Friday and the 13th (07-01-24)
Good pigeons have been a kind of passion for almost my entire life. And having a super pigeon in my hands, or seeing it arrive before the rest, or seeing its ring number at the top of the result does something to me that is difficult to describe. More than the few cents that can (still) be won in the races. Once I had another fascination: The pigeon loft.
IMPORTANT?
Like most fanciers, I soon realized that good pigeons alone don't make the difference. They also have to have shape.
And what can promote form or, conversely, stand in the way? The environment, the surroundings or... That's right, the loft.
That partly explains why I was often on the road. To champions in our sport. Maybe more to see their lofts than themselves or their birds.
That only stopped when I saw lofts that were closed and raced enormously (Jan Zoontjens and Albert Marcelis) and... lofts so open that the snow swirled in and... on which they also performed enormously. (Janssen Bros and Gust Hofkens). I'm going to tell you about one such visit.
LIMBURGER
It was a guy from Limburg. The man raced so well with only 12 widowers that he ended up on my 'to do' list.
'Widowers' then because at that time we didn't realize what hens are capable of. So I went to Limburg. With the champion we skipped the small talk and since it was time to feed he had beckoned me to come with him. And while he was feeding: 'Now pay attention. Don't you see anything out of the ordinary?"
I did not. "Birds look good," I said, just to say something.
"Take a closer look!" But no matter how I looked, nothing I noticed.
He said, "Have you counted the nestboxes?" I didn't have to count them. That was clear enough: 4 x 3.
And now count the pigeons, he said. That was not easy with all those hungry birds around the communal feeding trough. "Is that right? Thirteen?'
'Right indeed, now first coffee', said the champion.
SPHERE
Then he began to explain: 'Look, I have 12 widowers and yet you had counted correctly. Those 12 have their own box and number thirteen doesn't belong there.
I will take them from the loft during the season and put it back on Friday.
The bird has to make the others perform. Look, we race on Sunday, when I put him back in the loft I'll make sure he's hungry. I feed the widowers separately in their box and you can guess what happens to such a hungry stranger in the loft that gets no feed. He also wants to live (eat), flies from one box to another and the actual inhabitants will fly towards him like the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians. There is no better motivation than pigeons that feel threatened in their habitat. They seem to be inflamed. Of course, I won't start until the end of the season.' So far the champ.
LOFT AND BREEDING
Twelve couples in a loft with twelve boxes looks neat. There's not much wrong with that either, except... when pigeons that breed and have a nest. Pigeons are hygienic creatures by nature. A (breeding) pigeon prefers not to do its poo around the nest, it 'possibly stops it' to soil the loft elsewhere.
He also prefers not to sit next to a brooding partner soiling the box and looks for a seat elsewhere.
But then places (roosts) have to be there. Can you imagine it? Twelve pigeons brooding and the twelve partners on the floor? Can't. The floor is no place for pigeons. They don't like to sit there. Just some pigeons on the floor would even be a reason for me to be worried. No form!
So, apply extra seats in the loft of the breeders.
DISINFECT
For some, autumn is the time to disinfect their loft. With Virkon S, chlorine (bleach) or something else. It shows good will, not being lazy and taking care of the pigeons. But does it actually make a difference? Hmm.
Imagine: Some of your pigeons have coccidiosis, worms, paratyphoid or whatever. Contracted by the shit of loft mates.
They are contaminated by the environment, i.e. the loft.
Now you remove the pigeons from the loft, ‘disinfect’ them (what you call it), and then put the pigeons back.
What happens is not difficult. First those pigeons were infected by the loft, now the opposite happens and the loft is infected by the infected pigeons.
So the problem lies in the reintroduction of infected pigeons.
That wouldn't be a problem if you were to do it like farmers with their chickens, pigs and so on. Dispose of them after disinfecting them and DO NOT put them back in the loft.
SMOKE CUBES
And what about smoke cubes which are pretty popular today? I really wouldn't know. I used it once, but found it too laborious. After all, the pigeons have to stay in the loft when they are fumigated, I like lofts that are open and that always close 'smoke-proof' became too much for me.
Because if you didn't, the smoke would fly out, as it were, without having been effective. Maybe you should have an enclosed space and put your pigeons in it. If necessary, in the basket.
When the lofts were 'smoked out' the birds often raced well. But club members know, that happened (without wanting to brag), also without the use of those smoke cubes. What do I remember from that time? Smokers had to be careful. You could throw away any cigarettes in a blouse or dustcoat.
BOXES
More of a recent thing is to house breeding couples in breeding boxes. Each pair in a separate box.
It has everything to do with the commercialization of the sport, pigeons that are becoming more and more expensive, and the possibility of taking DNA.
Now I often heard from people with experience that pigeons last longer if you separate the boxes with gauze. They should see each other to stay vital.
There's something to that. Pigeons love pigeons, they are social creatures that seek each other. They do not want to be alone.
-After a miserable flight, you see them clinging to each other late at night.
-If a very young pigeon gets lost, it sometimes helps to release some old ones that they take back to the loft.
-Who hasn't experienced that a pigeon that came from a flight landed together with a bird that was not yours and sometimes even got in with him?
-Pigeons that were lost sometimes come back on the day that there is (again) a (training) race. Did they seek company with flying pigeons?
In short: Pigeons don't like loneliness. Locking the pairs up so they can't see other birds is not recommended. At least, according to experts.
The fancy lofts of Verkerk. A pleasant loft climate is important for the birds to be in good shape. Of course a small and simple loft may also be fine.