M J Beat / 28 Feb 2011 14:43

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Dave B,

One common thread that I've seen over the years is when someone makes big
times and does well with certain birds, suddenly everyone wants those birds.
Harry Shannon is one example. They are a very popular family of birds.
Yet, if that's what someone concentrates on, well, that's what someone ends
up with. In this case: blues. But years ago, many birds were imported from
Lovatt strain and some birds of Paul Green's family (also related to Wilf's
birds) that were anything than just Blues. These then became the basis for
many families of "Lovatts" on this side of the pond. The fanciers here
loved the prints and marked birds so the families produced over here began
to diversify in color. Some men in the UK believed that blues were superior
and everything else was discarded. Who am I to say it is true or false.
But it's no wonder that over time their lofts became "monochromatic". When
I paired my birds I didn't stick blacks with blacks and blues with blues. I
would often put blues with yellows and silvers with mottles, etc. It was
always amazing what one could get from such matings. If I got an unusually
beautiful bird, I would stock it and fly it's prodgeny in order to test it.
Amongst the three birds that flew for me 18 hours none were blue bars. One
bird was so indescribable that I had to get help from a genetics expert who
could only explain it as "red bar spread". It carried "spread" gene. Not
sure how to explain that one.

Such variety in colors here in NA has been the case for a very long time.
Take a look at some of the old photos of teams of birds in the UK from the
'early' days. You will notice that not all were blues.

Just some personal thoughts.

Michael J Beat
http://www.tipplers.com/


Submitted by M J Beat on 2/28/2011 2:07:43 PM