Pigeonbasics.com

most pepole who keep pigeons i know started off with tumblers as there first pigeons so what was your first pigeon you started off with?

my first pigeons was a pair of west of englands (tumblers) but now i keep racers

my first 2 pigeons

as soon as i started out the sport as i already knew many successfull racers they bred me a pair each of there top birds and they did well for there first season ive just not long ago got a pigeon bred for me as we all breed each other pigeons in our club not because were stuck but simply tradition. that is of the grandchild of the pair i got my first pigeon off and its doing really well.

Your first two pigeons look lovely Westy.  My first two were garden fantails, they live in a dovecote but have to go in the loft now because of the Avian Flu. Now I'm looking for white homing pigeons.

Westy - do you still got a pair of your Westy? could you breed me a pair of Westy YBs in Feb 2006 ? I willing pay on your price.

HI YOUNG WESTY, HOPE YOUR DOING WELL, YOUVE A GREAT DAD,IM SURE YOUR PROUD OF HIM, AND I HAVE TO SAY THAT WAS ONE OF THE NICEST LETTERS IVE RECEIVED, ILL KEEP THAT.  MY DAD HAD PIGEONS, AND I FIRST TOOK A REAL INTEREST IN THEM ABOUT 6 YEARS OLD, AND WANTED MY OWN, MY BROTHER WAS THE SAME, HES 2 YEARS OLDER SO ONCE MY BROTHER HAD" 2 REAL RACERS" BOUGHT FOR HIM FOR 1GUINNIE, WHICH IS 21 NEW 5 PENCES NOWADAYS, I WANTED THE SAME, BUT MY DAD SAID I HAD TO WAIT ON MY BIRTHDAY [WHICH HAD JUST PASSED]REALLY MY DAD DIDNT HAVE THE MONEY, SO AT THAT TIME A STRAY KEPT COMMING DOWN TO THE CHICKEN RUN WHICH I MANAGED TO CATCH RING NO SURP 51 CA 4406, IM SURE THE OWNER WILL FORGIVE ME NOW, MY DAD SAID IT WAS A HEN, SO OFF COURSE I WANTED TO GET A COCK TO PAIR TO IT, SO I PESTERED MY DAD, SO MUCH , THAT HE BOUGHT A "REAL RACER FROM THE PETSHOP FOR2 SHILLINGS [10 PENCE]ILL NEVER FORGET THE DAY HE CAME BACK FROM WORK WITH A BOX ON THE CARIER ON THE BACK OF HIS BIKE, THIS WAS A PIGEON, AND FOR ME..I WASTHE PROUDEST LAD ABOUT, WELL THE COINCIDENCE WAS, THAT THE STRAY I CAUGHT ,TURNED OUT A COCK AND THE COCK HE BOUGHT TURNED OUT A HEN, SO THEY PAIRED, AND THEY BRED SO IT WAS MY CHEAPIES AGAINST MY BROTHERS DEAR ONES BUT MY BROTHER THOUGHT THAT BECAUSE HIS BIRDS WERE DEARER,THEY WOULD WIN BETTER, BUT WHAT HE DIDNT KNOW, WAS YOUNG JAMESY BOY TOOK HIS OWN BIRDS EVERY DAY ON THE BACK OF A BIKE, TO AS FAR AS MY WEE LEGS COULD TAKE ME, SO MY BROTHER COULDNT UNDERSTAND HOW MY BIRDS WERE BEATING HIS, SO REALLY THAT WAS MY FIRST VALUABLE LESSON I THEN TOOK THEM IN THE BUS TO THE TERMINUS ,ABOUT 9 MILES, AND WHEN THE BUS CONDUCTER GOT TO KNOW ME HE WOULD UNOFFICIALY TAKE THEM FROM ME AT THE BUS STOP AND LET THEM OFF FOR ME, SO I SAVED MY 3 OLD PENNIES, AND I WAS ABLE TO GET THEM IN AND TIME THEM, SO IT JUST GOES TO SHOW YOU THAT ITS A LOT TO DO WITH THE WORK YOU PUT IN WITH THEM,,I STILL HAVE MY VERY FIRST TROPHY, WICH I AM MORE PROUD OF THAN ANY OF THE REST   1958 R. U. YB AVERAGE, J,WHITE AND SON
YES I REMEMBER MY DAD WITH VERY FOND MEMORIES,,,GOOD LUCK TO YOU WESTY

