The Racing Pigeon Enthusiast
~ Newsletter ~
Table of Contents:

About this newsletter   by John Vance, editor

Welcome to the fourth issue of the Racing Pigeon Enthusiast, This newsletter is sponsored by RacingPigeonMall.com and it is hoped that many more issues will follow.

Well, October is upon us and for many that means we are reviewing our breeding programs and planning next year's matings. Of course, many of you are till in the midst of your youngbird season, but I think you also are planning next year's sucesses. I have noticed more activity on the auction site and suspect that fanciers are now ready to start purchasing new additions to their breeding program.

Appearently, the word is out on the "Klas Krom" birds. Herman Beverdam has been introducing them to the American flyers for several years now and there is finally name recognition. A fancier had asked me to list three imports he had of the Krom strain on my website, and today before I could even list these birds, I get a call from a fancier in New York, asking for Klas Krom birds. Well, these birds are now on their way to New York.

Ad Schaerlaeckens, wrote a nice article on Klas Krom some years back and Bert Camphius, used the Klas Krom birds as crosses on his Janssen family with great success. Many of Camphius winners were down from his famous "Krom Pair". These birds seem to breed very well with the "Verbart 46" line. If you go back through the pedigrees of the Krom birds you will find the Vroomen strain. Vroomen, was a renowned Dutch champion at the distances. Marcel Sangers acquired many of his stock birds from Bert Camphius.

Speaking of imports, I plan to have 6 - 8 from some of the top lofts of Europe available in the next week. These birds are still in Belgium and will be imported when the sale is completed. If you are interested give me a call at: 360-384-5701 or email me at loftmaster@racingpigeonmall.com


Performance Test on Effects of Creatine/Carnitine   by Matt Hans

I have always wondered myself about the Effects of not only Creatine, but also L-Carnitine. I have talked to many people in the Fitness and Nutritional World, and they all agree that there is definitley value to Creatine and Carnitine for human athletes. The questions however was do they work for racing pigeons, and how would I prove it.

I have always been the dominant loft in my club and one of the top lofts in the combine, and I did experiment with Creatine and Carnitine one year, but I was not able to actually notice any effects as all of the birds were on the same thing.

This Year, I decided to Fly (3) Separate YB Teams in Different Lofts and in the process actually Test Fly the effects of Creatine and Carnitine.

What I did was Place Two of the Teams on Creatine and L-Carnitine. The Other Team does not recieve this of course. Other than that, the lofts, feed, vitamins, and minerals are the same for all three teams, so the only difference is that Two of Three Teams are on Creatine and Carnitine.

If you research Creatine and Carnitine Use, you will find that the companies say it is a must to To Start Using them at least 1 Month before the actual Race Season, and also you must administer a "Loading Dose" for One-Week. A Loading Dose is actually just a Double-Dose that Saturates the birds system. With that said, I did all of this, and prepared both teams equally for the 2003 YB Series.
The Carnitine that I use is AVIFORM's "AviMax"
I use a Human-Grade Pure Pharmaceutical Creatine.
I Use Creatine 6 Days Per Week and Carnitine 3-4 Days Per Week.

Now for my findings: 6 Weeks into this 8 Week Season, we have flown a 115 Mile Race, 175 Miles, 205 Miles, 235 Miles, 250 Miles, and 255 Miles.
We still have to fly a 300 Mile Race and a 320 Mile Race.

To read the complete article go to:
http://www.racingpigeonmall.com/loft/articles/creatine-carnitine.html


Further Discussions on Creatine and L-carnitine (Editor's Notes)   by John Vance

One needs to understand some of the strong and weak points of the usage of these two products. Matt's findings match well with the findings of professional sports clubs. Creatine is most effective supplying energy for an explosive burst. It is the first energy used by the muscles even before ATP. More than likely it would be exhausted in less than 10 seconds of sustained burst. After Creatine, the body would utilize glycogen for 10 - 50 minutes (there are varying reports) then start converting fats to usable energy.

Studies at Ghent university tend to show that L-carnitine kicks in for pigeons when flight is sustained for 8 to 10 hours. youngbirds races of less than 10 hours might not exhibit positive results from the use of L-carnitine.

