•A great gift idea for that special fancier is a Siegel's Gift Certificate, available in any amount, for a holiday gift, a birthday, Father's Day, or any other occasion. Just phone us at 800-437-4436 and we'll make up a nice certificate and mail it to your recipient. He or she will be able to apply it to a new book, a great new training basket, medications or supplements, or any other purchase from Siegel's.

The timer revolution
When split seconds count, make sure you're counting split seconds accurately! Benzing electronic timers have quickly become the new standard in our sport and are more popular than ever! The best has gotten better! Benzing's new M-1 clock and "Lazer" antennas are now in the States, and full distribution is now available. They are the most accurate, sensitive antenna in the world today--with the most antenna coils per square inch of any pigeon scanning antenna available!

It was a kick to sit at our computer monitor and "watch" the birds clock in the World Ace Challenge races!

The biggest races rely on the Benzing tradition of accuracy and speed, and the Benzing M-1 system is revealing itself to be heads above the competition.

A Benzing M-1 "Lazer" system recently clocked the Lou McElroy Race. Among the other major one-loft races using Benzing Lazers are the Colorado Goldrush Race, a 300-mile race flown from Elm Creek, NE, released on October 14, 2006.
the East Coast Classic, the Gulf Coast Classic, the San Diego Classic, the San Jacinto Classic, America's King Cup, the Snowbird Classic, and the Caribbean Classic.

Other members of the Benzing "family" of futurity races and racing combines include the Texas Shoot-Out, American Showdown, Desert Classic, East Coast Challenge, Flamingo Race, Caribbean Classic, Queen City Memorial, Boundbrook Futurity, and Paterson Air Derby, among many others....
Tell me more...

In News & Views:
Stefan Mertens takes us this month into the lofts of Guy Everaert, this year's winner of 1st National Bourges against more than 40,000 birds!.... Mertens filed his report last month on the championship Belgian team of Theo Janssens and Gerarda Boen of Mol, Belgium, who recently won the National Championship K.B.D.B at the Great Middle Distance.... Mertens himself is the 2006 1st National Champion KBDB Middle Distance Youngbirds.
For these reports, and many other archived features, click here...
Read on for all the news!

Where's Ed?

Siegel's Ed Minvielle on the road...again!
Siegel Pigeons prospective travel schedule for 2008:


Texas Center Convention- July 10-13, Phoenix, AZ


Midwest Show - Oct. 2 -4, Westfield, WI (Speaker)


American Racing Pigeon Union Convention - Oct. 14-18, St. Paul, MN


California State Racing Pigeon Organization - Nov. 6-8, Bakersfield, CA


National Show, November 15, Stamford, CT


Dixie Southern Convention,
Nov. 20-22, Jacksonville, FL



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By the time October comes, fanciers all over the United States are enjoying the young bird racing season. Of course, geography dictates what is going on in our lofts now. In the south, there are still a few weeks of races left. In the northern part of the United States, we have seen the end of the racing season. What your friends are doing in other parts of the country will be different from what you need to do with your birds now.


To you fanciers in the north who are at the end, or nearing the end, of the racing season, now's the time to evaluate your race team as well as to evaluate your breeders. You need to plan for plenty of time to acclimate any new birds that you want to bring into the loft before the breeding season begins.


What birds should be held over from the race team for either the old bird races or for the breeding loft? This is the key question in evaluating your racing team. And then, how do you decide which pigeons make the grade? I have always believed that consistency in the races is far more important than one good performance. I have long believed that a bird that comes early week after week, race after race, has far more breeding potential than a pigeon that delivers only one spectacular win.

If you think of two birds as being equal, but for whatever reason you are not able to keep both, study their pedigrees. Which bird is linked to more winners? Which bird has better background and genetics? Which bird or birds do you like more than others? If you're looking for a breeder, keep the inbred or linebred over the outcross. If you are looking for a racer, then keep the linebred or outcross over the inbred.

Remember that there could be some "sleepers" in the loft. These are birds that always come home but haven't managed to find their true form or their ideal distance in the young bird races. These birds may be better at the long distances, and you might want to consider keeping them another season.


A super young racer, cock or hen, that is out of an old breeder should always be considered for the breeding loft. You don't want this blood to die out. Throughout the best lofts of Europe, many champions cherish the first set of eggs out of a super racing young hen. This should surely be reason enough to check this out for yourself!


There are specific health measures that you should take at the end of the racing season. In our lofts, we start by purging the birds for one or two days before starting our medication routine. This means that we give only water, no food. I think this is the ideal length of time for purging, although fanciers in Europe purge their pigeons for up to a week. Now is also the time to vaccinate breeders for PMV and salmonella.

Get your general health program under way for breeders by treating for coccidiosis, canker, and worms. I strongly recommend Turbosole for canker. Pegosan Powder or Pegosan Tablets are effective for both canker and coccidiosis. Aureomycin Sulmet powder is also a good tool for fighting coccidiosis, as well as a number of other diseases. Göpolex Worm Tablets work well for individual worming, and for many years Eqvalan has been a fine wormer for flock treatment. Since Dr. Colin Walker developed Moxidectin and Moxidectin Plus (which also targets tapeworms), I have been keen on these two Australian products for their effectiveness on the worms and their gentleness on the birds.


Immediately after we dip our birds in a 57 percent (1/4 cup to 2 gallons of water) Malathion solution, we vaccinate them for salmonella with Sal-Bac, and for PMV with Lohmann Animal Health International's PMV-1. The skin on the neck shows well for easy vaccination when the birds are wet.

Line up heaters now for your drinkers if you live where freezing weather can affect your ability to keep your birds watered on a regular basis.

To you fanciers who live in the southern part of the country, you will want to follow this end of the racing season regimen as soon as your races have finished. But if you are still racing, you need to consider how to train your team for the last few important races. I believe that much success results from focusing on those few birds that have already given you the best performances. What you want to provide for these few birds now is rest, medication, retraining, and motivation.


Why is rest so high on my list? Superior-quality birds generally fly to their pedigree if they have the opportunity. For example, pigeons that would compete best in a 300-mile, 1,200 yards-per-minute race won't fly "to their pedigree" if they only participate in 100- to 200-mile, 1,600 yards-per-minute races. It's a fact that racing pigeons stay in top form for only about three weeks. My method is to set aside the young birds with the most potential and keep them out of the races during the middle of the young bird season simply to rest. Then, I put them back into the races for the last three weekends. After resting, these high-potential flyers will come back into top condition for the next one, two, or three weekends.

It would be smart to look through your entire race team for this kind of potential. You'll start to see "levels" form on the team--those with consistent ability and those that race "hot and cold." Keep those with consistent ability for the last or most important races of the season, and focus the most attention on them during that time.


Assuming that the inconsistent birds are in excellent health, try to continue to race them during the middle of the season to assess their quality. It is only by racing them that you can determine if they are flying to their pedigree. It really helps to know the background of the parent birds to make this evaluation.

Malathion Liquid – 57% concentrate.
1 gallon   
$69.95
Item #0076
SW 9.30 lbs

Health Gard -- A pro-biotic water-additive formula made from specially cultured, naturally occurring microbes and a unique catalyst, which increases blood-stream absorption by ten times. Use one teaspoon per gallon of water. One quart covers 60 to 80 birds for six months.
1 quart
$29.95
Item #0097
SW 3.80 lbs


1 pint
$19.95
Item #0098
SW 2.80 lbs


1 gallon
$99.95
Item #0096
SW 9.30 lbs

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