It is recommended to let the pigeons build their own nests because this activity makes them love the nest more and will help during races. Some of the best materials for pigeon nests are:

• tobacco sticks
• pine needles
• Acacia sticks
• Walnut leaves sticks

Tobacco sticks and pine needles also have anti-parasitic effects, so they are recommended. Drop a pile of sticks on the floor of the loft or outside and watch the males carrying them and the females carefully arranging the nest. If you put the nest materials outside the loft, if you have a sputnik you will have a lot of fun watching the males trying to enter with the stick…

I made 5 videos, 1 with the breeding pair and 4 with the 4 nests of youngsters. I am sorry that my idea came too late, I should have filmed all the babies at the same age, before moulting of the first 4, in order to see the phenotype differences better. Anyway, here we go:

Breeding pair: schalie female(2005) + black male(2006)
Stock female. The male happens to be the best middle distance pigeon in my loft in 2007 (@330 km: 1 / 1107 pigeons, 2 / 306 pigeons, natural, always on 2 nest youngsters, eggs or driving the hen).

Nest #1: chequer males, the nervous one has mother’s phenotype and personality, the other follows his father. They both have pretty well balanced bodies…the basket will tell the rest.

Nest #2: black males, the smaller one is the best from the 8 I think; it has the most balanced body, soft feathers and a winner behavior inside or outside the loft; the bigger, longer one, with a white feather, is pretty bored, not very balanced, and spent some time away from the loft on another house with neighbor’s pigeons in childhood! – and I hate that; and the most important aspect, the first flies like a butterfly, and the second like a pelican, LOL. The smaller one that I like has father’s phenotype, and the other…I don’t know!

Nest #3: black and blue youngsters, don’t know their sexes yet. Same story, the black shorter one isn’t very balanced, too hard feathers, the blue is nicely balanced and flies like a butterfly(I’d say he’s the 2nd in my top). Both have father’s phenotype (look at the head for example).

Nest #4: black and blue youngsters, with the black having mother’s phenotype(very easy to see) and the blue having father’s phenotype. Don’t know about the rest, they have just got out of the loft a few days ago, with the blue one spending a day away, like they usually do when they are taken up by the flock.

I am mad about red pigeons. FULL reds especially, more than red checkers. The funny thing is – I heard many fanciers saying that they are crazy about red pigeons too, they love the color. More than that, some of them want to create a full family of successful red pigeons. Are there strong families of reds nowadays? I’d love to learn about a fresh line of successful reds, like the famous Bricoux that were killing the long distance races many years ago and also looked gorgeous!