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I hope that this year will be more promising than the lapsed for all
of us!
I have reduced the Swift's mailing list down to around 150 from nearly
450. Not every person who stumbles on a site will have a continuous interest
in it. Those who participate regularly are around hundred fanciers and
that is according to Yahoo statistics on this site.
Web Translator
: The same link is placed also on the main
page to help those who have less command in English than their language
of origin. Trouble is" what if they don't know any English"
Pricing dilemma
Before I go on to the Pigeon's mail, I must respond briefly to few concerning,
pricing the Swifts on this site. I would like to start first with a recent
e-mail, that has fallen short of being a black-hate mail. I will not display
it's contents for you; because you will have a pretty good idea who had
it written, despite that he had disguised himself as a mother buying for
her son.
I want to emphasize to you that I haven't made any profit selling the
Swifts or even intend to.
I have a good income from my profession as a Clinical Scientist. There
is nothing enough to compensate for my time doing this hobby, except for
my love to the Swifts as we all go through the same thing. However; money
received from selling birds is in turn recycled to improve the stock by
importing better birds. Logically, don't you think that other Egyptian
fanciers, who raise ES in this country and familiar with Egypt, would
have tried to do the same! Importing is unfortunately an expensive proposition.
Have you tried to figure out how many birds got introduced and pooled
into that one pair that you are buying? I have imported around five to
seven birds from each group to maintain good qualities and yet the additional
finances was not passed on to you. Look, I will be glad if you want to
join me next time and share me the financial and mental burden of locating
birds. Better yet, why don't you arrange for such a trip and tell me then
how much has gone out of your pocket.
Another letter questioning; why have I sold birds to UAE for less than
what I price in the US of the same quality?
Answer; The number of sold birds was enough for them to bargain. UAE is
around the corner from Egypt and they could try to get their birds from
there without worrying about quarantine headache. This also happened after
I had spent over $7.000 dollars on a pigeon related trip and the need
to make room.
Feel free to contact USDA quarantine in California and find out how many
times have I imported pigeons from Egypt and find out about their fees
while you are on. I know that some of you have already done.
Comments on the random mixing
I received few comments on the random mixing among grouping. One from
Germany indicated "it was the limited pool that pushed in that direction".
Another fancier said "a major correction is needed in his loft and
working on it". "This will put things in prospective" said
John Dodds.
The last comment came from Jim Roach. He said" I am no longer raising
birds, but used to keep few Owls. I could see that some of the Egyptians
have a bit of resemblance to the African and Chinese Owls! you have a
very professional presentation". May be Jim!!
Judging over the Internet
The above link has two pictures that need your evaluation. The birds are
not necessarily mix. Please, base your brief analysis on the following
order and e-mail back:
Name of Judge:
beak setting:
forehead:
eye sign (if discernible):
body color:
station (height):
Conclude your remarks with a guess on each bird's purity and background
if possible.
I will include your remarks under each picture in a following newsletter.
I will try to build on this until we get through all the ES groups to
have fairly knowledgeable ES fanciers all over the country. I have to
receive as many responses and pictures for others to evaluate.
Every individual must contribute for one another. There is
no gain for me! you just giving me extra work to do. Get your Camera and
send me a few. At the end of the day you will be expected to have better
birds and help professionally in judging ES.
E-mail
From Dale barnaby, Loc, Nico Veen. AL Hansen has also sent a long list
of questions, which I have not had a chance to cover it all for him. Some
of them are crossed with questions from others in the past 6 months. I
will respond to all of them according to their frequency.
Question:Why fanciers have different spelling for the Swifts names?
Answer: The same goes for their pronunciation. The reason is that
these names are new to the English tongue. I might add that the Egyptian
slang pronounce the names differently from the correct and proper Arabic
language.
Question: Why are the black Ott'atis (Otatis) considered beautiful
and black Rehanis thought of as culls?
Answer: I will take the Black Otati and the Black Rehani any time
if they have the proper body style and of course the beak setting over
a colorful bird without the proper settings. The color might escape for
one or two generations, but eventually it will come back. Looks are
the most illusive. "It is also the identity of the
bird".
Question: Can you or have you ever mated two Black Otatis?
Answer: No, but I was told by some fanciers in Egypt that they
produce the Andalusian from such a mating. As long as you know that the
two birds are produced from Otatis parents with good colors. In the mean
time why would you do that when you could cross them with lighter colors.
I would go for such a combination, if they have promising features and
qualities.
