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This is a page to help young people to get started in raising pigeons I will working and this page and hopefully having it up and running soon. If you would like to start raising pigeons please contact me. I can either supply birds and information on raising them or names of people to get birds from. Here's a little opion on raising pigeons. ''Rules for Success in Pigeon Breeding
Rule 1: Make your own mistakes!
Birdkeeping of any kind is by definition a hands-on
activity. Do not be afraid to make errors. It's O.K.!
You only really learn by doing. However, you must
learn to recognize your errors, learn from them, and
do not repeat them. How often have you heard someone
say, "But so-and-so has had and been in pigeons for
thirty years, and he does it like this or that"?
How this blindness infuriates me, as the truth really
is that so-and-so who does it like this and that has
not had pigeons for thirty years but rather for one
year thirty times over. He has learned nothing, and
never will, because he neither recognizes nor
acknowledges his errors-another case of the blind
leading the blind.
Rule 2: Read everything, study everything, but do so
critically!
Yes, by all means read the old favourites like Old
Hand, Violet, and countless others. But do not delude
yourself that these dinosaurs have anything of value
to offer you. Read these to develop your instinct for
misinformation in order to provide a perspective
against which to make informed judgments. We have come
so far since these extinct fossils paraded assumptions
and opinions as facts. Also remember that new modern
charlatans are on the sidelines just waiting to move
into center field.
Read and study everything everywhere and use only what
truly makes sense and can be supported not by opinion
or assumption but by fact. In our sport as well as
many others-animal and human-MDs and DVMs are
reporting studies in all areas from genetics to
performance. Read them all!
Rule 3: Learn and apply knowledge of genetics!
If you wish to learn and apply knowledge of genetics,
then read and study all you can get your hands on.
Most material written by pigeon enthusiasts for pigeon
enthusiasts is rubbish, absolute quackery with little
or no basis in reality! How often would you, a
reasonable human being, go to a janitor to have a
triple bypass or to an auto body or collision person
to recommend the use of pharmaceuticals? What a
question! "Never," you say! Yet I see this every day!
You may in fact be able to expertly fix a fender, but
can you spell the word genetics let alone apply its
principles or even vaguely understand what these
principles are or mean? Yet I watch people listen
intently to these charlatans and disregard confirmed
knowledge of genetics that has been applied to the
fields of poultry, cattle, horses, dogs, and so on. So
you say, "But Silvio, a pigeon is not a chicken, is
not a cow or horse or dog." And I repeat a fender
fixer is not a geneticist and cannot claim knowledge
that he does not and never will have! By insisting
that you can learn nothing from those who have
rightfully made tremendous progress in these other
related stock areas is to wear your ignorance on your
lapel!
Rule 4: Stock sense is essential!
There are some people who really do have a gift with
animals. This gift of recognizing quality in animals
is called stock sense. If you were a successful dog
breeder or cattle, pig, sheep, or horse breeder, then
you probably have this stock sense. This usually
cannot be taught; you usually have an aptitude for it
or not.
No matter what you breed, the principles are and
always remain the same. Once you come to know what
does or does not constitute a quality animal, you are
well on your way. Good stock sense stacks the
probability of potential success much more in your
favour than in that of someone with no such sense. You
can quickly see this in how one handles and relates to
his stock. Most people don't have it!
Rule 5: Two pigeons in one!
Do not be fooled-and almost everyone is-when handling
and evaluating a pigeon. Most people pick up a pigeon,
pull its beak, (I'd like to pull your nose and see
what I can conclude from this); force open its mouth
(yes, I have confirmed the existence of a tongue and
throat); open its wings (recognize nothing and close
them knowingly); and comment on its weak vents (yet I
have never seen vents not up to their purpose) and/or
weak back (not knowing that the back is actually
between the birds shoulders). These real experts look
at a pigeon's eye or eyes (in reality all they can do
is confirm that yes it has two), and then either
proceed to have an orgasm or declare that they have
better.
For example, in 1960, a small horse was born in
Oshawa, Ontario. As a yearling, he was offered for
sale for $25,000 (Canadian) and there were no takers.
His owner retained him, trained, and raced him. In
1963, Northern Dancer won the Kentucky Derby and
Preakness went on to become the most prepotent sire in
all history. I watched at a yearling sale as his sons
and daughters sold for between $1.5 and $3 million
(U.S.) each. E.P. Taylor would eventually refuse $40
million (U.S.) for the Dancer. He founded a dynasty
worldwide and single-handedly created a horse
My point is that all of the experts and fender fixers
evaluated the horse that they saw, and not the one
that they couldn't, and they were all wrong: Most
pigeon enthusiasts are all wrong!
Rule 6: Nature is not on your side!
If you wish to breed good pigeons, or good animals of
any kind, you must come to truly understand this
simple truth. What truth? Well, the simple truth is
that Nature abhors order. Nature is the great
equalizer; Nature does not willingly admit of
extremes. Left to herself, Nature reverts to the
common form. Nature never progresses from less order
to greater order, but always from order to disorder if
left to her designs.
Most current livestock survive in the form in which
they exist because they are beneficial to man in that
form. They exist in that form because expert herdsmen
(or geneticists, scientists, and others) have applied
known genetic principles to common stock so as to
modify them to their own ends, i.e., more milk, more
meat, more eggs, faster horse, and so on. If man took
himself out of the equation, the result would be a
reversion or extinction of the form.
What does this mean? This means that once the
prepotent sire or dam is actually discovered-usually
by accident-or uncovered, then you must at all costs
develop a line around this specific bird. You must not
dilute him because you will eventually lose the
quality that makes him great. You must perpetuate as
many offspring in as many combinations as possible.