JUST A WEE FOOTNOTE I STILL HAVE THE OLD BLACK AND WHITE PHOTO AT THE PRESENTATION NIGHT WHEN I GOT THAT WEE TROPHY, OF ME AND MY DAD.
IN FADED PRINTING UNDER THE PHOTO IT SAYS
   HOW I WISH THAT I COULD SAY,
   ILL GO AND SEE MY DAD TODAY
   TO HEAR HIS VOICE,TO SEE HIM SMILE,
   TO SIT AND TALK WITH HIM A WHILE
    TO THOSE WHO HAVE A DAD,
    HAVE HIM WHILE YOU MAY
    BECAUSE I WISH WITH ALL MY HEART,
    THAT MINE WERE HERE TO DAY
                                                 JIMMY

Just a wee note Jimmy to say how much I enjoyed the verse in your previous posting. It is spot on.

Paul C.

speight i have only now got one of the woe (cock) but i have got another tumbler but i dont know the breed of it . it is brown and white i could proberly breed you some of them 2 in feb. are pacificly after woe (white ones) because if you are i could ask pepole in my area to breed you some let me know
martin (westy)

wow! jimmy that story was spot on i found it kind of the same between me and my dad when i started pestering my dad for 2 pigeons for my rabbit hutch i collected for free.all the best with your pigeons.
martin   (westy)

p.s. the 2 racers you sent me are both cocks and thanks for sending the pedigrie through the post.

Thanks jim, got the letter then?, nice little verse that was.

my first pigeon were fantails but have now got some nice racers from members of this site for free as i'm just starting up.
westy you won't go far wrong listening to father and all the great advice from jimmy white have seen photo and trophy and he is very very proud of them

                                                              iain

jimmy what a cracking verse that is and how very true

                                                      iain

i was intrested in pigeons since the age of six my father raced them, i just helped out
when he died i took over and raced them out. i lost the lot so gave the sport up
but was really peed off i started up again two years later geting birds from lots of my dads friends to get me started i bought a black cock at our local breeder buyer for a tenner it won the breeder buyer from ripon winning £300 next year. 1st club ripon 2nd west section  fed. this year 1st club 5th west section fed club from wetherby also has won me a lot of pool money too so this bird is not my first pigeon but my first and only winner so far
thanks stucky(breeder)

hello

i got into pigeons at the age of about 8 , i always moaned at my dad askin him for some pigeons he finally got a loft and about 15 youngbirds all of local flyers , in the second year of racing my dad added my name and we became a partener ship. at the age of about 10 to 11 i started racing on my own with ma dads help and support. I had a pigeon that i payed special attention to sice it was a youngster and it never performed in the sprint races but with me starting out you cant get rid of birds like that until you know wat uve got , anyway i sent it to amiens (france) as a 2 year old and it made it all the way through a storm in a quick time so i sent it to the bourges race and it was one of three birds back on the day and got 3rd federation and with me been 12 or 13 and never really got any result with me starting out it was a real achievment for me i got 1st club and 3rd fed in a race that local fanciers consider the best race of the year. I will never forget that not until i die!

all the best
paul carter

thats a great acheivment for a 13 yr old, well done carter & good luck

well done carter , that will give the other young lads real hope.  great performance.

this is me with my first pigeon "SNOWY" on a loosely tied piece of cotton which my dad was holding, (i was scared he flew away) he was a squeeker & couldnt fly,

well done carter

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