expat1

Albear. You have some kind of Confidence in the eye as regards picking out pigeons That is your way, and good luck to you But you know my thoughts on the subject from long past and you also know i am not interested in the way you are. I think i know a little about pigeons overall After over 50 years in the sport i would be a right 'Thicko' if i did not My methods of selection have stood me in good stead all my pigeon life which is a long one and done me proud along the way, and still will until i call it a day I did not come onto this forum to argue and start on a subject that really holds no interest to me and that is the Eye and its qualities regards breeding and racing No interest in that at all now. I did some 20 plus years ago but not now When you can put down concrete results at the highest level of racing for many years yourself then perhaps some will listen, More so some may listen now, but not myself on that subject as it has no interest for me. This thread was about the Aarden line and that is all i want to talk about, expat1 Steve

Albear or Alan I do not jump to conclustions. You put the photos of Van der wegens on the post Stuart put the post regards no white flights I do not need anyone to tell me how good or bad the eyes of pigeons are, not my own anyway. Plus i do not have a parner, I have a brother Philip and we are the Patrick Bros No hard feelings on my part, I just try and impart some of my experince on to others who may be interested. It costs us all nothing to do so expat1

Hi Mr Wicox and Alan Very nice photos of the line of the Van Der Wegens. not the same as the line of the Oude Dolle of which i supposed this thread was about or i should say Aardens I replied simply to this thread for the reason that i have raced this Family or from the base of this family now for obout 20 years so i do know a little about them. You are not correct in what you have put down. seeing that you two you are not interested in what others say and have tried to contradict myself and others, as i guess you race this line of pigeons and are experts on the family or line or strain call it what you will then perhaps you will both give us the facts of the Aardens makeup is and go back to the 1930s to do so i for one will be very interested to read it and if you make a mistake i can put you right again which will further the knowledge of you both P.S There are a lot of White flights in the Van Der Wegens always have been. And if you two do not know White is recessive as i have already stated and can come to the fore or dissapear then return or maybe not, but i guess that is one thing you are not aware of these forums are not about contradicing others but the helping each other gain knowledge of our sport. I for one can learn a lot and have some fun along the way and i have been in the sport for over 50 plus years. expat1

feeding linseed will not give a pigeon a silky coat of feathers if the feather itself is of poor quality, nor will any other seed. THe pigeon is born with it naturally or it is born without it Of course you can lose the silkness if thwe pigeon is off form or unwell so therefore health is the main factor, keep the blood right and all else will be in balance or mostly so expat1

Hello Veteran So you have seen the ETS clocks in action in England in Racing mode. then that will be a first as it has not been passed to be used at the present time in Competition in England not for 2006 anyway and most likely not until 2008. I personally have used the ETS in Competition for two years, and there are many in the club and Federation and Nationals who do not use it but no complaints at all from them, It is people who cannot see progess which holds the sport back. I for one am not bothered who uses the ETS so long as i have a choice and so it should be If my neighbour wants it and i do not then let him have it thats the way it should be. As for being able to afford it does not apply There are too many things in life where some can have what they want and most of us cannot so that question does not arise regarding the ETS. but having used it most certainly it is a less stressful period for the pigeons homing and better for the fancier, You can say what you want against it but it will come and i wonder how long it will be before you yourself buys one According to the things you and others against it say it would be interesting to see what happens in the anti ETS brigade, but of course the fanciers who read what they say will never know unless they belong to the same club. You are of course entilted to your opinions but i for one will not get drawn into a for and against. I will tell the fanciers of what can or may happen as i have in my last post What i say is correct, take no notice and i think some will regret later expat1

Hello Regarding the ETS. Let me say this Compatability is needed in the English style of racing as i have said several fanciers belong to different clubs and federations plus National What this means is this if the RPRA or indeed any other Union does not bring in Compatability then there will be all sorts of problems. First you have a ETS clock. to use that clock you have to have Antennas of which the pigeons walk over to register the time. To set these ETS clocks you have a Master Clock now if the Masters of all the types of ETS used on the market today are not compatable with every make of ETS then there is a problem A club cannot have a master clock for every make of ETS so what is needed is that all clocks and all masters work with each other and at the present time they do not. Many of you will go to Blaclpool this weekend. Be sure to ask a very important couple of Questions to the sales people selling the ETS When they give you a price for a System. ask them for that price can i now set it up and time in with the system you have offered me at this price, the price bit is very important Secondly and more important Will the Master of the ETS system you are selling me set and can it be used on every make of ETS. If you do not ask these questions then it will be your own fault if things do not work out. I can continue to say more but this is enough for one post, expat1

Hello Linseed is called Flax. But The feather of a racing pigeon should have a natural silky feather. The well being of the pigeons condition by this i mean the blood. It is the blood that feeds the feathers. Plus pigeons have a Oil Gland of which they will use to lubricate the feathers. Look and watch them after a bath. All this can be done by feeding correctly. Not only the type of food but how much. Plus Linseed is an essential seed for pigeons as it contains Colbalt. but it is never wise to overdo seeds of any kind including hemp seed a pinch of hemp and a pinch of linseed between two fingers is enough for a pigeon a day. During racing leave it out until the middle of the week expat1

Hello If handled right The base line of any family does not have to disapper regarding physical attributes, shape, looks and temperment etc. As i said the true old Aardens Inbred needed a Cross But better at that time a cross or branch of the same common base i am talking now about 20 years ago. then as time goes by bring in a cross from another family inbred or line bred to bring in Hopefully do the job required of it and wipe it out again so that it does not dictate the base family expat1

Hello There has been all sorts of Rubbish wrote in the Pigeon weeklies about the ETS clocking but except for a few fanciers in Scotland none of these downing the ETS has used it in Competition, so all they talk about is purly guess work of what may be or what they think may be but the simple fact is they do not know I can tell you it is a great product More relaxing for both Pigeons and Fanciers and it has other virtues as well Saying this there are downsides at least where England and ETS is concerned The way of the English Racing with Open Races and Members belonging to several clubs it can and will bring problems if the ETS is not made in a Compatable way. Meaning that all ETS clocks and the Master clocks have to be compatable with each other. Without Compatablity a lot of problems will arise expat1

I may well be wrong but i thought OUDE Doffertje of 58 was one of two eggs given to Janus Van Der Wegen by Antoon Ligtenberg, In directly he is still the breeder as you say. in 1987 Antoon Ligtenberg was an old man with Grey white hair he must be very old now if he is still living. His Bloodlines run through the M Van Geel pigeons as well. That is one reason why i say use these pigeons to bring in with the inbred van Geels but they themselves are diluted now toa great extent i would think expat1

Hello The Marijn Van Geels were a inbred Family. He was the Master at Inbreeding and at the same time keeping the full strengh in the line so deteriation did not set in in a Phyisical way. The Founder Breeder of this Line was the 'OUDE DOLLE 67' bred some 30 years ago NL67-2052951. But it was wise to bring in a cross to this line to get even better results and the way to do this was to bring in a branch of the old Original lines 1.e. Van Der wegen whos base pigeon was the 'OUDE DOFFERTJE' bred in 1958 His Sire being the old CRUITERS COCk Jan aarden his Dam BONTE AARDEN, Jan Aarden. of course the blood may have had other pigeons in but the common base was there and it works to great effect As regards White Flights, You must remember that White is a recessive factor and can come out every generation or it may dissapear then return. It has no bearing on Performnce or the breeding in this Line of pigeons, The family throws out a Kuif or sometimes a frill this i expect is the case of inbreeding or a trait in the line I do not think it again has any bearing on Breeding Potential or Racing ability. I hope this helps a bit expat1