Pigeonbasics.com

this is really a very moving thread, I have to admit I had a little tear reading the father and son stories,

westy like you my first birds were a pair of wests, and now I have some very pretty fantails, but my dad just rolls his eyes if i mention them, he says they are vermin and wont even come and look at them!! but I love them   if it worked this is a pic of one of my new birds. PS im not falling over Im totally sober!

Like many fanciers, I was introduced to pigeons by my Dad. The pigeons I was introduced to were slightly different from the tumblers and homers, Dad was never involved with homers, he flew pouters in Glasgow during the 50s & 60s, it was hugely popular then and still is all over the world. The Spaniards have their very own culture of flying pouters, it is as popular there as racing is here and it is also very popular in Holland.
When I was much younger, I was a big Spiderman fan and of course I wanted to do all the fantastic things he could do but I lacked webbing. (I liked the Man from Atlantis too but again, webbed fingers) I was prepared to settle for a Spiderman outfit so I at least looked the part, except all the costumes I saw looked more like pyjamas. Anyway, in order to get such a costume it was necessary to travel to Glasgow (2 hours away in a Hillman Hunter-1970’s British motor) along with my Dad who was taking his surplus pouters to the shop. This was a day out for my Dad and I guess it was a bit of a nuisance for him to have to take me and seek out a superhero costume in Glasgow city centre but that wasn’t his only motive for getting me interested in pigeons. First stop was George Dunn’s ‘doo shop’ at the top of Duke Street at Parkhead cross. It was a converted pawn shop, four stories high, similar style to those in the background of the picture below. Feathers and dust everywhere, budgies chattering, canaries whistling, cockatiels mimicking all sorts of Glaswegian phrases, and in the pens behind the ancient, solid 2 inch thick wooden counter were ‘doos’, just like my Dads’ and I was intrigued. George knew we had travelled and as soon as he sorted out a cup of tea for Dad, he went to the chip shop next door and got some chips and a bottle of pop for me, the beginning of a ten year tradition but I was just catching a glimpse of a very old tradition. After that I always went to the ‘Doo shop’ and Spidey was more or less forgotten, I certainly wasn’t going to be seen in Spidey pyjamas anyway. I could tell a lot of stories about the doo shop, one springs to mind about the Pakistani with a broad Glaswegian accent who had swapped a bird and as he put it into his box said to George: “I hope this isn’t a shooter!” (A bird that would fly straight back to George on its release). George replied: “It would do well to shoot back from Pakistan!” All in good humour, typical ‘pigeon patter’.

Anyway, I was curious and on the journey home and every other journey after that I would question Dad about the birds as well as discussing our own birds, the birds we were taking to the shop and so on… I was intrigued by the stories he would tell about the birds he was flying against when he was younger, well known birds called ‘Leather wings’ and ‘Golden Boy’ and how they were ‘uncatchable’. What got my attention was the fact that these birds, over time, would accumulate sufficient cash to feed themselves, while other owners would be paying for their birds out of their own pocket. Of course I came to realise that this is what they were all about and it still amazes me now to think that the birds I have share some of their genes with birds flown by an Arab nomad maybe 12 or more centuries ago. All pigeon breeds have history I know, but there is something that just falls into place for me when I think about thief pouters.
My first pigeon was a Voorburg Shield Cropper hen (http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/Glassfeather/shield.htm). When I was a kid I had to walk a mile to catch the school bus and most afternoons on my way home from school that hen would come flying across the field to meet me. She was very tame and perfectly marked, quite difficult to achieve. Shield marked pigeons should be all white with just coloured feathers on the wing shields, the ten primaries on each wing should be white but it is often found that they have 10x9 white flights or 9x9, or 10x8 and so on. That hen was 10x10 and I never bred another Voorburg marked like that.


Horseman Pouter flown in Glasgow


A Voorburg Shield Cropper


A Spanish Cropper, more here: http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/Glassfeather/buchonb.htm


My little boy teaching 'chick' to drive.

great top class story & great pics!

great pics samantha and glassfeather  

great to read something light hearted like that, what a lovely photo of samantha, and off course the pigeons  , what a nice topic, well done westy.
p.s great photo of the truck driver  

just to make a bit more fun in the forum what was your first pigeon to pepole who never answed last time.
all the best
martin

first pigeon was red cheq    surp   51   ca  4406  it was a stray, but my pride and joy
so if the owner sees this send amtrack   [not a van , a horse and cart   ]

you ent that old are you
lol

just feel it westy  

lol jimmy how are you anyway
all the best
martin

not bad at all westy  ,soldiering on   bit embarrasing though, when i went to see my old mother[ 84] in hospital, the nurse said, and heres a chair for your HUSBAND it made my mothers day, but didnt do a lot for me,   true

My first 3 pigeons were all born on the Williamsburg Bridge, NY.  Bridgett - 1 and Willie B. were the first two arrivals to our long island home in mid-August.  After Bridgett died we got Bridget - 2, but she/he died too.  Willie B. had been with us for almost four months.  We bottle fed all of them and tried to nurse them to become healthy and strong enough to survive in the wild.  Willie would roll the syringe feeder with his beak to let me know he was hungry.  He has made two friends who are still here, I will read their bands and post soon, and are living in the coop my husband built for Willie B.  

Last Wednesday night, Nov. 23, 2005, my family and I left for MA.  I let Willie B. out so that he could stay in the coop with his pals, but when my cousin came to feed them that evening he noticed that Willie was no where to be found.  It is now Saturday, December 3rd and still no sign of Willie.  I found some feathers grouped on the ground last Sunday, but I am always finding feathers.  

I am so afraid that I sent him out into the cold night to die.  It makes me sick when I think that I will never see Willie B. again.  He was great, he would land on my head or shoulder he knew his name and would fly to me when he wanted to.  He got so attached that when I was ready to go out he would perch on the roof or hood of my truck and take a brief ride with me down the street.  Or when I went next door to do laundry he would perch on the windowsill outside and look in at me or he would perch on the screen door if I left it open for him.  We ate seeds together he especially liked sunflower seeds and would get jealous when I ate them out of the bottle.  Of course he poo'd a lot, but what can you do to prevent that?  I can't seem to get through missing him.  I really wish I knew where he went and that he is okay.

We didn't band him because I was told that he could loose a foot if the band got to tight as he grew.  He answers to Willie B. and may even land on your head if you shake the can of food loud enough.  

I just can't seem to get passed having raised him from a baby and he took to me like most other animals do, but to lose him so quickly just breaks my heart.

Thanx for listening and any help you could provide would be greatly appreciated.

Rosa

jimmy sure she did not mean it

well pigeons got into my blood when i was around ten.myself and a few mates used to go around the old deralic buildings and catch old commons most the time the birds we got were just young still in nests but we hand fed these birds with wheat and corn that we saved with pocket money.sometimes we would catc ha couple older birds and when we caught an old racer with a ring on it's leg we thought it was pure gold hahahaha we played around with these birds for a couple years i think and we managed to find a old man that had racing pigeons that lived a block away from us.we went around and saw him and he saw how keen we were on these birds.we used to clean his loft ect nearly every couple days.just so we could watch the birds.turned out one day he turned up with his ute piled up with timber ect and built us a loft.it wasn't flash but it held our birds.he then agreed to breed us some race birds if we gave him the commons in return wich we agreed.i know now what he done with those old comswe had haha.ever since i havn't looked back,i am now a maried man with 3 childre nof my own and hopefully the ywill continue to breed and fly the birds i love