Tools To judge the breeding abilities in absolutely new flying pigeons: A complete Guide for novice fanciers

By Mr. Sujit

Before starting my line of judgement, I must raise the very important & remarkable points laid down in the following line of a famous Ustad :

""WHAT THINGS WE HAVE TO SEE IN MALE AND FEMALE FOR A TOTALLY NEW PAIR BEYOND ANY STRAIN BEFORE PUTTING THEM IN PAIR ?.AND THEIR SQUAB MUST FLY 95% AND COME BACK HOME AS WELL. ""

I must try to answer according to his questions raised in the aforesaid lines.

Body Structure

First of all, both the birds should be physically fit with well balanced aerodynamic body,smart & intelligent, matured in flying status (features drawn from their body organs like leg color, wing span & flexibility, softness of the pectoral muscles, feathers decoration, body tightness etc....) and preferably from a known blood line.(except in case of out-crossing).

Secondly, Their body structure(in apparent length & size) must be different.(may not be unanimously accepted). I mean, either the male will be longer than female or visa-versa. Or, if similar in length, then the length of their keel bone should be different(preferably, the hen should be in shorter length keel than male or visa-versa) ... And the flatness of their keel end must be also different. In some practical cases, it is seen that two very good fliers of the same strain with similar keel pattern failed to produce good offspring. It is my practical experience......The vent bone should be tight enough for both male & female specially in case of a absolute new pair. This is a very practical sign of sustained flight.

Here I must mention one thing which I forgot to mention yesterday. I don't have much knowledge on pigeon genetics like other valuable members and even I didn't learn anything so far from my Ustad in respect of breeding & it's related tips. Whatever I have learnt so far are all from my practical experiences and few tips received from Honorable Moderator of Tippler-Chat, Mr. David Strossmayer. Specially about closest inbreeding and line breeding. But in his opinion, the birds, in question of pairing, should be flown for hours first to sort-out their undesired traits and then we have to think to rulled out their undesired traits in their next generations. The question and noble cause for good pairing -up lies on this point of view and inbreeding lies on maintenance & keeping the breeds in purest form. Cross breeding lies on the exclusion of undesired traits as well as inclusion of desired qualities of the fancier.

Regarding cross breeding, I don't have any idea so far as I never did it on principle save & except once in my short spell of tipplering. Here is that interesting fact of cross-breeding :::

Once I sent few pictures of my Madrasi Mukshi Ziria breed & Saharanpuri Black Ziria strain to my respected Ustad Mr. A. A. Khan with full descriptions of their flying style and asked him the way to rulled-out the undesired traits of both the varieties. As I was very much depressed for the long raking traits of Madras birds( flying long distances in short spell of times) and the very high flying traits of Saharanpuri Black Ziria. It may be mentioned here that the color of eyes of my Madras birds are deep red & orange wherein the eye colors of Saharanpuri Ziria are white with pinkish gauge particles on the Irish portion. I have never made a pair of different eye colour's birds. But surprisingly, my Ustad suggested me to make a pair of one of my best Madras cock with my best Saharanpuri Black Ziria hen. Immediately I did it according to his advice and after one year I see the miracle when their chicks of 3(Kali) fly till dark in 42 degree C temperature in medium altitude without raking long distances. Most of their undesired traits were excluded simultaneously. Salute to my Ustad who's exceptional I.Q. and calculation has helped me to derive a special strain in my loft and thereafter I maintain this blood-line till date. I will try to send their pictures soon.

Now, without lengthening the message, let's come back to the original topic.

To pair-up new birds I consider their ages most sincerely. I always pick a good cock older than the hen for at-least 2 years and never made a couple of older hen with younger cock as I have noticed few abnormal behaviors in their offsprings, like immaturity in flying & intelligence,abnormal body structure , late flying, abnormal sexual feelings, etc...

