Secret #5: Let the Basket and Races Cull For You

Secret #5: Let the Basket and Races Cull For You

The only fair and impartial methods of selecting intelligence that gives true satisfaction and results are the training basket and long races.

In my opinion, no individual can measure mentality and the degree of homing instinct of a bird from looking at it, feeling or handling it, or looking into it’s eyes.  Don’t waste your time or money!  You already have the best graders in the world, “The Basket” and “Long Races”.

Over the past years, I have had several famous fanciers and graders visit my loft.  Their differences of opinion were so great that what one called a champion, the other called a cull.  This only strengthened our opinion that no one human being can evaluate nor grade your pigeons.  Those that profess this ability have done more harm than good to our sport over the years.

Secret #5: Let the basket and races cull for you By Bob Prisco

The Leading Online Pigeon Racing and Racing Pigeons Magazine – The Pigeon Insider

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28 thoughts on “Secret #5: Let the Basket and Races Cull For You

    1. The unfortunate truth is as Wendell Levy wrote way back in 1933, There are very few strains of long distance pigeons and even fewer people who can fly them. Many brilliant sprint and middle distance pigeons are wasted by people who don’t know how to fly them and when to pull them up.
      The Belgians have shown consistently over are period of two hundred years of breeding and racing the ultra long distance racing doesn’t produce the best racing pigeons. For example the Jansen Brothers rarely if ever flew their birds more than 150 kms. Yet their stain has found its way into nearly every major racing loft through Europe and for that matter the rest of the world. And it would be fair to say the lofts where the Jansen bloodline has been introduced have seen a lift in performance. Furthermore, while the Jansen brothers didn’t fly long distance races there were others like Luis Van Loon who did fly Jansen pigeon long distance, and was very successful . In fact, pigeons from the Jansen strain hold the long distance records in Europe. Why did the Jansen Brothers have so much success? Because they flew for speed and never bred from over-sized or under-sized pigeons no matter how it performed, Furthermore, its conformation and feathering had to be almost perfect before it would be considered as a stock pigeon for them.

  1. I do agree that Mr basket is the best place do seperate the good from the bad.No amoint of handling and looking at a bird can determine if its a good or bad bird.

  2. i know off a fancier that cull a few not so good ones,so one bird escape and he put the bird to racing,it turn out to be one off his top pigeons.all i want to say is you can look for all the wright things the wing the eye the muscle ect but you dont know whats in the birds mind.

    1. Hi Gerhard yes that does happen but its the exception to the rule you don’t see it happen very
      often and could have been a unhappy pigeon living in an over crowded loft but over the years iv’e had a few come into my loft and iv’e change the owner ship and they are not in my
      loft now Brad.

  3. The best bird that I ever had was the off spring of a lost bird from BC and a barn/roller cross.. I tried to ditch it for months before I realized that this bird was worth keeping.. One time I had a gig on the west side of the Cascades…On my break I turned him loose In a high wind at 11:30 PM..I finished the night ..Packed up and drove home..The next day I went to the loft at about noon and there he was..He had crossed high Mountains and traveled 110 miles in the dark and in a storm to get home…I never tried to ditch him again..I wish I had that bird now..

  4. The basket tells me did I train, feed and house them well. If my pigeons loose, it’s my fault. This is where I find out if the fruit of my labor is good or bad.

  5. Yes I agree, that basket is the best tool to evaluate our birds as racer not as breeder. Just remember not all champion breeds champion. We basket and train our birds to see it, If we have chance to win the race, Only fool will race with sick pigeons.
    Thanks,
    Sid F.

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