Roma Articles one

The Problem of Splayed (Pin wheel legs)

Dec 1999 by:- Rory Ryan

   At this time of the year we are all heavily involved in our breeding programs with our goal being to produce that outstanding bird. Consider the many difficulties in producing a youngster? Well it starts with obtaining quality stock and moves along an extremely long road that is fraught with “danger” at every stage to that final weaning point.

   It is therefore extremely important that all due care and attention be considered and given at every stage, which brings me to nests and the period a squeaker spends in it.

   The age old problem of splayed or pinwheel legs is a common one that once detected can be, in many cases, easily rectified. I will begin with the known causes of this problem, these being:-

1/ diet
2/ genetics
3/ over zealous parents (sitting tight)
4/ poor/inadequate nesting material
5/ single nestling

   I will endeavour to expand on 3,4 & 5 as the other two are self explanatory. On occasions a hen, in particular, tends to sit too tightly on her young, resulting in downward pressure being constantly placed on the nestlings. This constant pressure results in one or both legs being pushed outwards resulting in splayed legs. Perhaps the most common cause of this problem is, poor or inadequate nest material, lack of this material causes the squeaker to slip (not able to gain support for legs) this constant action can dislocate the joints in the leg or cause tendon damage, which eventually results in splayed legs. The other cause, although not as frequent as the latter two, is single nestling, I have found that two squeakers invariably balance against each other, gaining support from one another. When a single youngster is being reared, ensure that adequate nest material is in the nest so as to give support, or better still switch the youngster to another nest where there are two, this will give your valued squeaker every opportunity to develop properly.

   I have only today had to destroy a squeaker with splayed legs due entirely to my own negligence due to a busy work schedule. This situation could have and can be easily rectified, by diligence and observation. My method of rectifying this problem once noticed is to double ring the squeaker, one on each leg then tie a piece of string through each ring to the width of the squeakers breast ensuring that the legs, when in the sitting position do NOT extend beyond the width of the body. I do not adjust the string until the squeaker is weaned when I actually cut it to see if I have had success in rectifying the problem. I have no concerns doing this (tying) as you will notice a splayed leg at around a week plus of age and by tying the legs at this stage the bird is naturally confined to the nest for the next few weeks anyway. The squeakers movements are therefore not restricted because there is no real need to move at this age. I have heard of tying a rubber band to each leg but personally feel this has far to much “play”.

My method has for me had a 90% success rate so give it a try and see that potential CHAMPION come to fruition!!!!!

Success doesn't come easy!

August 1999 by:- Rory Ryan

   The title, an old saying you may think, but isn't it true, even though many of us have not achieved it. In our particular field, that of “Columba Liva” it is extremely relevant as success only comes, with years of HARD work!

   If we consider the history of our present day varieties we find that they can all be traced back to the beginning of time to the Rock Dove. However what is seldom realized is that they did not just appear overnight. Many dedicated men, all with the same goal, “ the creation of something different or perfect” were responsible, their perseverance and quest for perfection drove them on to create what we have today.

   Success is achieved, not acquired, it is achieved by dedication, personal sacrifice and lots of hard work over many years. Why then is it that a successful fancier is often the centre of malicious rumours? I guess, reluctantly, it’s relevant to this great hobby as well that “success only breeds contempt”. Lets all remember that without the perfectionists ever striving for that little bit extra you, me, us, who gain so much satisfaction from the breeds we maintain, would perhaps not appreciate, to the same degree, your “feathered friends”

I often have a chuckle when listening to fanciers at shows in their respective “group huddles” discussing the days events and speaking of their outstanding bird, you know, the one “they” bred, having so much success with the bird “they” bred. The true Master Breeders are few and far between, their success and breeding prowess is what separates them, without them where would we be, yet these Masters are targets for the narrow minded, petty fanciers who regard success as a disease rather than an achievement. Why is it that a successful individual once having obtained his success is then subjected to the petty rubbish of the ignorant when we should be thankful from the bottom of our hearts for having them within our ranks with the knowledge, ability and foresight to create and maintain what he has created.

It is now up to us, the fanciers of today, to appreciate success for what it is and continue the work of our magnificent predecessors in the successful maintenance and improvement of the breeds they have given us.

