By the time these notes are published the freezing cold weather will hopefully be a thing of the past and the remainder of the breeding season will prove to be a successful one for all fancy pigeon fanciers. After a very mild January the cold weather in February and March saw a lot of fanciers losing youngsters, which is very frustrating and annoying to say the least.
A big thank you to everyone who has contributed to Fanfayre over the past few months, it is very much appreciated by all readers of these notes.
Hopefully the coming months will see lots of quality Fantails being bred by all Fantail fanciers so that we have lots of birds to choose from for the forthcoming shows later on in the year. We now have excellent birds to work with in the British Isles and if the birds are used correctly and with the luck that we all need we should see lots of top-class birds being bred over the next few years.
For those of you who do not already know, Bob Vincent from the USA has accepted the Club's invitation to judge at our Club show in 2006. This will, I am sure, be a fantastic occasion. Plans are being drawn up to have a Club dinner on the Saturday evening of the show at the Earl of Doncaster Hotel at the invitation of the National Peristeronic Society and I hope everyone will make the effort to attend and have an excellent night out in the company of your fellow pigeon fanciers. The approximate cost will be around £20 per head. More details to follow as soon as possible.
The cost of Bob Vincent coming across to judge is being paid for with funds raised from our auctions held every year at our Club show. I must thank everyone who has donated or purchased birds, especially Gary McGowan for donating one of the best Fantails in the world in Scottish Belle and Mike Richardson for paying an unbelievable £735 for the privilege of owning the Belle. I hope she breeds you lots of champions Mike.
There will be another auction at this year's Club show, can I please ask you to donate a bird, as this helps both the Club and other fanciers to improve their studs of Fantails.
The Fantail Club holds branch shows at various pigeon shows all over the British Isles. These shows are in the main well supported by Fantail fanciers.
Some other shows put on classes for Exhibition Fantails but are not well supported mainly due to no Fantail fanciers in that area. Trying to get a judge to travel hundreds of miles to judge a handful of Fantails is very difficult. I know this happens with other breeds of pigeons as well.
Everyone wants to win, but to win when there is no competition is a hollow victory. In my opinion clubs/societies should not put on classes for breeds that are not well supported. Maybe put on a class for any other variety instead.
NPA certificates are another talking point at the moment. In my opinion they are too easy to win and in 99.9% of cases are awarded automatically whether the bird deserves it or not. Again in my opinion they should only be awarded at the club show of that breed of pigeon. These would be an honour to win and the bird would be a true champion. If clubs/societies want to award special cards at other shows then it should be up to the individual clubs/societies to organize. If the NPA subscription stopped the same then the savings that would be made from having fewer certificates could be awarded to individual shows.
This is not going to meet with everyone's approval but how can you justify asking someone to travel for 200 miles to judge half a dozen Fantails in six different colours and award six NPA certificates to the only exhibitor who has shown all six Fantails?
We need strong competition in all classes, and the breeds Club show in the majority of cases is the only show were fanciers from all over the UK attend, and there are enough birds in each colour to make the NPA certificate an achievement to win.
I will sign off for this month now by thanking everyone for asking how Dad is after his recent heart attack. He is getting better every day and still keeps b . . . . . moaning at me so he must be OK.
Please keep me informed of how your season is progressing and I hope all of you breed some crackers. I have included an article by Brian Pogue and some photographs of some of Bob Vincent's Fantails which I hope everyone enjoys.
Every Fall when fanciers assess their breeding season and are determining which birds they will keep as breeders for the next year, they often determine that they need to purchase certain qualities or need to upgrade their stock in some way. Then there are those who are always on the prowl for the special bird that may be the missing link to jump their stud forward. So the question comes up as to what these birds are worth and what should someone pay for them. Fantails are known as a breed that are relatively inexpensive. Racing Homers routinely sell for hundreds of dollars, with the high price (last I heard) well over $200,000 and then some of them sell at Stouffville market for $5. There are several other breeds like Kings, Trumpeters,
