Nature is not on your side!

  Truly prepotent sires or dams are the rarest of the rare!

They are to be cherished, and unlike diamonds, they will not last forever. Use them wisely! To find one is truly like panning for gold. You go through tons and tons of rock and dirt to find only a grain-a nugget-of real gold. That is why it has value, because it is rare! Yet once found they are never appreciated nor properly used. This is because people ignorantly believe, “Oh, well, I’ll find or breed another.” Well, good luck because the reality is you rarely will.

So, Silvio, why do you say this? Well, here is why. Let us say, for arguments sake, that a pigeon only had 25 pairs of genes. If this was the case, then each pair of pigeons would produce approximately 33,500,000 different genotypes. You must admit that this is an incredible number. But how many genes does a pigeon really have? Well he/she has 6,000 pairs, which really means that if each pair was heterozygous they would in fact produce 3 to the 3,000th power different genotypes. Do you understand just how big this number is?

So what becomes only too clear is not that variations occur-because this is the norm-but rather that offspring of a prepotent sire or dam can be so consistent! This is why prepotent pigeons are so rare and valuable. Go back to Rule 6 and reread it-Nature dislikes order! Only through a well-defined, well-thought-out and executed plan can you seek to thwart Nature’s law. Most people lose. Once the sire or dam is gone, so is their, and their human owner’s supposed, ability as a great breeder. You see, it had nothing to do with them or their ability; it had to do with chance and blind luck. So it is with so many self-proclaimed master breeders with many, many all-American accolades. Were they really master breeders or just extremely fortunate to have a long-lived prepotent sire?

 Cross inbred lines!

Once you have identified your prepotent sire, as defined above, and have proceeded to develop a truly inbred line of pigeons, then what? Well, what we seek is always to improve! We wish to objectively improve our stock while maintaining longevity. Always look, never be content! Always seek to modify and manipulate Nature’s odds in your favour.

You must develop a rapport or friendship with other like-minded and multi-talented pigeon enthusiasts who have also produced inbred lines. Cooperate with each other to further develop each other’s families. What I mean is that when two or more inbred lines of pigeons, or livestock of any kind, are crossed, and we then breed the crossbred females back to either side, we should immediately see very big improvements in everything from fertility to livability.

All of the advances made in breeding commercial animals over the past fifty years have been based on this one principle. This principle is referred to as heterosis. So what am I saying? Well, Horst Hackemer, remember that red inbred Mueleman hen, sister to the “Patriot”, and that blue Hofkens hen-both wonderful pigeons with great flesh. We should breed those hens to my inbred Spanjaards and share the progeny! Cooperate and we both win! Shall I call you or will you fax me?

Introduce only what you absolutely know to be fact!

Never use a pigeon in your program, no matter how good or how great a performance, unless you know exactly his genetic origin. Why do I say this? Well, you could destroy twenty years work in just a few years. If your family means anything to you, never risk it!

In conclusion no one can ever hope to breed consistent high quality racing pigeons unless he thoroughly researches and understands the background of his pigeons. Anything short of this is self-delusion and self-deceit and cannot hope to succeed over a long period of time! The blind leading the blind. All I seek is the truth!

 by: Silvio Mattachione