Here I also wish to mention few lines written by a famous Ustad :


"PLEASE INCLUDE ALL FULL INFORMATION REGARDING THIS LIKE FEATHERS, BODY, EYES, BEAK, TAIL, WING SPAN, LEGS, BUILT, HEAD, NECK AND MANY MORE THINGS."

Feathers

Now I wish to put my views on FEATHERS DECORATION OF OUR LOVING BIRDS PRIOR TO PAIRING-UP.... PLEASE REMEMBER, I AM GOING TO DISCUSS ABOUT SELECTION OF AN ABSOLUTE NEW PAIR WHOM I HAVE NEVER SEEN TO FLY IN THE SKY... OBVIOUSLY, IT IS A DIFFICULT TASK AND THAT'S WHY I AM LITTLE BIT SERIOUS & CAUTIOUS ABOUT THE SELECTION PROCEDURE.... I HOPE THIS WILL BE HELPFUL FOR NEW FANCIERS WHO USED TO BUY PIGEONS FROM THE MARKET FOR BREEDING PURPOSE.

As we all know that the importance of good & quality feathering can never be ignored or overemphasized. Because it is the reflection of quality pigeons. Quality feather is the foundation stone of breeding & flying. Poor feathering should never be considered for breeding as it is the reflection of poor health. So both the male & female should have tight, silky & flexible feathering with long & strong wings, a balanced and naturally buoyant body. Because these features are hereditary and passed on from parents to offspring.

Decoration of pigeons' wing feathers & tail feathers represent the style of it's flying . There are various types of wing design, which indicate the style of the concerned pigeon. In my opinion, it is important to match the wing feathers prior to making pairs (especially the 7th & 9th flight feathers) owing to match their flying styles. The 7th primary feather(flight feather) must be straight & strong for both male & female because it is the union of first six flight feathers and last three flight feathers. The ninth Primaries of both wings are very much important for selecting & matching pairs. The bone structure of this feather and it's design must be identical otherwise the bird with reverse shaped ninth primary may be lost after sustained flight due to imbalance of its wings. This ratio is very common and seen mostly in cases of immature pairing by novice fanciers. This phenomenon of mine may differs with other but it is my practical observation in my short span of life in tipplering. IF THE PRIMARIES OF THE MALE ARE LITTLE LONGER THAN ITS TAIL, FEMALE SHOULD BE CHOSEN WITH LITTLE SHORTER WINGS THAN THE MALE BUT IT SHOULD HAVE IDENTICAL DESIGN & DECORATION AND OPENING OUT INTO A PERFECT CURVE WITH NO STEPPING AT THE EXTREMITIES OF THE FLIGHTS WITH GOOD WEBBING. BOTH THE WINGS SHOULD BE WELL FURNISHED AND ATOP THE TAIL AND LOOKS LIKE A SWORD WHEN CLOSED.

The secondaries(12 nos.) have also got some importance in both flying & breeding. It gives lift to the bird and also help in floating & landing with the help of tail. So before selecting a pair, we must consider its shape and decoration. The secondaries should be broad, flexible and overlapping each other for both male & female. There should not be any gap in between the pigeon's body and the secondaries.

TAIL 

The tail of a pigeon is very helpful while flying and landing. It helps to float & swim in air, move the body upwards & downwards and to turn the body on either sides. So we must choice a good tail for both male & female before pairing them up. I personally like a short tail of 12 feathers in it. If the tail of male is little longer, the female's should be bit shorter and vice -versa ...They should be straight & flexible and close very tightly as if the total width seems to be built by one or two feathers. It may be 1/2 inch longer than the flights of the wing. Some would argue that few breeds are having more than 12 feathers in their tails and their wings' length are longer than the tail and can fly whole day. With all due respect , I do agree with them.. . But it is my personal preference and I am happy with that.

EYE SIGNS For Breeding

I wish to put my views on eye-sign for pairing up new birds. My message may be bit lengthy due to detailed explanation to strengthen my logic on this tool. I hope you will keep patience to read it carefully and send your valuable comments constructively.

