I was having a conversation with a gentleman who shipped birds to the Sun City race. I asked him how old were the young ones that he sent. He told me that they were very young squeakers. We discussed the time delay in getting these birds to South Africa for the race and how that may affect the growth of the young birds. Rick VanVeldhuisen has visited the Sun City race and has participated most years. He was telling me that some of the German fanciers were actually training their young birds before they shipped them to the race. This was an effort to overcome a number of potential problems. Number one- these young birds were old enough that a setback in travel really wouldn't effect their future growth. My personal feeling is that if a young squeaker ( 22-29 days old) goes without feed/water or is stressed there will be a long term effect. Number two-  By training the young birds you would eliminate those that really did not have good orientation skills. Number three- You would definitely have a far greater group to select your candidate from especially if you were partial to sending one particular sex over the other. As Rick VanVeldhuisen said ," Once the young bird gets to the Sun City loft he has no where to go. There really isn't anything around there for about 60 miles." If I were going to send I would definitely ship an older young bird that had been trained in all directions and really showed some character or presence. Also, many who have handled the birds at Sun City warn others to not send any white flights as they seem to deteriorate with the suns rays. It is all food for thought.

While we're on the topic of the Sun City race- Congratulations goes out to Mark & Dick Evans for their 5th place score on January 2nd 2009 for the Fourth Hot Spot race.  

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In 1984 I received a call from Bob Koch from Pennsylvania. We talked the latest acquisitions that I had purchased during a trip to Europe. These birds came from a super flier by the name of Coolens. Coolens had had a final sale of his birds in Holland after he learned that he had contracted cancer. He had kept 6 latebreds in the event of a positive turn. Unfortunately, that never happened. I got a call from ‘Teacher’ Joop Eiksteijn asking if I was interested in the last 6. This represented the cream of the Coolens birds. The birds were off to Canada. Bob Koch wanted to purchase all 6 birds.  Bob explained to me that he needed to keep at least five years ahead of his competition. This meant that he was constantly on the search for birds that would keep him in the forefront. All top competitors who remain on top follow basically the same principle that is to always be on the look out for specific birds that will lead the way for your loft in the future. More often than not it may mean that you purchase a specific Champion back which has your bloodlines. Mark & Dick Evans will often purchase a particular excellent racer or breeder if it has their bloodlines to bring back those similar Champion genes. They have done this many times. Dave Blenkhorn’s sale in the UK saw the Evans’ purchasing back a number of birds such as Eisenhower and Carrie Black. These birds had already  made a significant impact on Blenkhorn’s tremendous success in racing. Mark and Dick have continued to selectively secure the top birds from lofts sharing the same genetic package. They purchased T.C. Tony Carter’s number one stock bird at Tony’s final sale.  The number one breeding hen, Hillcroft Fantasy from Armstrong’s final sale. The Golden Gaby who was a very successful National winner and now just as successful in the breeding pen. The list of Champion breeders/racers  that they have either purchased back at final sales or those birds that had similar genetic packages are endless.  This is how the very Top lofts stay on Top. C. & G Koopman  are definitely more eclectic in their purchases. They continue to stay on top by purchasing top birds which are not necessarily related, but if one of their own stands out they are sure to take advantage. The pigeon  'Marijke', a hen that they bought from Marijke Vink  descends from their own 'Aladin' x 'Farah Diba'. The purchase of Doran  NL 05-5533117,   in 2007 included a 1st NPO Orleans against 9.670 pigeons and 13 minutes ahead of the rest! Her father is 'Mr Expensive', a full brother of 'Den Dromer' from De Rauw-Sablon. Other  purchases are a son of 'Den Dromer' from De Rauw-Sablon, 'Miss Nellie' from Hermans-Hoekstra from Waalre. Other birds have been purchased from Heremans-Hoekstra, Cor de Heide, Jan Theelen , Anton van Haaren (van Wanrooy) and  'De Witneus' from Harrie en Roger Wijnands. This 'Witneus' raced no less than four times in the National top ten in the Grand Long Distance. The point I want to make is that you should always be on the look out for a specific bird or two to blend into your own family. Each and every year you need to make an attempt to secure that something SPECIAL. This year, I have taken my three top young birds from 2008 off the team. I did this in the hopes that I may find an exceptional breeder. You always need to have an eye out for the FUTURE of the LOFT.

