Confucious said in his infinite wisdom that a man could make Gold from straw
if he had the patience and dedication. Therefore a man in his infinite
wisdom will buy pedigreed strains of British Tipplers and he will fail with
them. The dedication, the expertise, the extremism cannot be sold along with
the specimens.
When my young pigeons are 4 weeks old they can pick up their own feed and
find the water supply in the young bird section. At this age, I reckon that
they should be isolated from their parents and placed upon a system of
training.
I have said with monotonous regularity that no sane man will attempt to
train more than just a few at a time.
I refer to Tipplers, Rollers and flying breeds. I know nothing about show
pigeons or showing and I do not talk about things I know nothing about. I
leave that to politicians, who one handles like polecats and stays away from
the business end. At the tender age of 3 weeks I take youngsters away from
their parents.
For several months pigeon disease epidemics have decimated the British
pigeon population. In February, 2002, I was informed that one of our top
show pigeon judges had been very seriously subjected to a pigeon disease
epidemic which caused the death of almost all of his stock.
A few years ago, another of our top show pigeon judges had an epidemic.
Probably the greatest Tipplerman who ever lived. A dedicated man.
Cantankerous, difficult, often unkind. You ask me " Did I know Sam
Billingham?". Of course I knew him. He kept Tipplers only 4 miles from me
right here in Sheffield.
Working Tipplers are more of a liability than an asset unless they are
properly trained from an early age. No man can train more than a few at a
time. A kit of Tipplers must essentially be small in number. The minimum is
3 and in my opinion it is folly to fly more than 5. The size of a kit is
directly proportional to the range of the flight.
Pigeons that have been used to flying in a kit will sometimes become silly
or partly disorientated if they, by chance, become isolated and caused to
fly on their own. There is no logic in this behaviour.
Mating best to best? This sounds very logical but opens up a field of
conjecture. The best that a man has may not be "the best." All too often,
the best is like the worst. A man may spend many years without ever having
the best. For example, take the ideal Tipplers--supposed to be bred for time
flying--the USA record is 18 hours 5 mins.
