Hey everyone! Yes we finally had our little girl! So far things are going well and HarleyJohn just loves her! Now it’s just going to be interesting figuring out how to manage two kids instead of just one! They will both be tagging along at the shows keeping Chad and I busier then ever. HarleyJohn will be participating in his second wedding and Aalyiah her first. I’m excited to see them all dressed up. After eight weeks, I went back to work. Just getting them to the sitter and me to work on time, was interesting enough for me. J
8 ½ weeks old. Trying on headbands for her aunt’s wedding.
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Well this bulletin took a little longer then expected to publish. I’ve been waiting for the Kentucky entry information to come so I could put that in this bulletin as well. That’s been the only thing holding this bulletin up.
We have also found out that my computer is virtually on its last leg. So it probably won’t be long before I’ll have to replace it. I’m making it a habit of keeping all the information backed up so if something does happen to this computer; it won’t be the end of the world. It seems Mother Nature has forgotten what month it is as well. The weather has been a little cooler this past summer. So much so it leaves us asking if we had a summer.
Looking forward to seeing everyone at the shows! Can’t wait for Kentucky, as that is my favorite show to attend! Naw, I like pretty much all that we attend. Those that know me know I enjoy giving all of you guys a hard time!
FAITHFULLY HIS~ Jaclyn
Hi everyone, Summer is finally upon us, and we all hope to have raised the champions for the up and coming show season that is drawing near. Due to swapping pairs around, my young numbers have slowed down. That and the fact that I have been working out of town, so my pregnant wife bless here soul, has been feeding and watering my birds. So I have tried to keep things simple and easy for her. I have raised a couple of good ones or at least I think so, with a few that look to have some potential. I have also been working to get my show put together. I have a local Judge by the name of Roger Schoon, who has raised show rollers and Baldheads in the past and is aware of the correct standard requirements, has raise some good rollers in the past. I have also enclosed and entry form and other information for my show with the Black Hills Pigeon Club in South Dakota. We always have a good family atmosphere with lots of things to see like Mt. Rushmore, and historic Deadwood for all you gamblers out there. Hope to see you all at least once during the show season. Best of luck in the upcoming show year. Jeremy Geiman
Letter from the New Club President:
It is Saturday, August 29th and once again I’m at work while writing an article for the bulletin. It was a good year for me in terms of numbers of young with bands. Quality is yet to be determined! I raised from 24 pair (10 pair of baldheads), mated up in April. I banded my 1st bird on May 8th. I started to break up pairs in the middle to end of July. I banded 104 birds. I know that I’ve been hearing from a lot of breeders that they had poor fertility or just poor numbers in general. I hate to hear these things. I’m 100% certain that my success is numbers is because I have been culling based on their ability to breed for the last 5 years. Since I’ve been doing this, every year I have shown improvement over the previous year. It is a hard thing to do when you end up culling three out of your top five birds. However to me, this is a hobby. I am competitive and want to win as bad as everyone else. If my birds are too much work, or just plain unproductive with reproduction, how much am I going to enjoy the hobby? This was just food for thought. Sometimes it takes tough love to love at all. Comments and questions are welcome. Hopefully if nothing else, it will spark some emails for the next bulletin. Please remember we need your letters, pictures, comments and anything else you’d like to send us. We will take it! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. The bulletin is only as good as we make it.
I mentioned in the last bulletin my ideas for a new voting process. Not one phone call, not one letter. HELLO! Is there anybody out there? Does anybody care? I sure heard a lot of negative talk in the past when we didn’t have anyone doing a bulletin. Now we have a GREAT bulletin in a timely manner and we aren’t using it like we could! I would like to thank several of you, as my wife sent out an email to the emails that she had asking for letters. Several of you did email her back some letters. THANK YOU! The letters are greatly appreciated not just by my wife, but everyone who gets the bulletin and reads it. So I am taking the liberty of putting a couple of ballots to be voted on in this bulletin for anyone that cannot attend Louisville this year.
The first thing we are going to vote on is, our voting process. I propose that all items that need to be voted on be voted on at Louisville every year. Those that can’t attend will be able to vote on the issues to be discussed in the issue prior to Louisville just like we are doing in this bulletin. Please vote yes if you are in favor of and no if you are opposed to this idea. This will be a good trail run!