I am often asked about the specific ancestry of the 35 NATIONAL WINNING BIRDS that have been bred by Mark and Dick Evans' bloodlines. Let's start with a bird called Quality Tours raced by John and Pam Goodwin from Southend-on-sea. John has raced pigeons since a boy and his son John Goodwin ( races under the name of Formula 1 Loft) also races and therefore they work together on obtaining the best stock. John and Pam had spent a long time looking for the best pigeons that they could put to stock. The criteria was that these birds would race across the channel and be amongst the leaders. They have spent a great deal of time and money looking for such a family that would tackle the 80 -100 mile channel crossing and be in front. This came in the form of a 2year old hen named 'Quality Tours' from M & D Evans Vandenabeeles that was  raced on the natural system. The sire of 'Quality Tours' is the Double RR cock by by M & D Evans from Rolls Royce asuper racer and now an even better breeder. The first 5 from this cock were put to stock when he was mated to Nat. Fideelke. Already these 5 that were put to stock have all bred winners and one is responsible for a 1st Open NFC winner 10,148 birds. The dam is from Benson x Misty. Benson is a full brother to Blauwe National a 1st National winner. Benson is one of the top stock cocks at Myrtle Lofts. Misty is the nestmate sister to Jas Misty and both are responsible for many winners.     

Belgium flier named Fredic Beukenne's philosophy about keeping pigeons is to keep the sport as simple as possible. The top fliers almost always give this impression during a visit. However, I feel that these same fliers by virtue of their discipline and observation skills help to set them apart from the rest in the sport. Since my days as a boy visiting all of the older fanciers in the Toronto area I have always felt that the very top fliers seemed  to possess these two important traits. The first  was that they followed the same regime in their loft on a daily basis, 365 days of the year. In this way their  consistency with the birds was rewarded at the end of the year with top results. They may tweak their system of handling the birds but never would they abandon or totally alter their methods with each article read or conversation. These top fanciers seemed to have enough inner discipline that they stuck with their plan and made only slight changes and just as important they made these alterations when it was timely. The second trait was that they had a very keen sense of observation. Some fanciers walk through their loft and actually see very little while others notice the finer points that make the loft successful. For the last few weeks of racing this year, I had Russ Burns staying with me and lending a hand with the young birds. Here is a fancier who has a formidable racing carreer. Each day he would mention something that he noticed in the loft when he was cleaning. These daily observational skills took advantage of many different situations which only further advanced the results of the loft. At the end of the racing season Beukenne places all of the birds in aviaries. This is something I have always done and I feel it accomplishes a number of factors. Number one is that the birds readily obtain the number one medicine - fresh air. Oxygen is free and yet we seldom take advantage of it. I would say that you need to keep in mind in which direction your aviary faces. My stock loft ( which is a glorified aviary) faces north and therefore in the winter months I put up a windscreen that is used around tennis courts. I also feel that if the birds are out of the loft for a number of months then it gives the loft a time to refresh itself. This is much the same as a farmer would do with his fields in that he allows parts of his land to lay dormant for a year to replenish the minerals etc. of the soil. At this time of the year Beukenne does not worry about a little trichomoniasis or cocidiosis, but he does worry about paratyphoid/salmonella. Most top fanciers worry about this scourge. Ad Schaerlackens will tell you that this is the one thing that he does concern himself with and therefore he will medicate for 7-10 days. A friend in Florida told me that he had a bad hatch last year and he had a lot of black eggs. Immediately when I hear black eggs I know there is a problem with paratyphoid. I suggested that he not only treat before he mates up, but also vaccinate with sal-bac twice. Beukenne had a problen last year with the young birds and he had 22 of his 60 die from a form of Adeno virus. ( probably the circo virus) He admitted it was like a swimming pool in his loft. He was able to turn it around and had good results with some of the young ones. His middle distance Ace pigeon was named Gaby. It was interesting to note that the father was bought as an egg from Gaby Vandenabeele. By the way Keith Lord from Florida e-mailed me to tell me that when I get back I can handle a daughter of Lucas the bird that was sold to the Billionaire Mr. He. I am already looking for a flight.    

