Pigeons compete for county crown

Posted: July 14, 2009

By Peter Adelsen

GREENTOWN - Many people may not think much of a pigeon, but on Monday at the Howard County 4-H Fair these birds were center stage albeit for a short flight of time.

Chuck Whiting has been working with pigeons most of his life. Now he is a pigeon judge with Pigeon Pond of Greenfield. He said he has raised more than 12 types of breeds of the bird.

Whiting awarded the top prize to Randi McKinney who entered a Russian Tumbler, a variety of pigeon.

So how do you judge a pigeon?

"Each bird has its own standards," Whiting said. "They first have to representative of its own breed."

Each bird must have a hood, or cap and needs to have a rosette in each side, he said.

These birds are not what one might think of. Varieties of this bird such as the Russian Tumbler have feathers on their feet. Others vary by size, color and many other ways.

He also looks to see how clean and healthy the bird is.

"They have to have a nice round eye with a nice round pupil," he said. "A lot of times their eyes may get a little bit goofy. It's how you tell the bird is healthy too."

He offered some tips to future 4-Hers.

"You really want to have them set in the middle of the cage," he said. "You train them by having a bunch of exhibition cages around and when you get ready for a show you put the bird in and leave them in there for two or three days so they are used to being in the cage. You can also put a chunk of a two-by-four in there; the pigeons will automatically go to the highest place in there. If you put it in the center, they'll stand on it."

Overall, he looks at the cleanliness, overall health, they way it feels and whether or not it is representative of the breed by the way it stands in the cage, he said.

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