed, for me, important characteristics. I have consciously save this for the last. And precisely because a harmonious, well built and balanced body alone doesn‘t yet promote a pigeon to a good flyer. But when it lacks, it more or less blocks the blossoming of the general quality. We need pigeons with a body built without body weight. When we hold them in the hand, we actually don‘t feel anything but feathers and power; no body weight. With this type of pigeon, we only hear a pleasant rustling of the wings when they fly from the ground to the upper ledge in their breeding compartment, but never heavy wing beats which mean too much effort to get up.

"Orleans Lady" won in 1989 with 10 minutes ahead the 1th prize National Orleans in het section for Vonk Bros. in Nigtevecht Holland. Her mother was a direct daughter of the miracle pair "Het Boerke" and "De 150 Duif". Her father was a pure Meulemans and 6th National Ace Overall of Holland 1986. "Orleans Lady" produced just like her ancesters winners over generations!

Of course a pigeon with a too heavy body weight tires quicker because she must constantly carry this ballast and with a high energy consumption. These pigeons may be valuable on short races or on races with a tail wind. They are also frequently mentioned in the result list of marathon races which are open for several days. But on races requiring a hard fight for the prizes, where the last reserves must be called upon, they are of course very much at a disadvantage against their opponents who don‘t have to drag ballast around. It is at this time that the balance in the body shows it value and must be appreciated.

Part 12

The wing

The wing of the pigeon was the source of a terrible paper war between article writers and fanciers. This was caused in the first place because an otherwise excellent Belgian author, Charles Vanderschelden, developed and published his ideas about the best wing form. It boiled down that one could only separate the best from the worst pigeons on the basis of this feature. The avalanche of discussion is already over, but it delivered a double dose of notoriety in the history of the pigeon sport to Vanderschelden. It is absolutely clear that his ideas about wing form are current and good. The only mistake he made was that, by a long shot, you cannot pick the best pigeon on the basis of wing form alone. Because the wing form is only a means, but covers by no means the essence of the performance capacity. When I wrote my proposal for improvement of the international standard years ago, I formulated this subject as follows:

"Yearlings Blue Lady" was bred out of "De Goede Jaarling" and "De 776 Duif". This mating was to concentrate the golden bloodline of "De 08 Duif". With 5 different cock‘s she bred winners. Her best son won in 1996 the 1th National Etampes. Her full brother is "De Bonte Jaarling" also a super breeder. The hen to produce the 2nd National Ace Young ‘98 for Mr. Willem de Bruijn of Reeuwijk is a direct daughter.

"The role of the wings with the performance capacity of racing pigeons is more or less the same as the man holding a shovel in his hand. A ditch digger with the same shovel will be able to move three times as much earth in two hours than for example a bureaucrat. The same applies for the wing. There are better and weaker shovels, but the essence is always the same, it depends WHO shovels".

I already wrote earlier that, in my opinion, the performance capacity is formed by intelligence and the mordant. The vitality, the equilibrium of the body, the muscle quality, the plumage or the wing form do improve or diminish performance to a certain extend. The wing shape, best able to improve the performance capacity -principally speed- is in no way the old-fashioned, broad shovel formed, but somewhat longer, smaller wing type. Such pigeons are usually open on the back and their "trouser pins" are shorter. Wilhelm Scheer I mentioned earlier is of the opinion: "When someone shows me several good pigeons for the purpose of selecting the fastest, I usually look at them from above. And I point to the pigeons who‘s back is completely open. And I‘m seldom mistaken". So far Scheer. There is something in that but not everything. I underlined the word "good" in this statement. That is the essence of the matter! In the case of listing good pigeons according to rank, there is something in it. But a pigeon with, for example stiff, bad muscles will never become a champion on account of an ideal wing.

At the same time one meets many good racers with small or short wing surfaces. Vanderschelden was off the mark when he was handed a cock for evaluation. He saw that the pigeon had a very short wing. On this he based his judgment: slaughter! One told him later on that this pigeon had been the best flyer of Belgium in that year. It was "De Jonge Stier" of André Van Bruane! I can still give more of such examples. Most Delbars also have short wings. I believe to be not far off in saying that the productive use of diverse wing forms is closely connected with weather conditions. The big shovel wing has an advantage on a race with tailwind (speed 1500 mpm) because the wind easily drives such a wing ahead. The modern, fast wings are not an immediate advantage with strong head winds because the outer big quill feathers are being turned in the wind and often so far that finally the pigeon is unable to fly. Short wings are better with such a wind because the last big quill feathers are shorter and therefore more stable.

Out of this we draw the conclusion that in evaluating racing capacity according to wing form, we must be careful and that it would be wrong to select on this basis. Next, let‘s look at the -definitely right- Vanderschelden theory:

The under arm (up to arm pit) is maximum 6 cm long and in any case thick. A thin longer under arm has less resistance. The "trouser pins" must be maximum 11-11,5 cm long with hens, with cocks up to 12 cm. A rear wing with long trouser pins which make the wing look broad characterize slow pigeons. Careful attention must be paid to the outer four quill feathers regarding their lengths and form. The numbering of the feathers is usually in the order of the shedding. Therefore in this order the first is always the inner one and so it adds up to the outer edge of the wing. Vanderschelden has established that their length is between 12-15 cm. The outer feathers must be as long as possible in his opinion. Their form must resemble a well sharpened bread knife -not too wide- so that the pigeon can adjust to air fluctuations to better utilize possible air currents. The outer gathers must "ventilate", that is to say when we open a wing, the feathers must not show a completely closed mass, but give the impression that peas can fall through in the area of the outer edges. Vanderschelden was always worried about the form of the feathers. He mentions four variations:

1. The eighth is shorter, the ninth longer, the tenth longest. He considers this to be a bad wing;

2. The eighth is shorter, the ninth is the longest and the tenth again somewhat shorter.

These pigeons are of average quality. We find a lot of waste among them and they don‘t have breeding value (not that anybody believes this!);

3. The seventh is significantly shorter, but the eighth, the ninth and the tenth are of equal length. According to Vanderschelden, one finds many first prize winners among those and one may breed out of them;

4. The seventh feather is just as long as the eighth, the ninth and the tenth. The last four feathers are therefore more or less of equal length. There is a significant difference in length between the sixth and the seventh. He considers those to be the super favorites for breeding as well for racing.

No doubt the above order from an aerodynamic point of view is good. However, one should not lose sight that the pigeon‘s capacity is not being formed by the wing shape, but that is only an aid or an handicap. That‘s why the combination wing shape = breeding value is absurd. But apart from that we can positively accept Vanderschelden‘s opinion about favorable wing shape or form.