From the core of my heart, I believe that the pigeon relies on several senses to find their way home. These several senses are position of Sun, Stars, Earth's magnetic fields, sounds, smells etc.... This would be explained why some birds fly better on certain days than other birds. If it is a cloudy day and the bird can not see the position of Sun, then it must adjust quickly to use another sense such as the Earth's magnetic field to locate its loft. The best intelligent birds perhaps are the ones who can adjust very quickly and oriented faster than those less equipped. The eye of any living creature is the mirror to it's sole. It absorbs light from the Sun through it's pupil and tells the brain what it is observing. Birds have got few God gifted qualities. They have the strongest vision amongst all animals and are able to see any long distance objects from greater altitude.

In my opinion, good pigeons should have always bright & clear eyes. Good feathering & twinkling eyes are the indicators of sound health & intelligence. It also represents its breed. So, before selection of new birds for pairing-up, top most priority should be given on good feathering & eye-sign for both male & female.

The eye design of a good pigeon is just like a glass bulb or lens which is broader in the middle and comparatively thinner at the end portion. I mean it is oval or curved outside the eye socket. This type of eye ball helps the pigeon to locate it's loft very easily from the high altitude of the sky.

PUPIL

The pupil should be black in color and very active and preferably round or little oval shaped towards the beak. There should not be any milkiness over it. It shouldn't be too large when exposed to Sunlight. It should be very small in size in front of bright sunlight just to prove its efficiency in tolerance of heat, brightness and warm weather. The pupil may be largest only in darkness or shade or in deem light. The more the larger pupil in shade the more the pointer pupil in bright sun light. If the male is having little bit big/medium size pupil, the female should have a clear cut small round pupil to adjust the deficiency in sight & intelligence of the male. Here the pupil acts as a camera lens which is adjusted on contraction and expansion to keep the eye on focus to observe nearer and farthest objects in hot and sunny summer days. It must be quick to move or jerk freely during the movement of your finger across the eye. It must be quick to move freely to spot the danger behind(attack of hawks or birds of pray) and retain a constant speed. That's why I prefer little bit larger eyes(not the pupil) which seems to be coming out from the eye-socket. Small size pupil seems to be good as it has got the ability to send the bird deep into the sky and to fly in bright sunny days or extreme weather condition. In hotter areas the pigeons having very small pupil are able to fly in high altitude and can stay there for hours.

As the size of the pupil is related to the nervous system and the willpower of the bird, we must watch out those birds before pairing-up who have large pupils. An increase in the size of the pupil means a decrease in the ability of such a bird whose offsprings will be going to finish difficult non-stop endurance flying in hot summer days and in very bad weather condition in future. The ybs obtained from such pairs will never get fighting spirit without which they will never be able to achieve the desired result. During my short period of tipplering, I have never seen a champion bird having large pupils. One more thing I must mention here that the circumference of the pupil must be distinctly seen and if it is clotted outside , as if a naughty student spit some ink on a blotting paper and the ink spread throughout the blotting paper, it will be useless and such birds are not reliable and will never come back home after sustained flight in very hot & humid summer days.

CIRCLE OF ADAPTATION :

Always try to identify in both male & female a ring just around their pupil which is actually the muscle that contracts the pupil and it can vary considerably in width from bird to bird. A wide circle of adaptation is desirable in a female's eye. The colour of this region should be black or greenish black.


Also try to locate the next ring out for both male and female which is called the circle of co-relation. It is made up of connective tissues that attaches the muscle around the pupil to the iris. This ring can appear in many colours but the favourites of breeders are white-violet and dark-gray. The birds having this feature are thought to make the best breeding stock. They are more capable against hot & humid condition and these type of birds are intelligent and competent to come back home in any worse condition.