I just received an e-mail and a call from  my neighbours in Florida informing me of a letter that they received from Progress Energy. ( this is the electrical/hydro company in Florida). In the letter, Progress Energy mentioned that they are planning to bring a hydro line down a corridor that is either on our property or just adjacent ( within  250 feet). LOVELY!!!  Last year I paid a sizable sum to have 3 wires taken down. There is an information meeting in January which will indicate exactly where the proposed hydro lines will go. After all the work we have done on this property ( lofts, fruit trees, gardens, house rennos, plants, etc.)  Since there are so many fanciers in my area it may affect as many as 9 fliers. That's a large club up North. This will definitely effect the racing in 09 for a lot of fanciers!!!!!

I must admit that it is nice to have snow for the Holiday Season, but it seems that we have had one snowfall after another. To-day it is damp, dreary and drab. I spoke to Rick Vanveldhuisen( part of the J2V2 team)  last night and he told me he has had enough and he plans to leave on Christmas day to go back to Florida. J2V2 have 5 birds in the Sunshine International race which starts in early January. Hopefully we will do as well as our results in the Flamingo.

Mark just e-mailed me to tell me that Lucas went to China for 31,600 Euros plus 20% tax. Mark felt that Lucas being 8 years old, that the risks of the purchase outweighed the possible gains. The average price was 3,000 Euros each. The highest priced bird in this total sale was Nadia a 2 x 1st place International hen which sold for 74.400 Euros plus 20% tax. 

This last summer I went back to Canada and left the birds in the very capable hands of my neighbour John Weeks. When I arrived back in Florida at the end of August I noticed that some of the birds were moulting in the head and neck area. PANIC!! I realized that I had not put on the lights for the birds back in January, February etc. therefore with the shortened day in January they had gone into a body moult. When September, October  came around the birds once again went into a body moult which made the first  three weeks of racing extremely difficult. I realized that I had to get these birds through the moult as quickly as possible. I reached for the Sedochol. I have used Sedochol for years due to its beneficial effect on the feathers of the birds. Sedochol looks like orange syrup. It's composition is methionine, sorbitol and choline. Methionine is an amino acid which is essential in the promotion and growth of feathers. Sedochol also seems to have a favourable effect on the digestive system including the liver and kidneys. It has a very positive effect on the moult and seems to enhance and soften the quality of the feathering on the birds which is huge when you are racing for seconds in Little Belgium.  I used it three times a week until I had most of the birds well through the body moult. The Evans birds already have some of the softest feather that I have ever handled, but if it can be enhanced why not. It is my opinion that Sedochol helped quicken the pace of the moult. Normally, I use it once a week. Thsi year the lights will be on 20 hours a day for the young birds and hopefully I will have an easier time for those first 3 weeks of racing. 