I would like to add that it is worthwhile to review the feather quality. In the first place, one can see from the quills of the feathers whether they are elastic, strong and flexible, or fragile, dry and weak. In any case, the tips of the feathers must be rounded also with the last four instead of having a pointed form. On the quills of the feathers we can often find small cracks. The more we find those, the more we can be convinced that in one way or the other the pigeon was heavily laden during the development of these feathers. That could have been an illness, or a heavy race, a long roaming about another reason. When this is noticed with a pigeon who had no reason, one can almost be sure that such a specimen has a weak construction. I have had youngsters who, by an inadequate development had such cracks the first moulting, or tail feathers with a water mark.

The reason for these bad quality feathers was their parents neglect. But after weaning, they developed normally, lost their feathers with the water mark and subsequently their inherited quality developed.

Part 13

Nature and the behavior of the pigeons

Behavior of good pigeons has no fixed pattern. There are quiet, gentle ones and also mistrusting and temperamental ones. That is quite natural. We are in the first place interested in extremes. The sleepy pigeons with temperament and the lively, panicking nervous pigeons.

Beware of both. We must pay attention never to mate two sleepy or two nervous pigeons with each other. Neither does it make sense to mate a sleepy bird with a nervous one because both properties have the same cause: weak nerves. The sleepy type lacks the spark to continue. That is the type who always comes too late from a race, but in the best condition. One must get rid of this type. My experience tells me that one must always strive to liven-up the temperament with the breeding.

"Magic Olympic Grizzle" was 5th in the ‘95 Olympiad in Utrecht Allround and was worlds best Yearling Overall! In National competitions he finished 2nd Dayrace & 2nd Overall. In 1994 he finished 3 times in the Top Ten in National Dayraces and was 1th Ace NPO in the Dayraces. He is the son of "Bonte Jaarling"(son of "De Goede Jaarling") and "De Bourges Duivin". Four of his brothers also won in the top 5 in National Dayraces. It‘s all in the family!

One must be careful when pigeons become hereditarily too nervous. When they easily panic, when they fly in the face and when they climb the walls as soon as we enter the loft. This type of pigeon loses so much energy during the trip to the point of release that they are already licked at the starting signal. However I must mention that I consider the nervousness as the lesser evil of both bad properties. I have seen many good pigeons who came out of a combination of a nervous pigeon and a pigeon with a normal temperament. I consider nest love to be a further important property with pigeons. This property shows excellent at certain race points and provides many advantages. There is a close correlation between nest love and fighting spirit in my opinion. The more developed the nest love, the stronger the will to get home as soon as possible. At my own loft, where I have had, so to say, the occasion to study and test all of the world-famous strains, this property strongly emerged with the old De Smet-Matthijs pigeons. They give you bloody hands when in their nest and also in the basket they are grim, tenacious fighters. I must add that love for the nest alone without other good properties means nothing. It is a spark without a motor. Is it important how long a pigeon remains on her eggs? One cannot state that this is a good property, but what one has noticed with some pigeons is that when a partner participated in a race that she quickly leaves the nest and even the youngsters and starts a bachelor life.

I once experienced a strange happening in this regard with two hens. Namely both managed to lay eggs without a partner and to bring up two youngsters each by herself. It is obvious that no pigeon does this on her own if she has not some very special properties. Still when it concerns valuable pigeons one can consider this to be a very good sign.

Yet something else belongs to the extraordinary properties; the ability to fly in the twilight. The famous author Jan Aerts often came home late and could only feed his pigeons by lamp light. Once he noticed too late that he had turned the light off too early. He went outdoors, switched on the light again and saw that some of his pigeons had found their feed and their place in the dark, but others didn‘t. Stimulated by this observations, he repeated this more than often and saw that always the same pigeons knew how to get in their box in the dark. He later used this property with the selection. I believe that when a pigeon can manage this that she will become still more valuable with this added feature.

Part 14

The pressure test

The pressure test and the respiration control of pigeons are among the criteria for the evaluation of qualities with pigeons. The pressure test is carried out as follows: we hold the pigeon in one hand and with the thumb and the middle finger of the other we gently and evenly press on the back and on the breastbone. When a pigeon in doing so nervously circles her head and opens her beak, she belongs in no way to the strong pigeons and not even in the case where they look big and robust. The organism of such pigeons doesn‘t function as it should. Their weight load capacity is inadequate. She can be excused when she just quickly opens the beak under a light pressure, but it is no doubt best when a pigeon behaves as if she did not notice it at all. But I repeat, the pressure must be gentle. Pigeons who immediately open their beak, usually show an enlarged windpipe. When we open the beak the windpipe is visible in its entirely and is round of form instead of quiet and oval.

"Magic Orleans" won within 1 year three Provincial races with minutes ahead. He is the son of "Fijnen" and "Jessica" an inbred mating on "De 776 Duif" which means concentrating the old Janssen bloodlines of "De 08 Duif" such as: "De Oude Merckx", De Oude Witoger" and "De Geeloger". The miracle breeding hen to produce 1th National Ace young 1997 of Mr. Willem de Bruijn of Reeuwijk is a direct daughter of "Fijnen" and "Jessica". Champions buy off Champions!

I must add that too fat pigeons or pigeons who need to lay, also react negatively to the pressure test and of course the latter cannot help that. When they have laid their eggs, they react normal again. And regarding fat pigeons; class pigeons almost never become fat, not even when they have feed available to them all day long.

Part 15

The respiratory examination

For years I conducted a respiratory examination before basking and I always registered the results. I usually did this in the following manner: one hangs a clock with seconds registration at eye level in the loft and look simultaneously at the clock and at the pigeon. Following this we wait till the pigeon in hand has quieted down, relaxes and has a normal breathing rhythm. We then count the breathing of the pigeon which can best be noticed form the movements of the uttermost back part of the breastbone comb. In general we count 15 seconds, multiply the result by four and obtain the number per minute. I have this time period of 15 seconds also divided in 3 smaller parts of 5 seconds and look to see if three smaller parts were regular or not. In the event the breathing in the first part was faster than in the last, the pigeon in the hand was not yet sufficiently enough quieted down. In that case I simply counted the breathing of more shorter periods and arrived at a conclusion.

"Magic White Flight" scored in 1994 two times in the top ten in National Dayraces. His father is a direct son of "De Bonte Jaarling"(out of "De Goede Jaarling") and "Het Asgrauw" out of the golden pair "De Goede Jaarling" and "Het Schoon Blauw". He is halfbrother to "Riis" 1th National Orleans ‘96 with 9 minutes ahead in a field of 50.000 birds and a full brother to the hen to produce the 1th National Orleans ‘97 of Jan Witteveen of Hilversum. Inbreeding on breeding qualities is a guarantee for passing-on power!

