the very things that you see physically are all well and good , pigeons that win come in all different shapes and sizes , most will agree good feather , balance in hand the bigger the pigeon the more harder to condition it unless you basket train . The very thing you can't see is will it perform when raced then that's where Mr Basket comes in he's the best and fairest evaluation of a birds worth and tells no lies or gives excuses Many times I've read culls were in a basket someone pulled one out bred big winners , even De Klack had a hen he thought worthless performed poor paired with a cock , let have eggs by mistake hatched and bred winners de45 i think it was ( number could be wrong but gist of story there ) probably the best De Klack producer that was destined for the bin .