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West of England Tumblers – Page 29 – Purebred PIGEON
Breed of the Issue - West of England Tumblers
Still, they can make good stock birds if you can find a mate with
good features to match it with.
Another challenge in markings is the shield mottle, which
involves the genetic grizzle factor. Here, I am specifically referring
to red and yellow shield mottles. This marking is to be white evenly
dispersed with color on the wing shield only, sort of a checkerboard
pattern. Body, flight and tail to be colored. Again, “white spreads,”
is a factor to be considered, along with the fact that with grizzle
the the amount of white increases every year on the birds. To keep
the spread of white in check, it is wise to use red or yellow selfs in
the breeding plan. Trying to keep a solid colored pigeon with a nice
checkerboard pattern on the shield is a constant struggle. White
in the rump seems to be particularly bothersome. I have often
mistakenly discarded light shield markings because they were not
showable. Now I find them to be very useful as stock birds bred to
other birds bordering on too much white.
In closing, I want to say what a wonderful hobby we have.
All the world’s problems seem to disappear in the pigeon loft. For
those of you considering a second breed, I would urge you to try
Wests. These birds are not flighty and are gentle in the hand. They
are excellent parents. And we have a ton of colors and patterns to
choose from. So go Wests!•
Yellow Baldhead
Red Mottle
Red Mottle
Black Baldhead