I have generally come to the conclusion that the breathing of pigeons with a worn-out organism, or weak pigeons quickly follow each other. They breathe often, short and in rapid succession. In certain cases 70 to 130 breathes per minute can happen. Completely healthy non worn pigeons breathe between 30 and 50 times per minute in my opinion. However I can certainly not declare that pigeons with slower breathing were definitely better flyers than those with higher breathing counts. But I have established that specimen with extraordinary high breathing gave youngsters with normal respiration. The respiration examination has only orientation value and makes sense when it shows, coupled with the examination of the windpipe, which of our pigeons recently were tasked with a heavy load so that is not worth our while to let them participate in competition races ever again. It is therefore an added dimension in the observation process of a pigeon. When we weigh together the most important factors of the performance capacity; the vitality, the muscle quality, the eyes, the facial expression, we can with this help, with sufficient practice almost surely pick the best. Also when you are in a strange loft. And also to help separate the good from the average. As I already wrote, one suppresses this technique in diverse countries on account of a purely egotistical background.

Because one can only realize a successful breeding through competent know-how, I have been busy detailing these important main properties for a long time.

In my entire presentation I have always pointed out that one never may evaluate a pigeon too quickly and on the basis of one single character trait. One may not evaluate her to heaven due to a beautiful eye or good muscles, but neither as worthless on account of one fault. A pigeon‘s quality is determined by the sum total of the properties. Within this parameter some characteristics become extra important. Others will be less favorable and the final result depends on to what extent the plus points can wipe out the minuses or replace. The difference between expertise of a good pigeon inspector and that of other amateurs can be found that the former can much better and quicker evaluate and consider the balancing properties before he expresses a definite opinion. I must further mention that it is possible to form a certain picture of the performance and other capacities with about 80% of the two year olds and older. However one can often very much err with younger pigeons. As I remarked already the face discloses the greatest part of a pigeon‘s quality. The face of an inexperienced young pigeon doesn‘t tell us very much yet. The evaluation of the quality is made significantly more difficult by this and that is even more applicable to young pigeons.

Part 16

Summary of the selection

The selection is the most important means we have to improve the quality of our population from generation to generation. From year to year, we can realize better results by means of a focused, consequent selection. The evaluation is based in the first place on the results in the basket with racing pigeons, but there are numerous possibilities with which we can detect the performance of our pigeons on the basis of appearance and conduct. As I explained earlier the current standard qualifications are no help to rely on as far as the selection of pigeons is concerned. This standard clearly favors slow pigeons. The focus must be on champion pigeons, the fastest type if one wishes to breed real good competition pigeons.

"De Zwarte Baron" was bred out of "De Schonen"(son of "Het Boerke") and a pure Houben hen. His full brother "Black Magic" won 2nd and 4th in a National Dayrace and his halfbrother has bred the top 4 of the National Hannover race in Denmark. "De Zwarte Baron" produced a National & a Provincial winner. His daughter "Gisele" produced birds to win 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 9th either in National races or in National Ace competitions. His daughter produced for Mr. Willem de Bruijn of Reeuwijk 2nd Nat. Ace Young 1998.

There are a few exterior characteristics which are common with each class pigeon. These are in the first place, the from-the-face projected enormous tenacity, the intelligence, the most of the time penetrating look, the elastic muscles, an extraordinary vitality and physical power which occasionally has something to do with a big body. Almost all class pigeons have without exception eyes with small pupils; in the light one can see that the total surface of the iris is richly pigmented and full of color. One sees these characteristics with most of the excellent racers. Regarding other exterior details, they are as different from each other as for example athletes in the Olympics.

When our pigeons have been correctly prepared, the best tool for selection is and remains the basket of course. Nevertheless, thorough observation of your pigeons based on specific abilities plays a serious part in the selection. When we would want to improve all of this by means of breeding, a well known proverb would apply: "He who wants the bottom out of the can, will get the lid on his nose". We must realize that there is a certain correlation between the different properties which according to their nature play their role in an improving or restraining manner. Such correlation‘s are:

Vitality: when vitality increases, the metabolism of the organism impro-ves automatically; it is easier to get into form; staying in form is of longer duration and the recuperation capacity is better.

Mordant: mordant goes always together with small pupils on account of the nerve system.

The above are therefore the positive correlation‘s.

Feathers: a too rich plumed pigeon is a property which is usually inherited together with sluggishness.

Wing: a shovel wing stands for sluggishness.

Bone structure: a too thick bone structure is also sluggish.

These are the negative correlation‘s.
One may not lose sight of the correlation‘s during the breeding season while many more can be added. Earlier I have written about the heredity forms of the different properties. Thus we can divide the for us interesting properties in two groups: those which are additive and those which are non additive.

To improve the quality of these characteristics one needs to continuously search for extra pigeons on other lofts who are better than our own as far as it is concerned such as character, intelligence, etc. This enables us to improve the characteristics mentioned with our pigeons.

That this is not easy can be illustrated by the fact that for more than 25 years I have been busy on my own loft to improve the muscle quality because I find it especially important. Yet, the quality of my pigeon‘s breast muscles is not as good as I would like, but better than with other fanciers who do not attach the same value to this property. The passed-on, non additive characteristics, can be grouped around vitality. They do not directly belong to surely passed-on character traits according to my investigations. This may perhaps sound like a paradox. Here again the already cited proverb applies when we want to improve of both groups at the same time with our technical breeding work. That‘s why we must keep the number of properties we consider important to a minimum so that improvement becomes noticeable. A lot of experience and know-how is needed to select, such very important properties.
Personally I consider the following characteristics as my most important final goal:

1. Mordant and the ability to fly a specific distance;
2. Intelligence;
3. Speed;
4. Muscle quality.

Of course I also strive to improve vitality and associated characteristics. I try to improve the above mentioned main characteristics by mating the best with the best. However I don‘t try to improve the characteristics which are grouped around vitality by means of selection, but rather by planned crossings. Thus the principle is: the characteristics which are passed-on in an additive manner are best improved by continuous selection and if necessary by crossing with another strain with excellent qualities. The breeding system is here: to mate the best with the best. The non additive characteristics are being brought at the desired level by correctly applied crossings. It is a prevalent opinion in zoology that regularly executed selection on the basis of certain additive characteristics leads to the shrinking of the variation scope. The shrinking of genetic variation leads to a reduction of the selection effect. The closer we come to the ceiling, the less progress will be noticed. No doubt this principle will be correct, but this ceiling is always still rather far away, reason why we can always continue with improving.

In this connection I would like to refer to the extraordinary, overdeveloped muscles of the Pietrain, the pig of the Belgian countryside. But this theme doesn‘t directly spell danger of our fanciers because we will not reach the ceiling so quickly in this regard(muscles, intelligence, speed, mordant). For as long as only 1-2% of our pigeons possess these so important characteristics to perfection we have nothing to fear.

