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Buying GOOD Pigeons
by Elton Dinga
Buying good pigeons is not an easy task. You
will have to do some basic research before making the final informed decision
about the purchase. You will have to ask yourself what you are trying to achieve
with those birds, whether it is one loft futurity races, or club racing for
young and/or old birds.
If One Loft Racing is what you are going to
concentrate it is best to buy the birds from the people that do well in those
races. It is important to distinct between fast and slow races and
multiple race series or one time shots at 300-350 miles. I myself do not
like to send the young birds further out than 325 miles. The multiple race
series are the best races as the best birds will prevail. When analyzing
the race results you will have to look at percentages. I participated in a
One Loft Race in Florida and I had 5 birds in the race from 134 birds. My
5 birds, so 100% of my birds were in the top 48 positions, so they were in the
top 36 percent. While another “very famous fancier” had 11 birds in
the race, but only 3 of his birds were in the top 36 percent, so only 27 percent
of his birds were in the top 36 percent!!! The higher the percentage of
the birds in the top prizes the better.
When buying birds always analyze the results of the
fancier yourself by using this approach and do not get fooled by nice
advertisement where fanciers list Equal 1st as just 1st Place! The best
thing to do is to go to the website of the race that is being mentioned and
check the results. I think that a few one loft races are good determinants
of the quality of someone’s birds. Club races are hard to judge because
you do not know how the competition is there. It is a lot harder to beat
Michael Jordan in basketball than Joe Smith from across the street.
It is also very important that other fanciers do
well with a particular family of birds. If other people are not doing well
with these birds, then the chances of you being successful are not very good.
How many birds to buy! Always when starting
out it is best to buy about 10 birds at a price range of $150-250, after you
have done your homework about the fancier, his birds and results. I would
watch out for any price outside that range, with a few exceptions for birds from
proven pairs or proven racers. When you get 10 birds from someone you
would hope that 1-2 of them are good. If someone promises you better than
that they are building castles in the air. If you get those 1-2 good
breeding birds, then buy again from the same loft next year. If none of
the birds turn out to be good, then reconsider and see if you were unlucky or
you just do not have the right cross for them. Also it is best to buy late
breds 3rd-4th round. No one will sell you birds from his best in the first
or second round as they want those birds to race themselves. Also watch
out from the breeding farms. They breed thousands of birds per year.
Also their birds would be more expensive as they have employees, rent,
electricity and other expenses to pay. The best is to buy from small lofts
that know the birds that they have. A place that breeds over 1000 pigeons
per year cannot keep up with that large number…
One other thing, if someone knew for sure that a
bird is SUPER, he would not sell it!
Please use this as your guidance and should you have
any questions feel free to contact me…