"The Meppen Asstaubenschmiede", I read recently in an announcement for a forum with Günter Prange. Günter as a blacksmith and his breeding as a blacksmith - a nice comparison. Like a blacksmith, Günter has formed his own carrier pigeon strain of outstanding quality over the years, which in my opinion has no equal in Germany. Günter breeds pigeons in his Asstaubenschmiede, whose abilities in breeding and travel are overwhelming. Pigeons who can do everything, who are not only fast, but also persistent, who know how to shine at all distances under the most difficult conditions. What convinces me the most, however, is the fact that they prove their speed, strength and endurance not only in Meppen, but everywhere in Germany on countless strokes.
At the cradle of the Meppen pigeon smithy stood Delbar pigeons with a particularly good suitability for the further flights, later the fast pigeons of Cornelius and Gerard Koopman were added. The combination of these pigeons gave rise to the Ringlose, the progenitor of today's performance line of Günter Prange. Doesn't someone who has succeeded in breeding a strain that has such a great reputation nationally and internationally have to know more about breeding than others? I mean, yes. Therefore I turned with some questions to the topic breeding to this recognized breeder.
Question:
Do you have a rule of thumb for breeding, so something you attach particular importance to?
Günter Prange:
Yes, I want the complete pigeon without physical defects from a strong performance family. I attach particular importance to a supple plumage, a fast wing with short upper arm and a good musculature. But even more important than these easily recognizable physical characteristics for me are the intelligence and character of a dove. To trace these inner values is for me as a breeder the much more difficult, but at the same time decisive task. You have to look closely and take time to observe if you want to find out something about the inner values of your pigeons. I like pigeons with the intelligent view, but above all I try to read character and intelligence from the behaviour of the pigeons. It helps me that I have known my pigeons for generations and that I can interpret their behaviour, because they already occurred in good ancestors. But what really matters in the end will remain a mystery to us forever.
Question:
Do you need a special talent to put together good pairs, or is breeding good pigeons just a matter of luck?
Günter Prange:
The necessary bit of luck, of course, is part of it. It may be that one or the other has a bit more feeling or a bit more intuition in pair formation. In any case, I have advantages when I have known my pigeon family for a long time. By the way, it is clear that one tries to make something out of exceptionally good pigeons, even if it is only that one keeps more young of them and continues to work with the offspring immediately.
Question:
Do you leave proven couples together?
Günter Prange:
I'll definitely keep proven couples together. But after one clutch of eggs has been reared and the eggs of the second clutch have been laid, I separate the couple and let the deub pause. In the meantime, the bird, however, receives another female, with which it can
before he gets his old rested female back.
Question:
Do you consider other physical characteristics than those mentioned above when choosing your breeding?
Günter Prange:
I prefer a rather smaller pigeon type, I don't like big pigeons. But that doesn't mean that big pigeons can't be good. I once set aside a big pigeon for slaughter. A visitor liked the animal. He took it with him and it turned out to be a great breeding pigeon. The eyes don't interest me so much, at least I don't use a magnifying glass. Of course I also like to see a well pigmented not too pale eye. I don't know how many of my pigeons have color eyes and how many have glass eyes, but I would like that not one eye color gets the upper hand. Like any breeder, I prefer pigeons with eyes with small pupils. I don't keep goggle-eyed pigeons. I always try to bring together pigeons that are similar in type, which is not particularly difficult for me, because today I have a rather homogeneous pigeon type. Therefore, compensatory pairs are not an issue for me.
Question:
You don't travel with females. How do you choose your breeding females?
Günter Prange:
I'll take my females hard as a boy. They take part in as many and as far flights as possible. By the way, I choose them according to their ancestry and the performance of their brothers. I prefer those who remind me of good ancestors, who are roughly their counterparts.
Question:
What do you want in terms of performance before you put a bird on your breeding stroke?
Günter Prange:
As a rule, I do not demand any performance at all, because many good breeding birds have never seen a basket. There are enough examples of this. One of them is my Ringloser. There are at least as many good untraveled breeding pigeons as there are pigeons that shone first on the journey and then in the breeding. And countless are the travel cups that have never given birth to a good son or daughter after their flight career.
The travel pigeons, which I put on my breed, must not only have flown many prices, but of these prices most must be top prices. Above all, however, they must have proven their capabilities on flights of over 600 kilometres. My "261" (02098-07-261) with his 10 first prizes is now on the breeding field, although he never did a 600 km flight. On his behalf, however, his brothers have proved that the greater distances are no problem for them. A brother, for example, flew this year still at a distance of 680 km the 1st prize.