Just a reminder, but we are bringing back the auction at Louisville to help the club raise some money and to help people get good stock birds. We stopped doing the auction a few years ago because too many people were using it as a dumping ground for birds that nobody wanted. So we are changing the process a little bit. I need to be notified if you are planning to donate a bird(s) by October 1st. This will give us an opportunity to plan for how many birds we are going to be auctioning off and to make sure we have enough cooping for them. Also once the auction birds arrive on Friday, we will be displaying them with cards attached for silent bids. Any bird without a bid of at least $10 by the time the live auction starts will be given back to the person who donated it. The birds that have at least $10 bids will then be auctioned off live at the intermission of the judging. In years past we’ve given 50% of the sale price back to the breeder that donated it. I think if they are truly being donated for auction, 100% of the sale should go to the club. We will discuss this at Louisville and take a vote as to how we want it. So again, this is your opportunity to vote if you are not able to attend Louisville. This is the way we are going to do it this year. We will see how it goes and are open to suggestions to make it better for next year.
It was mentioned in our last bulletin that our trial run with following the NPA has ended. So far again we have not gotten the feedback that should be desired for a club our size as to how people feels about this. For this year it has been decided that our All-Age Nation is up for a vote as to where it will be. We have two locations to vote on: Freemont, OH and St. Louis, MO. My wife I’m sure will have the proposed dates of each show on the ballot. I personally feel that it is not in our best interest as a club to follow the NPA. What is your opinion?
Another thing I would like to see go up for vote is the Club’s dues. I would like to see them increased to $20 a year if we are going to continue with the same cash prizes and awards at every point show. So my vote on this is yes. What is yours?
I mentioned this in the last bulletin but I will mention it again. What do you think about making Junior entries free at any point show? Or giving a $20 reward for Champion Junior plus a plaque or trophy? Or maybe get a pair of stock birds from a Master Breeder for the Champion Junior? What do you think about this?
On a personal note, we had our beautiful baby girl – Aalyiah Shalynn Guell. HarleyJohn has been a great big brother so far. Also, he is starting to get more comfortable coming into the lofts to help feed and water the birds. He even asks if he can hold them. This of course is still a work in progress but he’s getting there. I am one proud papa! Now Grandpa and I can’t wait until he is old enough to help CLEAN the lofts!
Well that is all for now. I hope to hear from you! My email is cguell@holidayautomotive.com and my number is 920-375-0823. If I don’t hear from you, hopefully I will see you at Louisville! I wish everybody safe travels and luck at the shows this year. Please don’t forget to vote if you can’t attend Louisville. The ballot is further on in this issue.
God Bless,
Chad Guell
LETTERS FROM THE MEMBERS
Hello all,
My season got started in early March this year. It was a long cold winter with not many breaks. I got down to 25 breeding pair and 5 color project pairs. At this point July 12, I have 85 Rollers banded, probably about 60 Baldheads and 25 Show Rollers. I’ve got lots of eggs and little ones in the nest boxes. I’ll be cutting them off in the next couple of weeks. I have also banded about 75 English Carriers and about a dozen Jacobins. The only problem that has developed in the lofts is the scalping of young birds. I probably have had a dozen young killed or I have to put them down as they are beyond saving when I find them. The Show Rollers have been the worst. I’ve lost 6 of them in one week. The Baldheads have done some but not as bad. It's an ugly sight when you come around the side of the building and 3 or 4 birds in the flypen have their face and front end covered in blood. Then go into shed and find the little one. The last couple of weeks it hasn't been as bad of a problem, maybe because most of the pairs now have young ones. I only have a couple of pairs that haven't produced any fertile eggs. Some of the early ones look fairly descent at this time but they will change a lot in the next couple of months. Haven't heard from any of the other guys as to how they are doing this year.
With the price of pigeon feed so high I have been feeding just wheat and 18% Duck and Goose Breeder pellets free choice. They seem to be eating it in equal amounts and they seem to be doing quite well on it.
I am in the process of moving to the house next door. I’ve had it remodeled and have been slowly getting moved over. Didn't know I had so much junk! Lots of it has hit the garbage pickup already.