There are often differences of opinion in zoology as to what is really more valuable: an excellent chance product out of a weak family, or an average specimen coming out of a famous family? It is generally said that it is better to select an average member out of a good family for further breeding than a sudden, seemingly excellent member from a lesser family. I feel that all important properties must be looked at from this point of view regardless whether they are passed-on in an additive, or in a non additive manner. That is the determining factor! When I would be placed before such a difficult choice I would answer as follows:

"When I would select an animal to buy for breeding purposes who is very valuable to his additive characteristics, I would definitely choose this extremely good animal, irrespective out of what family it comes. However, when I would focus on the non additive characteristics, I would when it concerns pedigree breeding for example- rather select an average member of a good family. When I purchase a pigeon, she must be in the first place excel in her additive characteristics. When I think about crossing, I must then again, apart from the family, select material that shows the best combination suitable for crossing. And this doesn‘t depend on the quality of the family, but rather on the combi-nation suitability in the crossing of the family. Therefore, there are three variants in three different situations".

It must be clear from the chapter that good management and especially overview is necessary for the selection. It is a task always demanding full attention when we wish to accomplish something big and durable. That is why I am convinced that fanciers striving for big success will read with great attention the many thoughts in this chapter!

Part 17

Technical opinions with respect to the mating

The mating is the most important breed technical job. We must plan our future breeding pairs in the winter who deliver new generations and who by preference surpass our expectations. I don‘t believe to err when I state that of the total breed technical job, we prefer to be occupied with this work; the work that gives us each year new hope.

Janos Horvath, a Hungarian pigeon fancier, writes in his book in 1950:
"First we must get rid of an old opinion, most fanciers don‘t let go. Namely that one must breed out of all pigeons one has. And precisely this, one must not do".

"De Groten" was bred out of old concentrated Desmet-Matthijs lines all going back on the best breeder of the century "De Oude Klaren ‘46" of Desmet-Matthijs. "De Groten" won a handfull of firsts and produced two Provincial winners. He is also father of the hen to produce for John Engel & Arne Porsmose in Denmark 4 birds to place themselves on the first 4 positions in the ‘96 National Hannover race.

In my opinion, one must not take that to seriously in the pigeon sport. First because in the competition sport, be it race horses, pigeons or greyhounds, many unforeseen things are manifested much more so than in the case of other domestic animals. At one time or another, we have all had a super flyer or an extra passer-on in our hands because by putting the parents together, one could count on everything but class pigeons.

It will soon be 40 years that I have bred pigeons. Without let up, I have striven for years to arrange the best breeding pairs by means of a painstaking analysis and careful consideration. I am not ashamed to conclude that despite all this, I have often met with big surprises. It often happened that out of breeding pairs I expected the most from, not one good young arrived in the world. And again out of other pairs I expected nothing from, celebrities were born. From this I drew the conclusion that if that happened in my loft, it will also happen to the less skilled fancier. And if that is true, we decrease our chances when we reduce our breeding population to the "for-our-purpose" best individuals. There are a few things we can be sure of in the pigeon sport to significantly increase our chances with what we have learned in the preceding articles.

The correct way is to continuously reinforce our population, in the first place with respect to character such as mordant, speed, intelligence, muscle quality, pupil size, iris pigmentation and the weightlessness of the body structure.

We can never have enough pigeons in our loft who can answer to these characteristics. When we have consciously brought these pigeons together and on a high level, we only need the correct crossing combinations so that the first generation can dispose over a plus with respect to vitality, taxation capacity and all related characteristics to being in good form. All this increases the chance for a championship.

We must dissect the qualities of our pigeons before mating!!!

It is far from sufficient to bring "good with good" together in mating, or to try improving an average pigeon with a good pigeon to obtain a better quality. Whether a pigeon is good or average is not so simple. It consists of many factors. A pigeon attains superior results because her intelligence is well above the average and that is within her own performance , capacity the deciding factor. With another pigeon again it is her teeth grinding mordant which stimulates her to a performance well above her powers. The above mentioned characteristics are not in significant doses to be found in other pigeons, but she can more easily cope with the heavy burden by her super vitality than the others who don‘t have anymore reserves at a given moment. But in fact they are all "good" pigeons. I would like it that finally fanciers begin to realize that good and GOOD are far apart. When we think about it, we must understand that how we mate is not at all the same.

We must thoroughly analyze the positive as well as the negative characteristics of our pigeons. Evaluate them independently of each other so that we can make the best mating by this. Of course we must also keep the exterior circumstances in mind with the dissecting of the separate qualities of our pigeons. At what distance, under what weather conditions, and against what competition the pigeon had her best success and what prizes she won on other races under specific circumstances.

When analyzing in this manner one meets thousands of variations. The fancier who passes this has little chance to breed better young pigeons. On a race from Compiegne (360 km) in 1990 the first prize in our Province was won with a speed of 2100 meters per minute. That is likely a national record. May one therefore stamp this pigeon as especially fast? Doubtful. There was such a strong wind during this race that the arriving pigeons could hardly fall inside the loft. The next day the weather conditions had completely changed. The pigeons had to work hard for a prize. The winning pigeon of the previous day, perhaps might have been without a chance here. Bad weather, rain and head wind are circumstances from which pigeons return more tired on a race of 300 km than from an easy race of 500 km.

Fanciers are advised to pay attention to each separate competition race and register all remarks about it. Of course those pigeons are the most valuable for breeding who with bad, rainy weather or with head wind and heat are better than the others, but who perhaps don‘t stand out in races where prizes are won within a few minutes. For me, the most valuable races are those where the first prize is won with a speed of around 1100 meters per minute. Those are the races where the winning pigeons must mobilize all their mordant and all their body reserves and where weaker pigeons don‘t have the power anymore to pull through.

Race results with a high speed have little value for me from a breed technical point of view. The bad ones do not stay behind as it was not heavy enough. And the manner in which the prizes are rewarded is decided by the fast course.

Important matters with regard to the planning of the mating.

What are, in the final analysis, THE factors with respect to the planning of the mating?
a. The heritage;
b. The performance of the pigeon concerned and the circumstances under which those performances were made;
c. The value of the performance capacity etc. of the closest relatives;
d. The combination suitability of the line and the quality of the pigeons who came from it.

Earlier I have already dealt with the ancestry. It is sufficient when we have the details of the first three generations with respect to the future young pigeons. The heritage must not be our only purpose; we don‘t breed for the sake of heritage, but we try with its help to improve the quality of the following generations. When specific characteristics are absent from our pigeons, the heritage alone will hardly help us further, never mind how famous the names may be.

I also wrote about the individual performance. One must always look at this separately and not evaluate in a general way. The talents of the next generation are a wealth of information. First to what extent can we rely on the passing-on, or to what extent did luck or accident play a role. When good performing pigeons can be found among the closest family members, it is a good sign of course. Precisely because of this, one cannot thoroughly enough investigate the family relationship of strange pigeons. From pigeon to pigeon and even also from the pigeons in our own loft.

