July/August 2026

42 – Purebred PIGEON — Feed the Fire— Chinese Owl Experiment By Mike McLin My older two brothers were eight and fifteen years older than me with pigeons so I had what breeds they had until I was old enough to pick my own out at the yearly swap our dad took us to each year. My earliest memories were being given a pair here and there by my brother and when I would look for them on one day or another I was told they got out and flew away. It took me a year of that nonsense to figure out they simply sold the birds they gave to me and told me they got away. It always seemed to be my birds that were so smart to find a way out and not my brothers. Well, I finally caught on. My first birds that I had for myself were Oriental Frills, Rollers, English Trumpeters, Nuns and Chinese Owls. None of which look like the birds I have now, except the Flying Rollers. The Orientals went full circle like a few other breeds. “Classic” in 2003 and I added them to my “modern” Oriental Frills but I kept looking at all the amazing colors and large numbers in the Chinese Owls so I decided to dive back in with both feet. My deal has always been the fringe colors,