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Breed of the Issue - Helmet
Helmet- Page 35 - Purebred PIGEON
In conclusion, all of the above-mentioned
properties are important and no Helmet can win
with just one of the characteristics I wrote about.
When all the elements are combined, along with
all the other important parts (eyes, eyecare, ro-
sette, etc…) of the Helmet, the Helmet is worthy
of the Crown he is wearing.
PHOTO 6
Champion MFC at the 2018 district 9 AHA show. This Helmet went on to win Grand
Champion fancy pigeon of the 2018 Western Canadian National show.
Red mfc OC by Pavel Lutsenko.
Homecoming
By Andy Hansen
A
t the end of every year, you
always have a few decent birds
left over but you’ve picked out
your breeders for the year. Last fall I had
a handful of extra Helmets. In that bunch,
I had two ash reds. Both were average at
best, but I was hanging on because of the
color. I sold them to a local guy and started
to pair up the rest of my birds.
About a month later, he mentioned to
me that he lost one of the Helmets and if
it came back, could he please get it back. I
told him that they are not homing pigeons
and they had never flown before so chanc-
es are it will not survive.
Fast-forward a couple months later, I
got a call from a lady I know through my
Canary & Finch club. Her daughter had a
friend that had caught a pigeon and it was
somewhat injured. Knowing that she was a
bird person they gave that Pigeon to her to
look after. She contacted me knowing that
I had pigeons and asked if I could locate
the owner. I said sure send me the band
number and a picture of the bird and I will
do what I can. Lo and behold, it was one
of those Helmets that I had sold! It had its
flights and tail feathers cut, and wasn’t in
very good shape. I spent a little bit of time
cleaning him up and let him regrow his
flights and tail feathers.
After seeing how he matured, I real-
ized that this bird should not have left my
loft. They change so much after the moult.
I’m quite happy that he found his way
back to me and I’ve got paired to really
nice black hen.
I’ve heard so many times people have
regrets of birds that they have sold and
have turned out to be really nice. Here’s
an instance where the bird came back to
where it belongs! •