Guide to Buying Racing Pigeons—Part Three
Purchasing Ace Pigeons
One way to go for the ‘big’ money is to buy the ace pigeons of certain race competitions. In Europe, each year at the end of the racing season, the champion birds are put up for sale. These champions can go for record sums. Unfortunately, many of the great racing pigeons are failures in the breeding loft. Few champions have gone on to produce similar champions.
Using a first ace pigeon for breeding is no guarantee that first ace pigeons will be produced. Very often, it is the pedigree that is most important. A family of birds that has a history of producing a high percentage of first ace pigeons is a good family to purchase from. Pairing a high quality hen from the widowhood loft with a high quality racing cock bird from the loft, especially if the birds are related, could result in some above average pigeons.
Purchasing Birds from the Breeding Loft
Ace pigeons may be nice to own and are great for advertising, but the average pigeon fancier does not need ace pigeons to compete at the highest level. Birds purchased from the breeding loft, albeit somewhat risky, may actually be quite suitable. It really depends on why the birds were moved into the breeding loft and subsequently being sold.
One reason birds are being sold from the breeding loft is that they just didn’t perform to the owner’s expectations. Chances of those birds performing well for you are probably slim.
Other reasons older birds are for sale is because the pigeon fancier prefers to breed only the very young birds. If this is the situation, you can probably purchase a previously high-impact pigeon for a pretty reasonable price, introducing some high quality genetics into your loft.
If you do happen to get this type of bird, consider putting their eggs under younger foster parents. Quite often the reduced performance of bird offspring from older parent pairs is the result of not lack of genetic quality but a lower level of care that the older parents give their babies.
Finally, you might be lucky enough to purchase great quality birds from lofts that are being completely sold out. Typically, all of the records are available for the best pairs in the loft, along with the records of the best results. Sales like these can yield a gold mine for pigeon fanciers looking to buy.
Purchasing Racing Pigeons at Auctions
In the U.S. especially, purchasing racing pigeons from the auctions of convention and futurity races is an option. Frequently, the top position birds are sold after the race conclusion, quite often for relatively small sums of money. It is not unheard of to be able to purchase these birds for as little as $75 to $100. This is a bargain for a trained and race-proven bird.
Once you have the bird, you can phone the breeder and ask to purchase the pedigree for it. Typically, breeders are hesitant to simply give the pedigree away. As a beginner, offer to purchase the fancier’s stock after the futurity or convention race. You can soon build a loft of high quality pigeons this way.
hi i just wondered how do you make or build a pigeon loft out of a small garden shed?hope you could help thanks bradley.
The pigeon buying guide is just what i need right now, being a novice.Great source of needed information.Thank you very much!
thanks so much for the service
love this info” thanks
1.STRONG MUCLE
2.WHEN HANDLING FEEL VIBRATIONS
3.IMAGINERY LINE FROM MANDIBL
4.BACKGROUND OF BIRD
ive enjoyed reading your article on buying guide to pigeons 3–i will add by saying
when we are buying our pigeons we should have had our eyes on the fanciers backround
how well his pigeons are doing in his rece program-how long is he racing theese birds
is he up dated in his race results are there others who are winning with his birds
is he a honest fancier when he tells you his given you his best off his champions.
but most of all ask him what his system is that he races his birds on–what he feeds
his birds -does he medacate his birds with a drug type that we are all told to use-
when we should be using natural remedys to build up our birds imunity to all theese bugs-and only then will our birds be able to compete in the races.
Great Article!
Sir Do u have a book with all this info, could u let me know Thanks Jb
Seems you have a well balanced approach to buying pigeons. I appreciated your statement , “When I refer to pedigree, I am really speaking about the actual genetic background of the bird. Sometimes we get hung up on a paper pedigree and forget to look beyond that.”
When I started I lacked knowledge and i just bought what was offered. I was fortunate that the man was honest and I did indeed get good birds. All I could say was they were beautiful looking and very healthy looking but what to look for muscle etc wise i was at a loss. I believe your article aught to help novices who if they realy apply the things written will have a much better chance of gaining better quality birds. The WWW could use alot more such info. The net is the way of the future for reaching future fanciers. After all it is the youth of today who use it most. Nice going Mr.Minvielle!
hi there….thanks so much for the service ..