Purebred Pigeon May/June 2020

Old German Owls – Page 46 – Purebred PIGEON

reed of

the

ssue

- O

erman

By Bernd Gloede, President of the

German Old German Owl Club

Since round about 30 years I have bred Old German Owl

pigeons. At the beginning I had Red Shield Mark after that

I shortly had Yellow Bar Check and now I have the Blue Bar

Shield Mark and Silver Bar Shield Mark. Since four years ago

my little grandnephew Louis Gloede is also interested in the

pigeons and we do it together. In each breeding we have eight

pair of pigeon.

Before our male pigeons comes together with the female

pigeons they stay in the breeding loft for one year. After the

breeding season they get separated again. The male pigeon

stays in the loft so they can keep their nest area.

Before the be-

ginning of the show

we have to decide

which of the male

pigeons is not good

enough to use for

the next year season

and also which one is

good for the breed-

ing. The good pigeon

goes to the breed-

ing loft immedi-

ately. This has the

benefit that he has enough time to look for his chosen nest

space. This strategy has turned out well as during the pairing

in the early springtime they won’t have any trouble finding a

nest space because all of them already have their spaces.

The young stock gets in a different loft specially designed

for young animals where they have enough places to sit – and

further away also a feeing table. In my opinion this has the

advantage that the birds get more trustful and easier to get to

my hand.

We feed our pigeon with a mixture out of different vari-

eties and we mix them ourselves. We periodically add some

garlic to the water they drink. Minerals are freely available

for them all the time, of course. Twice a year, before breeding

begins and show begins we have a specialist who checks the

excrement of the pigeon to make sure the animals are doing

well.

During the breeding season we feed the animals four

times a day. But as I know from many other breeding col-

leagues they feed the Old German Owl pigeon only twice a

day and it also works pretty good. After completion of the

breeding season we are also feeding only twice a day.•

Bernd Gloede’s Champion Old German Owl

Bernd Gloede’s grandnephew Louis with one

of his OGOs

Breeding &Keeping

Old German Owls