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West of England Tumblers – Page 40 – Purebred PIGEON
Breed of the Issue - West of England Tumblers
West bySouthwest
By Corrine – Fly By Night Loft
S
ome of you might remember my articles about the
windstorms that crushed my lofts in Idaho (January/
February 2020 issue) It was a traumatic time in which I lost
many birds. The old spruce trees had annihilated the lofts when
they crashed during a severe windstorm. One loft was salvaged
because branches from the mulberry trees had fallen on it and it
was structurally sound. That left many birds without a place to
live after being caught. I shoved extras in that one loft and the rest
lived in dog crates in my shop until we had new pens for them.
Interestingly, I think this helped me realize that I could move
from Idaho. I didn’t have to sell all my birds and rebuild my flock
if I did. I could take them with me, and they could travel by crates.
Hopefully I would find a house with bird pens – you never know!
Always the optimist! In my quest of about 6 or 7 months, I did not
even find a place with a chicken coop, which I also needed, because
I have chickens. The windstorm made me realize pigeons could
travel and make do for a while until a loft was bought or built. Out
of every catastrophe, good comes. I could finally move.
The house search went on for months while I tried to find
something suitable that didn’t cost a zillion dollars. Preferably it
would have large yards for the dogs and at the very least a chicken
coop. I was asking for a lot! Finally a suitable house with a large
barn went on the market and I put an offer on it immediately.
Another offer later and months of closing – and bam – we were
ready to move from Southern Idaho to Southern New Mexico. I
pulled eggs as soon as the offer was in. I did not want to travel with
babies.
The birds moved down in boxes and crates. The barn was not
an animal barn - it was actually a shop shaped like a barn, which
was still cool because the birds could be out of the weather in their
crates. No flying in and out of horse stalls, though, as I had hoped.
I was going to have to start from scratch.
My darling friend Kim had given me kennel panels, and with
some ingenuity it transferred itself into a small pen for most of
the pigeons. I still had to catch them every night to put them in
crates. Also, being New Mexico, sudden flash flood rains came and
that also meant birds being caught and placed in crates. West of
England Tumblers are many things - beautiful to look at, easy to
breed, and TAME. I thanked my stars every time I went out to catch
them - every night - I was glad I did not have Archangels or Buda-
pests or another flighty breed. I had a few Catalonians, and they
were challenging enough to catch! Most of the time, Wests just can
be plucked from their sitting place.
I watched Marketplace and finally found a nice barn-shaped
used storage shed. I snapped it up. But then I had to have someone
move it! It took forever; meanwhile I was catching birds in the pen
everyday. I love my birds, but this was no way for them, and me, to
live. A friend with a big flatbed came one day and got the shed for
me. Now we had a shed. We needed a pen.
My son in law busted butt and got a nice fly pen done one
Saturday. Oh, the relief when we placed the pigeons in their new
home! They were no longer cramped. I no longer had to catch them
every single night to put them in crates in the barn. They looked
SO HAPPY too as they flew in and out of the shed and preened
themselves in the fly pen. Now their muffs could grow out! It was
fall, but I expected a good spring with my birds with babies hatch-
ing. We used apple crates for nest boxes.
I want to tell you if you are contemplating a move, it CAN be
done. I am so glad I have my birds with me. When I first thought
about moving, I didn’t know how I could bring my beloved Wests
with me. The horrible windstorm showed me it could be done. It
wasn’t always easy but we did it. Hopefully I can get them ready for
a few shows now. See you all soon!
Corrine’s new loft in New Mexico