A Short Story by Mark Fields and a Link
In preparation for my early retirement I looked around for things that could fill my time. I had lived a full life with work, family and lots of travel but had decided it was time to slow down a little. I decided on Birmingham Rollers as I had raised and flown rollers as a kid up until the time I went to college. I acquired stock and was beginning to make some progress when disaster struck. I had respiratory infection after respiratory infection. Finally the doctor told me all birds had to go and I had to move away from the agricultural dust. I dispersed the birds, sold my place in the country and moved to town. It was a low point for me. My story is not all that unique. Many have run up against the problem caused by breathing in the dust and dander generated by the birds. When I decided I was bored beyond belief and no longer having respiratory issues I decided to get back into Rollers again, but this time focusing heavily on an extremely well ventilated setup. To-date it has worked for me. Pigeon Lung is one of those problems that is often talked about but not all that well understood. Danny Sturgeon shared the link to a website in Britain that gives good information without going overly technical. Click on this link to visit their site: British Pigeon Fancier Medical ResearchPortable Lofts
MY HOBBIE IN ROLLER PIGEONS By Joe Stayer I have been in the Pigeon hobby since September of 1942. Over the years I have tried many different loft designs in order to fly my birds. My favorite is the Mobile Loft that I have at this time. When I was young very few people I knew had knowledge of pigeons. ‘I got my start from getting pigeons from the barns at St. Bonaventure University campus when I was very young. They had their own animals for food supply. A priest there had a garage full of pigeons and they strayed off and made nests in the barns. I used to go there at night and get pigeons sitting on the rafters. In one of the flocks I noticed a strange bird that flew in the air and it turned over backward. It was very interesting to see them in the air flying. Over the years I was away from the pigeons. I married and spent two years in the army as a truck mechanic in Orleans, France. I often told my wife that someday I was going to raise pigeons when we bought our first home. On December 31, 1957 we bought a home with a beautiful 34 acre lot and a nice place to fly pigeons. In January of 1958 I met a man who gave me 3 American Pigeon Journal magazines. I needed stock and I learned first hand I needed to write letters or to travel, as there wasn’t anyone who lived