How Do You Identify an Excellent Racing Pigeon? Master These Selection Techniques

Selecting excellent racing pigeons is like picking athletes. Internationally, there are two major categories of pigeon racing: one is the "evaluation show," and the other is the speed race, that is, the performance race, which is further divided into short and medium distance, and long distance and ultra-long distance.

An excellent racing pigeon must be moderate in size. Balance and coordination are the most critical conditions shown by the appearance of an excellent racing pigeon, and length and weight are closely related to the balance and coordination of the whole body. Among champion pigeons, there may be racing pigeons that are too large or too small in body type, but most champion pigeons are moderate in size. The length of the pigeon's body is relative to the width of the whole body and the length of the breastbone and the length of the waist, abdomen, and tail sections. A racing pigeon with moderate breastbone length and tail length is called a long body type. One with a moderate breastbone but a short tail is called a short body type. The former has endurance, and the latter has better explosive power, which is useful for medium and short distance races, but the effect is not obvious for long distance and ultra-long distance races. So when people evaluate pigeons, relying on their own experience, when you conveniently hold a @#@247@#@, with your thumb pressing on the pigeon's back and your 4 fingers supporting the pigeon's abdomen, exactly covering the entire keel, and weigh it, if it feels similar to the pigeon's body type or slightly lighter, then generally speaking, this racing pigeon is moderate in size. If the abdomen is larger than one hand and feels heavier than the body type, this racing pigeon may be too large and a bit heavy. Of course, everyone's hands are different in size, so it depends on your own judgment.

The body of an ideal racing pigeon must be round, with a broad chest, and both wings lying flat and close to the sides, forming a full sphere. The width of the front part of a racing pigeon should be the sum of the widths of the shoulder blades, the front chest, and the two wings, and the rear body and tail should be conical. All parts of the pigeon's body must be firm, and every part of the whole body should be smooth, with the abdomen slightly concave and the back slightly convex, forming a streamlined shape. The head is the center of intelligence. The head and neck are also important parts reflecting whether a racing pigeon is physically strong. The comprehensive standard for the head is a strong, full neck, brain, and vertically oriented structure. The neck should not be too thick, nor too thin, without grooves, and moderate in length, with the neck and chest forming a flat connection. This is a necessary condition for an excellent racing pigeon. The front end of the beak should be thin, the rear end thick, with good tightness when closed, deep corners of the mouth, a thick and large throat, and a large tracheal opening, which is beneficial for breathing and air exchange during flight. The cere should be white and closely attached, and a long, narrow, tight nose shape is best. The eyeball of the pigeon eye moves freely, and the position where the eyeball grows is toward the upper rear of the head, with the center line of the mouth corners almost pointing to the eyeball. The eyes of an excellent racing pigeon should show a kind of confidence, without fear and without wildness. The pigeon eye must be bright, dry and clean, with the skin tightly covering the eyeball, the pupil sensitive to changes in light intensity, and very sensitive to external movements. An excellent racing pigeon can quickly detect abnormal movements and abnormal sounds in the air or on the ground, staring with both eyes, ready to fly. The color of the eye sand should be vivid, with clear filaments and granules, a three-dimensional effect, deposits, slightly coarse, with the edge sand layer highly concentrated, and the iris showing a mixed accumulation of filamentous and blocky forms. The iris arrangement is not required to be neat, but the layers must be distinct. The skeleton is required to be thick and strong. From the perspective of release for flight, only a strong, supple, and firm skeletal structure can maintain a good flying posture. Generally speaking, an excellent racing pigeon must have a healthy body, a strong physique, and an intelligent, calm, and confident demeanor, and especially must give people a sense of balance. Male pigeons have a generous appearance, and female pigeons have a dignified and elegant appearance. An excellent racing pigeon should be "still as if handling matters, moving like a dragon," affectionate toward its owner and highly alert to strangers. With these standards and by integrating conditions from all aspects, we can better evaluate pigeons and select pigeons, and ultimately achieve the goal of breeding high-quality racing pigeons.