Bits n Pieces

March 1999 by:- Rory Ryan

   The introduction of the Domestic Flight into Australia took place in 1995 with my importation of four birds, these being a red cap and yellow cap hens and two yellow teager cocks from Jim Mullins of England. I was fortunate to obtain the bloods of Gigante and Spahr so the gene pools at least were the best one could hope for when establishing a new breed into Australia.

   Unfortunately the building of numbers from these four birds was made even more difficult by the red hen not laying. With perseverance the numbers slowly increased by the use of feeders and alternating the cocks. My main criticism with the confirmation of the imports and the subsequent progeny was that they were “down faced” to varying degrees and did not posses that classic outlook! While this was extremely frustrating a rigid policy of culling was adopted with success coming ever more frequently.

   As I imported only caps, I had to embark on a program to create Plainheads. The first cross was to an extremely powerful blue Chequer Long Face Tumbler hen, from the F1 only the most powerful two birds were retained. This F1 cross produced all Plainheads as the cap feature is a recessive and when crossing initially to a Plainhead it remains hidden, as was found in subsequent crosses a number of caps started to appear, the reason for this was simple, the cross was a pure bred cap to an F1 which was carrying as a recessive cap. While I am now at the F4 stage the number of cap to Plainhead is about 50/50. Like many fanciers I enjoy the challenge of creating something new, be it a Colour or feature, I never seem to be satisfied however with results, as good as they may be, this just drives me on to achieve a higher standard.

   My personal views in regard to breeding any form of livestock or bird is to STUDY and STUDY the standard, become familiar with it then, breed as many as I can from ONLY the very BEST pairs. I have above all else adhered to a rigid culling regime, without hesitation or reservation. Many fanciers find culling extremely difficult, remember if you breed exhibition pigeons you are breeding for a specific purpose. That purpose being to produce a specimen that is as close to the standard as possible.

   My culling regime is carried out without reference to parental identity, what the parents have cost or what they have won or produced previously. My GOLDEN rule when culling is “TYPE” first, or as many of you would have heard me say on more than one occasion “ build your house before you paint it or add the fixtures”. Too often I see fanciers retain birds for all the wrong reasons, only to ponder WHY they are not achieving the desired results.

   We should all strive for “Power with Type”, there is nothing more pleasing than to see that little bird of eight inches by eight and a half packaged into a powerhouse waiting to explode.

   I find it extremely rewarding to now see that as a result of my dream to bring this marvellous little gem to Australia that it has been embraced by so many. We are fortunate that through the formation of our club the Domestic Flights future in this country must surely be assured!!!!

**** Remember “Together we all achieve more !!! *****

Sharing
Nov 2000 by Rory Ryan

As the title states "Sharing" which in itself should be self explanatory, however I feel when it comes to our particular hobby the true meaning and infact the word itself is invariably lost.

The successful cultivation of all varieties of pigeons has been achieved firstly by a dedication to breed that ideal specimen. Secondly by a conscious awareness of the particular refinements that are needed in the development of any goal, as well as the ability to pair birds successfully. As the saying goes "this goes with that". The final ingredient is the interaction (sharing) of knowledge and blood lines between fanciers.

I feel confident in stating that no successful stud of birds has ever been created by using only specimens from within the stud being improved. No matter how good a particular stud is it will eventually have to look outside its own boundaries for that eventual outcross.

This need becomes paramount if the stud is to continue without detriment, however this task of obtaining that, certain bird now becomes much more difficult than the years of cultivation and hard work that was necessary to reach this current plateau. To start with the knowledgeable fancier knows exactly what he requires in the form of his proposed new acquisition, however the task of acquisition is where the headaches begin. The initial search to find where and who has the required bird is, in many instances, relatively easy, what isn't is the actual acquisition! Easy you say!! Not so I say, your problems are just about to begin.

For some very "strange" reason many fanciers are, to say the least , reluctant to sell or exchange birds, sure everyone has sale and gift birds but those "special" ones are seldom for sale, and in many cases birds of quality which are surplus to requirements are killed. The underlying reason for this is that we are all frightened that "so and so" will beat me next season if I let that one go. So inevitably we do the "best thing" and cull it; this being the mark of a true fancier striving for the advancement of the breed!!!