IRIS 

Now look at the iris, which is the next ring out and a very important part of eyes. The iris is the colored or white based portion graveled with colored gauge particles between the pupil and the cornea. The function of it is to protect the retina from over exposure to light which it does by virtue of its colored pigments. When judging the quality of breeders as well as fliers, the next important measuring scale is the color of iris. The iris should show a lot of depth and a richness of colored gauge particles in it. These particles on it must be very tiny & fine and arranged uniformly throughout the iris field as if a painter took all the left over paint on his palette and painted the iris uniformly with it. All the colored gauges must be homogeneous. If these particles are little larges in shape and arranged photogenically, a disturbance will be created during sustained flight mainly in hot climate as these particles go darker in color and expand a bit due to hot air & bright light and make the pigeon blind for some moments irritating its eyes. So iris should be well textured and richly colored with very small colored particles which seemed to be appeared from its base so as to allow the pupil to do its job perfectly of letting the proper light in through the pupil. The more the blood supply the more in richness of colors and the rougher the surface of this iris appears, the more capillaries will be present in the eye, which is the indicator of better blood supply. The rate of blood supply to the eyes, which we measure by looking at the granulation and the amount of red/pink color gauze, is extremely important because it gives us a clear indication of how the blood supply is to the rest parts of the body. When the blood supply to the eye is ample, it is very unlikely that it is inadequate to the other parts of the body. An increase in blood supply improves the form of the breeders, while a decrease does the opposite. Therefore, it is safe to state that the important ingredient in pigeons which are consistently high in vitality, is their excellent blood supply system. When ae are able to conclude from granulation and the color pigments of the eyes that an above average blood supply is present, we can at the same time assume that this is true for the rest of the bird's body. Such pigeons give us a much better than average chance to succeed. It sometimes happens, for a certain period of time, the color of the eyes may fade significantly in pigeons who either are under stress or had perform a strenuous task. The sparkle in their eyes disappears, showing that their entire organisms are over tired, and as a consequence, the blood supply has dwindled down to the bare minimum. Pigeons, who have as a characteristic a poor blood supply system, are unable to perform well both as a breeder and a flier.

VERMEYEN RING OR EYE PROTECTED RING :


Sometimes you may notice a thin,black ring which separates the iris from the cornea. This ring is called VERMEYEN RING or the CIRCLE OF HEALTH OR EYE PROTECTING RING and it is very noticeable in the younger birds. This ring is believed to be important in the blood supply to the entire eye and as such is an indicator of overall condition of the bird.In mature pigeons for breeding purpose the intensity of the ring's color is one of the best measuring tools for determine its form throughout the breeding season. Sometimes the color of this ring changes when the perfect blood supply system does not work. The color of this ring becomes a reliable aid in evaluating the overall condition of the pigeon during the entire breeding season. This ring protects the entire eye from dust particles, hot & humid air, moisture and other allergens and it represents the sound homing instinct of the bird.

Now after writing this lengthy message, I feel urged to add a cautious note to the aforesaid paragraphs that, in the pigeon sports you will never find absolute truths. A pigeon will never become a first class bird if wonderful eyes are its only feature, or willpower or muscle quality. Rather, a good pigeon has to rate exceptionally high on at least five or six of the most important characteristics.

I think I have already covered all most all the very important features of a bird in my previous messages and all these came from my practical experiences on my own birds. And I am quite happy that all my friends appreciated it too much. But there are still few tips left for you and I wish to share my knowledge on those points, which must be taken into consideration before pairing up new birds. Here are all those tips for you

1) MUSCLES OF THE WING


Since we are taking about a flying bird, we must keep into consideration the fact that where from does it get it's power to fly long hours??? This is a very important question and here is the answer. The pigeon wing is controlled by three muscles. The first is called the Great Pectoral which is used to depress the wing. It is in triangular shape and attached to the kill bone along the side of the breast. The second Pectoral Muscle, which lifts the wing is deep in the flesh and covered by the Great Pectoral Muscle. This muscle is attached to the keel and passes to the back of the shoulder joint where it also attached to the Humorous. The third Pectoral Muscle, which also helps in depressing the wings, connects the breast bone to the Humorous. So my dear friends I think I have described almost properly about the most vital muscles of a flying bird and you must recognize it prior to select a bird for breeding just to ensure it's flying status and maturity. I am sorry I could'nt provide you any pictures of these muscles for your identification like previously posted eye-sign pictures as the same is not readily available in the body of a well feathered pigeon for taking snaps.