The same applies to the combination suitability of our lines. There are crossings which show time and again good results and also combinations which seldom produce anything worthwhile. It is worthwhile when we keep this well in mind. The combination suitability shows in the quality of the young. Actually the evaluation of this quality is a sort of offspring control, but this has a different meaning in the pigeon sport than with other domestic animal types.

From a breed technical point of view, the quality of the youngsters must always be better than is the flying quality of our breeding pigeons. "We recognize the tree by its fruits". A good breeder is always more valuable than a good racer because the former can give more good racers. With respect to the offspring control, I would like to say that the heritage has less value when it concerns the hereditary additive properties. Here the family relationship is less interesting because the breeding pigeon‘s additive qualities are passed-on by an intermediary. Therefore it is important what the breeding pigeon herself has to give; not the value of the family members. That‘s why it is sufficient in this case to only use our own eyes and hands.

However we must get to know as much as possible about the family value in the group of non additive properties because, in this case, the average value of a family or line provides much more information than the breeding pigeon herself. (See explanation of the additive and non additive characteristics.)

Mating is a sort of strategy; a musical instrument. The tune we wish, can be determined by ourselves. Each note corresponds with a specific key. Another key doesn‘t give the right note!

Part 18

In Conclusion

Before explaining my own special breeding method, I would like to go through the basic thoughts of the population genetics. I cannot emphasize enough that we must make these elementary principles our own. For most it means to digest some though meal. I have tried to make it as user-friendly as possible. I cannot make it more simple. It means that we must do something we don‘t like: study! But it is the only way for progress in our sport. Don‘t chicken, canary and rabbit lovers have to study a lot to be on top? It is no different in the racing pigeon sport. However, one must not just search for anchor points, but repeatedly study piece by piece the passing-on cycle of the various qualities which influence the different flying capacities. Only in this way does one come on the road to success.

Which then are those distinguishing marks which should interest us most when we make the breeding of champion pigeons our main objective? Those are:

First group:
1. Vitality.
2. Staying power.
3. Form qualities.

Second group:
1. Mordant/Character.
2. Intelligence.
3. Speed.
4. Disposition for a specific distance.

First group:
The qualities belonging to this group are influenced by rather few genes. The degree of passing-on from parents to children is small here. They are the first to react with a set-back in inbreeding. However, they are remarkably improved by crossing. The so called heterogenity is very expressive with this breeding method.

Second group:
In this group are the qualities which are influenced by the collaboration of hundreds of genes. The qualities are always passed-on intermediary, meaning a passing-on of the average the parents bring in with the pairing. This intermediate passing-on however, is not further divided in the following generations as is the case with qualitative passing-on. The quality value shifts more to the average of both parents from generation to generation with these qualities. Example: 100% with 90% = 95% When we pair 95% with 100% we get an average of 97,5% Figuratively speaking of course. Here inbreeding does not lead to noticeable degeneration, but -and this is very important- we get a heterogeneous mix working with crossing in this group. The breeding consequences are the following:

The qualities out of group 1 can best be improved by sensible crossing combinations. This can be achieved by a timely import of pigeons who lend themselves easily for a crossing. As a rule, the group 2 qualities cannot be improved by a crossing. Because the qualities of this group are intermediary passed-on, only a strong selection and a focused mating help us. The better both paired pigeons are in each qualities, the better will be the breeding results. Here applies the golden rule to breed the best with the best.

However the following must be remarked. When we mate pigeons with each other, it is by no means sufficient, to make a simple judgment like, this pigeon is good and that one is not. When this pigeon is good, we must also know why. What are her strong and what are her weak sides. The strong side of a pigeon is not contained in her vitality but in her smartness and her character. In that case, we must put her against a partner with much vitality. However this partner must be comparable to her own smartness and mordant. Otherwise we get more vitality but less of the other two important qualities. One must try to evaluate the properties separately and adapt the breeding plan every time a specific quality lets itself pass-on especially well. So much for the theory. We are now going to a more practical explanation. The focused inbreeding. What precisely is inbreeding?

By applying inbreeding, we pile up genes (good and bad) of those extra pigeons we concentrate on in the breeding. The stronger the inbreeding, the bigger the chance to breed youngsters with the same genes in their system. However the higher the concentration, the stronger the decrease in vitality and form qualities will be. But there are also inbred pigeons with vitality. In that case one can confidently assume that such a pigeon is not so concentrated as expected in her gene type. Such a pigeon can be successfully raced. But when it comes to her breeding one may expect that she will not pass-on in the next generation what was expected in view of her pedigree. When a properly inbred pigeon looks degenerated, has little vitality and cannot get into form, one may expect that such a pigeon will have a difficult time flying for prizes. When we would cross her, her youngsters may be able to win top prizes again.

Yet most fanciers do it wrong. The in their eyes less successful inbred pigeons are being eliminated and the specimen with the most vitality are retained. With inbreeding we want to concentrate extra genes. By incorrect selection often those pigeons are being selected for further breeding who have those valuable genes in small doses. For piling-up genes means lessening of vitality.

When one breeds according to such an intensive plan as I did during a few years, one could logically expect a visible regression. Until now the contrary is true. Even the eyes became more colorful and stronger pigmented with small pupils. The muscle quality did not regress and the build remained that of the old type; the cocks a bit on the big side, the hens fine boned.

Conclusion:
Not a trace of degeneration in visible form. The breeding value improved significantly and more was being concentrated on "The Klaren ‘46". A happy addition was that the pigeons also kept performing well. Yet, I don‘t wish to make this all rosy for.... which matters must be carefully watched out for with the inbreeding?

Group 1.
Values such as vitality, staying power and form qualities gradually worsen with inbreeding. It is because there are few genes which come into play so that they first react with a regression. The conclusion I would like to make here is an important one: a well applied crossing can achieve noticeable results after the crossing.

Group 2.
That inbreeding does not let other, for our sport, very important values remain untouched. However they do not improve by a crossing. Those are: intelligence, character/mordant and speed. Those values are being influenced by hundreds of genes and they are always intermediary passed-on which means that the quality value is always shifted to the average quality of both parents whether we cross or inbreed. That‘s why there is only one way we must and can follow: a targeted selection and mating method.

What was again the primary purpose of inbreeding?

The purpose is to concentrate as strongly as possible the valuable genes of an extraordinary pigeon in the first place and of an extraordinary strain in the second place.
1. How more pigeons of the population will be carrying the genes of the extra pigeon on whom is inbred;
2. When this pigeon we use as a basis was really valuable, the passing-on value of the inbred pigeons is becoming still more valuable;
3. The appearance of these pigeons becomes less and less pretty. Race successes will be less as well and when the race becomes longer and heavier their physical strength deteriorates more.

Conclusion:
Physical strength becomes less, but the breeding value increases. That‘s why inbred pigeons in the first generation are good for crossing, but less suitable for racing. That‘s the general trend. How much further?
The qualities limiting achievement with racing pigeons are being passed-on on the basis of quantitative heritage, also called population genetics. This falls into two groupings.