To read the complete article go to:
http://www.racingpigeonmall.com/loft/articles/creatine-carnitine-more.html


100 years of the Grooters in America   By: Ron West, Southern Rockies Loft

Flying already in the 1850’s, during the still formative era in the development of the modern racing pigeon, Mr Grooters of Belgium put together an unequalled strain of birds that endured for well over a century at the top of the sport. The research of Jules Gallez has turned up an interview with one of the oldest flyers of Belgium, circa 1910, indicating that Grooters' birds are but one step removed from the Ulens, having originated out of that strain but also showing the influence of an early example (cross) of a bird from Brussels and subsequently the Antwerp pigeons. And, by the early 20th century, it was on the Grooters and these early influences that most strains of the modern racing pigeon were based.

In ‘The American Stud Book" (1950 R.B. Dennis) the Grooters are described as “the Grand old family” and mention is made of the ‘Lowe’ Grooters, a 1902 cock imported from England, to Chicago and Milwaukee, where a Grooter hen belonging to Heiden & Heiden was the world 500 mile record holder in that era. These birds are described as authentic and pure. Also mention is made of a very good Grooters family in Indiana belonging to C.D. Fisher and the prowess of these birds at the 600 mile station. Following this are the pure Grooters imported by Henry Schumacher from which the author (Dennis) had his best bird. Follows this are the very competitive Grooters brought to this country by a Mr Parsons and kept subsequently by his son Roy (Roslyn) Parsons in Bangor, PA. Other Grooters mentioned are those of George Turney and his famous Turney Cock imported from England. As of the 1950’s, marking 100 years, the Grooters were still a fine bird that had stayed in a pure state in the USA via the devotion of (as one Old Timer called them) ‘Grooters Men'.

To read the complete article go to:
http://www.racingpigeonmall.com/loft/articles/grooters.html


In the Loft - Health: The Natural Way

Health: The Natural Way

I believe that the pendulum is swinging the other way these days. After many years of being indoctrinated that we must medicate their birds, for all kinds of conditions, if we want to win races, I now believe fanciers are starting to return to the use of natural products and the old time remedies that served the early flyers so well.

Along that path, I had developed a health system which has allowed me to keep my birds in excellent health for the past 14 months without the use of medications. That's right, no treatment for cocci, canker, salmonella, paratyphoid, or worms for a full 14 months. This health system allowed me to win 1st and 3rd Champion bird, 2nd short, 1st long and 1st overall Average speed, and win the last race of the season (545 miles) by over 4 hours!!!

The first thing you should know about the health system I use is that I call it the "Knock Down" Health System. I am not trying to eradicate every single "bad" germ in my pigeons body, Instead, I am using all natural products to keep the germ level at a low enough count that the natural immune response in my birds is able to safely deal with them. I want my birds to develop a natural resistance to canker, cocci, salmonella, paratyphoid, candida, e. coli, etc. and I want this natural resistance passed to their babies in the egg, through the pigeon milk, and from contact with their environment.

Isn't that unique, instead of these "bad" germs developing a resistance to antibiotics and developing into "Super Germs", my birds are building a resistance to the "bad" germs and are developing into "Super Birds". This just makes more sense to me.

To read the complete article go to:
http://www.racingpigeonmall.com/loft/articles/Health-System-offer.html


Living with Breeder's Lung

Living with Breeder's Lung:

I flew racing pigeons from about 1989 - 1992, when I discovered that I had Breeder's Lung. For two years before this diagnosis, I suffered from shortness of breath, cold chills and sweats (flu like symptoms). When I found out what was causing my problems, I immediately found homes for my birds and closed up the lofts. Within two weeks of discontinuing all contact with the birds all my symptoms were gone.

In 2000, I decided to again begin in racing pigeons, only now, I had done some research on Breeder's Lung and had a plan for minimizing my exposure. Below is the system I use to manage my breeder's lung sensitivity. I hope that some or all of these pre-cautions are of use to you.

To read the complete article go to:
http://www.racingpigeonmall.com/loft/articles/breeders-lung.html


What's Happening at RacingPigeonMall?

The next two issues of the newsletter will contain information on products that most of us know "to little" about. We wonder if we should be using them and if so, how and when. Anyone wanting more information on Probiotics and Electrolytes will hopefully find something of use in these issues.

Currently, we have the several listings on the auction site as interest is starting to pick up in anticipation of the 2004 breeding season:

Next week, we will be featuring 6 - 8 birds direct from top Belgium lofts. These auction listing will be accessible through a link on our home page at:

www.racingpigeonmall.com


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