Fancy pigeons hit new heights

THE Namibian Fancy Pigeon Association recently celebrated its annual Fancy Pigeon show at the Windhoek Show Grounds.
With 12 exhibitors displaying some 507 beautifully feathered birds, the hall was aflutter with enough quality to impress South African judge Pierre le Roux.

Now that the NFPA no longer exhibits along with the national racing pigeons, the association has been able to grow the event even attracting a junior exhibitor this year. Competitors brought their birds from as far afield as Aranos and Buitepos, said the association spokesperson and overall winner of this year’s event, Hennie Kruger. He said that with the help of this year’s main sponsors, Agra and the Auas Vet Met, the association plans to expand the event to include 1 000 pigeons next year. Other sponsors included SAW Vet, Animal Vet Co, Namibia Breweries and First National Bank. Kruger said that ‘more people came to look than last year. We also did very well with entries, better than last year. Every year we get new pigeon species to exhibit. This year we had 31 different types on display, more than last year’s 28, and there were six more breeders present than last year,’ he said.The Archangel, Gimble. Syrian and Vienna Long Faced Tumbler were among the new breeds on display.Kruger noted that breeding pigeons can be difficult and that importing breeding stock can be expensive, requiring quarantine and blood tests for which some vets in SA can charge up to N$140 a bird. Nevertheless the event is growing from strength to strength and, when it is staged for the seventh time next year, he hopes it will be even bigger.