Group 1:
Those which are influenced positively by crossing. The selection has no bearing here. They are also those whereby they reveal themselves as degenerated pigeons on account of narrow inbreeding. In effect: vitality, form qualities, recuperation capacity, resistance against illness, etc.

Group 2:
Under this fall the so called additive qualities. Here selection counts heavy. One may not count on the effect of crossing. Inbreeding does not assert degenerative pressure. Qualities falling under this group are: intelligence, character/mordant, speed and the suitability to fly specific distances. Therefore under this group are the most important qualities.

Consequences:
I have therefore the qualities of group 2 concentrated in my population through inbreeding. This is possible for they are determined by hundreds of genes; a crossing does not improve them; and the inbreeding hardly worsens them. The qualities of group 1 are influenced by a few genes, a crossing improves them and an inbreeding expresses itself by a clear degeneration. The only possibility to improve the racing value of the strain is crossing.

Which inbred pigeons from our own population are we using for the crossing?

As explained earlier, we deal with the reduction division of chromosomes with pairing. That means that 2x40 chromosomes come together with the pairing. However after cell division, there remain no more than 40 pair! The chronological order of these 40 pair takes place like the result of a lottery. But it can happen that more of A has entered than from B. When that has happened, the young will have a strong resemblance of the parent from whom the A chromosomes came. However, because each of her brothers and sisters are being born out of another sperm and egg cell, it is easy to explain why there can be so much difference between brothers and sisters.

Consequences:
When we inbreed we concentrate a specific gene system. However, here we have more chance to breed pigeons with the most genes of "The Klaren ‘46" than with crossing. We call this gene concentration, in daily life degeneration! These are pigeons who are finer and have less resistance and physical power, less vitality and are rarely getting into form. Out of these pigeons we must select our breeders. Two things must be kept in mind: they must have flexible, elastic muscles and colorful eyes with small pupils. We may race the more vital brothers and sisters.

What strain do we choose for the crossing?

It is known that specific strains always cross well and others not. Therefore other lofts must always be carefully studied with respect to population heritage and passing-on to have the best chance to succeed. We further have 2 possibilities. The first is to cross-in the strange strain directly. Here we can already be successful because the origin of both strains are far removed. The second possibility to genetically increase the distance between the strains to be crossed, is inbreeding. The genetic component becomes concentrated, the variation becomes less and in so doing, we artificially increase the distance between one strain and another. The first possibility is usually difficult to follow. Only the purchase of a super racer has success here. But such a purchase can not be done by just anybody.

The second possibility, young who have been bred in relationship -son x mother, or cousin x cousin is more easy to follow and has a greater chance of success by the gene concentration that occurs. How do I do it?

For the crossing, I have chosen some strains who in the past already showed several times to combine well with the De Smet-Matthijs pigeons. Pigeons were chosen out of these strains who could improve my population with respect to one specific quality. I chose strains suitable to comply with the pre terminated object to fly different distances. Thus, a population was created which was able to successfully compete races from 100-800 kms.

I selected an inbred pigeon of my own population; bred according to the blueprint mentioned in the beginning of this series of articles. I cross her with a strange, preferably inbred strain and the crossing products participate in races. After a number of years, I backcross the best flyers out of this crossing on to the old population and in this way I have added a new quality (e.g. speed) to the population. The backbreed is inbred again and we can use the youngsters out of this for breeding again. Now we start from the beginning with another strain. When we have brought several strange strains in, in this way, we have improved our population on several points. Actually, we can plan years ahead; know exactly when we must inbreed, cross or import something new. It is very easy as a matter of fact!

Of course there will be fanciers shrugging their shoulders after reading my breeding thoughts. When they have achieved better results than I have over a 25 year period with a simpler method, they should stick to it. I do not pretend that my method is the only correct one. But it certainly is a method that provides progress in a responsible manner. I owe much, if not everything to this breeding method. Through this and much puzzling, I find every year again a pair of excellent breeders. Not to forget the development of my own population. A sustained success is just not the only product of breeding. I brought this breeding method with me when I returned from my visit to Professor Alfons Anker of Kaposvar, Hungary in may 1974. In the course of years, I have refined it here and there. Personally, I put an enormous emphasis on the quality character/mordant in my breeding. Prof. Anker considers this more as a link in the scope of the whole. But essentially nothing has changed.

I began to mate my pigeons according to this method in 1975 and tried to get pigeons from other fanciers who fit in my breeding blueprint. In the following three years, I raced only occasionally, but once the inbreeding according to the described blueprint was completed and the inbred material crossed, there was no restraint in the races. And the success was not just a couple of years, but stayed until today. The very best results I ever had in my life, I had in the season of 1989. In the winter I brought once again the best racers with the best breeding capacities in the breeding loft and such an investment always pays back sooner or later. But this time the results were unbelievable:

Peronne 300 kms Provincial 15.304 birds: 1,3,5,9,14,24,25,33,43,47,55,63,66,70,72,122,135,169,181 etc.

St. Ghislain 220 kms Provincial 8.081 birds: 1,2,6,7,8,9,10,11,19,22,26,27,28,33,36,37,45,46,49,54,57 etc.

Orleans 540 kms Provincial 12.178 birds: 1,4,5,6,7,8,10,11,12,14,15,23,35,36,37,39,45,47,51,57,59 etc.

Orleans 540 kms National 23.546 birds: 5,8,9,11,12,14,16,17,18,22,24,38,79,82,84,86,102,106,114 etc.

In my region 510 fanciers basketed almost 10.000 youngbirds in the first race; after 8 races starting at 95 kms and ending at 540 kms my youngsters took individually, in the ace bird competition the following places: 1,2,3,5,7,9,10,11,12,14,15,17,18,20 etc!

Since 1993 I have specialized on the Dutch Day races of the NABvP were 20.000+ fanciers fly for the highest honor on the most difficult races in heavy competition. No dutch fancier ever won this overall title in the total NABvP twice. However I won this title in 1993, 1994 and again in 1996!!!

In the National Day races I won:

In 1994:
Orleans 7671 birds: 2,3,6,13,23,42,93,102,110 etc.
Bourges 6319 birds: 1,2,7,11,77,91,103,162,177 etc.
Orleans 5540 birds: 2,3,27,38,100,107,127 etc.
Chateauroux 5009 birds: 3,5,8,41,84,113,118,176 etc.

In 1996:
Etampes 11789 birds: 1,2,177,234,345,387,522,827 etc.
Orleans 11439 birds: 1,4,15,20,44,50,341,466,617 etc.
Bourges 7738 birds: 2,11,44,47,84,171,187,216,281 etc.
Montlucon 6510 birds: 18,19,20,27,112,145,162,163 etc.
Chateauroux 7108 birds: 5,64,74,87,103,105,222,232 etc.
Etampes 14955 birds: 3,44,47,66,87,163,180,182,185 etc.
Orleans 14497 birds: 11,12,13,37,41,68,80,165,248 etc.