Question:
Does the age of the parent animals play a role in your opinion?
Günter Prange:
Yes and no! Yeah, if you think more about traveling. No, if you want to secure the good genetic material and breed young directly for the breeding stroke. With old pigeons the vitality usually decreases a little. This has an effect on the offspring. You can see it from the fact that boys from two old pigeons grow a little slower. Especially the females do not get older than seven years with me, unless it concerns quite unusual pigeons. I then immediately use their young for breeding again in order to preserve the tribe for the future. I usually do it in the summer. Since I have enough space, these animals can mature in peace with me.
Question:
Do you couple on paper?
Günter Prange:
Yes, all year round. I write down everything that comes to mind that's worth keeping. I always have notes at hand on which I write down ideas or ideas. Especially if it is an idea for a mating, I immediately make a note. It could be in bed, in the car, on the pigeon loft or anywhere. Ideas that I think are important or useful are written down immediately. And at the end of the year I go through everything again on the basis of the skewered notes and occupy myself extensively with it.
Question:
What are your decisive criteria when buying pigeons? Do you prefer to get the accesses in Belgium, Holland or Germany? Do you only buy young pigeons or do you ever buy old ones? Do you pay attention to the strength of the competition? Must have already proved their abilities on other lofts. Would you rather get the children or the siblings of the good guys?
Günter Prange:
I get in contact with breeders with exceptionally good results. Whether in Belgium, the Netherlands or Germany, this does not play a primary role. If I like the pigeons and it's a family, I try to get something from the best. Harry Tamsen once said, "The good guys all come out of the same hole!" By this he meant that the good of a stroke always comes from a source from which good things spring up over many generations. So you have to get as close as possible to this source. I never get old pigeons in addition, but always either children or brothers and sisters of the aces. I'd love to be early as one of the first in an up-and-coming punch. I do not wait until pigeons of the breeder concerned fly on other lofts. As far as the strength of the competition is concerned, one is of course on the safer side if the good results were achieved against as many pigeons as possible or as many breeders as possible.
Question:
How do you try to preserve the genes of your good pigeons?
Günter Prange:
It's all about inbreeding. A strain cannot be obtained without inbreeding pairings and distant kinship breeding. Inbreeding, which I use, consists of pairings of father times daughter and mother times son. Yeah, I even went one step further.
I mated the Ringlosen to my own daughter. A daughter from this mating I then placed again at the Ringlosen. From this mating one of my very best breeding females came out. This breeding female, however, is only mated with strangers. So I try to preserve my tribe for generations. Of course I pay very strict attention to the fact that these inbred products possess a large measure of vitality and also physically meet my expectations one hundred percent.
On my travel loft there are only crossed pigeons, but they are all related to each other. This kinship is guaranteed by the fact that one parent always comes from my trunk, which is based on the Ringlosen and the "330".
The crossing doves, which I use, I have partly bred myself. For this purpose, I usually mate Koopman pigeons during the summer months. These pigeons come from Koopman's lines that have nothing or very little to do with my Ringlosen, which is known to come from a son of Beatrixdoffer from Koopman. Because I can use these animals for crossing with my pigeons, I don't have to bring pigeons all the time.
Question:
How do you select your breeding pigeons?
Günter Prange:
First of all, all the pigeons in my breeding stock meet my requirements one hundred percent. As long as these pigeons are healthy and vital, they have also without satisfying offspring some years credit. They breed in this time with changing partners. With pigeons from my tribe, which have proved everything with me, I have naturally longer patience than with the pigeons brought along. In order to get an idea of the heredity, six young must be raised per pair each year and tested on the young pigeon flights. Therefore it is better to breed a lot from a few pairs than a little from many pairs.
Breeding pigeons that have been known for generations, that give pleasure in appearance, character and performance, satisfies me and makes me proud as a breeder. I need the performance tests by the price flights as confirmation of where I am moving breeding. The way to a powerful pigeon family can sometimes be quite long, and a lot of patience is required. In the beginning there is usually a towering pigeon. That doesn't have to be a power pigeon. For me it was the Ringlose, but it only got a chance because his brother, the "146", was a travel ace. Had it not been for the "146", the Ringlose would probably never have had a chance in breeding.
© Toni van Ravenstein (Written for "Brieftaubensport International")
www.taubenverkauf.de/artikel/101132/toni-van-ravenstein-gesprach-mit-gunter-prange-uber-die-zucht
