Purebred Pigeon May/June 2020

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Old German Owls – Page 48 – Purebred PIGEON
Breed of the Issue - O ld German Owl
By Michael Gebert - Germany
D ear American OGO breeders (and all
other pigeon fanciers of course),
Leonard Kuzminski contacted me
some weeks ago, asked me to contribute some-
thing to this special issue about Old German
Owls and I’m more than happy to do that. It was
great to hear that he and others are obviously
still remembering my article from 2013.
What changed since then with the OGOs
in Germany? After reading again what I wrote
back then I have to say: not a lot. The OGOs are
still the most popular breed among the owl/frill
pigeons in Germany and keep fascinating pigeon
fanciers with their colored shield, the massive
crests, the broad heads, and the nice form com-
bined with a short body and tail.
Instead of writing a lot about the breed or
the club, I decided to focus on pictures because
a picture tells you more than thousand words.
Brunhild (administrator and designer of www.
and Ralf Schmid (OGO
breeder, painter and one of the most knowl-
edgeable/successful fancy pigeon breeders in
Germany), Karl Degel (donor of most pictures,
probably the most active member of the OGO
Club in Germany right now, very successful OGO
breeder for many years) as well as Heike Kuenzel
(a former OGO breeder) provided all the pictures
and I’m very grateful for their help!!!!
So please enjoy the pictures and should you
ever come over to Germany, let me know (geb-
) and we will find some OGO
breeders you can visit! •
Black #1 - Massive head, very broad crest
and strong beak. The Jabot is also sufficient
and rich in feathers. Males like this often
provoke questions about foster parents but
as far as I can tell, OGOs are still very good
parents and raise their offspring without
problems. - Photo by Karl Degel
Black #2 - Beautiful clear rosettes, super
short body, completely closed neck, round
shield, and great profile. Very typical in
general. The so-called finish colors (black,
recessive red and yellow) declined a bit in
numbers over the last years but the quality
is still outstanding. Photo by Karl Degel
Blue Bar #1 - Sturdy body, equal blue color,
very long crest feather. Photo by Karl Degel
Blue White Bars - This is one of the rarest
colors of OGO in Germany. The bars don’t
have to be super white yet and can be a
bit brownish. This bird is extraordinary in
head, type, shield, crest, beak, and bars for
this color. Photo by Karl Degel
Blue Check - Short body and tail, nice
painting. The forehead could be a bit longer
and the lower more equal to the upper beak.
Photo by Karl Degel
Blue Bar #2 - Typical posture, hard feather
and friendly blue color. The beak has the
right width and length. Photo by Karl Degel
Color Tail Black - Color tails are very hard
to breed and it’s always great to see them.
The pigeon here is fine in feather, Jabot,
posture, beak. Their heads often reveal their
German Shield Owl ancestors.
Photo by Karl Degel
Old German Owls
in Germany
Pair of Blue White Bars - Attractive couple in
blue with white bars. Photo by Heike Kuenzel