A word of recognition:
Since the inception of this news letter, I have become acquainted with several pen pals that have devoted much of their time to improve the hobby for themselves and others. I would like to distinguish Kelly spurling in particular for his serious articles and ideas on how to promote pigeons.
His talent in developing several web sites for various purposes is much appreciated and I wish that others take advantage of that to get on the web.
I also enjoy many of Al Hanssen's articles in the "Pigeon Deput". He has been a prolific writer for years and going stronger. He is also engaged in breeding Swifts, which he claimed doesn't affect his Komoners activity!
A word of recognition is given unequivocally for those who go the extra mile for the hobby.

Swift Management
The Need to cull
Fanciers have several means of culling. The most effective one is employed by the racing fanciers. The game calls for releasing birds from miles away and that tends to weed out non-performers. I was told that losses average between 30 to 50%. The reward for producing winners is met instantly with cash and good reputation.
The show fancier in the mean time is engaged in producing and not forced or motivated to cull as much for thinking that some of these birds are going to make champions some day. Tranquilized by that notion, many inferior birds are let to mate and reproduce.
Certain pockets of Egypt were hit by two major epidemics of Paramyxo virus in the past 25 years, which have led to raising everything fanciers have produced to make up for previous losses. The result was production of several generations of non flying birds. The confidence level of getting a decent flying birds from that area has not been recovered yet. The same scenario has been taking place over the years in the USA not because of diseases, but for fanciers passing non flying as genuine flying birds and the buyers lack of knowledge to verify flying facts. In racing, severe competitions have led to heavy culling and the introduction of quality birds, thus producing better generations.
We should cull as we go along. There is nothing easier than getting red of a bird that attempts to drag the entire flock down.
Avoid crossing at all cost
A major part of good managing of a Swift loft is not to mix. The stability of their recessive genes depends on the purity of each group. Deliberate mixing took place before enough knowledge about the bread has become widely available. Unintentional mixing could be eliminated by keeping good pairs in individual boxes. As a child I had experimented with many groups that made me appreciate the quality of a pure strain and I have really come to conclusion that every Swift fancier has to to come to that conclusion on his/her own.
Crossing will throw your loft backward for hundreds of years.
What then could be done with mixed birds? either cull or pass to a novice to gain some experience from, but don't sell as Syrian Swifts.