2) CHEST

It is also a vital organ of the pigeon. It must be wide and capacious to accomodate comfortably the heart, lungs and nine(9) air sacs . It should be broad, not one that is pronounced to the front of the bird but rather wide and flat when viewed from the front. I mean it should be big from side to side rather than projecting forward. As if, it would seem that the chest and wings are made for each other. So, I think now you can understand that a flying bird must have a very good chest with a good abundance of firm flesh to derive it's power from the wings. In my opinion it has great importance and must be considered before selecting a bird both for flying and breeding purpose.

3) BACK 

The pigeon back should be wide enough at the shoulder and tapers to the tail. The strong rump(the round area of flesh at the top of the back) to achieve the powerful wedge shape when viewed from the top. The combination of broad chest and tight vent gives a nice wedge shape.

4) LEGS

Legs should be long & lanky enough in case of male and little bit shorter in case of female as if it laid down and about to touch the ground. The legs color should be deep blackish red with cracked & scrapped skin on it just to prove it's long flying status in the sky(we all know that a bird folds it's legs under it's lower body feathers during flight and the more time it will do so, the more it's legs color will be dark reddish owing to the flow of hot blood through the muscles and veins of the legs)..The heat of the bright sun light and the warmth of the pigeon body make the blood inside the legs very hot to circulate constantly through it and hence, a matured flier should definitely provide dark red colored legs. Moreover, the legs must be free of feathers ( for tipplers and not for other breeds). Feet should
be medium or small but strong enough with long or medium nails. The color of the nails should be matched with the beak and eye-lid colors for the probable to ensure of the strain.

IF YOU GET ALMOST ALL THE AFORESAID FEATURES DESCRIBED IN MY EARLIER MESSAGES, PLEASE GET READY FOR A FLYING MACHINE. I HOPE ALL THESE DESCRIPTION WILL HELP YOU TO PICK UP THE RIGHT BIRDS FOR BOTH FLYING AND BREEDING PURPOSE.

In general, the overall balance of the birds will be there if all those above mentioned confirmation rules are present.

I don't put much credit into other beauty features of a flying bird, like, HEAD, FACES, NECK, CERE, BEAK, WATTLE, BODY COLOR & PATTERN etc.., which are all different birds to birds in different strains and are more of a preference than an ability to help them in fly. But for breeding purpose those features must be taken into account to recognize the particular breed/strain just to ensure and bring purity in the blood-line. And so, I am indicating my personal preference to recognize them for pure breeding purpose only :::::

a) H E A D
Preferably round and small with refined shape rising from the beak without any frontal bulge. Flatness on the top of the head may not be desirable as it is beleived by me that all those birds are hot tempered and may loose their control in landing after a sustained flight.

B) N E C K

May be long & lanky, narrow at head and sharply tapered in some PAK Strains but preferably medium in length, broad at shoulders, tight and clean in front without any gullet.

c) C E R E
Fine and dark on intense coloured birds and lighter on dilute coloured birds.

d) B E A K

Very lanky, stout and medium in length(may be bit longer in some special strains).


SO, MY DEAR FRIENDS, I HOPE I HAVE MADE SOME SENSE ON THE ART OF BREEDING AS WELL AS FLYING AND IT MAY HELP YOU ALL FOR SELECTING GOOD BIRDS OR CULLING THEM EASILY FROM YOUR EXISTING STOCK. PLEASE REMEMBER, AN EXCEPTIONAL HES IS ALWAYS DESIRABLE THAN A MALE PRIOR TO MAKING PAIRS AMONG THEMSELVES.

Article Taken from Pakpigeons.com Written by Mr. Sujit