mghodowlaHow to read a racing pigeon pedigree
In short: How to read a racing pigeon pedigree: ring number, colour, sex, ancestors and race results. A practical guide for breeders.
A pedigree is a pigeon's birth certificate. It shows where the bird comes from, who its ancestors were and what they achieved. Reading it well saves money when buying and helps you plan pairings.
The ring number
Every pigeon wears a ring with a country code, a club or region number, the year of birth and a serial number, for example PL-0123-24-512. The year tells you the bird's age at a glance.
Colour and sex
Next to the ring number you usually find the colour (blue, chequer, red) and the sex. Simple data, but the easiest to get wrong when copying by hand.
Ancestors
A pedigree is laid out as a tree: the pigeon on the left, then the sire on top and the dam below, then four grandparents and eight great-grandparents. Four generations is the most common format.
Race results and notes
Breeders write races, positions and distances next to the ancestors. Look for consistency: one good race is luck, several are a family line.
How to keep pedigrees
Paper fades, gets lost and cannot be searched. The easiest way is to keep pedigrees in software that records each pigeon's ancestry and prints a pedigree when you need it.
Stop retyping pedigrees. Pigeclub imports them from a photo or a PDF. See Pigeclub.
Questions and answers
What does a pigeon pedigree show?
The pigeon's ring number, colour and sex, its sire and dam, grandparents and great-grandparents, and the most important race results of the line.