Inbreeding is your tool! If your sire or dam doesn't
put up with it, then he or she is not the prepotent
specimen you believe him or her to be! If this is the
case, you must look to uncover another! You can learn
much of breeding by studying the theories of Chaos and
Relativity!
Rule 7: Truly prepotent sires or dams are the rarest
of the rare!
They are to be cherished, and unlike diamonds, they
will not last forever. Use them wisely! To find one is
truly like panning for gold. You go through tons and
tons of rock and dirt to find only a grain-a nugget-of
real gold. That is why it has value, because it is
rare! Yet once found they are never appreciated nor
properly used. This is because people ignorantly
believe, "Oh, well, I'll find or breed another." Well,
good luck because the reality is you rarely will.
So, Silvio, why do you say this? Well, here is why.
Let us say, for arguments sake, that a pigeon only had
25 pairs of genes. If this was the case, then each
pair of pigeons would produce approximately 33,500,000
different genotypes. You must admit that this is an
incredible number. But how many genes does a pigeon
really have? Well he/she has 6,000 pairs, which really
means that if each pair was heterozygous they would in
fact produce 3 to the 3,000th power different
genotypes. Do you understand just how big this number
is?
So what becomes only too clear is not that variations
occur-because this is the norm-but rather that
offspring of a prepotent sire or dam can be so
consistent! This is why prepotent pigeons are so rare
and valuable. Go back to Rule 6 and reread it-Nature
dislikes order! Only through a well-defined,
well-thought-well-thought-out and executed plan
thwart Nature's law. Most people lose. Once the sire
or dam is gone, so is their, and their human owner's
supposed, ability as a great breeder. You see, it had
nothing to do with them or their ability; it had to do
with chance and blind luck. So it is with so many
self-proclaimed master breeders with many, many
all-American accolades. Were they really master
breeders or just extremely fortunate to have a
long-lived prepotent sire?
Rule 8: Cross inbred lines!
Once you have identified your prepotent sire, as
defined above, and have proceeded to develop a truly
inbred line of pigeons, then what? Well, what we seek
is always to improve! We wish to objectively improve
our stock while maintaining longevity. Always look,
never be content! Always seek to modify and manipulate
Nature's odds in your favour.
You must develop a rapport or friendship with other
like-minded and multi-talented pigeon enthusiasts who
have also produced inbred lines. Cooperate with each
other to further develop each other's families. What I
mean is that when two or more inbred lines of pigeons,
or livestock of any kind, are crossed, and we then
breed the crossbred females back to either side, we
should immediately see very big improvements in
everything from fertility to livability.
All of the advances made in breeding commercial
animals over the past fifty years have been based on
this one principle. This principle is referred to as
heterosis.
Rule 9: Introduce only what you absolutely know to be
fact!
Never use a pigeon in your program, no matter how good
or how great a bird he is unless you know exactly his
genetic origin. Why do I say this? Well, you could
destroy twenty years work in just a few years. If your
family means anything to you, never risk it!
In conclusion no one can ever hope to breed consistent
high quality pigeons unless he thoroughly researches
and understands the background of his pigeons.
Anything short of this is self-delusion and
self-deceit and cannot hope to succeed over a long
period of time! The blind leading the blind. All I
seek is the truth!''
Raymond Julien,
Canada.
Here is information about Probiotics:
''Watching CSI on television a while back, I heard one
of the show's characters comment that there are
thousands of different types of bacteria in our mouths
and most of them serve no other known purpose than to
keep other “bad” bacteria from establishing
themselves. This is somewhat the same reasoning as to
why we use probiotics on our birds. We are attempting
to protect their intestinal tract from being overrun
with “bad” bacteria.
When we use a probiotic, we are hoping to establish
viable colonies of these friendly bacteria that will
sufficiently coat the intestinal lining with many
layers of friendly bacteria protection. Theoretically,
if all the points of attachment for “bad” bacteria are
currently being occupied by untold billions of
friendly bacteria, then the “bad” bacteria cannot get
a foothold in order to start their own colony.
Besides coating the lining of the intestines and
denying the “bad” bacteria a place to multiply, these
friendly bacteria produce certain by-products that are
helpful to the functioning of the intestinal tract.
Often, these same by-products, that are helpful to the
health of our birds, create a hostile environment for
many of the “bad” bacteria, reducing their ability to
survive in the digestive tract.
Unfortunately, many in the sport do not fully
understand the benefit of using probiotics, and
believe that their use is reserved for “after”
antibiotic usage. This could not be further from the
truth. The best approach is to flood the gut with a
continual source of friendly bacteria thereby
strengthening and enriching the “good” bacteria colony
and denying “bad” bacteria the opportunity to gain a
foothold.
Many fanciers are caught in a continual cycle of
antibiotic usage, minimal re-seeding of friendly
bacteria (one or two days of probiotic treatment),
re-colonization of the gut by “bad” growth-inhibiting
pathogenic bacteria and then another treatment of
antibiotics. Preferably, one should follow antibiotic
usage with a concerted effort to re-establish and
enrich the friendly bacteria colony to the point where
the bad bacteria has little or no chance of
establishing itself in the gut. Deny bad bacteria the
opportunity to colonize and you will greatly curtail
your need for antibiotics.
The direction that probiotic usage is heading towards
is continual feeding (seeding) of the colony with more
probiotics. If you can establish a thick healthy
colony on the lining of the intestinal wall, then bad
bacteria has little or no chance of gaining an
infectious foothold. Every time you use antibiotics
you are destroying the good colonies along with the
bad colonies. This means you are essentially starting
the colonization process over again after each
antibiotic treatment. Until you are able to establish
and maintain a viable colony of friendly bacteria, you
will have little choice but to depend on antibiotics
to maintain flock health.''
Raymond Julien,
Canada
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