Purebred Pigeon Sept/October 2025

Breed of the Issue - AMERICAN GIANT HOMER GIANT HOMER – Page 19 – Purebred PIGEON AmericanGiant Homers Past - Present - Future By Carroll Cooper T he year for me was 1953. I was going into the seventh grade and in one class we had a shop project. I decide mine was to build a pigeon cage. I got it built and the discussion was that I had NO pigeons. A classmate of mine had a dad that had lots of pigeons. I got their address and my dad took me to meet them and to see what they had – Mr. McChung and his loft full of American Giant Homers. I was fortunate and he took me under his wing to give me the ins and outs. Trips were taken to Caddo Mills, Texas. White Giant Homers were at this location. Next we went to Dallas, Texas to meet Fred Langridge, JF Cooper and his son, Gene Cooper. I came home with boxes full of pigeons. As time progressed from 1953 to 1960, I was fortunate enough to show my Giants at the Texas State Fair and meet other Giant Homer breeders: HT Pow- ell and Buddy McKee and by doing so was able to add other colors and to improve the quality of my birds. The summer of 1960 I went to a friend’s cabin in Kentucky. Along the way, we saw a pigeon loft of a Mr. T. Goss – we stopped and I introduced myself and he showed me his Giant Homers. I was going to acquire some of his but I had a break of four years that came up. I went into the Air Force, then Viet Nam came. I was fortunate and only had 89 days of my enlistment to go so I did not have to go overseas for that altercation. I then got married and went to college. At a later time I got back into pigeons. Jack Anderson and Hap Be- attie were starting a AGHAYoung Bird Futurity to kick off in 1973. I had been back in birds a while and I will never forget the experience. The competition was great. I attended the first one and last year number 50. At that first Futurity, Jack Anderson, Hap Beattie, Dave Harrell and Maurice Durkee were there. With the Futurity, the District Shows, the Texas State Fair and the Short Grass Show in Rapid City, South Da- kota we had competition from all over the USA. A good friend, person and competitor was Ray Cottier of Gurley, Nebraska. I used to have recessive red and recessive yellow but had to cut back due to health reasons. As the years have