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Old German Owls – Page 45 – Purebred PIGEON
B
reed of
the
I
ssue
- O
ld
G
erman
O
wl
It’s Never Too Late
By Pat Stuart
I
’ve been in pigeons a long time. I’ve always had certain breeds
that I really like. Komorner Tumblers, Portuguese Tumblers,
Mookees and West of England are some of my favorites.
Many years ago, I either purchased or someone gave me a few
pairs of Old German Owls. To this day I can’t remember where I got
them. I really loved those birds because of their gentle disposition
and their overall good looks. But for some unknown reason, I prob-
ably needed the room, so I foolishly got rid of them.
Every show that I attend when I saw the Old German Owls in
their show cages, I do a double take and say to myself, they are a
very attractive bird. But like most of us, my loft was full enough. I
really didn’t have room to get another breed. However, those Old
German Owls never left my pigeon mind. They always seemed to be
there even though I had none in my loft.
When the 2019 show season rolled around, we started check-
ing out the show calendars to see what shows we would like to
attend. One of the earlier shows of the season we attended was
the Chambersburg, Pennsylvania Pigeon Show. There Jenn Trotter
showed some of her Old German Owls. Great looking birds. It
seemed to be a message to me, but I still could not find a handle on
my thinking.
In early November we went to the Virginia Pigeon and Dove
Show – another great pigeon show. I showed my Komorners, Portu-
guese and West of England but I kept looking over my shoulder at
the Old German Owls being judged. Next thing I knew I saw Jenn
Trotter holding her beautiful black Old German Owl that had just
won champion. That was only more brain food for me to think about.
Wow great looking birds! When the show was over, once again I put
Old German Owls in the back of my mind. But not forgotten.
At the end of November we attended the Faircount Pigeon
Show in Connecticut. This show had a nice amount of entries of
beautiful Old German Owls. I wasn’t surprised at those entries
since the Capp family is involved in running the Faircount Show
and very involved in the Old German Owl Club with Jeff Capp being
President of that club. This time I took the time to really look at
their birds. Jeff was kind enough to take his time to talk to me
about the owls. Just like quicksand, the more I heard the deeper I
got. My decision was made. I wanted Old German Owls.
The 2020 new year came and one of my new year’s resolutions
was to join the Old German Owl Club. After joining I found they
have a very beautiful, informative, and educational website. January
is not a great time of year to purchase birds since most breeders
are down to their breeding pairs. But I used the membership list to
contact several members just to see if they would have any birds
available. I was lucky enough to find a couple pair to get started.
I wrote this article for one main reason. If you have had
thoughts of adding a new breed to your loft or joining a new club -
do it. At 72 years old I did it and these birds and the club have really
been a great addition to my loft and pigeon life. Please don’t forget
- it’s never too late.•
hatched dark colored beaks two blue checks, cute birds but not for
the project since I need Qualmond color. The third round comes
in split, one baby Qualmond and one blue check. All three turned
out to be hens which is great because the color Qualmond is also
sex linked, meaning that any hen of this Qualmond color mated to
any of my blue bars or blue checks cocks would produce Qualmond
cocks in the same nest, blue bar or blue check hens project birds.
These blue birds get given away for pets or to people who just keep
pigeons and don’t show them.
So 2020 is off to a good start with the project F-1 going good.
Starting my F2 project in 2020 crosses mated to pure Old German
Owls to F-1 half Old German Owls/half Chinese Owls. The three
hens of the F1 product will be mated to blue bar and blue check.
Keeping my fingers crossed to getting some decent marked F-2s
, and hopefully start seeing Old German Owl type coming out.
Now going back to sex linked, I should have quite a few Qualmond
color cock birds in 2020 to use for my F3s in 2021. As progress goes
we will see what happens and as the saying goes, “Keep the best
get rid of the rest.” I am by no means a geneticist or an expert in
genetics just a guy that loves pigeons and loves a challenge.•