Dear members and friends,

I hope this letter finds all of you in great spirit and all is well. It’s now late summer and the breeding season is coming to an end for most of you. Most of our flying birds become reluctant to fly due to the heat and heavy molting.

On the other hand, culling becomes a necessity due to space and most important, by getting rid of major problems in your flock. Spotting weakness such as inability to kit, or slow in trapping should not be tolerated. Other factors such as poor feather structure, insufficient tail feathers (less than 14), single width tail, wings held above the tail, black beaks and red eye cere, should also be controlled.

On a personal note

My breeding season was quite productive, with most pairs producing four to eight youngsters each. I’m very pleased with the quality overall, especially the almond and barred colors. One of my setbacks this year has been the loss of birds to predators and the usual loss to over-flies. I had two dogs break into one of my kit lofts and kill fifteen young Oriental Rollers. I also lost all six of my white English Leghorn chickens which I had as pets from the egg. They were most likely killed by a raccoon or two. One of my biggest lessons has been to make sure my lofts are secure against predators. Never take for granted that it will not happen to you. Take the extra time to make sure your lofts are well built and secured from predators.

About the Newsletter

All of you should have received out last newsletter put out by our vice-president Mark Orme. It was quite impressive and very professionally done. This is something to be proud of. My thanks and congratulations goes out to those who contributed to the newsletter and to Mark for his dedication and hard work he has put into this club. Let’s make an effort supporting Mark with material for our newsletter. Send Mark an article or information relating to our breed; yourself, family and birds, general information, on keeping pigeons, or tips you have found to be helpful. Photos are a great descriptive tool and always welcome.

National Pigeon Association

The recent NPA election has taken place. A few changes were made in some Districts and Mr. Heppner remains as President. Our congratulations goes out to all the winners. A special welcome to John who won District 3. John is one of our members and a big supporter of the rare breeds. He is in favor of preserving breeds and their standards from the native lands. Also, in January 1998, John was very supportive in my quest to get the Flying Oriental Roller recognized by the NPA. He was present with me when I gave my presentation to the NPA board.

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