It will be Louisville time shortly. The Baldheads probably will be all that I will be showing as I will be judging the Carriers down there. Hope to see you there.
Pete
Hello All, Sorry it has taken me so long to write this. First of all I would like to thank Butch and Chad Guell for the 2 pairs of birds they gave me at Louisville in 2008.
A very nice pair of blue checks and an especially nice red check cock and a beautiful tort-grizzle hen.
I had asked Butch about my entries, and he explained to me that they were a little on the small side. Chad and Butch were kind enough to give me these 2 pairs to get me started in the right direction.
I would also like to thank Marvin Butler, Wally Gibson, and Raymond Craft. The BH and show rollers have been a great addition to our loft.
A special thanks to Jay Turner and Don Humphries. They gave my granddaughter some birds that she is really proud of. She is already beating me at the shows. She tells me I don't try hard enough.
We started out slow this year. Infertile eggs, breaking eggs and leaving the nest were some of the problems we were having. After finally getting started we have raised 18 young. Now we are hoping to have a few to show.
I’m looking forward to seeing everyone at Louisville this year.
Hope everyone had a great breeding season, and raised a winner.
Robert Tyler
Hello everyone, Well here we are nearing another show season. My breeding season was mediocre at best. A major number of the eggs that were fertile and hatched were miss-marked in one way or another. Again, I failed to raise a good number of my favorite colors. I am trying to better my blacks, dilutes, and reds. But then again almost any color but blue. It just seems that we never received the warm weather that seems to get them going. I know Doc always states that the best marked birds hatched in the hot summer. He knows the tendencies of birds as well as anybody I know. All I can say is I sure raised enough bishop winged birds this year. Since I am judging the young bird show this year I will have a little more time to get my birds ready. I have broken out the special herbs, and spices to get them in shape for the show season.
I have worked a little more on my show rollers this year, and have a few nice ones. I think! My best black mark got a little scalping, so I do not think it will make the shows. But I do have a nice tort, a recessive, and a couple of real young black selves. Also I had a pair of whites together, but I think they will be a delicacy at our upcoming Asian fall festival.
This summer I tried to keep in touch with some of the guys. I have spoken to Marvin, Dave Wendt, Brad Helmer, Bob K., Bill M. and Barry. Barry and I buy the same feed, but he sure can condition better than I do. He has always had that special touch for conditioning. When he gets a few more opals to lay and hatch he will have the best. It also sounds like Bill M. had a normal year, so every body has their work in the show room cut out for them. Bob K. will be our next master breeder, and I can say I will be very happy for him. He has worked as hard as anyone to get there.
Also lets all try to make Kentucky this year. We have club business to attend to, and it seems that this is our best show to git-er done.
On the lighter side, if Obama’s heath care passes, maybe our birds will be covered also. What the heck, its only government money! To bad they do not realize where they get it.
See you all soon, Butch
Hello Members,
Here are just a few remarks on the breeding season and “Lakeview Happenings!” I was on vacation this past week. Went for a cycle ride today and met Al Holle for breakfast. I got a good look at Al’s birds. He has some nice red checks coming and a very nice blue check showing great back skull for a young bird. (26 banded to date.) I was treated very well by Al as always and a pleasure to visit him and his loft once again.
I bred from fewer pairs this year because of the cost of feed and also not having Mike L. birds here. This made for more room. God bless Mike and hope he is having a great time in his new loft up above. I’ve banded 50 birds thus far and will break up some pairs shortly. I may try to get something out of those that didn’t cooperate quite so well earlier in the season. I don’t have very many miss-marks, but the odd-eye department decided to kick in this year for whatever reason. That sure has made up for miss-marks. Have a few nice creams and blue bar grizzles. Also like a blue check hen. That is my opinion; judges may certainly see that differently.
I also had a nice visit with Butch, Chad and Jacky Guell at our annual appreciation dinner from the FDL club a month or so ago. Dave W. & Barry W. had attended also and I visited with them some. I did more visiting with Dave W. at our Wisc. State Pigeon Assoc. meeting along with Nancy K.
I hope all of you are having a successful year and you have raised that special bird. Whether it is that color, type, style or all of the former together you were trying to get. Good luck in the rest of the breeding season and will be looking forward to seeing you all at the up and coming shows in a few months.