In Nationals... In heavy competition with the best fanciers flying only their best birds... With 60 kms overflight...

And my strain doesn‘t do it only on my own loft:

Results in 1996:
1,2,3,4, National Hannover: John Engel, Denmark.
1,2,3,4,5,6, National Altona: Arne Porsmose, Denmark.

Results in 1997:
1 National Orleans old birds: Jan Witteveen, Holland.
1 National Orleans youngsters: Henk Krijnen, Holland.
1 National Ace Pigeon Overall: Willem de Bruijn, Holland.

Results in 1998:
1 National Orleans 13.500 old birds at my own loft with "De Kleinen"
1 National Ace Section VII Day races & 4th in the Overall National competition.
1 National Champion Day races Section VII

Results in 1999:
1 National Bourges 10.000 old birds at my own loft with "De Rode Engel".
2 & 4 National Montlucon; 3 & 4 National Bourges at my own loft.
1 National Ace Section VII Day races & 8th in the Overall National competition.
1 National Champion Day races Section VII

At other lofts 3 times 1th National was won: St. Vincent, Tours & Orleans!!!

"Arne" won the 1th National Altona in Denmark for Arne Porsmose & John Engel. He was bred out of a son off "De Bonte Jaarling" (son of "De Goede Jaarling") and "De Bourges duivin" and a daughter off "De Klaren II"(son of "De Goede Jaarling") when mated to "Tosca"(granddaughter "De Goede Jaarling"). "Arne" proved that it is very well possible to have excellent race results with a heavily inbred offspring. After his victory "Arne" came bach to his roots in Hilversum where he proved to be an excellent breeder as well.

Some margin notes are called for. I admit that a serious build-up of a colony I advocate calls for know-how, space and possibilities. Not everybody has sufficient space to experiment. However when you know your pigeons and your population, and you know exactly what direction you take, you can quickly select. I also know that you need to have extra basis pigeons in order to follow a breeding method that leads to success. And the extra material is unfortunately not abundant. But if we want to learn, see, experience and experiment, a whole lot is possible.

In conclusion I would like to say that our sport is a hobby that enables us to escape the daily routines and troubles. There are no fixed rules how to do it. Everyone can do as he likes to achieve his goal. It would not be right if rules and regulations showed us the way. We cannot force anybody to accept our opinion. We can and must develop our knowledge at every possible occasion, but it is everyone‘s right to absorb only that which he finds best. For this reason I hope you also use only the information of value to you when introducing my breeding method to your colony.

This is the last out of the series of articles from the book "The Art of Breeding". It contains 30 years of experience of a master breeder. To "study" pigeons is something I did all my life with great joy. And to bring the material through articles, after finding proof during the races, over to other pigeon lovers all over the world is something that every author should think of: write to teach! And last but certainly not least, I wish to thank my wife Marijke for her support and the time she gave me to work for you.

With "the right of the last word" I wish to express the wish that all the breakthrough work Prof. Anker was engaged in for the pigeon fanciers will point the direction to everybody in the sport who is interested in the breed technical work.

Questions & Answers
The Mini Course The Art of Breeding generates quite some questions from readers from all over the world. I will try to answer them here.

I hate to bother you on this subject as no doubt the answer is in print in one or more of your many well written articles. I started reading again your “Art of Breeding” and it immediately triggered a question I have had on the subject for quite a while.

Do you ever recommend breeding father to daughter or mother to son for inbreeding? In 2003, I had what I thought was a once in a life time special YB hen. In her YB season she was 5 times my 1st bird home to the loft and outright won 3 races, including the whole state of Michigan. Her parents had been great breeders individually. So I bred her to her sire for only one round. Both turned out to be cocks. These cocks looked just like their dad. Then crossing these inbred cocks with other good hens I have little to show for it. In fact, I think both these ‘father-daughter’ inbred cocks tend to be infertile a lot of times (“shoot blanks”) . The super hen has yet to produce a good flier when mated to what I thought were above average cocks.

I’m not sure I’m making any sense, but my experimentation here with ‘parent-child’ inbreeding has largely left me disappointed. I never race the inbreds, but only use them as breeders. But it looks like your form of inbreeding is sibling to sibling. Is that correct? Maybe I should mate my super hen to one of her half-brothers. I don’t have any full brothers from the original pair (which are both gone now).

This is an interesting question but not so easy to answer from the other side of the ocean without having seen or handled the birds. But I will give it a good try.

Because of having raced young birds extremely well I know it is very difficult not to get over exited about it. For me only those races with 2 nights in the basket raced under real pigeon weather(sun, heat and headwind) were considered so important that I would place a young hen in the breeding loft. Why a hen? Simple because after their first year they would never fly over 200 kms. Cocks would and for that reason go into the breeding loft after their racing career as a 2-3 year old.

Back to youngbird racing. I invented the darkening system and a light system different then used in the US. These systems have been adopted by all the great racing loft in Europe. And those who race normal cannot get on the racing sheet. Are their birds worth nothing at all then? No absolutely not. Youngbird racing is all about systems and nothing else. If all would do the very same it would be a matter of quality, but more the old matter again of location on the short end and the wind. That is what you see happening over here again.

So if you would have knowledge on systems and your clubmates not this would make a lot of difference on one hand. On the other hand we tend to believe good race results make a good breeder. This is absolutely not so. It is just an indication. You need to be very knowledgeable to understand the why: is it the loft, the location, the used systems, the training, the feeding or the outstanding quality of the birds?

That is one part of the youngbird thing. The other side is the development of the birds. Youngsters are not grown and developed. That is finished after the moult when they go from a yearling into an old bird. Then they have got their final structure and most birds have gone out of balance then. This is the main reason of older birds stop performing. Next we have concentrated too much on youngbird and yearling racing. And so have set up families to be matured at early age for racing. Personally I would look amongst older birds to find the ones better capable for breeding. Ace pigeons are my favorites here. So I consider later mature birds better or the ones of early matured strains that develop good balance in their second year.

Of course close inbreeding is the way to preserve good genes. But many fanciers believe this way is easy and using it they hit the Jackpot. This is absolutely not the question. First of all the family must be capable of handling inbreeding very well. Inbreds must be capable of racing very well also. Next their should be not many things noticeable of a fall back in vitality. You are mentioning your inbreds being infertile; this is a signal the strain cannot handle inbreeding very well. Or that the inbreeding has been gone too far already. But I don’t think so because you are not mentioning this.

Close inbreeding, half brother x half sister or further up down the road sooner or later ends with the not being ok characteristics of birds. For me the most important are: Vitality, Intelligence and Balance. Things you cannot judge from a distance properly. A good picture would help, but there is nothing like judging the bird in your hands and seeing it in action on the loft. Next there is always the matter of a pair to click. And that is a totally other ballgame.