Question: In Egypt, do you have the same split as you do in North
America, where you have a certain group of people who want only birds
for their sheer beauty and the other group want them for fliers?
Answer: Yes, the split prevails worldwide and not only limited to
a country or a region from what I hear. Locking the birds and breeding
for looks in Egypt, has seen a big increase in the past twenty years due
to the urban expansion and the lack of time and guts to fly the birds.
I would say that the division is equal now in Egypt between the two camps.
The younger people in general tend to fly. Beauty and looks are traits
thought by veteran and more experienced fancier. It takes years of raising
a breed to see its fine traits. As youngsters, we only cared about colors
and how strong they flew. Younger folks have usually more time on their
hand and enjoy the interaction of flying and the problems that come with
it. The game changes later on in life with the tendency to help mother
nature to preserve or even improve some of it's images. Although not in
my younger days anymore, I am still fascinated to watch them flying. I
even remember a fancier in his late sixties and was still flying in the
late evening. We used to joke about his ability to spot an outsider bird
among his birds after the sunset.
Question: What Swifts would be classified as being rare in Egypt?
Answer: All the groups that are on display on this site are readily
available in most lofts. What is certainly not available and considered
rare are those birds that are produced with such a precision to the standards.
This means the proper body size, length, beak setting, head size, proper
station and so on. One reason that prompts me to buy several birds from
each group is to cover a deficiencies among birds. I don't have many prefect
picture birds, but close enough to satisfy me. This is an ongoing process
and could always be improved, if I stop flying and select on looks only.
Near perfect birds are not usually for sale. Their prices are astronomical
if you insist on buying them. You could easily buy a pair of average Otati
from most lofts in Egypt at $50.00. Above average, when found will jump
to $250.00 or even more. Superior looking ones, but will not likely to
fly, could easily sell for twice as much. It is hard to produce long birds
(13 inches and tight feathers) with rounded and downward face in Otatis,
Anbary, Ahmar, Morraka, Bolks and Mesaweds with the proper markings and
colors. I have not included the Safis among the others because they stand
out in a different class by themselves. Those birds are truly magnificent,
rare and arguably the most difficult to produce.
Exotic New Castle Disease (END)
The first few cases were detected in Southern Californian on November
2002 and now it is in full swing causing one of the worst epidemics to
Poultry in our area. The etiology (causing agent) is Avian influenza
A1. There is neither treatment nor vaccine available to combat
it. It affects a wide range of Poultry species (Chicken, Turkey, Ducks
and other Fowl) as well as Pigeons and Doves. It is very contagious and
could be transmitted from a chicken to a pigeon and visa versa via respiratory
droplets or feces.
Humans do not contact the disease or become affected even if they consume
sick birds.
It is different serologically (genetic make up) from the common New Castle
that is caused by Paramyxovirus(PMV) and many of us usually vaccinate
against. The later also causes sickness and death; however limited to
Chicken, Pigeons and Doves. It doesn't cross transmit among the
to species as the case of (END). In other words the Pigeon's PMV is genetically
different from the Chicken's PMV. Therefore the Chicken vaccine does not
give immunity to Pigeons and the other way around. Therefore one must
use specifically the vaccine that is recommended for each group.
Viruses in general are easily destroyed by all available market germicidal.
But what if you have accidentally introduced an asymptomatic (a clinically
sick bird, but not showing signs yet) or even a carrier that might not
display even symptoms into your loft and that bird is continuously passing
fresh virus after you have just finished decontaminating!. theoretically
a bird compound could be wiped out and the true culprit might still be
standing and eating. That is the reason behind destroying entirely all
exposed birds once one case become detected among a flock.
Not only that fanciers should not allow knew birds in their lofts for
the time being, but they should refrain also from visiting each others
lofts. Pigeons in quarantined area should be restricted from turning loose
or flying. The incubation period for both viruses are around two to three
weeks.
This is a Southern California's problem for the time being and hopefully
it will be confined here.
Racing competitions have been canceled in San Diego and fanciers are not
flying.
Shipping out of Southern California has been halted until further notice.
The USDA ( US Department of Agriculture) that is responsible for the quarantine
of imported birds in our area has sent me information about Southern California
locations under quarantine and they also referred me to USDA
web site in California for further information.
The USDA in the past used to test imported birds for both PMV and Salmonella..
In the last few years they have dropped the Salmonella testing and now
testing ,exclusively, for influenza A1 and PMV.
Wish you the best of luck until next time.
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