Mark Evans called me the other day and during our conversation he told me that he was travelling around Belgium looking for a possible addition to his family. He told me that an excellent racer/breeder named Lucas ( Vandenabeele-NL-01-5143477)  was at pre-auction on the Pipa site.  He had been owned by the late Brian Long and thus Lucas ( a top breeder for Brian )  was at this  final sale. Mark mentioned that he had hoped to purchase this bird as it carried similar genetics to many of the birds that have been successful for him plus he had not only raced at the top, but also bred top winners. Lucas was raced in Holland and scored the following handy results:  1st Nat. Tours NPO  6,502 birds from 685 km, 8th Nat. Bourges NPO 8,994 birds 679 km, 10th Nat. Houdeng 16,318 birds 276 km,  87th Nat. Morlincort  19,914 birds 396km, 89th Nat. N Etampes NPO 14,785 birds 535 km. plus other prizes. Lucas won West Europe Grand Distance Champion in 2003. He carries on the Sire side the lines of National, Blue Fideelke and Schonen Byter. The Dam of Lucas showcases the lines of the Infamous Sissi and Uno ( 1st Nat.). The auction was to-day so hopefully we'll hear back one way or the other. Ironically, the day after my conversation with Mark I had an e-mail  from an American asking me if Mark had any new acquisitions for this year. Yes, perhaps......he's definitely working on it!!!!!

With the wind whipping at the window and the fluffy white stuff piling up I normally turn to a good pigeon book. However, with the internet you can now easily get your fill of information on the sport at the touch of a key. Even after 50 years in the sport, I still find it interesting how certain myths get started in this sport. These myths are some how believed by fanciers and then passed on to both old and new members alike. Unfortunately, a large number of novice fanciers get taken in by these and readily follow them as if they were gospel. I had a fancier contact me the other day and was interested in the M & D Evans birds, but he had read in a magazine that the Canadian birds were too big for racing in a hot climate. On a similar note, two brothers had purchased some Evans birds from a sale and when a so called ' pigeon grader' (self proclaimed) came by he told them not to breed from these Canadian birds. The brothers told me that they did in fact breed from one of the birds and they were very successful with the offspring.  I told these fanciers to look at the results that these birds put up in their first year racing in hot and humid Florida. I explained that the breeders were moved from Canada and bred in the same year, 2008.  I have had many people tell me that the birds have to acclimatize and adapt to the area. This is another MYTH!! As Jeff Wagner says," Good is Good!" If you have purchased quality bloodlines then you should see results right away. I first raced the Evans birds in 2003 and my results improved immediately.  I bought more immediately. Ivan Endou from Hawaii e-mailed me the other day to say that he won 7 of the 9 Concourse races in 2008. He then explained that 4 of the 9 wins were from 2  Evans birds he had purchased in 2007. They bred the 4 winners in their first year breeding. Results speak and really that is the final evaluation for any bird. The very top fanciers across Europe will tell you that breeding a Champion is extremely difficult and there is a definite element of luck involved. You improve your luck as you seek better birds just as you improve your luck in racing by spending more quality time with the birds. I haven't met the fancier who can say with certainty that pigeon X is good and that pigeon Y is a cull. If you get a chance read my article, entitled Dilemma of Selection. This article points out how difficult it is to pass judgement on well bred racers. Only after it has been bred or raced can anyone then say with any certainity that it is a breeder or racer. If all the parents are National winners then this definitely increases your odds. Another myth that I read yesterday is that if a bird gets tricho ( canker) then it will most definitely have it for the rest of its life and should be disposed . In 2006, I raced 543 ( blue cock) who had a combination of tricho/respiratory which I could not dislodge. He was always 2 minutes behind the group at 25 miles. Normally, it would be in the bin, but because of the success that I have had with this family I kept it. The brother 544 flew very well and I gave it as a gift to Vern Dean of Minnesota. The first year 544 bred, it bred a winner and a top Futurity bird. I kept 543 as I couldn't sell a bird that was not fit. In 2007  with only 7 widowhood cocks in the loft I decided to race my last year in Canada. 543 was not only the Ace Champion bird of the club in 2007, but he was Ace Champion bird in the Combine. In 2008, 543 bred 3 birds to score multiple times in the Tampa Bay Concourse in Florida.  In future articles I will comment on Sedochol ( and how it helped me this year in Florida), GPS ( do pigeons fly in a straight line) and the Wout Spierings family of birds ( 10-12 different familiesof birds in 1 pedigree).