In the past I have never done that close inbreeding, but now I practice it more. However I’m not very disappointed if the results are worse. Most of time they are and sometimes you are very lucky when it clicks and suddenly you have a whole new frontier in front of you.

I do hope this helps for you.

Steven van Breemen.

In the following section of your mini-course, where "Klaren 46" is paired with "Hen X", did hen X change or are all the later offspring full brother and sister, or are there numerous 1/2 brother sister pairings ? Quite by accident I have found myself with two generations of full bro x sis, very similar to your pattern. I crossed last male from this back to orginal hen, with very good results. But from here I am lost as to direction and have now mated this last exceptional hen to a son from the orginal cock when mated to a different hen. I AM PRODUCING GOOD RESULTS, BUT DON‘T REALLY KNOW WHY, or how to proceed in future generations, as I never planned the full bro x sis matings in the first place.

In this system it would have been perfect if hen X would have changed in the pedigree with all the offspring because then the breeding back of The Klaren would have been best. But occasionally the hen X returned a second time.

Problem was when I started to breed according to this system I could only lay my hand on grandchildren. In the time were direct children were enough around I did not keep pigeons because I was then stiil very young. Would this be not so I would have worked with halfbrother x halfsister matings as this would have been much quicker and easier.

In your situation where you breed children of mother x (brother x sister) I would advise to cross. That good results show is a very good sign pointing out your family can stand inbreeding which is very important when building an own strain.

I do hope to have your question answered to satisfaction otherwose do please ask!

Steven van Breemen.

I very much enjoyed your mini articles published recently on here. I have a question. Your methods of breeding from grandchildren of "Klaren 46" indicated that the grandchildren all had in common only one parent from "Klaren 46". In your method is their any care as to whether the one relative appears at the top or bottom of the pedigree?
Or is it important to only inbreed where ‘Klaren 46‘ appears only at the top of both grandchildren‘s pedigrees? Again, thank you for a fascinating series of articles and i hope to find your book and read in more detail.
In this system it is very important that only The Klaren ‘46 is the only returning bird in the pedigree. Because you are working from grandchildren it is a bit far away and as soon as others also have influence the inbreeding isn‘t pure anymore. Then the results aren‘t the same. It does not matter where The Klaren ‘46 appears in the pedigree as long as it is only him returning.

Steven van Breemen.

I had a question regarding how aggression in protecting the nest relates to mordant/character of a pigeon in evaluating breeding stock. If aggression protecting the nest is not related to mordant/character, what is it related to, if anything?

I consider nestlove as I call it to the mordant/character group. I do like it a lot and would love to see it in all my pigeons but this is not so. Certain lines/families do show it but not all. Personally I consider it very positive.

Steven van Breemen.

Thanks for your nice long reply to my inquiry on inbreeding. I get down-hearted with the sport because there is so much to learn and I‘m not the brightest bulb on the street. The pigeon sport takes too long to get feedback on your system and breeding efforts.
I really favor YB racing over OB‘s. It fits my work & personal schedule better. But I have to admit that it is not fair to the birds not to evaluate them more fully as OB‘s and at longer distances.
You mentioned the systems as being more important for YB‘s and that I can definitely agree with. Way back in ‘92 I was given a boot leg copy of your Darkening Method. I‘ve only been racing since ‘90. But I started using the darkening method the very next season and immediately started seeing the improvement. Back then I was the only one in our combine that was using it. In ‘94 I had an excellent YB season scoring high up on the sheet and I won a big race that year even being way off line from the rest. But that was the last of that. By ‘95 everyone had heard of your system and was using it. Those that didn‘t darken their YB‘s did pitiful. So I lost my edge. I can still do OK if the wind is right and all the other factors are in my favor. I‘ve used the darkening method every year since ‘93. But here‘s my slant on the darkening method..... I think for us "working stiffs", the system creates Dummies! I can‘t really work with the YB‘s due to my work schedule and the darkening hours. I have these brilliant looking YB‘s but they are as dumb as feral pigeons. I end up losing large numbers of YB‘s either on a fly-away or on early training tosses at short distances. Most on the team are "follow-the-leaders", and if the ‘leaders‘ aren‘t intelligent then there goes the team in ‘one fell swoop‘. I‘ve tried different ways to train them and to get them routing, but every year I end up with significant losses. The YB‘s that remain go onto have pretty decent performance. I think at least 3 if not 4 times I‘ve bred the Champion YB and have won my share of races. Incidentally, I‘m not alone with this dilemma. Most if not all fanciers who use the darkening system have substantial losses somewhere along the season. (Many don‘t admit it, but they do lose lots of birds).
I‘m positive it is not a health issue either; these darkened youngsters are just plain dumb!
We start our YB races in late July (~ 100 miles) and our last YB race is in mid-October (~ 300 - 400 miles). You mentioned in your reply about a (new?) lighting method that many great fanciers in Europe have now adopted. I breed early youngsters; my 1st round has already hatched and some have been banded. Will the light system work in this Northern latitude? Many fanciers in the southern states use a light system where the lights are on 18 -24 hrs right from breeding section on into early May. Around May 1st they clip & pull the outer 2 flights and some even do the tail. They are locked up for 4 - 6 wks and forced into a power molt by putting them on normal hours or a somewhat darkened schedule. But these lofts don‘t start flying YB races ‘til late August or early Sept and race into Dec. I don‘tknow of anyone personally using the light method in the northern states.
I think a lighting system might work better for me and my work schedule and seemingly the birds would be smarter. I can let the YB‘s out where they can adapt to both sunrise & sunse, t normally.
What is your opinion? It‘s OK if you are too busy to answer my questions. I suspect that you spend a lot of time giving advice to fanciers all over the planet. Quite possibly you could direct me to a web site where maybe these questions are already answered. But I am interested in whether your Lighting method might adapt to my circumstances.
Thanks again for your advice on the breeding aspect.
All the best and good luck this season.

Well we do not all breed bright pigeons! The racing season is to find out what the dummies are. First of all I think it is very important to select on intelligence of the breeders. If you don‘t do this hard enough the effect will be a lot of stupid youngsters. Doing so you can influence the offspring. Next you really need to train them hard and you should not be afraid to single toss them. This way you will loose the dummies already before the season starts. Understand also the orientation system is a fine system and a recessive one; so it always goes to the other side you want it in the breeding. So breeding dummies is normal, but you do can influnece it a lot with selection and training. What also helps is putting youngsters during the day in an aviary attached to the loft.

The time when you race youngbirds is too late to use my light system. It is a combination of darkening and light system. It is used here from half JUly till the end of August and it does speed up the moult of the big flights. After the 5-6th flight has dropped the birds should be stopped racing as the small feathers will comes off like snow then. Therefore the US light system would suit you better.

Hope my answers are clear to you otherwise do please ask!