And a final note: Congratulations to Chad Jacky & Harley with the addition of a brand new baby girl to the family. Despite all the hustle & bustle Jacky has been able to keep right up with her job as secretary during such a busy time. How lucky we all are to have her willing to do all the secretary duties. Thanks Jacky & of course to Chad for his extra help, I am sure.
Sincerely, Wm Murkley Jr
Feeding Pellets
I started feeding my birds pellets many years ago and have never regretted making the change from grains. I got so tired of the birds wasting feed and it was always impossible to predict which grain they would refuse to eat as it seemed to vary so much. One week they would refuse to eat peas, and then 2 weeks later eat nothing but the peas and flick everything else onto the floor. Or one pen would be happy eating nothing but corn but the other pen would rather starve than eat corn. One day I had enough and said 'forget it--eat pellets or starve!'. That was about 15 years ago and I haven't had a bird die for lack of nutrition in all that time.
There are a few companies that still make pellets formulated for pigeons, but the pellet food marketed for other animals is usually cheaper and equal in ingredients. These days I buy duck grower pellets that cost around $15.00 for 50lbs. Protein content is 16% which is the same as the typical pigeon pellet. There are also other pellet products available that can be used to vary the protein or fat content. Some poultry pellets contain as much as 20% protein, which I sometimes mix with the regular food to increase protein content. Calf pellets are just a little bigger and may be up to 25% protein with a very high mineral content. My birds actually love the "Calf Manna" feed---could be the anise seed flavoring---but it's not a good daily feed. Pellets formulated for hogs are well accepted and come in a wide variety of formulations, but I only use those as a last resort---they generally contain animal byproducts and while I know there are plenty of pigeons raised on hog pellets in this country, I stick to the vegetarian mixes.
Many people think their birds will never learn to eat pellets, which is totally false. A pigeon will eat anything it can fit into its beak and once it realizes pellets are food, they do fine. Any bird I've ever got from someone else has figured it out eventually. Babies wean just fine to pellets too by the way. And if there is ever a need to hand feed a baby, it's a lot easier to pump one full of blended pellets than to feed grain by hand. And as far as overall conditioning and health, I have raised some birds with homer-sized bodies, haven't had any more or less problems with illness than the average breeder, and my weird-colored, funny-looking birds are no worse looking for eating pellets.
Another advantage to pellets is the time saved and fewer worries about feeding times. My ICU shifts run 7am to 7pm or 7p to 7a. So I am never home at a consistent time and don't have too much energy after 12 hectic hours. I can fill the feeders ever third day and only worry about watering on days I work. You couldn't do that with grains.
Pellets all have vitamin and mineral additives, which give them consistent supplementation that is cheaper than the stuff some people obsess over putting in the water. The iodine content, however, seems to be insufficient for the needs of pigeons as there are hatchability/survivability problems without supplementing the iodine. Even so, I only use half the usual amount with good results. I still provide the birds with grit and oyster shells. Even though the pellets contain calcium and phosphorus, the hens still increase their grit or shells intake before they lay. Even so, a 50 lb bag of grit lasts me 2 years--another cost saver.
I do still buy a bag of feed every now and then and when pellet-fed birds get grains, they finish off every last seed. I will give them extra grain or corn at certain times to keep them well-fed (cold weather, pairing-off week, etc). One grain that they especially love is shelled sunflower seeds. Even if they have a crop full of pellets they will stuff themselves with sunflower seeds, and if they have babies they will feed them even more. (Sunflower seeds are very high in fat and protein content--nice treat during cold weather or for molting.) This can be especially helpful if you want to give a supplement or medication that has to be sprinkled on the food---you can guarantee that the birds will get their full dose if they polish off all the treated grain right away.
The one difference with pellet-fed pigeons that some may see as a negative is the higher water consumption and looser droppings. Once-a-day watering won't keep them happy, and the droppings in general are wetter. Nests especially get and stay damp and need 1 or 2 cleanings before the babies leave or else it ends up pretty goopy. The looser droppings also cause more staining on the unfortunate bird or breeder that gets pooped on, but nothing that a bath and change of clothes doesn't fix.