Sharing does not only apply to established fanciers but on a much greater scale to the beginner. How many times have you heard "he was only in the breed for two minutes, they were too hard for him so he got out". The real reason for many of these "two minute wonders" giving up is the inability to acquire QUALITY birds to start with. History has shown that "he who gives will be rewarded", by making quality stock available not only insures yourself as being a caring fancier but you are perhaps assisting in the moulding of a future Master Breeder who will take the breed to new heights.

If we were all to be more honest with ourselves and particularly with our fellow fanciers and SHARE............... just imagine how much sooner the standard would be realized and the stronger the bond we would have as fanciers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Importance of Feeders
Nov 2000 By Rory Ryan

One of the greatest challenges to face both novice and experienced short faced pigeon fancier or for that matter any fancier who utilizes foster parents (feeders) to raise his/her youngsters is the actual rearing of the "next generation."

It is my intention through the following paragraphs to endeavour to make this task easier, especially for the novice fancier.

All successful short face breeders owe much of their success to their feeders without which the "next generation" simply would not exist. Together with the acquisition of good stock (tumblers being my main breed so I will refer to them) must come good feeders, the most widely used breed in Australia for this purpose is the Racing Homer. This breed has the size and particularly the stamina to successfully rear two young and be capable of repeating it over and over within the one season. The Racing Homer in my experience takes pride of place as I have used many breeds as feeders over the years but none can match the Racing Homer.

I would strongly recommend the use of the Racing Homer and particularly the acquisition of these birds from a "strong" stud that have been bred SOLELY for their feeding ability over MANY generations. The acquisition of good feeders often takes many years and extreme culling as not all have the ability to feed short beaked youngsters, however once your stud has this ability fixed, your culling ratio begins to fall dramatically. Therefore should the opportunity arise that you are able to acquire feeders from a top stud "jump at it", as it will save you years and many possible Champions that under ordinary circumstances would have perished through incompetent feeders.

My own stud is scrutinized constantly during the breeding season with any bird developing adverse traits being disposed of, replacement stock is always bred from only the best pairs (gauged on feeding ability), this ensures that the strongest possible traits are being continually added to the stud. All traits, be they physical appearance or something hidden can be accentuated by selective breeding this being the aim, not only in your show birds but your feeders, theoretically, yearly the stud improves and uniform feeding ability becomes inherent in all birds.

Over the years I have found that twice the number of feeder pairs to one tumbler pair lends itself to very few problems regarding the transfer of eggs. A common practice used by all serious Tumbler breeders is the use of breeding batteries for their feeders. My batteries are 3 feet by 3 feet by 14 inches high, you younger folk can convert that to metric? and are constructed in multiples, my own are made in blocks of ten, I have ninety. Battery breeding is most advantageous to breeders of short faced varieties, as you are aware to feed a short faced squeaker requires firstly, the ability to do so! and secondly surroundings that do not allow a total disregard of youngsters when the beak begins to recess into the skull, in short the feeder has no where to escape .

Most tumbler fanciers have varied methods for the recognition of eggs, date laid, switched etc. My own system is as follows; all Tumbler and feeder pairs have small cards attached to their nest box or battery, this allows date laid identification for both (tumbler & feeder) to be placed thereon, additionally all Tumbler pairs are issued numbered pair rings for identification. Because of the large number of batteries I maintain I have found it necessary to conserve time when looking for feeder pairs that are about to lay, hatch, etc so I use a Colour peg system as detailed below:-

Peg Colour                    Definition
     Green                            About to lay
Red                                Hatching
       Blue                               About to ring

The use of these pegs reduces greatly the time spent disturbing pairs unnecessarily and my own. Each individual battery is numbered once again for convenience, especially at the transfer time of eggs. I have a weekly "switch record" printed up into pads that is used to detail battery numbers, beside each I write the date the feeder laid then in a column at the side each tumbler pair and the date. By having feeder and Tumbler pairs on the same page makes the allocation of eggs an easy exercise that takes only a few minutes.

To recap, I cannot stress enough the importance of having a reliable stud of feeders strong in their ability to feed short faced youngsters and you MUST be ruthless when culling for feeding ability. I do hope that this article has been of benefit to those who are embarking on breeding short faced birds or are experiencing problems with their feeders or system employed.

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