Breedcentral.com Needs To Learn About How To Foil Spammers
I have a little issue with the person running Breedcentral.com. I've mentioned this to him on the pigeongenetics mailing list but I'm guessing he doesn't actually read the messages posted to the mailing list. I think he just basically mails to the list periodically to promote his website. Giving him the benefit of the doubt, I think he's running breedcentral as a "service to the hobby". So, if he reads this...you need to modify your webpage. Having mailto: links is just making it real easy for spammers to harvest e-mail addresses from your webpage.

I would like to put my contact information on his website--I don't mind helping other fanciers with birds when I can and I certainly don't mind helping novices with their questions either. But I refuse to put my contact information on his website only to have it harvested by spammers.

9:13:48 PM  #  
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They Have Two Homes Now
I have a pair of racing homers that I had borrowed from a fellow fancier in Mount Clemens, Michigan.  These birds are excellent parents and they had turned out quite a few healthy youngsters in a few months.  However, the male seems to think it's okay to have his own personal harem because he regularly mates with a hen besides the one that he's mated to.

I contacted my friend and told him I planned to return the birds.  He said fine--just let them go, they'll come home.  That's one great thing about homing pigeons. 

So last Wednesday I let them go.  And they looked like they took off in the general direction of Mount Clemens so I thought nothing further of it.  Then on Sunday they reappeared at my loft.  They had decided that my loft was now home.  Or perhaps the male likes having two wives.  At any rate, I was pretty surprised because I thought surely they were back at their old home in Mount Clemens.

So I talked to my buddy last night and he explained to me that in fact the birds had come back to his loft.  Apparently they stayed long enough to eat and rest because they were back there on Saturday and gone on Sunday.

I knew that during World War I and World War II fanciers trained pigeons to fly between multiple lofts.  I always wanted to try that myself to see if I could do it.  I just never knew that the birds would beat me to it.

9:28:05 PM  #  
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Grouse Legged Wild Pigeon

I work in downtown Detroit, Michigan (in the U. S.).  Today I was walking toward my place of business along Michigan Avenue by Cass Avenue when I saw a wild pigeon with grouse legging.  I wish I had a camera with me.  

I couldn't examine him that closely but it was a blue bar and it looked pretty much like wild type other than the presence of grouse legging.  

I always thought that these sorts of mutations must occur naturally but it was still a bit of a surprise to see a wild pigeon with it.

9:40:43 PM  #  
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Draconian Measures Against Pigeon Keepers In Chicago
You know I understand the rights of others not to be imposed upon by pigeon fanciers. Not everyone likes pigeons and that's their right. However, does the city of Chicago really need to resort to such draconian measures to prevent a few pigeon keepers from abusing the privilege?

Doesn't the city of Chicago have public health ordinances under which they can prosecute people who don't properly care for their pigeons?

I know pigeons have a bad reputation. I just wish civic governments wouldn't treat all pigeon keepers and all pigeons as if they were all the same.

9:58:06 PM  #  
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Signs You're Line-Breeding Too Closely
In the interests of helping novice pigeon fanciers who may not be aware of signs that their line-breeding is starting to move to an unhealthy direction, I offer the following list of signs that you may be line-breeding too closely.

1. You hear "Dueling Banjos" coming from the loft.
2. You mate a blue bar to a blue bar and all the youngsters have ash-red necks.
3. The Jerry Springer show calls you to ask if your birds can appear on their show entitled "I Know You're a No-Good Inbred Hen But I Love You Anyway".
4. The lines on your bird's pedigree chart form a circle.

9:46:43 PM  #  
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Birds Do It
So the pigeons are finally starting to really get going.  I guess because spring is finally making an appearance in our part of the world, the birds are doing the thing that made them a part of the famous metaphorical "birds and bees". 

I've got a lot more to say but not a lot of time to say it right now.  So stay tuned...there will be more to read soon. 

10:19:28 PM  #  
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At Last--Some Baby Birds!
First of all, a big hello to the one person actually reading my blog...you know who you are G. Don't worry; I won't tell anyone your name or where you hold your wand for that matter. :-)

Anyway, good news...after about six or seven years back in the pigeon hobby, I've got two pairs of pigeons who have youngsters. Someone asked me if baby pigeons are cute. I told her that all babies are cute; I think that our creator decided we should all be cute at least one time in our lives.
7:21:11 PM  #  
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