I have found pellets to be a cheap, convenient and healthy alternative to grains and look forward to any questions or comments you may have.
D.
(I received the following email from our web site.)
Dear Jaclyn, I am a biology professor at the University of Utah, and I am writing to ask for your help with a study we are conducting on the genetics of pigeons. I run a genetics laboratory at Utah and we are very interested in the genetic changes that lead to different traits pigeons. My lab has started to study this variability using modern, DNA-based techniques. We have received crucial assistance from Kyle Christensen (president) and members of the Utah Pigeon Club. I am hoping that you and the members of your club might be able to help us as well.
We are soliciting donations of feathers from as many different pigeon breeds as possible so that we can establish a large sample database for DNA analysis. Our initial analysis will give us new information about which breeds are most closely related to each other genetically, and potentially give us valuable information about the origins of breeds whose histories are not well understood. The next step in this project will be to track down the DNA-level changes that are responsible for variability in different traits (for example, color, beak size, feather pattern, crop size, rolling/tumbling, etc.). This is a long-term project, and the DNA database is a vital early step in its success.
The document below describes the project in additional detail, and I hope you will consider forwarding this information to the full membership of your club. The success of this project depends heavily on the cooperation and participation of the pigeon community, so I truly hope you and your membership will be willing to send feathers to us (at our expense, of course). We are eager to discuss this project with you or members of your club if you have any questions. We will also be at the NPA Grand National here in Salt Lake City next year to talk in person and give updates on our research.
Thank you for your time and consideration,
Mike Shapiro Elissa Mulroy
P.S. It probably goes without saying, but the University is a non-profit institution and this project is not related to any commercial enterprise.
Pigeon Genetics Project Michael D. Shapiro, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, University of Utah shapiro@biology.utah.edu, (801) 581-5690
Elissa Mulroy Undergraduate Researcher elissa.mulroy@utah.edu, (801) 581-6812
WHY STUDY PIGEON GENETICS? Pigeons show a staggering amount of variation within a single species. In fact, as Charles Darwin noted, the striking differences between different breeds within this species approaches the magnitude of differences usually seen between completely different species of birds. Ever since the time pigeons were domesticated at least 6500 years ago, breeders have selected for dramatic differences in many traits in well over 300 recognized breeds. We are interested in learning more about the genes that control color diversity in pigeons, as well as other differences in skeletal structure, physiology, and behavior. We will do this by using genetic techniques that are similar to the methods used in humans to track down the genes responsible for susceptibility to cancers and other genetic diseases.
WE NEED YOUR HELP! DNA samples In order to get started, we will need a large number of DNA samples from as many different breeds as possible. We will extract DNA from feathers. We are asking you to help with this project by sending feather samples to us through the mail. We will provide you with addressed and stamped envelopes.
The ideal feather sample would be: (1) as large as possible (tail, wing , or large body feathers), (2) freshly plucked, (3) and contain 5 or mo
feathers per bird. It is critical that feather samples from different individual birds stay in separate envelopes.
One of our first tasks is to see which breeds have the most genetic information in common. This will give us a good idea about which breeds are related to each other, and possibly allow us to trace the ancestry of breeds whose origins are not well understood. Thus far, we have worked closely with the Utah Pigeon Club to gather over 200 DNA samples from over 30 different breeds. We need to dramatically increase the number of birds and breeds in our study for it to be successful.
If you would like to donate feather samples to be included in this project, please contact us at the phone number or email address below. We will provide envelopes and instructions for mailing.
STAYING INVOLVED We hope this study will benefit the pigeon hobbyist community as well. Our work will us help understand the history of different breeds, and potentially allow genetic testing for relationships among individual birds and breeds. The Utah Pigeon Club will host the NPA Grand National in Salt Lake City in January of 2010. We will be attending this show and will be happy to provide updates on our project and answer any questions that you might have. If you have any questions before that time, please feel free to contact us at the email address listed below.
Thank you for your interest and assistance!
Contact information: For envelopes and instructions to mail feather samples: Elissa Mulroy General questions about the project: Dr. Mike Shapiro
Shapiro lab website: http://www.biology.utah.edu/shapiro/
(most of the information on this site deals with our other work on fish genetics)
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