By: Ken Easley
April 26, 2000
Where
the value lies, is the question. Is it with quality or quantity? I have always
thought that quality is first and utmost in any endeavor.
In our search for the winning team of rollers, one will find there are many pigeons, which will roll. Which ones are the correct birds to use when building the winning team?
There seems to be two approaches to this answer. One would be the gathering up of any and all birds that will roll to make a team.
We on the other hand know of a better plan. This is a plan of overall success and long sightedness. This would be the quality plan.
To
accomplish the quality plan, we use only sound birds of the most outstanding
caliber in the stock pen. Then we follow suite in the number one team. This is
where only the best will do. We want to view a compilation of our best work in
one team. This will help us to make sound decisions as to what is needed to
improve in the future. Birds with weak character should never be used in the
stock loft or the top teams unless that is all you have to work with.
I
will admit that using these slightly unstable types will create more breaks in
a competition, but the overall effect is not as good as it can be.
There
are very few exceptional birds of the highest quality that can break 3 times
per minute for twenty minutes. Many of
the average type rollers that we all breed by the truckload are capable of
this.
One
may ask how can we win in a competition against the guy who takes the easy
road. The answer is in the math. The founders of our competition rules
apparently knew this would be an issue in the future.
Let
us say that you had a kit that broke 40 times in a competition. Let us further
say that one of these breaks was a fifteen-bird break and your total overall
score was 600 points.
I
would estimate that the raw score was 420 with 1.2 and 1.2 as quality and
depth. That would give a total score of 605. This is impressive and is
considered the quantity approach.
Now
let us look at another possibility.
Let
us say that your kit broke 25 times in twenty minutes. And let us also say that
you had a fourteen-bird break. The estimated total could be somewhere around
220. Now let us add quality of 1.8 and depth of 1.8 because you have only used
the best and the quality is visibly superior. Your score would be 712.
In
this situation it is easy to see the advantages of using the most stable and
high quality rollers in the a-team as well as the breeding pen.
The
quality and depth was better and the judge verified this in writing. This lets
us know we are on the right track.
It
takes time and more effort to put quality first but in the end it is well worth
it. Which birds would you want?
The
more quality birds to view at home every day for your own pleasure, that are
stable and to be enjoyed for years or the alternative?
In
the end isn’t that really what it is all about, our hobby to be enjoyed. I
don’t see any money to be had for winning the big one so it must be for fun. One
would be forever tainted by jealous remarks of the less fortunate if any winner
should dare sell a bird.
I
may or may not accomplish my goal, but it is to win the World Cup by quality
and depth factors with the quantity of breaks being equal or less than that of
the competition.
How
do we breed for speed, high quality style and stability? Just like any other
feature. First you must find one that possesses these qualities and then figure
out how to make more through breeding.
One
may find himself in the possession of such a bird only to discover he is unable
to make more. I have found the best way to produce more of these types is
through what one of my best old friends referred to as reincarnating. The best
way to reincarnate a genetic accomplishment is by using the same gene pool and
circumstances that produced the original with the added enhancement of doubling
the genes for higher chance of success.
This
would be the pretzel method. This is where you take the two best brothers or
sisters and mate them to outstanding rollers on the outskirts of the family.
When two outstanding rollers are raised from such matings, then the best young
are mated together to reincarnate the original mating. The genes come back
together with strength and vigor from both sides in a double dose.
We
need a whole kit of these type to get the desired effect, which would be a kit
that flies like a cluster of grapes and sets up for a big explosion. Then all
together they come raining down like dumping a bucket of baseballs. Upon completing
the roll, they will gather back up quickly and fly to set up for the next big
explosion.
Nothing
in the sport of rollers tops this kind of team.
It
is far easier to speak of than to accomplish. I as well as others are in the
pursuit of this goal. We will find in our endeavors to accomplish this, there
are many disappointments. We have the problem of falcons that steal our work
like a thief. We also have the problem of needing the best in the stock loft.
When we reintroduce the best to the flying team, we are risking the loss of a
lifetime of work.
I
am now convinced that if we are to make real headway in the pursuit of our
goal, we must expect to spend many hours, days and years. This is the best
part, and I intend on enjoying each and every day.