•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 Theo Janssens and Gerarda Boen of Mol, Belgium, who recently won the National Championship K.B.D.B at the Great Middle Distance.... Mertens filed his report last month on the championship Belgian team of Frans and Louis Nijns, winners of the 1st National Ace Pigeon Middle Distance K.B.D.B. 2007.... 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


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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Most fanciers start to evaluate their young birds from the past breeding season during September, which makes this a time of year that we especially enjoy in pigeon racing. Only now can we start to assess the quality of our previous year's pairings. This is an exciting time for both racing or show fanciers, when we find out if we bred that "special bird" or discovered a "special pair." The thrill of the possibilities is what I believe keeps many of us in the sport and provides so much pleasure. I know that this is true for me, anyway.


I'd like to share with you some thoughts on training and feeding. A few years back, I was speaking with a champion young-bird fancier with several decades of experience, and what he shared with me was quite intriguing.


He told me that he had been keeping detailed records on his young birds for many years, and he had developed a theory that his pigeons seemed to come into and go out of condition in cycles lasting three-weeks. He described how he had monitored his top clock birds over the many years of his racing career, and with the exception of the occasional super champion, most of his pigeons seemed to take approximately three weeks of intense training to come into condition, remaining in condition for about three weeks, and giving good performances. The other part of the cycle was apparently that they would fall off for about three weeks before their results would again be outstanding. After that conversation with him, I have closely followed the results of not only my own teams of birds, but also those of the many fanciers that I have worked with over the years.


Our findings seem to indicate a definite correlation to the "three week rule."


Many fanciers have birds that they fly week in and week out with outstanding results, but those birds are rare and are certainly the exceptions to the rule. The vast majority of our birds give one or two or perhaps three good performances, with less than stellar results for the rest of the racing season. I wonder about a way to monitor or assess top condition in our birds-perhaps by measuring the blood-oxygen ratio-through which we could determine before shipping them, if they are in optimum condition to give a top performance. Knowing this, we could strategize to save our best racers and rest them when their condition is not its best. We could know when the bird was at its very best and put the "pedal to the metal" so to speak!


I have personally never been a big fan of super-hard training, and I have never regretted that approach to racing. Of course, everything is relative, and hard training in one area of the country might not be considered so hard in another, but I can attest to the following: In my line of work, I field questions from fanciers every day, and I'm glad to be able to say that in almost no case has this method of training and feeding young birds failed to produce winning results, from the smallest club level of competition to the biggest and most prestigious competitions in America. I'd like to offer some ideas for your consideration.

Remember my earlier statement about our birds coming into form over a three-week period and remaining in form for three weeks--with the exception of the champion bird. I believe that a successful training regimen would look something like this: Start training at a distance that you think your young birds can handle without stressing them too hard. This way, if you have a team of birds that hasn't been flock flying around the loft very well, you have no reason to go out two miles. On the other hand, if your birds have been training around the loft very well, and you are sure that they have "routed" from as far as three or more miles from home, you might consider starting your birds a little farther out.

Personally, I don't think it matters much whether you start at one mile or ten miles. I think what is important is that the birds feel comfortable and capable of handling the task you give them. I like to keep the pigeons' confidence up, because confident pigeons race faster than those that are having second thoughts as to where they actually are. By training often, every day, but not necessarily so very far, I think that you can accomplish getting the birds' confidence up.


Naturally, I also take the birds to longer distances, but to this date, I have never taken my birds to the first race station prior to a race, and although we (meaning myself and those that I help) compete against many who do, we've never seemed to lose very much ground to those guys who train super hard prior to the season. Keep in mind the "three week rule."

Of course, if you have a large number of birds, and you work them very hard very early, you're in a better situation at the beginning of racing season to send only the better birds to the most important races, just as long as those birds have been given some time to "get their wings back under them." I don't have the time or the room to have a very large team of birds, and most people that I have helped don't either, so I prefer to train the birds in a gradual way so that for the most important races on the schedule, I have birds that are capable of competing well in them. And I haven't had to take a loan at the bank to pay for the fuel and a new set of tires on my truck!

Another tidbit I'll throw out is this: I'm not a great fan of tossing the birds in small groups, unless, I have someone at home who can feed the birds the proper amount as they arrive and not let them over-eat. We all read about this or that champion fancier who trains his pigeons in small groups so that they learn how to separate from the flock, and develop more confidence flying in smaller groups, rather than becoming accustomed to flying in a large flock. I agree with the premise of this idea, but I also know that every fancier trains under very different circumstances, and we must all consider every aspect of our training regimen before we take a particular course of action.


Last racing season a friend told me that he was having trouble with his young bird team. They were sluggish, wouldn't fly well around the loft, and he was having trouble getting them on line with the training. He thought that the birds were sick. I asked him to detail his regimen, and he told me that he was taking the birds out every morning for training, and either he or his training partner was letting the birds out one basket at a time. This meant that the birds were being released about 15 at a time up to twenty minutes apart. From the first to the last basket there was often an almost two-hour time differential. I asked him who was at home when the birds arrived. He told me, "No one." When he trained the birds himself, he had barely enough time to let the birds go and get to work, and when his buddy trained for him, he was always at work when the birds eventually arrived.

Digestal – This product contains helpful lactobacillus bacteria, which are essential to maintaining good digestion. Digestal replenishes these bacteria which are destroyed during medication. (Colombine - Belgium)
250 grams
 $16.75
Item #0372
SW 1.95 lbs




Prodigest - Stimulates natural resistance, increases feather condition, improves muscle condition, helps with the moult, balances the intestine after stress, and helps digestion.
(Herbots - Belgium)
250 grams
$24.95
Item #0399
SW 2.00 lbs





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